Chapter 747

On the battlefield of Afghanistan, after a series of bitter battles, the British army successfully defeated the main force of the Government of Afghanistan.

On July 16, 1888, the British army successfully captured Kabul after paying more than 3,000 casualties. The remaining Government of Afghanistan was forced to retreat to the Hindu Kush Mountains.

After finally winning this great victory, the British didn't hide it anymore. The Government of London immediately made an announcement to the outside world.

Looking at the British showing off their achievements, Franz was also a little worried. This ending was too unexpected. The Government of Afghanistan couldn't even hold on for half a year.

The British occupied Kabul, and the Russians were still fighting with the Central Asian Khaganates. Once the British army penetrated Afghanistan and directly connected with the Central Asian Khaganates, the Russians would have a hard time fighting later on.

This was completely different from the original plan. Originally, Franz wanted to stall for more time in Afghanistan and let the Russians push all the way to British India to provoke the British.

Without being provoked, the Government of London would certainly not fight to the death with the Russians. It was very likely that they would stop after occupying the Regions of Afghanistan.

As for the three Central Asian Khaganates, most likely they would save them. If they couldn't save them, it was not impossible to sell them and compromise with the Russians.

Perhaps in the years to come, the Regions of Afghanistan would become a heavy burden for the British, but the Russians wouldn't be weakened too much.

It was better not to have such an aggressive ally like the Russian Empire. Otherwise, people wouldn't be able to sleep.

After rubbing his forehead, Franz said helplessly, "Approve the war loan to the Russians. Now the Tsarist government needs our support."

There was no other way. They couldn't influence the Government of the United Kingdom, so they could only encourage the Tsarist government. Now they could only hope that the Hairy Bear was greedy and would fight to the death with the British for India.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg said, "Your Majesty, this is not the right time to show goodwill. It seems too deliberate.

If the Russians want to get a war loan, it's best to go through the formal procedures and let them take out a mortgage.

In case people find out that we want to provoke a war between Britain and Russia and cause unnecessary trouble. "

Politics needed to be framed. It was true that Austria wanted to provoke a war between Britain and Russia, but it was impossible to say it out loud.

From the beginning, the Government of Vienna had no interest in the war in Central Asia and was forced to support the Russians of the Russo-Austrian Alliance.

They were cheering for the Russians because they shared a common enemy. They had absolutely no intention of stirring up trouble.

It didn't matter if other people believed it or not, the government of Vienna believed it.

"Yes!"

Franz nodded in agreement. The current situation was not suitable for Austria to do too much.

But they couldn't do nothing. If they allowed the situation to develop on its own, Austria's strategic goals would not be achieved.

Prime Minister Karl: "The British and Russian governments aren't fools. Now that the situation has developed to this point, it's no longer possible to achieve our strategic goal from the top.

Perhaps we should change our mindset. To intensify the conflict between the two countries, we don't necessarily need the consent of the two governments.

With the development of the war, it is only a matter of time before the United Kingdom and Russia border. Once there is no buffer between the two sides, it will be much easier to create conflict.

Up until now, the British have only invested five Indian colonial divisions and a small number of native troops. The combat power of these troops is very limited.

They can deal with the Government of Afghanistan, but it is impossible to deter the Russians. We just need to push them in the dark and let the radicals of the Russian Army make a move. "

After listening to the Prime Minister's explanation, Franz suddenly found himself in a misunderstanding. In this era of the law of the jungle, everything had to be decided by "strength."

The British seemed to have the upper hand, but the Indian colonial division really couldn't control the situation. Not only would it not deter the Russians, but it would also stimulate the ambitions of the Russians.

It wasn't impossible to change this. They could immediately expand the land force and transfer hundreds of thousands of regular troops from the mainland to confront the Russians.

It didn't seem difficult to operate, but the problem was that expanding the army also cost money.

This wasn't a one-time cost, but a long-term cost. As long as the Russian Empire didn't decline, Britannia must deploy a large number of troops in the Regions of Afghanistan.

Affected by this, Britannia was no longer a simple country with sea power. It also had to develop land power. Although the "land" wasn't the mainland, the importance of India was less than the mainland.

The land force took up a lot of military expenses. In the long run, it was bound to affect the development of the Royal Navy.

It wasn't just these problems. Franz thought of more. It seemed that the British occupied Kabul, but the resistance of the Afghans still hadn't stopped.

It couldn't be seen in the short term because the territory occupied by the British was not large. When the entire Afghanistan was occupied, it would be a problem if the Indian divisions could maintain local order.

Seeing a chaotic Afghanistan, there was no reason for the Russians not to be tempted.

As long as the Russians made a move, the Government of the United Kingdom couldn't refuse to fight. At most, they could be a financial backer and spend money to let the British and Russians fight.

