Chapter 689

While the messy news reports aroused the patriotic sentiment of the people, they also affected the Government of the United Kingdom.

The police department was the first to be affected. Looking at the crowd outside who wanted the government to reveal the truth, James Murray, the Minister of Police, was dumbfounded.

After coming to his senses, James Murray immediately ordered, "Send someone out to explain. The assassination of Waters took place in the Regions of Afghanistan and is not within the jurisdiction of the police department.

If they want to know the truth of the assassination, ask them to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "

No matter how powerful the police department was, they were only responsible for domestic security issues. The assassination that took place abroad had nothing to do with them. James Murray did not want to bear the consequences.

…

The police department was unwilling to get involved in this mess, and neither was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The unlucky Sir George was stopped as soon as he left the door.

A reporter asked, "Dear Sir George, we need to know the truth of the matter. We can't let the hero's blood be shed in vain."

There was nothing wrong with it. Overnight, Waters was portrayed by the media as a hero. Under the coercion and temptation of the enemy, he still insisted on protecting the interests of Britannia.

The assassination did not seem to have anything to do with coercion and temptation, but that was not a problem. The editors of the entertainment news section had already completed the additions in the shortest time possible.

If not for the short amount of time, these guys would probably have imagined a female protagonist and added a romantic love story.

The question was asked by a reporter from the London Daily News. As a political news media, it was relatively fair, but there was no stupid plot.

In the face of a group of reporters, in order to maintain his good image, Foreign Minister George had to bite the bullet and stand up.

"Sir, the truth of the incident is still under investigation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received any relevant information. In fact, we have not established diplomatic relations in Afghanistan yet, nor do we have a diplomatic embassy there.

Waters' visit to Afghanistan was appointed by the Governor General of India. You can go to the Colonial Department for details.

We will pay close attention to the progress of the case, and when there are results, we will make an announcement. "

Although what George said was the truth, that Britain and Afghanistan had not established diplomatic relations, and that Waters was not an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could do nothing but pay attention to the matter. However, this answer did not satisfy the reporters. It was too official.

A reporter asked, "Sir, don't you think you're evading responsibility?

The police department said they couldn't do anything about it, but that's because the assassination happened overseas. The police department had no right to interfere.

We believe this explanation. After all, the police department's jurisdiction is only in the mainland. This is clearly stated by law.

Now you're saying that you want us to go to the Colonial Department to find out the truth on the pretext of not having established diplomatic relations and being appointed by the Viceroy of India. It seems reasonable.

Then do you know that when we passed by the Colonial Department, we already asked them, and they said that foreign affairs are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

In that case, who should be responsible for this assassination case? People want to know the truth. Who will give the answer? "

Waters' assassination involved too many people, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Colonization, and the Police Department could all intervene, but they all had reasons to avoid it.

Now that he was blocked by the reporters, Sir George could only blame his bad luck, except for secretly cursing his colleagues for being black-hearted.

After thinking for a while, Sir George replied seriously, "Sir, your question is very valuable.

"Sir," The Governor General of Kingdom also "Sir". "Sir" Kingdom, "Sir" Kingdom, "Sir. Kingdom," Waters, Sir, Kingdom, Waters, Kingdom, Kingdom. are.

Our government, Empire, and Union of Minister.. "Now that we've encountered a problem, we're panicking.

"The case happened thousands of miles away in Central Asia. None of us know the details. In fact, so far, the government has only received a telegram from India.

"Please give us some time to send someone to investigate. "If you're worried that someone is trying to shirk responsibility, I'll suggest that the various departments form a joint investigation team."

…

It took Sir George a lot of effort to get rid of the reporters. As for the joint investigation team, it was a joke.

It would take at least two months for the investigation team to set off from England to Central Asia.

"What's there to investigate after such a long time? The mastermind behind the scenes has long been dealt with, and it has become a headless case.

…

Sir George didn't choose to bear the pressure alone. Instead, he decisively chose to share it with everyone.

"On the surface, Waters' assassination was done by a religious extremist organization. We don't know if there's a mastermind behind the scenes.

There are too many suspects. In theory, Russia is the biggest suspect. Assassinating Waters can cut off the possibility of Afghanistan falling to our side.

However, this extreme measure is likely to lead to war. Now that Russia is out of reach of the Regions of Afghanistan, provoking a war won't do them any good.

The second suspect is Austria. Not long ago, the Austrian minister to Persia visited Afghanistan, mainly to broker an alliance between Russia and Afghanistan.

