Chapter 848 The Era of Confrontation Between the Two Alliances

The alliance is not something that can be accomplished in a flash, and the pros and cons must be carefully weighed, especially when the target of the alliance is the British.

It is not the first time that Britain and France have formed an alliance. According to the experience of past alliances, the results each time have been unsatisfactory.

Napoleon IV was not fooled by the rhetoric of the British.

As long as Britain and France were allied, Britain supported French expansion into Central Europe. Such a big pie, Napoleon IV did not believe that it would hit him on the head for no reason.

It is also because the pie is too large, and Napoleon IV is reluctant to discard it.

Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin: "Your Majesty, the British proposal seems to be in our favor, but it is in fact a misfortune.

On the surface, it is to support our expansion into Central Europe, but in fact it is to let us contain Austria for them.

Judging from the current international situation, once we expand into the Central European region, we will meet the joint hostility of European countries, and even trigger a new round of continental war.

If the situation really gets out of control, I really have no confidence in the British, and with their style, if they don't get in the way, it's all..."

This is a fact, the anti-French alliance exists in name only, and it is based on the premise that France does not pose a threat to everyone.

Once they show their teeth and make European countries feel threatened, this nominal alliance will soon become a real alliance.

It is better to expect the British and France to challenge the European continent together. It is not as good as France's one-on-one confrontation with the European continent.

Minister of War Luskinia Hafez: "Prime Minister, everything has two sides. Although the United Kingdom is uneasy and good-natured, as long as we make good use of it, we can also obtain a lot of benefits for France.

Although there are many European countries, most of them are small countries, and only a few deserve our attention.

In addition to Russia, Austria and Britain, the three major powers should attach great importance, the remaining three countries of Spain, the Nordic Federation, and the German Federation can only be considered half.

Among them, Spain is still our ally and will not hinder our eastward advance; the Nordic Federation is far away in the Baltic Sea, there is no conflict of interest, and it is an object that can be won.

The British can use it to contain Austria, why can't we use them to contain the Russians?

As long as Britain and Russia are fighting a real fire in Central Asia, Austria alone will not be able to prevent us from annexing territories west of the Rhineland.

The big deal is that we and Austria are ruled by the Rhine River. With the style of the Habsburg dynasty, most of them will not fight with us.

As long as we win the Rhineland and Belgium, the short version of one of our most important resources will make up for it. "

Ambition is, of course, there. It's just that the main war in France was not at the right time, it didn't catch up with the good time, and it never got the chance to show it.

Waiting left and right, I finally met this turning point. From the French military's point of view, this is where Britain and Russia contain each other, and it is clearly creating an opportunity for the decisive battle between France and Austria.

With the old enemy of the Habsburg dynasty, France's European hegemony has never lived up to its name, and a war must be used to witness the superiority.

Of course, now is not the time to say that. It would be bad if you frighten His Majesty the Emperor. After all, Austria still looks huge and is good at pulling allies.

If a decisive battle is to be held immediately, although the military is confident, there are still many people in the government who are not optimistic.

Luskinia Hafez is still very politically minded. In order to reduce resistance, there is no mention of the decisive battle of Fao.

It even changed the concept and turned the French-Austrian decisive battle into the partition of the German region with Austria. Not only has the risk been downplayed, but also the support of domestic capitalists has been obtained.

Economy Minister Elsa objected: "No, now is not the time to go east. Our big farm plan is in progress, once the war is interrupted, all the previous investment will be wasted.

The German Confederation is not as weak as everyone thinks. They have deployed 70,000 troops in the Rhineland region, plus the 50,000 troops deployed by Belgium, the total strength is as high as 120,000.

As long as the war dragged on for a month or two, reinforcements from Austria came. Everyone has seen the Prussian-Russian War. Today is different from the past. Now the two great powers are in a decisive battle, and there are millions of troops in action.

Once a war breaks out, it is impossible to decide the winner in a short period of time. Austria has a group of allies who can share the pressure, but we can only fight alone, and the British can't count on it.

It is wishful thinking to expect the Austrian government to compromise. How can the Habsburgs still rule the German region while we sit back and watch us annex territories west of the Rhine? "

The worries of the Minister of Economic Affairs are also the reason why everyone hesitates. Pinning hopes on Austria's compromise is unreliable in itself.

Against any enemy alone, everyone has confidence in France, but the problem is that the enemy wants to fight in groups!

Countries on the European continent are more capable of fighting these days. Even Belgium, a small country, can draw hundreds of thousands of troops.

The larger Nordic Federation, as long as the internal relations are coordinated, one million troops can be pulled out.

Not to mention Austria, it's easily millions anyway. If other countries join in the fun, France will face an astronomical number of enemies.