It was better to spend a sum of money now and weaken two competitors at the same time than to spend more money in the future and play the game himself.

"The Prime Minister is right. We really need to change our mindset and take the lower path. Let the intelligence department be in charge of provoking the conflict between the British and Russians.

The Ministry of Finance will prepare for this. In addition to the war loan of 50 million BD, prepare 300 million BD for the Russians in the next three years. This time, we will support the Russians to fight to the end. "

Being a financial backer didn't mean that all the money was paid by Austria. Most of the war costs still had to be paid by the Tsarist government themselves.

For example, the most common food, the Tsarist government had a lot of it in their warehouse. They just had to transport it over.

Relatively speaking, the gray livestock was very economical. As long as the food problem was solved, everyone could go to the battlefield with a rifle.

The Tsarist government's self-raised funds, coupled with the huge sum from Austria, was enough for the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops to fight for many years.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

…

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "It's not only the battlefield in Central Asia that needs attention. The European continent is also in a critical moment of change.

Ever since the British and French alliance, the French have become more and more arrogant. Just last week, the Government of France bought over the British Coal Association.

The British Coal Association deviated from the International Coal Export Union and took the lead in lowering the price of coal exported to France by 20%, which is equivalent to the average price of coal exported in the international market.

Now, the French are pressuring Belgium and the Northern German Confederation to increase the total amount of coal exported to France by 30% and lower the price by 69%.

This price is not only far lower than the international price of coal, but also lower than the price of coal in several European countries that produce coal.

In addition to the various costs, some of the mines that are difficult to mine may directly fall into a state of loss. "

In fact, the international average price of coal exported was also pulled up because of the sanctions against the French by the International Coal Export Union.

Without calculating the transportation costs, the average price of coal purchased in Austria was about 20% higher than the average price in Austria, and the coal purchased in France was about 50% higher.

With such a high export price and all kinds of miscellaneous costs, in the hands of the buyer, the price could be more than half.

Coal was a product that was urgently needed. Because it was a joint operation between Britain and Austria, the French were unable to resist.

After the British and French alliance, the siege was broken, and the international situation improved. The Government of France couldn't help but take action.

After bribing the British, they used their fists to bully Belgium and the North German Federation.

As for the other coal export union, Austria's share of the international coal export market was negligible and was directly ignored by the French.

Even without a calculator, Franz knew that the French's goal was to break the embarrassing situation of high domestic energy prices. As for testing the European countries, it was only secondary.

Even without a calculator, Franz quickly came to a conclusion. The average retail price of finished coal in Austria was calculated as 1, and the previous purchase price of France was 1.5.

1.5 * (1-0.69) = 0.465

The French wanted to buy at 46.5% of the retail price. Including the miscellaneous taxes, freight, and wholesale and retailer profits, this price was basically the same as Austria's energy price.

This was only the same as Austria. In fact, Britannia, a big coal-producing country, had a lower average domestic coal price, about three to five percentage points lower.

From these data, it could be seen that the French industrial and commercial products weren't competitive for no reason.

It was true that the coal industry was profitable, but it wasn't so profitable that domestic suppliers couldn't get such a low price.

According to the current price given by the French, unless Belgium and the Northern German Confederation exempted all taxes from coal production enterprises, most enterprises would fall into losses.

There was no problem for the French to reduce energy costs, but the problem now was that the Government of France wanted Belgium and the German Confederation to pay for them.

Prime Minister Carr was surprised. "The French are crazy. How can Belgium and Northern Germany accept such a price?

Even if the two governments chose to accept the French's military threat, I'm afraid the capitalists won't agree. "

It wasn't "probably" that they definitely wouldn't agree. The capitalists had begun to internationalize these days. Take the coal mines in the Rhineland region as an example. A large part of the mines had fallen into the hands of British and Austrian capitalists.

How could these capitalists accept such a price that harmed their interests?

At most, they wouldn't do business with the French. With a foreign background, there was nothing to be afraid of. In the end, the ones who would be affected would probably be those without a background …

Franz nodded. "If you want to kill them, you must first make them crazy. If the French are really this crazy, it's also a good thing for us.

These conditions have already exceeded the bottom line of Belgium and Northern Germany. It's impossible for the two countries to agree.

If the French dare to use force, Belgium and the Northern German Confederation will side with us. I don't mind sending troops to fight them for the sake of our allies.

But the French aren't that stupid. They aren't ready for war yet. It won't do them any good to fall out now. This is most likely just a test.

The lion's demand now is just to test the bottom line of Belgium and Germany and lower the expectations of the two countries.

If nothing unexpected happens, the French will show a little bit of goodwill in the following negotiations, and the two countries will choose to compromise. "

There was no other way. This was the helplessness of small countries and the sorrow of the weak …