Chapter 931

St. Petersburg, receiving the peace signal released by the British, Alexander III sighed helplessly.

This Afghan war can be described as anticlimactic. For the Russian Empire, it was completely the king of the beginning, but it almost hit a bronze record in the end.

At the beginning, the Afghan guerrillas cooperated. The Russian army was hanging and beating the British all the way. Unfortunately, the road in Afghanistan was not smooth.

Coupled with the continuous arrival of British reinforcements, the Russian army lost its military advantage, and the situation on the battlefield gradually changed.

By now, the war in Afghanistan has turned into a war of attrition. In the face of the wealthy and powerful British, the impoverished tsarist government was obviously unstoppable.

It seems that the Russian army has the upper hand on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but in fact the tsarist government is also suffering.

Up to now, the Russian army has paid nearly half a million casualties and billions of rubles in war expenses, but the legendary India is still out of reach.

Casualties are only a small problem. After all, Central Asia has been recaptured, and three-quarters of Afghanistan has been occupied. Even the exchange ratio between the two sides has reached an astonishing 1.1:3.7, which can be said to be the best record of the Russian army in the past 50 years.

Of course, this is the result of adding the Central Asian Khanate and the Indian colonial army together. Simply pk against the main force of the British army, the Russian army still does not take much advantage.

It doesn't matter if there is water, and this does not affect the tsarist government's political propaganda. In short, the performance of the Russian army on the battlefield has explained the past to all aspects.

What made Alexander III a headache was finances. Since his accession to the throne, all the family wealth accumulated by the tsarist government had been put into it, and he also owed huge debts. More importantly, he failed to enter India.

If the Russian army has entered India, then Alexander III will continue the war.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as reality, and the British have already reacted. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of main troops dispatched by the mainland, there are also two million Indian colonial troops waiting for the cannon fodder.

According to the information from the front line, the main force of the British army has rarely come out for decisive battles. Most of the time, they are in the rear to supervise the battle, using the colonial troops to entangle the Russian army, and the British generals don't even care about casualties at all.

At this pace, there will be many Indians who will not die, and the British will not admit defeat.

Grey animals, however worthless, were more expensive than the colonial natives. Regardless of the exchange ratio, the Russian army suffers. After all, there are 300 million Indians on the opposite side.

"Get ready to negotiate with the British!"

After making this decision, Alexander III was completely depressed. The closest opportunity for the Russian Empire to India was just missed.

"Yes!"

"Your Majesty, should we inform the Austrians, after all..."

Before Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez could finish speaking, Alexander III interrupted: "You can decide! Anyway, the British don't want to fight anymore, and we don't have the ability to fight."

After saying that, Alexander III turned around and left.

There is no doubt that the Russian Empire is not incapable of continuing this war. After all, there is still an Austrian nurse who is behind to replenish blood, and it can hold on for a while.

The point is that, in the event that India cannot be captured, continuing this war will hold back the British and will only cheapen Austria, which is advancing on the African continent. It is not in the interests of the Russian Empire.

Even the best allies cannot resist the temptation of interests.

According to the agreement in advance, the Vienna government supported the tsarist government to enter India, in exchange for Russia's support for Austria to dominate Africa, and the two countries shared the European hegemony after the war.

The tsarist government is now in a truce with the British, and it is also pitting its teammates. But there is no way. The tsarist government has determined that it cannot get India, so it cannot watch Austria dominate Africa.

Otherwise, the strength of the two countries will be further expanded after the war. In this era of the strong eating the weak, once there is an imbalance of power, the so-called shared hegemony of the European continent is a joke.

Alexander III's political mind is still very bright, knowing the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, in order to reduce the political influence, he decisively chose to throw the blame.

...

The Anglo-Russian armistice is just one of a series of actions the British Foreign Office has taken since its decision to support the French.

After all, the Russians are allies of Austria, and it is impossible for them to be fooled by them in a few words. If nothing else, the conflict between Britain and Russia cannot be resolved in a short period of time.

Just fought a battle, and turned back to form an alliance. These pranks, which exist in theory, may still be possible in the Middle Ages.

But today, with the rise of nationalism, whoever dares to play like this must break out a revolution.

In Tokyo, the British envoy who sent off the uninvited guest, Ito Bowen is in a bad mood.

It took a long time to coordinate the interests of all parties, reluctantly suppress the voice of going south, and continue to implement the previous strategy of going north. Now that the British are so mixed, the situation has changed again.

Needless to say, the British even visited him, the leader of the opposition, not to mention the politicians who originally supported the southward movement. They must have been lobbied.

While Ito Hirobumi was thinking about countermeasures, the attendant's voice suddenly sounded.

"Prime Minister, the palace called and asked you to attend the royal meeting immediately."

With a "bang", the water cup in Ito Bowen's hand fell to the ground. It came so fast that he didn't have time to prepare at all.

There is no doubt that there must be domestic political forces behind this

Participate in, or else the British Minister will not have just left, and the Imperial Council will be held soon.

Such a move is nothing more than a demonstration to him, asking him, the southward opposition, to retreat in spite of the difficulties.

There is no way, the "three heroes" of the Meiji Restoration have all passed away, and there is no Dinghaishenzhen that can suppress all political forces, and the means of political struggle has become more and more outrageous.

Just like now, these guys are keeping the Prime Minister's secret, contacting the British in private, and even reaching an agreement.

Knowing to know, Ito Bowen is still essentially powerless. Regardless of his famous reputation in later generations, he has never been able to speak his mind.

That is to say, Japan has not yet undertaken a strategic adventure, and the military has not had time to become bigger in the war, and the government can barely suppress them.

