Chapter 710

In St. Peter's Castle, Alexander III couldn't sit still after receiving the news that Britain and France were preparing to form an alliance.

Originally, he hoped to win over the French and gather the strength of France, Russia, and Austria to attack the British. He didn't expect the situation to be reversed so quickly.

Alexander III asked expectantly, "Is the news confirmed?"

Deep down, he hoped that it was just a rumor.

Once Britain and France formed an alliance, the Austrian Navy would be unable to compete with them. The Government of Vienna couldn't compete with the other two countries in the navy.

The ongoing arms race between Britain, France, and France was about to end.

The Government of Vienna's previous promise to use the arms race to contain the British would naturally be a failure.

Although Austria wasn't prepared to fulfill the agreement from the beginning and had prepared an excuse, the Russians didn't know.

After all, the Government of Vienna's reputation was good enough that it hadn't broken the agreement for so many years. Alexander III didn't doubt it at all.

After the arms race ended, the Russian Empire would have to face a rich and powerful Britannia.

Because of the Anglo-French alliance, Austria would also be held back by France, and the Russian Empire could only fight against the British alone.

Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez replied, "The news has been verified. The British Foreign Minister George arrived in Paris as early as half a month ago. The two countries are in the midst of alliance negotiations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered the embassy in Paris to pay close attention to the negotiation process and immediately send back any news. "

Stop, interfere, or destroy?

None of these existed. Britain and France were among the most powerful countries in the world and didn't care about the attitude of the Russians.

Knowing that it was impossible, the Russians naturally wouldn't humiliate themselves. In addition to paying close attention, there wasn't much the Tsarist government could do now.

"Alas!"

After a sigh, Alexander III slowly asked, "We can't stop the Anglo-French alliance. We have lost the best opportunity. Do you think we should continue to attack Central Asia?"

In essence, provoking the war in Central Asia at this time, in addition to rescuing their ally in Afghanistan, was more to take advantage of the situation.

According to the plan, the Tsarist government was prepared to take back Central Asia during the arms race between Britain, France, and France, and push the border into Afghanistan.

The plan didn't include going south to India. This wasn't because the Tsarist government had no ambition for India. The key was that the Russian Empire didn't have the strength to attack India.

War Minister Paladru Walter: "Of course we have to continue! War Minister Paladru Walter: "Of course we have to continue!

As long as we are fast enough, we can conquer the Braha Khanate before the British destroy Afghanistan, and the initiative in the war will be in our hands.

If we miss this opportunity and let the British destroy Afghanistan, we will have to pay a higher price if we want to seize Central Asia in the future.

Moreover, we have to consider the international. We just formed an alliance with Afghanistan, and we immediately sold them out. What would our allies think? "

The Russian military was confident in dealing with the British Army.

Although, Russia Russia Russia Russia Russia had suffered. The War. but Russia Russia "Russian). The Russia Empire suffered.

Most importantly, it was very difficult for the British government to make up its mind to commit millions of troops to fight for Central Asia with the Russian Empire.

If it was just the Indian colonial army, they would be completely defeated by the Russian army. Alexander III nodded. The international reputation of the Russian Empire was bad. He didn't want to be accused of betraying his ally.

Although the Russians often betrayed their allies, the Tsarist government rarely betrayed their allies, at least not in the last few decades.

Although the Russians often betrayed their allies in later generations, the Tsarist government rarely betrayed their allies, at least not in the past few decades.

This time was no exception. It was easy to betray Afghanistan, but the Tsarist government rarely betrayed allies, at least not in the last few decades.

This time was no exception. It was easy to betray Afghanistan, but they had to worry about Austria.

In the past, Alexander Alexander II Of Russia went to war with Prussia for Denmark's ally.

Although the loss was heavy, it also won the reputation of the Tsarist government. It laid a solid foundation for the continuation of the Russo-Austrian Alliance. At least the Tsarist government thought so.

After all, the Russo-Austrian Alliance in the early 1990s could no longer bring many benefits to Austria. On the contrary, the Tsarist government benefited a lot from it.

Seeing that Tsar was moved, the anti-war Minister of Finance, Alisher Gurov, hurriedly objected, "Marquis, you are looking at the problem too one-sidedly.

Central Asia is vast, and the three Khaganates have enmity with us. It is impossible to surrender.

Even if our army progresses smoothly on the battlefield, it is impossible to pacify Central Asia in just a few months.

But the Kingdom of Afghanistan is different. The British only need two regiments of troops to make the Government of Afghanistan compromise.

