Chapter 1108 See Through

London

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the empire is preparing to wage war against the Holy Roman Empire, has it been approved by the parliament?"

"Your Excellency, why start this war? What can we gain?"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, is the Empire ready? How high are our chances of winning?"

...

When he woke up, Prime Minister Campbell, who was still in a daze, was surrounded by reporters as soon as he went out.

Overwhelming questions swept towards him frantically. There are even more hidden traps. With the experience of the old man, Campbell knew that these reporters were going to do something again.

For these unscrupulous media, as long as there is big news that can increase newspaper sales, it doesn't really matter whether Britain will fight Shinra or not.

After a short pause, Prime Minister Campbell waved his hand and said, "The government will hold a special press conference to answer these questions.

Now I can only tell you that the government is not ready to wage war against the Holy Roman Empire, but we are not afraid of war.

Please don't believe the rumors circulating on the market. Great Britain is a peace-loving country, and we are willing to work with peace-loving countries around the world to maintain world peace. "

After getting rid of the reporter, Campbell's face suddenly gloomy. The reporters came so quickly, it was obvious that someone was behind the scenes.

If it weren't for his quick reaction and fooling the past in time, he might have been trapped in a deep siege now.

The British system is already very perfect, and the government has no power to wage war against a great power without the approval of Parliament.

When it comes to safeguarding their power, lawmakers have never let up. But whenever there is a little bit of wind, Campbell can't think of a good life.

Campbell has no energy to condemn the shameless behavior of his competitors. The biggest problem at the moment is that the window paper is pierced, and Britain is forced to the edge of the cliff.

"Sneak attack", "lure the enemy", that is no need to think about it. The reporters all knew that there was going to be a war between Britain and Shinra, which meant that the whole world knew.

...

In a fit of rage, Campbell called an emergency cabinet meeting.

"The news has been leaked, and public opinion is very unfavorable to us. Some time ago, we proposed to strengthen the strategic material reserve, and now it is also regarded as evidence by the outside world.

The opposition party will not miss this opportunity. According to the inherent routine, usually reporters are first followed by questions from members.

Without a reasonable explanation, our days will be very difficult. To prevent the situation from getting worse, today we must come up with a plan. "

Infighting is an integral part of British politics. The critical situation is only their experience, not the opposition party.

Unlike the high-level officials of the Shinra government, who climbed up step by step, the high-level British government all climbed to the sky one step at a time from elections.

Even if it was excessive, it was only a few days of trolls in parliament. Only a few have experience in government.

Even if there is a performance experience, it is a gold-plated meaning, higher than the actual meaning. Most of the time, it is only in name and does not perform specific duties.

Of course, this does not mean that the top government is an idiot. To be able to win complex political battles and emerge from elections all the way through is impossible without extraordinary ability.

What everyone lacks is only administrative experience. Generally speaking, after being elected, there will be a professional team to help popularize relevant knowledge, and there will also be an advisory group to assist in handling government affairs.

How the effect is, you can see how many wonderful policies are in office. Generally speaking, the poorer the prime minister's personal ability, the greater the appetite of interest groups, and the more messy policies are introduced.

If you have a strong learning ability, or you have been exposed to relevant knowledge in advance, it is also no problem to get rid of these advisory groups full of interest groups.

Anyone who wants to make a difference must get rid of the dependence on the advisory group and jump out of the circle drawn by the interest group.

However, these are post-election matters. When ordinary politicians are in opposition, they have no access to relevant knowledge at all, so naturally they don’t need to think so much.

This is also the reason why political families are more likely to succeed. Everyone's innate knowledge is not on the same level.

Now is no exception. In the eyes of most British people, the Royal Navy is still invincible, and the British Empire is still at its peak.

The rise of the Holy Roman Empire was a problem, but only a problem. With the Royal Navy, Britain fears no enemy.

As for the deeper national power gap, industrial gap, population gap... all of them are not within the scope of everyone's knowledge.

It's not that "people of insight" have come out to do science popularization, but now is the most glorious era in Britain. Everyone is immersed in the glory of the empire on which the sun never sets, and they simply turn a blind eye to the crisis.

