Chapter 380 Influence

Without any exceptions, representatives of the four countries of Britain, France and Océ appeared at the negotiating table. Failing to get what they wanted in secret negotiations, the southern government did not hesitate to invite foreign powers to intervene.

Balancing the strengths of the North and the South is the common will of the four countries. The northern government's comprehensive national strength is stronger than that of the South, which is naturally the object of everyone's suppression.

Even the Indian representatives appeared at the negotiating table. Don't talk about racial conflicts and white supremacy. All these have to be put back in the face of interests.

Of course, the Indians with the weakest power are just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the result. They still have no right to speak at the negotiating table.

As a tribal alliance, the strength of the Indians is too weak, only equivalent to a federal state, completely unable to compare with the north and south.

From the very beginning of the meeting, the North and the South have been arguing over legal issues. All the secret contacts in private are hidden by both parties.

Without the approval of the parliament, private contact with the enemy, these things are not visible, once exposed, it will be a political crisis.

At the same time as the opening, the results of the Russian-US combined fleet's suppression of pirates in the US Channel Islands were also reported. I don't know how many pirates were killed. Anyway, the Russian-American combined fleet was almost wiped out.

"The navy can't beat the pirates" is not news, and it's understandable that the navy can't beat the pirates occasionally. In the era of sailing warships, the strength gap between pirates and the navy was not insurmountable.

But this time, the Russian fleet and the US West Coast fleet had a total of 23 warships. They went to encircle and suppress the pirates and finally ran out of two small boats. It can be said that the entire army was wiped out. This is a big news.

If it is the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Hawaiian Kingdom, such a small country's navy was destroyed by pirates, everyone can understand.

Even if the U.S. West Coast fleet is beaten by pirates, everyone can accept it. After all, they are upstarts, and it is normal for the navy to be weak.

The protagonist was the Russian navy, who happened to be at the juncture of the Russian-Prussian war, and the problem was magnified.

When this happens, the federal government certainly cannot sit idly by.

In any case, the Russians were also helping them to destroy the pirates. President Lincoln immediately ordered a fleet from the east coast to go to the Channel Islands to destroy the pirates.

Anyway, it is now at the negotiating table, and the foreign powers have intervened. Whoever wants to continue to wage war is the enemy of Britain, France and Ossie. Since the war cannot be fought, it is not a big problem to divide the troops on the west coast.

At the same time as the military deployment, the federal government also notified the tsarist government by telegram for the first time. Of course, European countries were also notified by the way. The telegraph line was going to be transferred from various European countries, and the news was naturally leaked.

At present, there is only such a telegraph line between Europe and the United States, and there is no direct telegraph line from the United States to Russia. It must be transited in various European countries, and it is impossible to avoid it.

During the outbreak of the American Civil War, the news that the federal government blocked, countries could only pass by boat.

Even if the Americans wanted to keep the news of the defeat in the naval battle secret, they could not hide it for a few days.

Moreover, the situation is different now. The importance of the Russians to the federal government has declined. Naturally, President Lincoln would not care about the trouble that the news leaked to the Russians.

Turning your face and not recognizing someone is a tactic used by American politicians. If you want to gain American friendship, you should talk about interests, everything else is nonsense.

Historically, the tsarist government supported the federal government to complete national reunification, and when the Americans recovered from the civil war, they immediately became anti-Russian vanguards.

The supporters behind the Russo-Japanese War were not only the British, but also the Americans.

No way, the US President's term is only 4 years, and he cannot be re-elected more than 2 terms. No matter how good the relationship is, all the investment in the next government will be wasted.

Almost all republics do very poorly in terms of policy continuity. A lot of times it's denial for the sake of denial.

As an opposition party who overthrew a political opponent in the election, the policy of the previous term must be overturned, which is politically correct.

Even if you know that your predecessor is right, you must do it, otherwise how will you explain it to the voters? Or to explain to the supporters behind the scenes.

...

After receiving the news that the Russian navy was almost wiped out at the Vienna Palace, Franz just smiled.

Knowing that the relationship with the British is so bad, you have to go to the Americas to block others. Isn't this asking for your own death?

"Pirates" ambush?

Who doesn't know that the ancestors of the British Navy were pirates? It's just that they are legal pirates. Don't look at the past ten years, the British navy has been washed ashore, but it is still indispensable to occasionally join in the old line.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were rumors that the British navy joined the pirates, although the British did not admit it.

After a second of silence for the Russians, Franz began to gloat.

He has heard many jokes about the Russian Navy, but his personal experience is different.

These are all minor issues. Anyway, the tsarist government has always relied on the army for food. When has the navy been strong?

The size of the Russian navy is not small, and its total tonnage is only after that of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. It started in the 17th century and has been around for two hundred years.

However, this does not mean that the Russian navy is strong. On the contrary, the current Russian navy is far behind European countries.

All major naval powers are building ironclad ships, and only the Russian navy is supporting sail battleships. For no other reason, just simply because no

money.

First the War in the Near East, then the reforms of Alexander II, and now the Russian-Prussian War, how could the Tsarist government have the financial resources to develop the navy?

In this respect, Nicholas I appointed Menshkov to be in charge of the navy, which was very prescient.

The naval combat ability has not been trained, but the land combat ability has improved? Finally, there is a skill that does not let the military spend in vain.

Franz was considering whether to pay attention to Alexander II and send the navy to attack the Prussian coast.

