Chapter 763

London

"Prime Minister, the Empire is ready to launch a war against the Holy Roman Empire. Has parliament approved it?"

"Prime Minister, why do you want to start this war? What can we get? "

"Prime Minister, is the Empire ready? What are our chances of winning? "

…

Prime Minister Campbell woke up in a daze and was surrounded by reporters as soon as he went out.

The overwhelming number of questions swept towards him in a frenzy. There were countless hidden traps. With his experience, Campbell knew that these reporters were going to stir up trouble again.

For this group of unscrupulous media, as long as there was big news that could increase newspaper sales, it was not important whether Britannia and Shinra would fight.

Prime Minister Campbell was used to the media's routine. After a slight pause, Prime Minister Campbell waved his hand and said, "The government will hold a special press conference to answer these questions.

Now I can only tell everyone that the government is not ready to launch a war against the Holy Roman Empire, but we are not afraid of war.

Please don't believe the rumors circulating in the market. Britannia is a peace-loving country. We are willing to work with peace-loving countries in the world to maintain world peace. "

After getting rid of the reporters, Campbell's face suddenly became gloomy. The reporters came so quickly, it was obvious that someone was behind the planning.

If it wasn't for his quick reaction and deceiving them in time, he might have been surrounded by now.

Britannia's system was very perfect. The government had no right to launch a war against a big country without parliament's approval.

When it came to maintaining their own power, the parliament members had never relaxed. If any news of this got out, Kanber would not have a good life.

Campbell had no energy to condemn the shameless behavior of his competitors. The biggest problem at the moment was that the window paper was broken and Britannia was forced to the edge of the cliff.

"Sneak attack" and "bait" were out of the question. If the reporters knew that a war was going to break out between Britannia and Shinra, it was equivalent to the whole world knowing.

…

Full of anger, Campbell held an emergency cabinet meeting.

"The news has been leaked, and public opinion is very unfavorable to us. Some time ago, we proposed to strengthen the strategic material reserve, which is now regarded as evidence by the outside world.

The opposition party will not let go of this opportunity. According to the usual routine, it will usually be reporters first, followed by MPs.

If there is no reasonable explanation, our days will be very difficult. To prevent the situation from worsening, we must come up with a plan today. "

Internal strife was an indispensable part of Britannia's politics. The critical situation was only their experience, the opposition party could not feel it.

Unlike the upper echelons of the Shenluo government, who climbed up step by step, the upper echelons of the British government rose to the top in a single step through elections.

Even if there was an excess, it was only for a few days in Parliament. There were only a few people who served in the government.

Even if he had experience in office, it was just for show. It was more meaningful than practical. Most of the time, he was only in name and did not perform any specific duties.

Minister. This did not mean that the government officials were idiots. To be able to win a complicated political struggle and stand out in the election, it was impossible to do so without extraordinary ability.

The only thing they lacked was political experience. Usually, after being elected, there would be a professional team to help disseminate the relevant knowledge. There would also be a team of consultants to assist in handling government affairs.

The effect would be determined by the number of strange policies introduced during the term of office. Generally, the worse the Prime Minister's personal ability, the bigger the appetite of the interest groups, and the more messy policies they would introduce.

If one had a strong learning ability, or had access to the relevant knowledge in advance, it would not be a problem to get rid of the consultant team full of interest groups.

Anyone who wanted to make a difference had to get rid of the dependence on the consultant team and jump out of the circle drawn by the interest groups.

However, this was after the election. When ordinary politicians were in opposition, they could not access the relevant knowledge, so they did not need to think so much.

This was why it was easier for political families to succeed. They were not on the same level in terms of knowledge.

Now was no exception. In the eyes of most Britons, the Royal Navy was still invincible, and the British Empire was still at its peak.

The rise of the Holy Roman Empire was a problem, but it was only a problem. With the Royal Navy, Britannia was not afraid of any enemy.

As for the deeper disparity in national power, industrial disparity, population disparity … it was not within the scope of people's knowledge.

It was not that there were no "knowledgeable people" who came out to popularize science, but it was the most glorious era of Britannia. Everyone was immersed in the glory of the Empire and turned a blind eye to the crisis.

