Chapter 930 Britain's Choice
When the Japanese government hesitated, the negotiations between Britain and France also entered a critical moment. The French, who had fallen into strategic passivity, had no confidence in negotiating conditions and had to make substantial concessions to the British.
It should have been reassuring that the negotiations were moving in Britain's favour, but Prime Minister Gladstone was not happy now.
"Is the African battlefield really irreparable?"
If you go too much on the "night road", you will eventually encounter ghosts. Britain's European-continental balance policy, which has been going on for many years, has now revealed a fatal flaw, and it is about to collapse.
There was no way, the performance of the arrogant French on the battlefield was far less than their usual clamor, which made the London government make a strategic misjudgment.
Whether he wants to accept it or not, Gladstone must admit that the rival French army in the past no longer exists, and France without Napoleon has lost its strength to slaughter the European continent.
The war has been going on until now, the French army has still been unable to break through on the European continent, and the African continent has been hanged by Austria again, and the situation has become more and more unfavorable for France.
"Militarily, it's only a matter of time before French Africa falls, and the Austrians already have the strategic initiative.
If it were not for the irreversible situation, the arrogant French would not bow to us so easily. "
The War Minister Rosario sneered.
The relationship between Britain and France has always been discordant, especially for the British Army, France is their eternal pain.
If it wasn't for being driven out of Europe by the French, Britain would not have become a mere sea power, and they would not have been reduced to the point where they could only be the navy's little brother.
Gladstone frowned as he looked at the schadenfreude War Minister. It is a joy to watch the French suffer, but the price is that Austria wants to dominate, which is not wonderful.
Open the map and know that once Egypt falls into the hands of Austria, a giant across Asia, Africa and Europe will appear.
In this era of colonial empires where the strong eat the weak, such a giant will definitely not sleep peacefully there.
Originally, Austria was a dominant force on the African continent, and Britain, together with colonial empires such as France, Portugal, and Spain, could barely compete with them.
If France were driven out, British Africa would surely be the next target for Austria. With the loss of British Africa, the British road to India was blocked.
What will happen next, Prime Minister Gladstone dare not continue to imagine. In short, it would be absolutely a disaster for Britain to let Austria hold the hegemony of the European continent and dominate Africa.
"The current situation is very bad, the goddamn Gallic idiot, has lost his ancestor's bravery, and only has the ability to brag, and what's worse is that we can't watch this idiot fail.
Once the Egyptian region falls into the hands of Austria, the anti-French alliance can take advantage of its absolute advantage in manpower and material resources to directly consume the French, and even Napoleon's resurrection cannot restore the situation.
It doesn't matter if the French lose, the point is that we can't watch Austria win easily. If we don't take advantage of this war to greatly deplete their strength, we won't have a good time in the future. "
From a personal point of view, Gladstone did not want to help the French, but there was no way, who made the French army in Egypt fail again?
Just two days ago, the Suez line of defense that the French had painstakingly broken down, and the fire of war had already reached the hinterland of Egypt.
Britain could not bear the consequences of Austria's control of Egypt, and the British government had to help the French.
Rosario shook his head: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the current situation is really bad, but we have to face the reality.
Austria's advantage on the African continent is too great, unless the French can mobilize one million main troops into the African battlefield, otherwise the situation cannot be reversed at all.
Of course, this is only a purely military analysis. If things change in other areas, for example, if there is a problem with the supply of the Afrikaans, or if a revolution breaks out, the situation will be different. "
Colonial Minister Primrose immediately vetoed: "Your Excellency, such an accident is almost impossible. According to the intelligence collected by the African colonial government, the Vienna government had sent a large amount of strategic materials to Austrian Africa before the war.
The exact amount cannot be determined for the time being, but they will definitely not have logistical problems for a while. If the French were a little firmer and persisted in Egypt for a year or two, they might have a chance to see it.
It is even more unreliable to expect revolution in Austrian Africa. You must know that the main force of Austria's colonization of Africa were nobles and farmers, and they were different from the descendants of the criminals in the New World.
According to the information from Africa, with the order from the Palace of Vienna, these guys happily joined the war, without the slightest reluctance. "
This is a fact. If the independence of Austrian Africa was instigated, the British would have done it long ago. No, to be precise, it has already been done, but it ended in failure.
There are also prerequisites for independence. Unlike the exiled criminals, most of the immigrants from Austria have passed by on their own initiative, and their sense of belonging to the country is much stronger.
In particular, Austria is still promoting the process of localization in Africa, which gives the vested interests no reason to rebel. There is no mass base to replicate the American independence movement in Africa.
After all, the thirteen states in North America seem to be colonies of the British, but most of the immigrants came from the European continent and lacked a sense of belonging to Britain.
Pure English immigrants were originally small, less than one-tenth of the total population.
Most of these guys are exiled criminals, and it is good not to hate England. It is just a dream to expect them to take the initiative to maintain British colonial rule.
Britain itself is alienated. After a conflict of interest, the capitalists raised their arms, and the people naturally rushed to respond.
