Chapter 320

It went without saying what would happen to the Moroccan tribes, who already hated Spain, after obtaining a large number of weapons and ammunition.

Since the arms sellers had put on the British disguise, it was even easier to continue to pretend that the Government of the United Kingdom supported the Moroccan anti-Western movement.

With the precedent of supporting the Cuban independence movement, it was also very natural to secretly support the Moroccan anti-Western movement.

At least with the thinking pattern of the Moroccan tribal chiefs, there was no reason to doubt it. What's more, other things could be deceived, but real weapons and ammunition could not lie.

The difference in perception filled the last loophole in this scam. The chiefs could never have imagined that the weapons and ammunition, which were invaluable in their eyes, were not much more expensive than potatoes and wheat in the eyes of another group of people.

Guns were the courage of the Moroccans. As the saying went, "With a gun in the hand, there is no fear in the heart." The chiefs, who got their hands on the weapons, suddenly had the confidence to face the Spanish colonists.

There was no such thing as swallowing humiliation. One had to know that they had the support of the British Empire. Looking at the British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar, it brought unparalleled confidence to the chiefs.

Driven by hatred and profit, the Spanish immigrants in the Moroccan area were unlucky. Being hit by a stick was nothing at all. Those who could keep their lives were considered lucky. The unlucky ones were all sent to see God.

Fortunately, there were no cannibal tribes in the Moroccan area, or they might have to go to the barbecue grill.

There was nothing wrong with the government taking the blame for civil conflicts. The decadent Moroccan government could not control the tribes under it, but it did not dare to offend the great powers.

The original time and space was the same. The Spanish and the Moroccan tribes fought several wars, and the Moroccan government pretended to be deaf and dumb.

The decadent Moroccan Government of Sudan was worried, and the Spanish government, which was in endless trouble, was also not feeling well at the moment.

On the one hand, the personal and property safety of the expatriates must be guaranteed; on the other hand, the tired Spain was no longer able to open a third front.

The strong diplomatic stance was actually just a bluff. The indigenous tribes did not buy it, and it was useless to scare the Moroccan government.

…

Madrid, cabinet room.

From the moment he entered the meeting, Prime Minister Antonio tapped the table with his fingers, as if he was lost in endless thought.

"Everyone is here, so let's start today's meeting! I believe you have all received the news. What we worried about the most has happened.

After the rebellions in the Philippines and Cuba, the Moroccan region is also unstable. The indigenous tribes, which are hostile to us, have received funding from the British and are making trouble for us.

What measures should be taken to protect the interests of the Empire is the topic we need to discuss today. "

Whether or not the British supported the Moroccans against the West, it must be the British who supported it. It was a political necessity.

Now, whether the Spanish government liked it or not, it had to stand against the English.

The Vienna government's money wasn't for nothing. If they didn't take a stand, it wouldn't be just Morocco that would be in turmoil, but Spain as well.

Holy Empire's influence on the European continent was much more terrifying compared to the infamous England that was separated by the Straits.

If the government in Vienna stopped supporting them and supported the revolutionaries, not only would Spain lose its colonies, but it would also fall into chaos at home.

Although the Vienna government, as the stronghold of the conservatives, could not support the Revolutionary Party, the Spanish government did not know that.

No one could say for sure when it came to politics. In politics, there were too many stories of people shouting about fighting and killing while secretly providing support.

Since the relationship between the British and the West had always been bad, and recently, the British had almost killed them on the colonial issue, they might as well go all the way and directly rebel against the British.

Of course, the Spanish government's anti-British efforts were limited to shouting a few slogans to express their position. The Holy Roman Empire was the one to bear the heavy responsibility of anti-British.

If the British Isles were to decline, Antonio would not mind immediately rushing forward to add insult to injury. Otherwise, it would be better to leave a way out.

"Military means are not advisable. The war in the Philippines is not over, and the suppression of the Cuban rebellion is at a critical moment. Not only can the military not bear it, but the finance can't either! "

Finance Minister Siegfried said in a meaningful tone. It was not that he wanted to help the military, but the government's pockets were not big enough.

Although the Foreign Affairs Minister went out and borrowed two large sums of money, which was more than expected, no amount of money could keep up with the consumption of a gold-swallowing beast.

