Chapter 978

There was no other way. The strategic position of Egypt was too important. As long as France still wanted to win the war, it must prevent the emergence of a giant that spanned across Asia, Africa, and Europe.

After a moment of contemplation, Napoleon Iv sighed and said, "The Ministry of the Army come up with a plan to send troops to reinforce the Egyptian theater as soon as possible. We don't need to defeat the enemy, just stabilize the front line. "

Reinforcing Egypt was easy to say, but it was not so simple to do. Not only did they have to squeeze out troops, but more importantly, the expansion of the battlefield in Egypt meant that the consumption of strategic materials would also increase.

Without a doubt, it was impossible for French Egypt alone to bear such a large consumption.

The original plan of the Government of Paris was for the Algerian colonial government to share a portion, but it was no longer possible.

While the reinforcements were detained, the demand for strategic materials in the Algerian region also increased. Not to mention supporting the Egyptian region, they would probably have to reach out to their own country.

Today was different from the past. At this point in the war, France was no longer as rich and powerful. The sudden addition of a large amount of material consumption was also a test for the Government of France.

After a little calculation, Prime Minister Terence Burkin's forehead began to sweat.

"Your Majesty, it's easy to send reinforcements. The newly mobilized troops in the country are about to complete their preliminary training. It's not a big problem to remove 20 or 30 divisions. The problem is logistics.

So far, not only do we bear the logistics of nearly five million troops in Europe, but we also have to support a large amount of supplies in the colonial battlefield. Domestic industrial production has long been unable to keep up.

Now to reinforce the Egyptian battlefield will consume a large amount of strategic materials. It's difficult for us to gather so many materials in a short period of time.

Unless we can get the full support of the British, we won't be able to complete the support for the Egyptian battlefield in half a year. "

Speed was important in war. If they waited for half a year, they wouldn't even be able to collect the corpses. But the problem was that hundreds of thousands of troops were on an expedition, and the logistics involved were tens of thousands of tons. It was not something that could be prepared in a day or two.

Although France's strategic materials were piled up like a mountain, they all had a place to go. Whether it was the battlefield in Central Europe or the battlefield in Southern Europe, they were all very important, and there was no possibility of misappropriation.

Of course, if they didn't produce enough, they could buy it, but buying strategic materials also took time.

Not to mention the production time, France had already placed a lot of orders. Most companies in Europe were France's factories.

The real trouble came from politics. While countries were making money, they did not forget to drag them down.

Most of the time, France's imports of strategic materials would be delayed. Most of the time, France's imports of strategic materials would be delayed.

In order to break these restrictions, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a lot of efforts. However, no matter how hard the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried, it couldn't keep up with the speed of France's hatred.

"It's not difficult to convince the British to support us. No one wants to see a giant that spans Asia, Africa, and Europe. "If we ask the Britain, we ask Austria," France, "Britain" would be.

"Austria".. if, Africa, is more, if. "If", Africa, France, it and is.

Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Kadlec said awkwardly.

"France", the France, the as. as, the France, they were, they. If he didn't take advantage of this opportunity that was delivered to his doorstep, then he wouldn't be John.

France initiated the European war for profit. If they were robbed by the British, it would be unknown how much profit they would get in the end.

Flipping through the history books, one would know how many teammates had worked with the British and lost everything, including France.

If they asked for help from the British, it would be fine. If they made a mistake, France would have to work for nothing in this European war.

At the critical moment, the young Napoleon Iv showed the decisiveness of a monarch. "Talk to the British immediately. No matter what the cost, we must win this war."

It was undeniable that Napoleon Iv was very rational at this time. Benefits and whatnot were all built on the foundation of winning this war. If they lost the war, then there would be nothing left.

The essence of international politics was strength. As long as France was strong enough, the benefits promised now could all be ignored. Anyway, it was not like they had never broken the promise.

…

While Britain and France were negotiating intensely, the Far East was not calm. Seeing the four major European powers all caught in the flames of war, the Government of Japan, which had just completed the Meiji Restoration, gradually could not hold back its ambitions.

After more than 20 years of reform and development, Japan had become a regional power in the Far East, and its comprehensive national strength was the second in East Asia.

Of course, this ranking was meaningless. Asia was almost divided up, and there were only a few independent countries in East Asia.

The olive branch extended by the French still affected this new country. Whether to go south to seize Southeast Asia or north to attack North Korea became a hot topic in Japan.