No matter how hard the French army can fight, the ants will not be able to kill the elephants.

What's more, the French army is not so good at fighting. The performance of the French army in overseas colonies has caused many high-level government officials to doubt the combat effectiveness of the French army.

Winning one-on-one is of no value. Once the continental war breaks out, they will face at least twice as many enemies, or even three or four times.

The Foreign Secretary, Karel Cadlec, interrupted: "You guys, you're going too far. It's as if we're going to have to start a continental war if we're only allied with the British.

In fact, it's two things altogether. The only discussion now is whether to ally with the British. As for expansion into Central Europe, that is a matter of the future.

Personally, I am in favour of an alliance with the British. To break free from isolation, France needed more allies.

Perhaps the British had ulterior motives and formed an alliance with us just to counter the pressure that Russia and Austria put on them in Central Asia.

But we have no better choice than the British.

Don't expect the British to really support our expansion into Central Europe, as long as they don't join the anti-French alliance when we go east.

Besides, forming an alliance with the British does not mean that we really have to cooperate with them.

Austria has no interest in Central Asia, and its participation is entirely because of the Russian-Austrian alliance, and it is impossible for them to go to war with the British for the benefit of the Russians.

When the British want us to contain Austria, it is a symbolic act. Anyway, the Austrians also want to promote the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war, and we can cooperate completely. "

The reality is cruel, but it must be faced. France is indeed strong, and so strong that it has no friends.

The promise of the British may not be fulfilled, but with this ally, the French government's diplomatic environment will be greatly improved.

In essence, the two sides are taking what they need, and if they don't hold back, then they are worthy of this paper covenant.

...

The Palace of Vienna, since receiving the news that Britain and France intend to form an alliance, Franz has been in a bad mood.

It seems that Europe has formed two opposing camps, but in fact it is determined by geographical location. The Russians can hide in the rear, and Austria must bear the pressure of the two powers alone.

The threat on land is not yet obvious, and the fighting force is still the French, and the British can be ignored.

The sea is different. Seeing that the Austrian Navy is about to have the strength to threaten the Royal Navy, with the alliance between Britain and France, it is about to be a man with its tail between its tails.

This means that in overseas competition, Austria will again be at a disadvantage, unable to compete with Britain and France.

Not only that, Franz wanted more. As France and Austria continue to grow, the British are already feeling the pressure.

Against this background, the British conspired to provoke the Franco-Austrian War, and it was not impossible to use the war to weaken the two enemies.

The confrontation between Britain and Russia contains mutual restraint, so why not create an opportunity for France and Austria to turn against each other?

Regardless of the severity of the conflict between Britain and Russia, even if war breaks out between the two countries, once the situation in Europe gets out of control, the two countries may still unite.

Provoked a war between France and Austria, and when the two countries were almost fighting, they dragged the Russians to intervene to prevent the two countries from winning or losing.

If Franz was in the position of the British, he would do the same. Otherwise, let France and Austria continue to grow, where will there be opportunities for Britain to intervene in the European continent in the future?

Guessing is always just guessing, and Franz didn't dare to jump to conclusions before something happened.

The French are not fools either. Against the background of a fisherman, it is obviously not in their own interests to come to fight Austria.

The same is true in Austria, unless the brain is flooded, or the Vienna government will not foolishly run to attack the French.

...

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg: "After repeated verifications, the Foreign Office has determined that the UK and France are in the process of negotiating an alliance.

The specific content of the negotiation is unknown. What is certain is that there must be some content aimed at us.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly tried to undermine the British-French alliance, but with little success. Even our proposal to reorganize the Triple Alliance was rejected by Britain and France. "

If it can't be destroyed, then find a way to join in, and then split the alliance from the inside. This kind of diplomacy, which is tried and tested, will not work here.

However, this also corroborates the fact that the British and French allied against Austria.

Prime Minister Carr: "If Britain and France cannot be prevented from forming an alliance, then the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance will be greatly increased.

From now on, not only the Russians need us, we need the Russians too.

In the following Central Asian War, we had to make great efforts to support the tsarist government.

The four great powers of Europe are now divided into two major alliances facing each other. I am afraid that for a long time to come, the international situation will be in turmoil.

Once the confrontation escalates and misses the gun, it may even trigger a new round of European war. From now on, we need to plan ahead. "

There is no way, the international situation is not dictated by the will of individuals. Although Franz has been trying his best to avoid it, a confrontation between the two alliances has emerged.

In a sense, the result is not too bad, two-on-two is better than one-on-three.

Britain and France are now allied, and the first to be hit is the Russians. The relationship between Britain and France and the Russians has deteriorated, the Russian-Austrian alliance has become more consolidated, and Austria's eastern front is safe.