Everyone knows the terrain of the Regions of Afghanistan. If the British take control of the Regions of Afghanistan one step ahead of us, the war will be difficult to fight.

As long as the war cannot be ended in a short time, it will eventually evolve into a long war of attrition. The British are backed by India. They have the manpower and financial resources to fight us.

In recent years, although the Empire's financial situation has improved, it is only temporary.

The agricultural crisis is approaching. According to the data collected, the Ministry of Finance estimates that this year's grain export revenue will decrease by 11%, and next year it will decrease even more.

Without the burden of the arms race, the Empire can't compete with the British financially. If they persisted in this war with no end in sight, they would only end up with huge debts.

In view of the current complex international situation, the Ministry of Finance recommends using diplomatic means to resolve the conflict in Central Asia and try to maintain the status quo. "

There was no other way. The three Khaganates of Central Asia used to be affiliated with the Tsarist government. It was just that the appetite of the Russians was too big. They wanted to eat them up. In the first Prussian War, they were instigated by the British.

Some things can't be reversed. Since they became traitors, they could only fight to the death with the Russians.

This meant that Central Asia could not be conquered in one battle. With the support of the British, the possibility of the war continuing was very high.

In contrast, the Government of Afghanistan was not looked down upon. A semi-slave and semi-feudal agricultural country, how could they fight the British?

With John Bull's usual method, it was diplomatic and military at the same time. The possibility of forcing the Government of Afghanistan to compromise was very high.

There were too many similar successful cases.

In fact, the original Government of Afghanistan also chose to compromise. It was just that the British's appetite was too big and they were ready to swallow them up.

Without any accident, the British easily defeated the Government of Afghanistan. Then they unexpectedly found that Afghanistan without a government was more terrible.

This point was personally verified by the United States and the Soviet Union in the future. It was very easy to defeat Afghanistan. The problem was to rule the Regions of Afghanistan.

It had not been verified yet. What everyone saw was the power of the Government of Afghanistan. Two regular British regiments were more than enough.

The military problem was still a small problem. As long as there was money, the Tsarist government was fearless.

If you opened the history books, you would find that financial resources were the biggest shortcoming of the Russian Empire. Except for a certain special period, there was no time when the Russian government did not lack money.

Because the agricultural tax allowed the payment of goods, the export of food became the most important income of the Tsarist government. It accounted for more than half of the total export trade.

This agricultural crisis was a game between the big brother, the second brother, and the third brother. As the fourth largest raw food exporter in Europe, the Russians were completely undeserved.

The decrease in the export of food did not mean that the total amount of food exported had decreased, but the international food price had dropped.

In any case, the British's food self-sufficiency plan and the French's big farm plan had some results.

Although the total amount of food imported by the two countries had only dropped by a negligible one or two percent, it was still terrible in the international food trading market.

The overall market was oversupplied, so the price of raw food naturally fell. When the price of food fell, the wallet of the Tsarist government was naturally hurt.

Without money, there was no way to fight a war. In this context, the Minister of Finance, who was in charge of the government's wallet, became the leader of the anti-war faction in the Russian government.

The Minister of War, Palladru Walter, was unmoved: "The government's financial situation is deteriorating, then it is even more necessary to fight this war.

As long as our plan goes smoothly, we will first seize Central Asia, and then attack India in the future. All the problems will be solved.

The problem of the government's lack of financial resources to start this war is only temporary. The Ministry of Finance can find a way to raise funds.

If we don't fight this war, we will never be able to get rid of the financial difficulties. "

There was no problem. The wealth that the British plundered from India every year was more than the revenue of the Tsarist government.

If they really seized India, the financial difficulties faced by the Tsarist government could indeed be easily solved.

Perhaps it was because they suffered during the westward march, no one wanted to do it a second time. The military of Russia was basically in favor of going south to India.

This view also had many supporters in the Tsarist government.

After all, the only enemy they had to face was the British, while the westward march to Europe was the strategy of facing all the European countries.

Even if they failed to face the British, the price they had to pay was very limited.

No matter how good the British were, they could not fight all the way through Central Asia to Siberia. They had a chance to make a comeback.

The westward march to Europe was different. If they made a mistake, they would be attacked by the European countries. The consequences would be much more serious.

If it was light, they would suffer heavy losses, be severely injured, and be paralyzed. If it was heavy, they might even lose their country.

In this respect, the Prussian War was meaningful to the European world. It woke up the greedy polar bear and made an outstanding contribution to the peace and stability of the European world.

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