As the leader of this militaristic country, Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi had a hard time recently. The clamor for war among the people was getting louder and louder, and the situation was about to get out of control.

At this time, the opinions of the top officials of the Government of Japan were also divided. Some advocated going north to seize North Korea, while others advocated taking the opportunity to go south to attack Southeast Asia.

Even those who advocated attacking Southeast Asia proposed three plans. The targets were: French Indo-China Peninsula, Spanish Philippines, Austrian Southeast Asia, and German Malay Peninsula.

There was nothing strange about it. Although it was only the French who invited France to attack Austrian Southeast Asia, there were also a lot of people in the Government of Japan who were not optimistic that France could win the war.

No matter how high the people's feelings were, the top officials of Japan had not yet become arrogant. They knew very well that with their little resources, they could only go with the flow and had no ability to change the outcome of the war in Europe.

At this time, the battle team was very important. If they stood with the losers, then there was no saying. After the war, the vast sea would definitely be settled, and the vast sea could not stop the advance of the great powers.

Specifically, they could refer to the naval strength of the countries in the Asian region. The British Far East Fleet was naturally the leader. The fleets deployed in Asia by the Fao and France were comparable in strength. With a few ships from the German Confederation, the anti-French alliance still had a slight advantage.

After the three great powers were the Empire of the Far East and Japan, then Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal were in charge of the bottom.

A single sub-fleet was more than all the resources of the Japanese Navy. Considering the overall strength of the navy, the gap between the various forces was more than ten times.

This was determined by the overall strength of the country, and it was not something that Japan could catch up in a short time. With just the few ironclads they bought, they would only be sending themselves to death in front of the pre-dreadnought.

In this context, it was normal for politicians who wanted to take advantage of the situation to have differences of opinion. Even Ito Hirobumi himself wanted to take the opportunity to take a gamble, but in the end, reason won out.

On the surface, at this time, whether the Government of Japan sided with the French or the anti-French alliance, it would determine the strength of the two sides in Asia. The Fao should strive to rope in Japan first.

In theory, as long as the Government of Japan grasped the balance, they could gain benefits from both sides of the Fao and then bet on the winner at the last moment.

Unfortunately, the French extended an olive branch, but the Austrians ignored them. Even when Japanese officials took the initiative to ask questions, they did not receive the answer they wanted.

This kind of disregard made the Government of Japan look bad, but at the same time, it made them realize the strength of Austria.

Human psychology was complicated. Sometimes, the more one ignored something, the easier it was for people to overthink.

In the eyes of many, although the conditions offered by the French were tempting, France was fighting alone in Europe, while Austria had a group of allies in Europe.

Even the Napoleonic era did not complete the great cause of sweeping across the European continent. Could the current Empire of France do the same? No one was sure.

Unable to determine who the final winner of the Fao was, the south side threw out a strategic plan to seize the Philippines.

Looking at the map of Asia, if Japan wanted to go south, they could not avoid the Philippines, or else they could be cut off at any time. It could be said that as long as the south strategy was launched, there would be a war between Japan and the West.

Most importantly, compared to the two giants of the Fao, the declining Spain was undoubtedly a soft persimmon.

Of course, this soft persimmon was a little too strong for the current Empire of Japan. If they wanted to take the Philippines from the hands of the Spanish, they also had to take a big risk.

However, compared to the risk of participating in the war with the Fao, the safety factor of bullying the Spanish was still much higher. Even if the plan failed, the Spanish did not have the strength to deal with them.

Before the outbreak of the European war, the conflict between the great powers had not intensified, and the Government of Japan would never dare to have such an idea.

After all, "white phobia" was prevalent these days. When facing the European countries, no one had the confidence. Seeing that the envoys of the various countries often acted together, many people even thought that the European countries were on the same side.

In the palace, Emperor Meiji asked with a slightly tired tone, "Ito-kun, these are the strategic plans reported by the people below. What do you think?"

It could be seen that Emperor Meiji was also affected by the outside world and fell into confusion on the strategic choice. This step was the difference between heaven and hell, and Emperor Meiji could not be careless.

Emperor Meiji relied on the support of the military to ascend to the throne. In the Meiji government, the military had a great influence. In order to limit the strength of the military, after coming to power, Emperor Meiji instinctively chose to rely on the civil faction led by Ito Hirobumi.

Especially when it involved the fate of the country, Emperor Meiji did not dare to let the one-track mind of the military decide.