Under everyone's expectant gaze, Foreign Affairs Minister Junor frowned. His good mood was gone in an instant.

"Don't have too much hope. The Kingdom of Morocco only has nominal authority over the tribes below. Even if we reach an agreement with them, we can't restrain the natives below.

They can't expect us to negotiate with the uncivilized native tribes, right? There are thousands of tribes in Morocco, big and small, more than our diplomats. "

Deep in his heart, Junor was already complaining. Do they really think that the Foreign Affairs Minister is omnipotent and can solve everything?

They know that the situation in Morocco is unstable, and someone is manipulating it from behind, and they still expect to solve it through negotiations. It's simply …

The Colonial Minister, Marquis Taboada, said indifferently, "Military can't be done, and diplomacy can't be done. We can't just ignore it, can we?

Those uncivilized natives don't know what international rules are. If the government doesn't take measures soon to crack down on their arrogance, I'm afraid the next attack will not be an exception.

Spain's face has been trampled on to the ground. If we continue to let it go, I'm sure everyone knows what will happen in the future. "

In fact, the conflict between Spain and the native tribes in Morocco was not the first or second time.

In order to solve this crisis, the Spanish government had sent troops many times. However, the final result was very touching.

In the original timeline, Spain and the Moroccans had been fighting until 1926. In the end, they had to join forces with the French to divide and occupy the northern Morocco region.

Although the original timeline lost its richest colony in the Spanish-American War and Spain's national strength suffered a heavy blow, the current Spain was not much better.

Apart from taking back the Lusiyong region, which was more glorious on the surface, there was not much difference in essence.

Although Cuba and the Philippines were in their hands, these two colonies were fighting for independence. Not only could they not transfuse blood to the country, but they also had to constantly suck blood from the Spanish government.

Any government would have a headache when faced with such a dilemma.

Not to mention the Spanish government, which was not efficient at all. They had meetings and discussions every day, but they couldn't come up with a feasible plan.

…

London.

As the international situation continued to deteriorate, as the well-deserved hegemon of this era, John Bull naturally wouldn't sit still and wait for death.

It was almost an open secret that the Government of Vienna used diplomatic means to constantly besiege Britannia. Due to geopolitical constraints, the Government of the United Kingdom had no way to compete with Shinra on the European continent.

Anyone with a discerning eye knew that the longer it dragged on according to the current pace, the more disadvantageous it would be for Britannia.

But it had to drag on. Although the Holy Roman Empire was Britannia's biggest competitor, the development of the two sides was completely different.

One was based on land power, supplemented by sea power as a wing; the other was completely based on sea power and gave up the development of land power.

If they really laid their cards on the table now, no one could do anything about it. The key was that in the war of attrition, Britannia was likely to be dragged to death by the other side.

The population was insufficient, the industry could not catch up, and there was a lack of allies. How could the Government of the United Kingdom dare to lay their cards on the table?

If they didn't shed all pretense of cordiality, Britannia's hegemony could still be maintained. Once they really fell out, it was possible that they would fall immediately.

A rational government would naturally not play with unfashionable gambling on the fate of the country. Going to the gambling table at every turn was not suitable for players who were already wearing shoes.

As an old-school empire, Britannia was best at being a sh * t-stirrer. It was just that the current situation in Europe limited their play.

But these difficulties did not scare the British. If there were no conditions, then they would create their own conditions.

Attacking Spain was just the first step. It seemed that Britannia did not gain anything from it, but it cut off an arm of Shinra's help.

The only problem was that they overestimated Spain's strength and misjudged Spain's importance to Shinra.

But this could only be considered Spain's bad luck. Britannia did not want to fight against the three major powers with their own opinions. They had to find an opportunity to divide the relationship between Russia and Shinra.

The Russo-Austrian Alliance was not easy to break, so they could only start with Spain. They did succeed in sowing discord between Russia and Spain, but Spain was almost crippled, and the hatred between the two countries grew.

New hatred and old hatred added together, and the relationship between England and Spain was completely cold. Fortunately, Spain had declined and was unable to retaliate. Otherwise, the Government of London would have failed this time.

It did not matter if the process was tortuous, as long as the final result was good, it was fine.

Although there was not much real gain, they pulled Spain down and Britannia was still the nominal winner.

