Chapter 457: The Tangled Louis

The strongest fortress is always broken from the inside. The Governor of Delphi naturally understood this simple truth, and from the beginning he was not prepared to fight the Austrians in Africa.

Maybe the Royal Navy can suppress the Austrian Navy, or even block most of the ports, and they still have no chance of winning.

Don't look at the total population of South Africa, which exceeds 2.5 million, most of which are black. In the mid-19th century, Cape Town had more than 100,000 white people, including Boers.

Under the pressure of Austrian immigration, the London government has also accelerated the pace of immigration. It is a pity that the British population is limited and there are too many colonies.

There are too many places they need to take into account at the same time. First, Australia and Canada, where gold has been discovered, secondly, New Zealand, India and other regions. When it is South Africa's turn, the number of immigrants is already low.

This is why Governor Delphi is concerned, whether he likes it or not, the lack of immigration has become a major factor limiting the development of the South African region.

The original time and space South Africa developed. It was in the late 19th century that the world's largest gold mine group was discovered, which attracted a large number of immigrants.

At this time, South Africa doesn't have much of an advantage over the rest of Africa, at least in the minds of the people.

Delphi asked earnestly: "Blair, how is the plan going, are they willing to cooperate with us?"

Facing the expectant Governor of Delphi, Blair lowered his head and replied after a while, "Sorry, Your Excellency, our plan has failed.

Austria's penetration of the Transvaal and Orange was stronger than expected, and news appeared in the newspapers shortly after we had contact with them.

You know, our grievances with the Boers cannot be resolved in a few words. After the news was leaked, several friends who contacted us did not dare to act rashly. "

Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and there are many Boers who oppose cooperation with Austria. But this does not mean that they can cooperate with the British.

Originally, these Boers were forced to move to the inland areas because they were unwilling to be British, and naturally they would not have a good impression of the British who had seized their homeland.

Anti-British sentiment among the people was already strong, and with the intervention of Austria, anti-British sentiment has become politically correct in the Transvaal and Orange.

After the news was leaked, those who were going to cooperate with the British were caught in the whirlpool of public opinion and could not protect themselves, so naturally they dared not continue to act.

As for the threat of the British, it is a pity that Austria is the boss on the African continent. The Transvaal and Orange are both landlocked countries, and no matter how powerful the Royal Navy is, it cannot go ashore.

Just the Brits in the Cape Town area need to think hard about who threatens whom.

This result was beyond the expectations of the Governor of Delphi. He was planning to buy off the anti-Austrian factions among the Boers, provoking conflicts between the two sides, and forcing the Transvaal and Orange to fall to them.

With the Boers as a buffer, British rule in South Africa was solid. Austria is also struggling, and will not be able to retaliate in a short period of time.

The future, that's the next term, and Governor Delphi doesn't feel like he needs to think about it that much. Stabilizing the situation at the least cost is the top priority.

The Governor of Delphi complained: "It seems that we are in great trouble, and we will not sleep well until the threats of Transvaal and Orange are dealt with.

Damn Boers, isn't it good to act as a buffer country? If you have to fall to Austria, do you really think we are easy to bully! "

If the Boers knew what he thought, they would definitely be very wronged, they have always been neutral!

It is normal to be close to Austria, besides the feelings of the people, they also need trade.

As a small inland country surrounded by the three countries of England, Austria and Portugal, they are not close to Austria, so are they going to hug the Portuguese's thighs?

Explanation is useless, the fact that they fall to Austria and endanger British rule in Cape Town is more persuasive than any reason.

Blair suggested: "Your Excellency, the internal separation of the Boers and Austria has failed, and now we can only start a backup plan as soon as possible.

Before Austria annexed the Boers, there was an opportunity to act to disrupt their cooperation. "

It is indeed an opportunity, the African continent is really too big, and despite the efforts of the Austrians to build railways, they still have not been able to solve the traffic problem.

In Zimbabwe and Botswana, the Austrians have very limited power. It is not that there is no large army, the main bad traffic limits the number of troops sent.

This is also the real reason for Austria's expansion to the limit. Don't look at the fact that Austria has many immigrants on the African continent. Once dispersed, there will be not many in a region.

To find these settlements, it is enough to start along the river. Areas without rivers are basically not developed much.

Pulling out the two nails in Transvaal and Orange before Austria solves the traffic problem is the backup plan for the British.

"Hey!"

After Delphi sighed, he said, "Let's start preparing. The cabinet has agreed to our plan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will cooperate with us."

...

Portugal, King Luis is panicking now. When people sit at home, disaster comes from heaven.

Britain and Austria are competing for the South African region, and now they need to stand in line.

Don't look at Portugal as a small country with very limited influence in Europe. But on the African continent, especially in South Africa, the Portuguese also have a say

.

They were able to keep Mozambique and Angola not only by flexible diplomatic means, but also by their own strength.

Perhaps this little bit of strength is nothing in the European continent, but it should not be underestimated in the African continent. If they don't have the strength, no matter how good their diplomatic work is, they will be robbed.

My family knows their own affairs, and now Portugal is no longer able to compete with England, France and Austria for overseas colonies. Louis I has been in a state of keeping business all these years.

With good relations with Britain and Austria, the Portuguese colonies on the African continent have not been violated.

Now the British want them to stand in line, and the London government wants to get the support of Portugal and Africa to drive Austria out of South Africa.

Not to mention whether it can be done or not, just to confront Austria directly, Louis I will be counseled.

As for their pink map plan, connecting Angola and Mozambique, he has long since abandoned it. Now is not the era of Portugal, it is good to keep the existing foundation.

Sandwiched between the two empires, this kind of life is not easy, otherwise Louis I is strong in heart, and he may collapse directly.

The promises given by the British were of no interest to Louis at all.

Perhaps Britain and Portugal can join forces to suppress the Austrians in South Africa, but what if they are retaliated against afterwards?

Counting on the protection of the British, isn't that a sheep into the tiger's mouth? In the original time and space, Portugal was forced to fall to the British, and as a result, a large amount of wealth in the colony was seized by the British.

Now the consequences are even more serious. Once it joins forces with the British, the Angolan region will be finished soon. The Congo region, which has been run by Austria for many years, is now capable of supporting a war of 100,000 people.

The Mozambique region will also not be better off. Portugal and Austria share too many areas, and once there is a conflict, Portugal will never have peace.

Louis I did not think that the British, who had promised to keep their colonies safe, would actually go to war with Austria on their behalf.

Even if the conflict of interest in South Africa is so serious, both sides are exercising restraint, and there is no direct confrontation, which is enough to explain everything.

Moreover, Portugal and Austria also have friendship. When Austria took the step of colonization, it won the support of Portugal. Franz made a public promise that he would not plot any Portuguese colonies.

This declaration, Louis I still trusted. After all these years, it is true that Austria never reached out to their colonies.

To break this favorable situation for the promise of the British, in Louis I's view, it is completely worth the loss.

Moreover, even if Portugal really gets the Zambian region, it may not be a good thing to connect Angola and Mozambique.

The buffer between the powers is not good, especially if they have stood in the team, they can only be tied to the British and bear Austria's revenge.

This is not what Louis I wanted, but it is also not easy to reject the British. With the style of John Bull, how could they easily let go of their pawn?

...