The ignorant were fearless. Those who did not know the gap in national power between the two sides still thought that Britannia was the once powerful Empire, so there was no pressure to drag them down.

Foreign Minister Adam: "The news of our war preparations should not have been leaked. Otherwise, the opposition party would have already launched an attack, and the outside world would not be so peaceful.

Judging from the current situation, it is most likely that someone deduced that we are going to war with Shinra based on the current international situation.

Or the Government of Vienna was aware of our intentions and deliberately leaked the news in an attempt to disrupt our strategic layout.

The opposition party is only using this opportunity to add fuel to the fire with the power of the media. If they really had evidence of us planning the war, they would have already impeached us in parliament.

In a sense, the current situation is also a good thing for us.

We can directly expose the conflict between the Empire and Shinra, and we can also take the opportunity to publicize the threat of Shinra and prepare for the upcoming war.

So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received inquiries from many European countries, and the Dutch government took the lead to issue a peace proposal.

On the surface, it seems that the European countries do not want this war to break out, but the deeper reason is that they are afraid of the Holy Roman Empire.

You have to know that during the European War, the Government of Vienna was able to form an anti-French alliance without much cost. "

Although Adam's analysis seemed to be logical, he was actually panicking inside. No matter who leaked the news, the enemy would be on guard.

They were already worried about how to trick the main force of the Shinra Navy to come out. Now that the enemy was on guard, it was even more difficult to achieve.

If they could not severely damage the Shinra Navy at the beginning of the war, their plan to end the war quickly would be declared useless.

Once the war continued, the good days of Britannia would come to an end. Disregarding other things, the European market would be completely gone.

Just look at the reactions of the European countries. Everyone opposed the war between the two countries not only because they were worried about standing on the wrong side, but more importantly, they were worried that the war would continue.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Holy Roman Empire had the land advantage, while Britannia had the sea advantage. If a war really broke out, no one would be able to do anything to the other for a while.

The Dutch reaction was the most intense. Other than their geographical location, the most important thing was that they heavily relied on sea trade.

Once the war between Britannia and Shinra entered a state of desperation, mutual blockades were inevitable, and the disruption of the sea trade was inevitable.

If it was a short friendly match lasting three to five months, it would be fine. Everyone could just bear with it and it would pass.

If the war continued for three to five years, there was no doubt that countries like the Netherlands and Portugal, which relied heavily on overseas trade, would collapse.

Under such circumstances, everyone only had one option, which was to help one side win the war and end the trade blockade as soon as possible.

Either the European countries followed Britannia and worked together to pull Shinra down, or everyone followed in Shinra's footsteps and worked together to destroy warships and overturn the Royal Navy.

There was no doubt that no matter who they followed, everyone would suffer heavy losses. Especially the Netherlands, which was very likely to become a bitter country on the battlefield, even if they followed the right person, they would still suffer losses.

Don't expect to rely on the spoils of war to make up for the losses. The previous war against France was an example. On the surface, everyone received huge compensation, but the reality was that the French government had no money to pay.

No money was no money. No matter how capable you were, the Government of France still couldn't make money out of it.

Like Belgium, if it hadn't taken back a piece of land from France after the war, it would have lost everything.

The size of small countries was limited, and their strength couldn't support their ambitions. It was estimated that other countries wanted to benefit from the war between Britain and Austria, other than the Tsarist government, only the United States, which was thousands of miles away.

It was the same whether other countries had ambitions or not. Their stomachs weren't good, and they couldn't eat greasy food. When the meat was sent to their mouth, they could only smell it.

As the Foreign Minister of Britannia, Adam's personal ability was still very strong. Unfortunately, the reality was in front of him. No matter how good he was at bluffing, he wasn't sure that he could pull people to his side.

Of course, they could also imitate the flexible diplomatic strategy of the original time and space, allowing countries to maintain neutrality and engage in overseas trade.

However, this required the cooperation of the opponent. If the Government of Vienna didn't buy it and insisted on pulling people to their side, everyone still had to choose a side.

Could the European countries withstand the diplomatic pressure of the Holy Roman Empire?

No one could answer this question. In theory, as long as the European countries were neutral, the Government of Vienna could only pinch their noses and accept it.