Something like that would simply not work in Austrian Africa. Commodity dumping does exist, but unfortunately the capitalists in Austrian Africa are ineffective and have no right to speak.
The nobles and farmers in power, mainly engaged in mining and plantations, do not care about the dumping of industrial products at all, or they don't think they are dumped at all.
Industrial products are not created out of thin air, but also require the procurement of industrial raw materials. It just so happens that everyone is a producer of industrial raw materials.
While transporting industrial raw materials to the country, and enjoying the cheap industrial and commercial products produced in China, everyone's small life is not much more comfortable.
If they become independent and start anti-dumping, they will be the biggest victims. Not only will you have to pay for industrialization, but even the benefits of growing cash crops will be greatly reduced.
For details, please refer to the farmers in the Confederate States of America. In order to resist the trade protection policies of the North, they can jump out and fight for independence.
If the capitalists dare to make trouble, they do not need the intervention of the Vienna government. The nobles and farmers who are vested interests will suppress them first.
Foreign Secretary George echoed: "I can attest to this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also instigated the Austrian African independence movement, and even supported several independent organizations, but none of these guys are successful.
The mining and plantation economy developed by Austria in Africa directly ties the vested interests and the native land together. Dismantling Austrian Africa from within is simply not realistic.
As things stand, unless the French win the Continental War, it is only a matter of time before Egypt falls.
Of course, our direct intervention by troops may be able to hinder Austria's actions, but the interests involved are too great. "
Sending troops to intervene is a joke. Britain's pocket version of the army, the main force is still fighting with the Russians in Afghanistan, only a little colonial troops in British Africa can only be sent out to make soy sauce.
After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone said slowly: "The international situation is about to get out of control, and we must end the war with the Russians as soon as possible to deal with the next changes.
The Afghan war has gone on so far, it has no meaning to continue. At this time, the Russians are also riding a tiger, and sending them a signal of peace, presumably the tsarist government will not choose to die.
After all, the emergence of a giant across Asia, Africa and Europe threatens not only our interests, but also theirs. "
In the early days of the Anglo-Russian Afghanistan war, it was indeed because of interests, and the war was fierce. Unfortunately, the cruel reality tells them that this is an endless war of attrition.
With the changes in the international situation, the tired Britain and Russia reduced the intensity of the war invariably, and turned into melon eaters to watch the excitement of France and Austria.
Perhaps in order to reassure France and Austria for their bold pk, Britain and Russia, which should have stopped, chose to continue this war game very tacitly.
Although it is a game, it is also deadly. Neither the British nor the Russian army gave up their plans to kill each other, but if they showed any flaws, they would be chased and beaten by the enemy.
In a sense, such a war of attrition is also beneficial to Britain, and the British government has enough financial resources to bring down the Russians. Moreover, British India will be safe only if the tsarist government really hurts.
Unfortunately, there is no best of both worlds in this world. In order to curb the growing Austria, Gladstone can only give up the "Bear Bloodletting Project" first.
Foreign Secretary George reminded: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, it is not difficult to truce with the Russians now, but it is very difficult to achieve a truce as we previously expected.
At present, the Russian army still controls three-quarters of the territory of Afghanistan. With the greed of the tsarist government, there is almost no hope of getting back the land that we did not get on the battlefield at the negotiating table.
The contradictions between us and the Russians are too deep, and the Austrians are acting as shit sticks. I am afraid this armistice negotiation will not go well.
Judging from the current situation, French Egypt cannot last long. If the French army could not make a breakthrough on the European continent, the established fact of the Austrian occupation of Egypt was created.
The Russians do not want to see Austria become bigger, but after all, Russia and Austria are traditional allies, and the tsarist government cannot turn against Austria for no reason. Most of them will choose neutrality on the Egyptian issue.
Next, we have to force the Austrians to make concessions and spit out and eat the Egyptian region. Only the French and ourselves can rely on them.
But we have to use the French, but also restrict the French, we can't let the French take the opportunity to become bigger, which needs to be very troublesome.
To do this, we need more allies. It is best to join forces with European countries to intervene and solve the problem through diplomatic means. "
Constrained by the continental balance policy, the British government's diplomacy in this continental war has always been timid, for fear that an improper operation will cause a continental hegemon to come out.
There is no way, the international situation is changing too fast. Britain's enemies have been changing, first the Russians who jumped out on their own, then the ambitious French, and before they could react, Austria appeared again.
It is necessary to suppress, but not too harshly. It is necessary to maintain a fragile balance and make the London government exhausted.
In a sense, since the outbreak of the European Continental War, there has been a problem with Britain's continental balance policy, and it has been unable to keep up with the changes in the international situation.
Everyone knows the problem, but unfortunately, Britain is an island country, and it is innately determined that they have no better choice. Only by maintaining the balance of Europe and the continent can they maintain their hegemony.
Gladstone nodded and looked out the window: "It is indeed very troublesome, but no matter how troublesome it is, we must do it, this is our responsibility.
Moreover, while maintaining the balance of the European continent, we must also find ways to weaken the strength of France and Austria, so that they cannot continue to grow. "
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