Chapter 383

After leaving the conference room, Hutier and the others' faces darkened. Clearly, everyone was not impressed by Lieutenant General Jarrett's boasting.

They didn't show it at the meeting because their words didn't carry much weight. The others were lieutenant generals, and the highest-ranking person in the Austrian delegation was only a lieutenant colonel.

In addition, the senior officials of the rebel army obviously trusted the British more. Directly questioning the other party in public would only offend them and serve no purpose.

Back at the camp, the most active Major Potiorek couldn't help but say, "Do you think that guy might have received money from the French and deliberately …"

Lieutenant Colonel Hutier interrupted, "Impossible! He's a lieutenant general of the Empire where the sun never sets. No matter what, he wouldn't betray the country for a little money.

Actually, Lieutenant General Jarrett isn't completely without merit. At least he's more reliable than the senior officials of the rebel army. "

Merit?

Unfortunately, Hutier really couldn't find it. Lieutenant General Jarrett's military deployment, in theory, wasn't a problem at all.

Everything had been accounted for, but the rebel army's ability to execute had been neglected.

Including the last ambush, in theory, there wasn't a problem. It was just that the rebel army's combat power was too trashy, which led to the defeat.

Since they couldn't compete with the good, they could only compete with the bad. Lieutenant General Jarrett might be a little rigid and bureaucratic, but he was still more reliable than the senior officials of the rebel army.

Major Potiorek shook his head. "I'm afraid there's a limit to how strong he is. Jarrett's combat experience is limited to suppressing colonial rebellions, not instigating them. "

It couldn't be helped. Britannia hadn't fought a war for many years. The most recent war was with Austria over South Africa, and it ended in failure.

After losing the war, there was naturally no future to speak of. The officers who participated in the war back then were either retired or transferred to civilian work.

Now, the representatives sent out were also the tall ones chosen by the short ones. Lieutenant General Jarrett stood out after suppressing the miners' rebellion in Australia.

Farjinn smiled. "Actually, there's nothing bad about this. With Jarrett in charge of the rebel army, at least it can ensure that the rebel army won't surrender easily.

According to the battle plan just announced, isn't our mission to feint an attack on Ugsur? We can pass through it and enter the hinterland of Egypt. "

Since "he won't surrender easily" had become a reason, Seiji had nothing to say about his expectations.

Hutier nodded. "It's decided then. Contact our people and airdrop a batch of compressed biscuits. No one can guarantee that we can get supplies after we leave the camp. "

The biggest taboo for a lone army to penetrate deep into enemy territory was logistics. With nearly ten thousand troops resupplying on the spot, it was unknown whether or not the food they collected could fill their stomachs.

With nearly 10,000 troops resupplying behind the enemy lines, it was whether they could fill their stomachs.

In the command center of the Rebel Army, Lieutenant General Jarrett was staring at the map and worrying. In the rebel army, Lieutenant general Jarrett was staring at the map and worrying.

Not to mention leading this motley crew, even if he was asked to command the British Army and the French to fight, Jarrett wasn't confident.

The French's title of "The World's Strongest Army" was earned on the battlefield. The armies of all the European countries were the stepping stones for the French army to reach the top. Anyone would feel psychological pressure when facing such an enemy.

Mahdi asked in a deep voice, "General Jarrett, is it possible to send the 8th Division to attack Ugsur? Why don't we send the 6th Division as well?"

After a moment of silence, Jarrett cautiously reminded, "Your Excellency, this is a feint, not an actual attack.

The French garrison in Ugsur had two regiments. If they wanted to take this place, not to mention the 8th Division, even the 6th Division would not be able to do it.

We just need to make a gesture to attract the French's attention and buy time for the main force to rest. "

Deep in his heart, Jarrett had a strong sense of distrust towards the leadership of the Rebel Army's upper echelons.

If it wasn't for political reasons, he wouldn't mind joining forces with the Austrians.

