Chapter 964

"The French are anxious!"

After receiving the news of the French's release, Gladstone came to this conclusion.

It was true that Britannia was at a disadvantage in the Afghan War, but it was not to the point where the Government of the United Kingdom was panicked.

Even if all the Regions of Afghanistan fell, as long as the main force of the British Army on the front line was not completely wiped out, the British Empire had the confidence to win the war.

There was no other reason. They had money in their pockets, and their backs were so strong. The British Empire's hundred years of accumulation was not a joke. In terms of foundation, the Russians were not qualified at all.

Foreign Minister George analyzed, "The European War has progressed to this point, and the French's dream of a quick victory has been ended.

In the next war, the two sides will compete in terms of comprehensive national strength. Although the French army is strong, in other areas, their disadvantages are too obvious.

From the current situation, if the French can't cross the Rhine River in a short time and burn the war to the heart of Germany, their strategic advantage will be lost.

Then they will be greeted by an endless counterattack from Austria. It can be said that the longer this war lasts, the lower the chance of the French winning the war.

According to the current intensity of the war, the French will not be able to fight for another two or three years at most. "

Obviously, George was not optimistic about the French now. The gap in the comprehensive strength of the two sides was too big, and the French were at a disadvantage in terms of attrition.

It was just that the French army was too famous, and no one could guarantee that the French army would not turn the tide at a critical moment.

After all, similar cases had appeared many times in the history of battles between France and the House of Habsburg.

After taking out a document, George Childes, the Minister of Finance, smiled and said, "Two or three years, I'm afraid you have overestimated the strength of the French.

In my opinion, if there is no external intervention, it is a question mark whether the French can survive until 1891.

Let's put aside the military issues for now. Let's first calculate an economic account, and then re-evaluate the strength of the French.

This is the data collected by the Ministry of Finance. In the last three months, the total value of imports and exports between us and the French has doubled from the same period last year.

The value of exports to France has increased by 6.5 times, and the total value of imports has shrunk by 64.7%, achieving a trade surplus of 64.86 million pounds.

This is only the trade with us. If France's trade with other countries is included, the French foreign trade deficit in the last quarter of 1890 will not be less than 120 million pounds.

If the war did not come to an end, the French trade deficit would continue to increase.

In particular, French Africa was about to fall. Once they lost this raw material source, the French would need to import more supplies.

In the past, the arrogant French wanted to fight for the hegemony of the currency and had been promoting the franc to the outside world. They did not have many God's Shields and British Pounds in their hands.

With the current consumption rate, it will not take long for the French foreign exchange reserves to be exhausted. At that time, they could only use their gold to trade. With their pitiful gold reserves, they would not be able to last more than a few days.

Kingdom, France, the Kingdom, they, and they Kingdom, to, they. Ever since Napoleon III, the French government had been running fiscal deficits, and was already in debt.

I have no confidence in the finances of the Parisian government, which has been launched in haste and in ill-prepared circumstances. "

Does France have money?

There is no doubt that France, as the world's third-largest economic power, is definitely a local tycoon.

However, France's money does not mean that the Government of France is rich. If the frontline was progressing smoothly, the French consortium would naturally do their best to help, but it was different the other way around.

Capital has no borders, this is not a joke. If things go south, the capitalists will not die with the government.

War is about manpower, material resources, and industrial strength. In the end, it is still about financial resources.

Supporting multiple fronts at the same time, the pressure France bears is much greater than the World War of the original time and space, and there are no allies to help share the burden. Problems will occur sooner or later.

Glancing at the report, Gladstone asked in confusion, "How did the trade surplus with France increase so much? I remember the trade volume did not increase this much?"

The trade volume between Britain and France is not small. It is understandable that imports have decreased. After all, the French are at war and do not have the time to produce a large number of goods for export.

But the export volume suddenly increased by more than six times. That was a myth.

It is completely inconsistent with the economic law. Even if the French increased the import of strategic materials because of the war, it would not be so exaggerated.

There is no way, they can't produce it! Even if the capitalists desperately expand their production capacity, they need time to buffer. It has only been more than three months?

"It's very simple, the price of our exports has increased!"

George Childes, the Minister of Finance, replied unhurriedly.

"The Fao and France are scrambling for supplies in the international market, and the prices of all supplies have increased to varying degrees.

Especially the price of strategic materials, compared to before the war, has basically doubled. The price of some scarce drugs has increased by three or four times.

Of course, we and the European countries have increased tariffs on France, which is also one of the factors driving up prices. "

Capitalists looting a burning house, this is the inevitable result. It is just that this time it is a bit too ruthless, but with Austria driving up prices, it seems that doubling is not so unacceptable.

Prime Minister Gladstone asked with concern, "What about Austria?"