The ignorant are fearless. I don't know the difference in national strength between the two sides, but I still think that Britain is the once-great empire where the sun never sets.

Foreign Secretary Adam: "The news that we are preparing for the war should not have leaked out, otherwise the opposition party has already attacked, and the outside world will not be so peaceful.

Judging from the current state of affairs, it is likely that someone infers that we are going to go to war with Shinra based on the current international situation.

Or the Vienna government sensed our intentions and deliberately released news in an attempt to disrupt our strategic layout.

The opposition party just took advantage of this opportunity and used the power of the media

Fuel the flames in the back. If they had evidence that we were planning a war, they would have gone to Parliament to impeach.

In a sense, the current situation is also a good thing for us.

By directly exposing the conflict between the Empire and Shinra, we can also take the opportunity to promote the Shinra threat theory and prepare for the next war.

So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received inquiries from many European countries, as well as a peace proposal led by the Dutch government.

On the surface, this is that European countries do not want this war to break out, and the deeper reason is not the fear of the Holy Roman Empire?

You must know that during the European Continental War, the Vienna government responded quickly and formed an anti-French alliance without much cost. "

Don't look at Adam's prudent analysis, but in fact, he was too panicked in his heart. No matter who released the news, the enemy will be on guard.

Originally, I was worried about how to fool the main force of the Shinra Navy, but now that the enemy is prepared, it will be even more difficult to achieve.

Unable to hit the Shinra Navy at the first moment of the war, their quick-fix plan was declared bankrupt.

Once the war went on, Britain's good days were over. If nothing else, the European market is completely gone.

Just look at the reactions of European countries. Everyone is against the war between the two countries. In addition to worrying about being on the wrong side, the more important thing is that the war will continue.

From the outside world, the Holy Roman Empire has the advantage of land power, and Britain has the advantage of sea power. If there is a fight, no one can do anything for a while.

The Netherlands reacted most violently, in addition to the geographical pit, the most important thing is that they rely heavily on maritime trade.

Once the war between Britain and Shinra fell into a state of anxiety, mutual blockade was inevitable, and maritime trade was inevitable.

If it's a short-term three-to-five-month friendly match, it doesn't matter, and everyone's patience will pass.

If the war lasts for three years and five years, there is no doubt that countries like the Netherlands and Portugal, which rely heavily on overseas trade, will not collapse.

In this context, everyone has only one way to go, and that is to help one side win the war and end the trade blockade as soon as possible.

Either the European countries will follow the British together and jointly dismount Shinra; or everyone will follow Shinra's footsteps and work together to explode warships and overturn the Royal Navy.

There is no doubt that no matter who it is with, everyone will lose a lot. Especially the Netherlands, which is very likely to become a battlefield, even if it is the same as the right person, it will lose money.

Don't expect loot to make up for the loss, that's a pie. The previous anti-French war is an example. In name, everyone received huge indemnities, but in reality, the French government had no money to pay.

No money means no money. Regardless of your ability and means, the French government still cannot make money.

A hard-pressed man like Belgium would have lost everything if it hadn't taken back a piece of land from France after the war.

Small countries have limited size, and their strength cannot support their ambitions. It is estimated that in addition to the tsarist government, the United States that wants to benefit from the Anglo-Austrian War is also thousands of miles away.

It is the same whether other countries have ambitions, their own stomachs are not good, they cannot eat greasy food, and they can only smell the meat when they are delivered to their mouths.

As Britain's foreign minister, Adam's personal ability is still very strong. It's a pity that the reality is in front of him, no matter how much he can fool, he is not sure to pull everyone to his side.

Of course, they can also emulate the flexible diplomatic strategy of the original time and space, allowing countries to remain neutral and engage in overseas trade.

It's just that this requires the cooperation of the opponent. If the Vienna government doesn't buy it and insists on recruiting people, everyone still has to choose a camp.

Can European countries withstand the diplomatic pressure of the Holy Roman Empire?

No one can answer this question. Theoretically speaking, as long as the European countries hold together and neutralize, the Vienna government can only recognize it by pinching its nose.

