Chapter 355: Cooperation Brings Benefits to Both Sides, While Fighting Brings Losses to Both Sides.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz was very willing to see Britain and France go to confrontation. After all, a cannon shot was worth a fortune, and being a middleman or a second-hand dealer was the most profitable. If you don't believe it, you can look at the history of the United States.

In order to make Britain and France reach the current situation, Franz spent a lot of effort and used a lot of financial resources, but more of it was just creating rifts between Britain and France, making it difficult for the two sides to reach cooperation easily.

After all, Britain was too powerful at this time, and it had gained many fans around the world, causing many countries' senior officials to be pro-British.

This exaggerated political influence gave Franz a headache, so he had to weaken its influence, otherwise there would be no need to fight at all. As soon as he came to the negotiating table, Britain had a 50% chance of winning. How could it play?

For this reason, this war must be fought, otherwise Britain and France will discover an "objective law", that is, as long as they reach an agreement, they can divide the world.

At this time, the United States was too far away from its time, Russia was still trapped in the bathtub of the Black Sea, and the Prussian navy was like a toy.

Although the navies of Portugal and the Netherlands started early, their upper limits were too low and they were already on the decline. As for the Kingdom of Sweden, due to its population and location, it could only be a theoretical power.

The Ottoman Empire's navy was once the overlord of the Near East, but after two heavy blows, it was already in decline, and its ideas were even more behind the times. It was one of the few countries that continued to develop sailing battleships in this era.

The Austrian Empire had money, technology, and naval experts at this time, but the Adriatic Sea limited its upper limit very low. At this time, the British Mediterranean Fleet could blockade it at any time if it wanted, and the rest was just a matter of cost.

In order to avoid this situation of dividing the world into two, Franz had to think intensively about how to split it up. Although there has never been a situation in history where Britain and France divided the world, at this time, from an objective perspective, they did have the strength to do so.

Divide the world? It sounds ridiculous and absurd, but in fact, as early as 1493, Spain and Portugal successively formulated the "Papal Meridian" under the witness of the Pope, and signed the "Treaty of Tordesillas" and "Treaty of Zaragoza", and the two countries successfully divided the world.

Although they all declined in the end, resulting in the failure of the agreement to divide the world, it also proved that it is not impossible to divide the world.

Colonization and industry are the two major themes of this era. If Austria gave up the overseas route, the ending and the upper limit would not be much better than the allies in history.

Buenos Aires, Governor's Palace.

The warm morning light shines lazily on people.

Buenos Aires, the most developed city in the Viceroyalty of La Plata, is now less lively.

Juan Manuel raised the banner against Rosas (the current president). Juan Manuel was very appealing in southern Argentina. In addition, Rosas's cruel rule had long made him lose the hearts of the people. Soon, in addition to the seven southern provinces, some northern provinces also rebelled.

Argentina has a total of 24 provinces, but the population at that time was mainly concentrated in the southeastern coastal provinces.

Rosas first sent a 2,000-man force to try to defeat the rebels, but the troops sent turned against the enemy due to long-term arrears of military pay.

Then, Rosas fell into chaos. He issued many contradictory orders in succession. On the one hand, he ordered the troops besieging Montevideo to resolve the war within a week, and on the other hand, he asked them to return to Buenos Aires within three days. At the same time, he sent a letter of assistance to Uruguay, asking for help from the other side to quell the rebellion.

Rosas also sent letters of assistance to many countries, including Spain (former colonial master), Brazil (mortal enemy), the United States, Mexico and other countries in addition to Britain and France. Even Austria received his letter of assistance.

In Buenos Aires, the Obu trees fluttered in the wind, and the blooming peach blossoms and the orange-yellow kapok flowers complemented each other.

The residents in the city were gathered in the square, and the crowd was silent because this was the fifth group of people hanged by Rosas in three days.

At first, it was some political prisoners and bandits, then the family members and relatives of the rebels, and then the friends, neighbors, colleagues, and partners of the rebels were all hanged. In the end, anyone with the same name or surname as the rebels was driven to the gallows. Now, those who were to be hanged were those who Rosas thought might rebel.

Some people must have doubts, how could such a cruel ruler have soldiers who would work for him, after all, they might die if they were not careful.

But in fact, Rosas treated his execution team very well, and these people had complete immunity in Argentina. At the same time, any questioning of the leader's orders would be regarded as betrayal and end up like a traitor.

So naturally there would be a lot of people willing to work for Rosas. The square was full of gallows, and batches of people were hanged. The people in the audience were silent, fearing to look at this terrifying ruler.

The bodies of the dead were thrown together at random, and then burned by a fire, floating out of the city with the kapok flowers.

In the temporary command post of the rebels outside the city, the eighteen rebel kings were discussing the issue of how to divide the spoils after defeating Rosas.

Some planned to rob the city for seven days to celebrate after entering it, some thought that they should massacre the city first to prevent Rosas from making a comeback, some proposed to restore the monarchy and invite the king from Europe, and some advocated inviting Saint Martin back from Paris to take charge of the situation.

Of course, some people wanted to be king or president, but the rebels at that time always lacked an absolutely strong force, that is, there was no political or military strongman, so they quarreled before entering the city.

At the same time, the French and British armies met off the coast of Buenos Aires. There was no battle between the two sides, but they just showed off their muscles a few kilometers away.

In the end, the French army landed in San Matias Bay. They chose to avoid a head-on conflict with the British Royal Navy. The generals on both sides were not all crazy. They knew what would happen once the war started.

Soldiers may not be afraid of death, but no one wants to die.

The fishermen in San Matias Bay looked at the well-equipped French army, either running away desperately or hiding in their homes and kneeling to pray.

This hurt the French officers and soldiers who claimed to be "liberators". The French official explanation for this war was to rescue the people of the Viceroyalty of La Plata and return it to its real owner (Spain).

Rosas was a dictator for more than ten years and had forced French expatriates to death. There was no need to spread rumors for his bad deeds. French soldiers certainly felt that they were on the righteous side when facing such people.

At the same time, both France and Spain were under the rule of the Bourbon dynasty, and King Louis Philippe's youngest son Antoine would marry Queen Isabel II of Spain, so the French still had a high degree of recognition of this war.

However, the French officers and soldiers were still very hurt by the "incomprehension" of local civilians.

Outside Buenos Aires, including the French reinforcements, the total strength of the rebels had reached 13,000. Rosas had only 9,000 troops, but there was a 3,000-man British expeditionary force in the port.