Chapter 306: The American Backyard Is Riddled with Holes

London, England.

The cabinet was so excited about getting this great bargain. Not only did they get a colony rich in gold, silver, and high-quality timber, but they didn't even have to pay for it. This was simply too lucky to describe.

(The Whigs resigned collectively, but after a series of operations by Queen Victoria, they became the ruling party again. The reason was that the Queen and Lord Russell had a good personal relationship.)

But unlike others, Palmerston was not satisfied with this victory, and he seemed to have found a rule, that is, the French dare not be tough on Britain.

"Gentlemen! Are you satisfied with this?"

The cabinet members turned their heads to look at Palmerston and couldn't help thinking secretly.

"What bad ideas does this guy have? What's wrong with getting such a big victory without spending a single soldier? What a lunatic!"

"Viscount Palmerston, what do you want to say?"

"There are two countries in Central America, Nicaragua and Costa Rica." Palmerston said.

"Are you asking us to invade two independent countries?"

John Russell has always been opposed to Palmerston's radical expansion policy. He thinks that internal relations should be strengthened first to prevent workers' riots and colonial rebellions.

At the same time, John Russell was very jealous of Palmerston's talent because that was exactly what he lacked.

"No! It's protection! Just like we protected Honduras."

Palmerston was not afraid of other people's questions at all. On the contrary, he enjoyed the feeling of challenge.

All the British cabinet members laughed after hearing Palmerston's explanation, only Russell was still gloomy and didn't know what he was thinking.

So, Britain threw an olive branch to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, hoping that these two weak countries could accept the protection of Great Britain.

But it was rejected, so Britain prepared to send troops for a "friendly" negotiation.

But the result of the negotiation was surprising. One of the two troop transport ships ran aground, so the two ships were forced to anchor on the coast. As a result, they were ambushed by local armed forces as soon as they landed. 700 soldiers, 130 missing, 75 dead, and 201 injured.

The British had to temporarily give up the idea of ​​negotiation, or send a larger negotiation team. But they soon understood the reason for the disastrous defeat, because the two countries declared themselves Austrian protectorates and released British prisoners.

Although Austria was not a naval power, let alone a colonial power, Britain would not go to war with the powers casually, even if it was a landlubber.

Moreover, it was a routine operation of this era for emerging independent countries to find a big brother in Europe to protect them. It was understandable that Nicaragua and Costa Rica chose Austria.

Palmerston was extremely dissatisfied. He felt that this was an Austrian conspiracy and demanded that troops be sent to attack Nicaragua and Costa Rica from land and seize Austrian merchant ships.

But this time his proposal was fiercely opposed by the cabinet. Britain could not fall out with Austria for two pieces of rotten land, and the French had also extended their influence into Central America. If the two countries joined forces, the situation would be unfavorable to Britain.

From the perspective of global hegemony, France and Austria are both objects that Britain needs to win over, and they cannot be allowed to turn to Russia. In addition, the experience of the French in Central America and their own experience in Afghanistan made the British government very afraid of mountain warfare.

Palmerston insisted that "the French would never dare to be enemies with Britain!", but no one was willing to take this risk, let alone take this risk.

At the same time, the US President once again protested that the colonial behavior of European powers in America was a blasphemy against the Monroe Doctrine.

John Tyler, then President of the United States, reiterated the content of the Monroe Doctrine.

1. Require European countries not to colonize in the Western Hemisphere. This principle not only opposes the expansion of Western European countries into Latin America, but also opposes the expansion of Russia on the west coast of North America;

2. It requires Europe not to interfere in the affairs of independent countries in the Americas;

3. It guarantees that the United States will not interfere in European affairs, including the affairs of Europe's existing colonies in the Americas.

However, for the European powers, this is just a joke that is not funny. Austria and Britain have close trade relations with the United States, so they did not make a clear statement.

However, France, because of its alliance with Spain and the fact that both sides have a lot of interests in the Americas, would never accept the so-called "Monroe Doctrine". It openly accused the United States of wanting to monopolize the American continent and resolutely refused to accept the intimidation of the Americans, and was ready to go to war if there was a disagreement.

The previous disastrous defeat in Texas was still fresh in the minds of the generals of the US Army. Although the size of the US Army had expanded more than five times than at that time, no general dared to say that he could take Texas, let alone San Antonio.

In fact, let alone San Antonio, even the Dallas Fortress, the northern gate of Texas, was not sure that the US military could capture it, because the French built a huge bastion fortress group there.

There was even a contradiction within the US military about declaring war on France. The army demanded to blockade France at sea, but at this time there were six French battleships anchored in the Port of Houston, and these big guys were not something that the small-tonnage cruisers of the United States could deal with.

At this time, the Port of Houston had been named "Port Philip" by the French to commemorate their great king.

John Tyler's historical evaluation as a US president is not high, not because of his lack of ability, but simply because he stood on the wrong side. After his death, he was "whipped" by Lincoln, which made him the most unpopular president in American history.

But in fact, he was very capable. It was John Tyler who annexed Texas in history, successfully squeezed the British out of Oregon, redrawn the US-Canada border, resolved the Anglo-American contradictions by diplomatic means, and forced other countries to sign one unequal treaty after another by despicable means.

He brutally plundered the Indians internally and thwarted the conspiracy of the big industrial and commercial bourgeoisie to manipulate finance and monopolize federal power; he signed the "Preemptive Purchase Act", which is the most important land measure passed by the US government since its establishment. Reform the navy, rectify taxes, and bloodily suppress rebellions.

John Tyler judged that the US military was not prepared for war at all based on the military's rhetoric, so he had to make concessions to France.

However, the United States did not recognize France's rights to Central America, and secretly funded anti-French, anti-British, and anti-Austrian forces, hoping to mobilize the locals to drive the Western powers out of America.

What was even more terrifying was that the Americans, by some unknown method, had rescued La Mozan from prison.

But the situation he faced at this time was much more severe than in history. Britain, France, and Austria had all entered America. Although Mexico was still in civil war, it was much better than the Mexico that had an average of more than 100 riots a year and a new government every four months.