But this chance is too low, not all countries have the courage. People are not divided, as long as a few countries take the lead and stand in line, the rest can only follow.

The situation is already very dangerous for Britain. Once the operation is wrong, then standing opposite Britain is not just the Holy Roman Empire, but the entire European world.

Asquith, Chancellor of the Exchequer: "Sir, the nations of Europe are sloppy, their positions have never been firm.

Due to geopolitical reasons, our influence on the European continent cannot be compared with that of the Holy Roman Empire.

By purely political means, we are not necessarily at a disadvantage; but once the Vienna government adopts military means and directly threatens with force, it will be difficult for us to compete with them.

Unless we can win over Russia and Spain, and only if they take the lead, European countries will be able to withstand the pressure of the Vienna government.

Considering our relationship with Russia and Spain, I don't think we can pull them over now. If it can keep them neutral in the war, that is God bless. "

It's not that Asquith is pessimistic, it's just that the previous governments were too pitiful. Just caring about their own happiness, the mess they left behind is too big.

There is no other way, Britain's world hegemony is stepping on Spain's top. In the Philippine campaign ten years ago, Spain was again devastated by Britain's younger brother.

New hatred and old hatred are added together, and there is also a dispute over the sovereignty of the Strait of Gibraltar. Unless the Spanish government has a collective brain, it is possible to follow them.

Anglo-Russian

Not to mention the relationship, the India issue is a dead end that cannot be resolved by the two sides. The current Russo-Japanese War is also a new hatred added to an old hatred.

Even if the tsarist government was extremely jealous of Shinra, it would still be impossible for them to sell iron to aid Britain.

No one is taking the lead, and the European countries that are used to doing things on the wall are naturally impossible to jump out and fight against Shinra.

Of course, there is also a Nordic Federation that can be fooled, and this one has the strength to remain neutral.

It's a pity that this guy has limited political appeal, so he can't be the big brother, let alone be the big brother.

The European world can't count on it. No one wants to be a thug at such a time. It is naturally difficult to win the war with Shinra.

...

The war is still fought by the military, and Campbell can only pretend not to hear the complaints of the civilians.

Now the arrow is on the string, and it has to be sent. If the war is difficult and difficult to fight, can it be avoided?

If the war stops now, it is estimated that the Vienna government will be crazy. Don't do anything, drag it on for ten or eight years, and the hegemony will come to you.

"What are the plans of the Admiralty?"

Strategy is not enough, tactics come together. Since the comprehensive national strength can't fight, it can only let the Royal Navy break out and continue to create miracles for Britain.

I saw Admiral Swinding pick up a baton, walked to the hanging world map and said: "Although the main naval force of the Holy Roman Empire is huddled in the Mediterranean, there are still several squadrons overseas.

Although there are few capital ships in these fleets, the tonnage of the fleet is not low, accounting for almost 40% of the total tonnage of the Shinra Navy.

Unable to induce a decisive battle for the main enemy force, the Admiralty plans to resolve these overseas troubles first.

Several other fleets are not worth mentioning, mainly the Austrian Southeast Asian fleet and the Central American fleet. Not only are there dreadnoughts as flagships, but other attached warships are also mostly new warships.

These warships have one thing in common - they run fast.

Obviously, the enemy was well prepared. Attempts to use these high-speed warships to attack our merchant ships after the outbreak of war.

We plan to attack these two enemy squadrons immediately after the outbreak of war to eliminate the threat on the trade line in advance.

The Japanese have done a good job in this regard. They have successively attacked Spain, the Far East Empire, and Russia. We can follow suit. "

Honesty doesn't exist, as long as the war can be won, Swindin doesn't mind breaking the routine once.

Anyway, the history books are written by the victors. As long as the Holy Roman Empire is defeated, all bad behaviors can be washed away.

It is better to kill the enemy's squadron first than to wait for the war to break out and be attacked by the enemy's merchant ships.

The Royal Navy, which started as a pirate, is all too familiar with these businesses. So much so that at a glance, Swinding understood the plan of the Vienna government.

If left unchecked, I am afraid that the war has just broken out, and Britain's maritime trade lines will be severely damaged.