No matter what, Hutier and the others came from a proper military school. They were more reliable than the "rebel army's higher-ups."

Otherwise, Jarrett wouldn't have given such an important mission to the 8th Division.

Regardless of whether they were on opposing sides, Britain and Austria had the same interest in causing trouble for France.

…

The war in Egypt started to burn, and the Government of London was in trouble. The enemy didn't play by the rules. They didn't confront them directly but went to find trouble with the Persian government.

The Persian government was willing to sign the treaty not only because of military threats and diplomatic blackmail, but also because the Government of the United Kingdom promised to solve the diplomatic problem.

In other words, the British obtained the diplomatic power of Persia and took charge of the Persian Empire's foreign affairs.

Now it was time for Britannia to fulfill its promise, but the Government of the United Kingdom was powerless. A secret treaty was a secret treaty because it couldn't see the light of day.

Russia and Austria pretended to be ignorant and ignored the existence of the secret treaty. They wanted to sign a free trade agreement with Persia, which put the Government of London in a difficult position.

"Free trade" was Britannia's flag. As the biggest beneficiary of the free trade system, the Government of the United Kingdom couldn't jump out to stop free trade.

Slapping their own face was a small problem. If the free trade system collapsed, it would be a huge loss.

Gladstone asked, "Have the Russians stopped their little tricks in Central Asia?"

Foreign Minister George shook his head. "It's still the same. The Russians have no intention of restraining themselves at all. Not long ago, the Cossack cavalry looted a small tribe in the Bukhara Khaganate."

Gladstone's brows furrowed even tighter. It wasn't just ineffective; it was clearly getting worse.

If they couldn't crack down on the arrogance of the Russians, the Central Asian countries would have to start reconsidering the issue of choosing sides again.

The Tsarist government wasn't a reckless man who only knew how to fight and kill. Although they lacked diplomatic means, they still had diplomacy.

No one could guarantee that the Russians wouldn't support the pro-Russian faction to take power and annex Central Asia in a more moderate way.

Especially now that the Russian Empire was in a weak state, it was not suitable to provoke a war. Diplomatic means were more important.

This could be seen from the power structure within the Tsarist government in recent years. The Foreign Minister's voice in the government was growing, second only to the Minister of Finance.

After hesitating for a while, Gladstone made a decision. "Directly confront the Russians and tell the Tsarist government:

Either stop their little tricks in Central Asia and promise not to expand in Central Asia, or fight a war in Central Asia!

At the same time, send people to join the negotiations between Russia, Austria, and Poland to destroy it as much as possible. "

If they didn't solve the Central Asian problem now, it would be even more difficult to solve when the Russians recovered.

In contrast, the interests of Persia were still a small problem. It was essentially a test. Taking Persia's interests alone was too much of a provocation.

…

Plans never changed quickly. Before the British intervened, the negotiations between Russia, Austria, and Poland came to an end.

On April 28, 1885, under the diplomatic pressure exerted by Russia and Austria, coupled with some fooling at the negotiating table, the Persian official in charge of the negotiations signed the "Three Countries Free Trade Agreement" in a daze.

Perhaps it wasn't that the Persian official who participated in the negotiations was deliberately confused. Compared to the Anglo-Persian secret treaty, which was full of unequal content, the "Three Countries Free Trade Agreement" was much more harmonious.

There were not so many additional conditions. On the surface, it seemed that everyone was trading fairly and did not directly violate the sovereignty of the Persian Empire.

The Persian government wasn't all fools. There were also many smart people who could distinguish who was the main enemy and who was the secondary enemy.

Compared to the idiot who signed the Anglo-Persian secret treaty, this Persian official who was deliberately "confused" was much smarter.

Instead of being led by the nose by Russia and Austria, he directly copied the agreements of the countries in the "Free Trade System".

For the Persian Empire, which was in a precarious situation, it was already a great diplomatic victory to be able to obtain a treaty that seemed to be equal.

…