However, this probability was too low. Not all countries had this courage. The hearts of the people were not united. As long as a few countries took the lead and stood on a side, the rest could only follow.

The situation was already very dangerous for Britannia. If they made a mistake, then it wouldn't just be the Holy Roman Empire standing on the opposite side of Britannia, but the entire European world.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Asquith: "Sir, the European countries are fence-sitters. Their position has never been firm.

Because of geopolitical reasons, our influence on the European continent can't be compared to the Holy Roman Empire at all.

Purely relying on political means, we may not be at a disadvantage; but once the Government of Vienna uses military means and directly uses force, it will be very difficult for us to compete with them.

Unless we can rope in Russia and Spain, only with the two of them taking the lead, the European countries will be able to withstand the pressure of the Government of Vienna.

Considering our relationship with Russia and Spain, I don't think we can pull them over now. If we can get them to remain neutral in the war, then it will be a blessing from God. "

It wasn't that Asquith was pessimistic, but the previous governments were really bad. They only cared about themselves and left too much of a mess for them.

There was no other way. Britannia's world hegemony was achieved by stepping on Spain. In the Battle of the Philippines ten years ago, Spain was also harmed by Britannia's little brother.

With the addition of new and old hatred, there was also the dispute over the sovereignty of the Strait of Gibraltar. Unless the Spanish government was collectively stupid, it would be impossible for them to follow them.

Not to mention the relationship between Britain and Russia, the Indian issue was a knot that could not be untied between the two sides. The current war between Japan and Russia was also adding new hatred to the old hatred.

Even if the Tsarist government was extremely afraid of Shinra, it was still impossible for them to sacrifice everything to help Britain.

With no one taking the lead, the European countries, who were used to being fence-sitters, naturally couldn't jump out and go against Shinra.

Of course, there was still the Nordic Federation that could be fooled. This person also had the strength to remain neutral.

Unfortunately, this person's political appeal was limited. He couldn't be the leader, and he didn't dare to be the leader.

The European world couldn't be counted on. No one was willing to be a fighter at this time. It was naturally difficult to win the war with Shinra.

…

After all, the war still had to be fought by the military. Campbell could only pretend not to hear the complaints of the civil officials.

Now the arrow on the bow had to be fired. The war was difficult and difficult, but could they stop fighting?

If they really stopped the war now, it was estimated that the Government of Vienna would go crazy. They didn't need to do anything. After eight to ten years, the hegemony would come knocking on their door.

"What is the plan of the Navy?"

If the strategy wasn't enough, they could make up for it with tactics. Since the comprehensive national strength couldn't compete, they could only let the Royal Navy erupt and continue to create miracles for Britannia.

Secretary of the Navy Swindin picked up a baton, walked to the hanging world map, and said, "Although the main naval force of the Holy Roman Empire is holed up in the Mediterranean Sea, there are still several fleets overseas.

Although these fleets have very few main battleships, the tonnage of the fleet is not low, accounting for almost 40% of the total tonnage of the Shinra Navy.

In the case that they couldn't lure the enemy's main force into a decisive battle, the Navy planned to first solve these overseas troubles.

The other fleets were not worth mentioning, mainly the Austrian Nanyang fleet and the Central American fleet. Not only did they have the dreadnought as the flagship, but the other attached warships were mostly new warships.

These warships all had one thing in common – they ran fast.

Obviously, the enemy was prepared for this. They wanted to use these high-speed warships to attack our merchant ships after the war broke out.

We planned to attack the enemy's two fleets immediately after the war broke out and eliminate the threat on the trade line in advance.

In this regard, the Japanese did a good job. They successfully attacked Spain, the Empire of the Far East, and Russia. We can completely follow suit. "

Integrity didn't exist. As long as they could win the war, Swindin didn't mind breaking the rules for once.

In any case, the history books were written by the victors. As long as the Holy Roman Empire was defeated, all the violations of the rules could be washed clean.

Taking out the enemy's fleet first was better than waiting for the war to break out and the enemy to attack the merchant ships.

As a pirate, the Royal Navy was all too familiar with this business. So much so that Swindin understood the Government of Vienna's plan with a cursory glance.

If they didn't do anything, Britannia's maritime trade line would be damaged when the war broke out.