They crushed the possible "Austria-Russia anti-British alliance". That's right, just because of a "possibility", it led to the demise of Spain.

At this stage, the competition between the superpowers was just this cruel. If they felt threatened, they could beat you down. The reason was that simple.

At 10 Downing Street, the British cabinet meeting began again.

Prime Minister Robert Cecil: "The Russo-Austrian Alliance has lasted for almost half a century. If we trace back, it can also continue to the last century.

After a long period of alliance, the interests of the two countries have been intertwined. It is difficult for us to separate them by relying on traditional methods.

But this alliance is too big of a threat to us. Once we fall out one day, we will face the threat of two major powers.

Russia will go south to India, and Shinra will fight its way out of the Mediterranean. The four continents of Asia, Europe, the United States, and Africa will all become battlefields. The Empire does not have the ability to deal with so many fronts at the same time.

The time to test us has come. If Britannia's hegemony is to continue, we must break the Russo-Austrian Alliance.

At the very least, when there is a conflict, one of the countries must remain neutral. The Empire cannot face two enemies at the same time.

There is not much time left for us. The Central Asian Railway built by the Government of Vienna for the Russians has been completed one-third of the project. The railway is likely to open to traffic before 1900. "

Robert Cecil only mentioned the Russo-Austrian Alliance and did not talk about the European Alliance. Naturally, it was not that Robert Cecil neglected it. The main reason was that the Russo-Austrian Alliance was deeply rooted, while the European Alliance was just a grassroots team.

Although the European Alliance played an important role in dealing with the previous economic crisis and intervening in the Philippine Campaign, it strengthened the cohesion of the alliance.

But a grassroots team was a grassroots team. It was not something that could be done in a short time to straighten out the grievances within the alliance.

It was not a problem to let the European countries be the wings and wave the flag. If these countries really sent troops to war with Britannia, Vienna's reputation would not be so good.

Of course, the most important thing was still strength. After Spain was abolished, there were only two large countries in the European Alliance, Russia and Austria. Even if the other countries dared to participate in the hegemony dispute, they did not have enough strength.

Even if Shinra found a way to drag these small countries into the water, they could not really expect these fence-sitters to really contribute. The existence of the European Alliance was purely of political significance rather than military significance.

In contrast, the Russo-Austrian Alliance was the existence that Britannia had to face. Russia would take India, and Shinra would take the remaining colonies and hegemony of Britannia. The distribution of interests was clear at a glance.

Foreign Minister Cameron: "We have tried to divide the relationship between Russia and Austria, but the final result is known to everyone. Every time it is futile.

The Tsarist government's bureaucrats have been corrupted by interests. The Russo-Austrian Alliance is tied to their personal interests. Anyone who wants to cut off their source of wealth will be fiercely attacked.

Needless to say, the Government of Vienna is terrifyingly stable. There is also the most prestigious emperor since the establishment of the House of Habsburg.

If that was all, it would be fine. The key is that after the Tsarist government's strategy moved south, there is no core conflict of interests between Russia and Austria.

No matter how we provoke the relationship between the two countries, the first strategic goal of Russia has always been India, while the strategic goal of Shinra is world hegemony.

Coincidentally, we have blocked the path of Russia and Austria at the same time and become their common enemy. "

Common enemy + common interests = the closest allies.

The truth formula was placed here, and no one could overturn it. It was indeed difficult to expect the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to break up the Russo-Austrian Alliance.

"How about we divert the trouble?"

Economic Minister Aquinas suggested, "The strategic goal of the Russians is not only India. There is also a land in the east that is as rich as India.

The Tsarist government also has a Yellow Russian strategy. The only problem is transportation. Since the Austrians can help the Russians build the Central Asian Railway, we can also help the Russians build the Siberian Railway.

With the greed of the Tsarist government, they will not give up their ambitions for the East. If they can become the boss, no one is willing to be the bitter second.

It is impossible for the Russians not to know that once Shinra gains hegemony, it will be the end of the honeymoon period between the two countries.

Once Shinra gains hegemony, even if they conquer India, the strength between Russia and Austria will not shrink, but will further widen.

We are now providing them with a new option, a chance to surpass Shinra. The Tsarist government has no reason to refuse. "

In the industry of digging pits and burying mines, Britain was definitely at the grandmaster level.