George Childes, the Minister of Finance, shook his head, "Contrary to the French, Austria needs to import very few supplies and is basically self-sufficient.

Even if there is a shortage, it is still imported from Russia. It is relatively less affected by the outside world.

Although prices have gone up, the total volume of trade between them and us has gone down instead of up.

Of course, the interception of the French Navy is also one of the reasons why our trade with Austria is hindered.

Many times, even if a contract is signed, it cannot be performed normally. "

Gladstone frowned. This result was completely different from what he had expected. Originally, it was hoped that the Fao and France would use this war to consume each other's strength and stabilize Britannia's position as the maritime hegemon.

But the plan did not change quickly. Using this war, Britannia did ruthlessly cut France, but unfortunately, Austria ran away.

No matter how prices skyrocketed in the international market, it had little to do with the Russian-Austrian trade. After all, the Tsarist government was exporting industrial raw materials to Austria in exchange for strategic materials. If the price really rose, it would also rise.

The wool comes from the sheep's back, and the Russians naturally had no need to join in the fun.

Then France became the only victim. After all, it was easy to inflate the price of goods, but it was difficult to lower the price.

After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone slowly said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will negotiate with the French first. As long as the French are willing to exchange their interests, find a reason to lower the tariffs, or simply waive the tariffs."

This was the greatest help Gladstone could provide to the French within the scope of his authority. As for whether or not the prices could be lowered, it still depended on the French themselves.

After all, the capitalists were not to be trifled with. If the government forced them to lower the price, it would cause public anger.

After all, it was the Government of France, not the Government of the United Kingdom, who was buying supplies now. Gladstone did not need to offend people for them at all.

The French still had to fight with the capitalists for bargaining. How much they could gain would depend on their bargaining power.

Foreign Minister George: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no problem. However, if it was just a tariff reduction, it would not be enough.

If we want the French and the Austrians to consume their strength together, we must find a way to increase the economic strength of the French, or lend them money directly.

While supporting them economically, we also have to limit the military strength of the French and not let the two warring sides have an imbalance of power. It's very difficult to do this. "

Being timid was a true portrayal of the Government of the United Kingdom. On the one hand, the Afghan war had held up most of the government's energy, and on the other hand, they had to maintain the balance between the United Kingdom and the FAO.

They were afraid that something would happen and cause the situation to get out of control. It could be said that this was the most challenging moment for the British Foreign Office in decades.

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded helplessly. "Let's try it first! Later, we will make adjustments according to the actual situation.

Before the strength of the United Kingdom and the FAO is greatly consumed, we must act cautiously to avoid the situation getting out of control. "

…

At the same time as the Anglo-French negotiations began, Alexander III, who was far away in St. Peter's Castle, also ushered in his new toy — the plane.

Looking at the beautiful flight formation performance, Alexander III was in a particularly good mood and asked in high spirits, "When can this batch of planes be put into the battlefield?"

Watching the performance was one thing, but Alexander III still did not forget the true purpose of introducing planes.

It had been proven in the European War that airships were massacred by airships. In order to increase the odds of victory on the front line, Alexander III was eager for this batch of planes to be put into service as soon as possible.

Minister of War Ivanov: "Your Majesty, we don't have pilots yet. Airplanes and airships were different, and the requirements for pilots were more stringent.

The Ministry of War has reached an agreement with the Austrians to help train a group of pilots, and preparations have already begun.

If there are no accidents, three months later, our first aircraft group will be able to enter the army for service. "

In just three months, a group of pilots would be trained. With this kind of speed, the pilots trained would naturally not be elites.

Anyway, the enemy was just airships, and there was no need to test the comprehensive quality of the pilots. It was enough to be able to fly the plane normally and launch attacks.

As for the rest of the knowledge, the pilots would slowly accumulate in the later battles. Anyway, the Russian Army now had to pay attention to efficiency and be satisfied with speed.

After hearing "three months," the smile on Alexander III's face suddenly disappeared.

"Why is it so slow? Can't you speed up the progress?

You know the situation on the front line is urgent. The earlier we put the planes into the battlefield, the earlier we can seize the sky from the British! "

Faced with Tsar's request, Marshal Ivanov's heart was about to collapse. According to the Austrians, it was already very rare to be able to train pilots in three months.

If it was any faster, the quality of the crash course, which was not high to begin with, would not be able to guarantee the quality.

Ivanov braced himself and replied, "Your Majesty, pilots are a new technical force. We don't have the experience in this area, so we can only learn from the Austrians.

If you want to speed up the process, I personally suggest that airship pilots be included in the training class. It should save a lot of time. "

Ivanov did not know whether it was a bad idea or not. Since Tsar already asked, he had to have an idea.

As for the effect, he would see when the time came. Since it was a new military force, it was understandable that the Ministry of War was not familiar with the situation and made a wrong judgment.