It's too much of a coincidence that the Austrian minister just left and the assassination broke out. The problem is that planning this assassination won't do Austria any good.

Once war breaks out, Austria won't be able to stop us from occupying the Regions of Afghanistan. Their only value is probably to interrupt the arms race.

Based on this analysis alone, the French are more suspicious than Austria. After all, the Government of France has the weakest financial resources and is under the most pressure.

Of course, the other countries were also quite suspicious. In order to provoke antagonism between the major powers, many countries have the motive to do this.

It can't be ruled out that there's no mastermind behind the scenes. It could be the work of a religious extremist organization in Afghanistan. After all, Waters has been assassinated many times before.

We have too little information in our hands to lock onto the identity of the enemy. The people want the truth, but the investigation can't be carried out at all.

The Regions of Afghanistan have strong anti-British sentiments. If we send people to investigate, I'm afraid the safety of the members of the investigation team won't be guaranteed.

We can't let the Government of Afghanistan investigate and give us an answer in the end, right? "

Sir George revealed all the possibilities. It was definitely not to track down the real culprit. It was more to let everyone choose the "real culprit."

Britannia pursued interests first. Whoever was the culprit was the most beneficial to Britannia, so whoever was behind the scenes was the mastermind.

The Colonial Secretary, Primrose, sneered, "Sir, we don't have a choice at all, do we?"

That's right, it's a multiple-choice question, but the answer has already been announced.

You can't just randomly pick an enemy to gain the approval of the people. A bunch of reporters chased the government for the truth. If there wasn't an opposition party behind this, no one would believe it.

In fact, the only ones who were trustworthy were the Russian FAO and the weak Afghanistan.

The Royal Navy couldn't go ashore. If they put the blame on a big country, they could only wrangle and it would be impossible to give the domestic people the explanation they wanted.

For the Gladstone cabinet, it was completely asking for trouble.

The Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Astley Cooper Key, warned, "This is a plot by the enemy. They want to provoke a war in Central Asia and ruin our plan to drag down the Russian FAO."

The Lord of the Admiralty's opposition was inevitable. Once a war broke out, the government would have less money to invest in the arms race.

The final result was likely to be a compromise with the Russian FAO and end the arms race.

George Childes, Minister of Finance, said, "Destroying the arms race is not terrible. The trouble is that if we want to stop, the Russian FAO and the Russian FAO may not agree.

If a second war in Afghanistan breaks out, the Russian FAO and the Russian FAO will not be willing to be left out. They will encourage the Russians to confront us in Central Asia while continuing the arms race.

We will be under a lot of pressure! "

It wasn't just pressure, it was clearly exhaustion. Both sides were very important. If anything went wrong, Britannia's hegemony would be shaken.

George, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, "There are no ifs. This is bound to happen. It is uncertain whether the French will support the expansion of the Russian Minister in Central Asia, but Austria will definitely support it.

If possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes to suspend this arms race before the second war in Afghanistan breaks out. "

Astley Cooper Key, Minister of the Admiralty, hurriedly objected, "That's impossible! We can stop, but the Russian FAO and the Russian FAO will not.

If you don't want to see the world's number one naval power change hands after the war, don't make such a joke. "

In international competition, it had always been "take advantage of your weakness, take your life." There was no such thing as mercy.

Not to mention that the Russian FAO Navy surpassed Britannia, even if it was only a tie, it was enough to shake their position as the hegemon of the sea.

In the final analysis, there were now three countries capable of competing for maritime hegemony. If any two of them fought, it would be a fisherman watching from the sidelines.

Once the Royal Navy lost its absolute dominant position, it would only be left with a deterrent effect. It would be impossible to provoke a war where both sides would suffer.

In fact, since ten years ago, the deterrent power of the Royal Navy had been declining. Faced with the Russian FAO and the Russian Navy catching up, the Government of the United Kingdom did not have a good solution.

Seeing that the quarrel had escalated, Prime Minister Gladstone waved his hand to stop it. "Stop, now is not the time to quarrel. The situation seems to be unfavorable to us, but in fact, it is not that bad.

The Regions of Afghanistan were originally ours to take. This assassination only brought forward the time and does not affect our established strategy.

As for the issue of the naval arms race, unless the Russian FAO is willing to stop, we will definitely continue to follow up.

Everyone is worried about nothing more than financial problems, but this is not impossible to solve.

Starting a war is to seek justice for Britannia. When to start, and to what extent, are all up to us.

We can even declare war on the Afghans first and give the people of our country an explanation. For the time being, we will not send troops. When we are ready for war, we will launch an attack. "

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