If the military gets bigger, whoever dares to fight against them will have a mutiny and change the government in minutes.

...

Saigo Congdao, Minister of the Navy, took the lead and said: "The British have made their position clear, and to support the French, the international situation has undergone a fundamental change.

The outcome of the European Continental War has become clear, the risks we were worried about no longer exist, and all the conditions for implementing the strategy of going south have been met. "

If possible, Xixiang Congdao doesn't want to be this early bird. But there is no way, as the Secretary of the Navy, he doesn't want to get ahead.

Powers gathered in the Nanyang region, and the situation is complicated. Once Japan extends its power, it is bound to greatly expand its navy.

As the biggest beneficiary of the strategy of going south, the high-level naval officials have already unified their opinions, and he is simply not allowed to back down as the Minister of the Navy.

Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Kaoru Inoue: "Xixiang-kun, your so-called European war situation is clear, I am afraid it is too early to say.

As we all know, the strongest British is the Royal Navy, relatively speaking, their army is very general.

Even if the French had the support of the British, it wouldn't make much sense for the continental battle unless the Russians also supported them.

In fact, this is impossible. As we all know, the Russian-Austrian alliance is very stable, and the Russians simply cannot do without Austria.

Unless the tsarist government is in the dark, it will betray its allies and run to support its enemies. "

There is nothing wrong. The UK-Russia negotiations have just begun and they are still in a state of secrecy. The Japanese government's intelligence capabilities are limited, and its tentacles have not yet reached the top of the UK and Russia.

According to the normal mode of thinking, Britain and Russia are at war, and Fao is at war. The enemy of the enemy is a friend. Moreover, Russia and Austria already have an alliance. Now that Britain and France are leaning together, Russia and Austria will naturally stand together.

Britain and France have little chance of winning against Russia and Austria on land. In this context, accepting the invitation of Britain and France to declare war on Austria is unreliable.

Army General Dashanyan: "Inoue-kun, you are overthinking it. Not to mention whether the Russians are willing to send troops to help Austria, what if they win in Europe?

As long as the British were willing to support France, the anti-French alliance was at an absolute disadvantage in the competition for overseas colonies. Austria wants revenge on us, but only if they have the ability to cross the blockade of the Royal Navy.

As far as I know, the allies drawn by Britain and France are not only us, but also several American countries will also participate, the purpose is to seize the overseas colonies of Austria.

We woke up too late, missed the colonial era, and now the land around the world has a master.

Fortunately, the European powers are also full of contradictions, and this continental war is our best chance. As long as we capture the Austrian South Seas, we will have all the coal, iron ore, rubber, food we want. "

Looking at the self-intoxicated Dashanyan, Ito Bowen couldn't help interrupting: "The British are not prepared to form an alliance with us and invite them to participate in the attack on the Austrian Southeast Asia, just because the situation requires it.

No matter how much they promised, most of the interests in the capture of the Austrian South Seas belonged to Britain and France, and only some leftovers belonged to us.

Everyone has studied European history and should know their rules. Even if Austria was defeated in this war, they would still be a great power.

For a little gain, offending a major European country is completely worth the loss. The British will not stand up for us in future retaliation. "

The window paper was pierced, and everyone was dumbfounded. The strong prey on the weak is the essence of this era, and the weak are not qualified to compete with the strong for spoils.

The disparity in strength is too great. Even if Britain and France made more promises, the Japanese government after the war would not be able to make them fulfill. In the face of interests, breach of contract is really normal.

If it is impossible to monopolize the Austrian South China Sea and just follow the British and French to pick up the leaked soup, then launching this war will become completely meaningless.

Although the Japanese military is a little more radical, they are not stupid. The Showa staff of the second grade has not yet been launched, and everyone present is the master of IQ online, so naturally they will not jump into the pit.

Saigo Congdao smiled slightly, pointed to the map on the wall and said, "Ito-kun, we have naturally considered this issue. The British have their abacus, and we also have ours.

Our neighbors do not have an old saying called "fake the road to cut down the Guo". Everyone knows that Austria is not easy to provoke. Just their power in the Southeast Asian region is not something we can eat.

From the beginning to the end, the Austrian Southeast Asia is not our goal. Our real target is still here - the fertile Philippine archipelago.

They chose to cooperate with Britain and France just to use them as a cover, to confuse the Spaniards, and to create opportunities for the capture of the Philippine Islands. "

Hearing this explanation, Ito Hirobumi's solemn expression softened slightly. Compared with attacking the Austrian Southeast Asia, it is obviously more acceptable to bully the Spaniards, at least the risks are within the controllable range.

"Although the plan is good, have you considered the consequences?

Britain and France are not good masters. Knowing that we are using them, we will definitely retaliate in the future.

A bad operation will plunge the empire into a doomed situation. After all, our strength is still too weak to withstand the toss. "

Xixiang Congdao nodded: "This issue has been discussed by our military for a long time. If there is no European War, in any case, we would not dare to do this.

But things are different now. The European powers are divided into two camps: Britain, France, Russia and Austria. The British's continental balance strategy is crumbling, and these powers will ignore us for a while.

Judging from the information collected, the total mobilized forces of the two warring parties have combined to exceed 10 million. If the battle goes on like this, it is difficult for the participants in this continental war to have a real winner, and the final outcome is mostly a lose-lose.

As long as we are more flexible and join the victor in time before the European War is decided, the game will be settled.

Whoever wins the war will be busy licking wounds after the war, and will not fight our ally for such a trivial matter.

If you are lucky, you will be able to share some spoils and improve our international status. "

...