If you can't get a record in naval battles, you can make up for it in land battles. The elite Russian navy, fighting against the people recruited temporarily by the Kingdom of Prussia, has no pressure at all.

After hesitating for a while, Franz decisively gave up the tempting idea. Now is not the time, and if it is brought up at this time, Alexander II will be very ugly in face.

Don't worry about it, you can do it later. Don't look at the incompetence of the Tsar's navy, but there is no pressure to bully the Prussian navy in naval battles.

Even if the Kingdom of Prussia built ironclad ships, their technical capabilities were limited, and they built pseudo-ironclad ships, so there was no need to worry that the artillery was not powerful enough to sink.

Not necessarily in marine warfare, they are all the pinnacles of marine warfare capabilities in this era. No one knows who is better than the two of them until they have fought.

St. Petersburg, when the main force of the Far East Fleet was almost annihilated when he visited the United States, Alexander II was furious.

Disgraceful and thrown to America, although he suspects that there are British hands behind it, but there is no evidence?

The British navy is professional in this regard, taking off the uniform and refitting the warship is a pirate. Even Americans, who are local snakes, have not found any problems.

Now is the era of ironclads, and it is inevitable to eliminate sail battleships. The pirate ships that robbed the Russian Navy are still entrenched in the US Channel Islands.

The people are gone and the boat is still there.

Apparently, the British sold these soon-to-be-obsolete warships to pirates, and this attack on the Russian fleet made a complete cut.

"My Lord of the Admiralty, can you tell me what's going on? When did the Russian Empire's navy not even win against pirates?"

Lawrence Lofsky, the current Secretary of the Navy, replied uneasily: "Your Majesty, these pirates have many warships and cannot be treated as ordinary pirates.

According to the information provided by the Americans, we can preliminarily judge that this is a ghost made by the British, and the artillery on board is all British. It's even possible that the British Navy, posing as pirates, ambushed us.

But don't worry, the Admiralty is ready to send a fleet to the Pacific to touch these pirates and wash away the shame on us. "

Alexander II scolded angrily: "Idiot, you know that the British did it, you still have to send warships over, don't you think the loss is not big enough!"

Retaliation, of course, Alexander II thought about it, but his strength did not allow it. If the enemy is the British, no matter how many warships they send, it is a result.

He dare not overestimate the integrity of the British, the Royal Navy pretends to be a pirate, but few countries can hold it.

Foreign Secretary Clarence proposed: "The majesty of the Empire cannot be desecrated, and these pirates must be exterminated.

But even if the fleet is dispatched from the mainland, the Russian-Prussian war is now at stake. Destroying pirates can be solved by diplomatic means.

Whether it is to let the Americans send troops to destroy, or to ask the Austrians for help. The British won't stand up for these pirates for their own reputation. "

This is inevitable, even if John Bull is shameless, he will not collude with pirates in the open. From the beginning, these pirates were outcasts.

The British just wanted to hit the Russians, but they didn't really want to turn against the Russians. The current Russian Empire is not easy to mess with, and they are in a hurry to fight another Indian defense war.

Now a bunch of pirates are left, just to vent their anger on the Russians. Lest the tsarist government run down the steps to find them trouble.

The Tsarist government has no money? That's true, but it doesn't mean that the Russian aristocracy has no money. In a hurry, Alexander II made a promise to India to raise funds from the domestic nobles, and it was not a big problem to collect the funds for a war.

Now the Russians are full of arrogance. They think that the army is the best in the world, and it is no problem to push them all the way.

Or if you are raising money from overseas, as long as you have enough benefits, you are not afraid of not being able to borrow money.

The Austrian financial community was afraid to lend to the tsarist government, mainly for fear of their ability to repay. If Alexander II was willing to put up the collateral that would appeal to Franz, none of these problems would exist.

The Russian Empire, a big business, has capital in its hands. As long as Alexander II was willing to betray his country, let alone Austria, it would not be difficult to get a loan from the French.

What does not happen under normal circumstances is not necessarily the case in the Russian Empire.

The divine operation of Peter III in those days is still clearly recorded in the history books. Who can guarantee that Alexander II will not dare to gamble?

Just like Nicholas I in those days, winning the bet is the greatest tsar in Russia, and losing the bet is a big deal to see God in advance.

After hesitating for a while, Alexander II made a decision: "Let the Americans do the trick. This time the matter was originally caused by them, and the aftermath will naturally be done by them."

This is the most sensible choice. The strategic value of Russia-US relations is not high, and there is no need to invest too much capital.

It is good for everyone to use this incident as an excuse to bring the relationship between the two countries to an end.

The federal government also

It is not the later U.S. Empire Federation, there is no way to help them on European issues, and even a loan assistance cannot be provided.

Likewise, they cannot give Americans the help they want. The tragic experience of the navy is that the British are warning them not to participate in American affairs.

Alexander II, who was planning to fight for a seat in the North-South negotiations, was completely awakened.

The Russian Empire is indeed powerful, and this is only on land. In Europe, Central Asia, and the Far East, they have a great voice, but in the Americas, which are separated by the ocean, no one buys them.

Which of the four countries of Britain, France and Ossie participating in this mediation is not a naval power? Which is in the Americas without a fleet? Can't mobilize tens of thousands of troops?

Strength is the right to speak. I haven't seen the federal government that they are good friends with, and they haven't invited them to participate now?