Chapter 982

While the Government of Japan was hesitating, the negotiations between Britain and France had also entered a critical moment. The French, who were in a strategic passive position, had no bargaining power and had to make significant concessions to the British.

The negotiations were developing in a direction favorable to Britannia, which should have been a gratifying thing, but Prime Minister Gladstone was not happy now.

"Is the African battlefield really irreparable?"

If one walked too much at night, one would eventually encounter a ghost. Britannia's European balance policy, which had lasted for many years, had now revealed a fatal flaw, and it was about to collapse.

It couldn't be helped. The performance of the arrogant French on the battlefield was far less impressive than they usually claimed to be, causing the London government to make a strategic misjudgment.

Whether he wanted to accept it or not, Gladstone had to admit that the French army, which had once been unrivalled, no longer existed, and that France, without Napoleon, had lost the power to dominate the continent.

Up until now, the French army was still unable to break through on the European continent, and the African continent was being beaten by Austria. The situation was getting worse and worse for France.

"From a military point of view, it is only a matter of time before French Africa falls. The Austrians have already taken the strategic initiative.

If the situation was not irreparable, the arrogant French would not have bowed to us so easily. "

Minister of War Rosario mocked.

The relationship between Britain and France had always been unharmonious, especially for the British Army. France was their eternal pain.

If it weren't for being driven out of Europe by the French, Britannia wouldn't have become a simple maritime power country, and they wouldn't have been reduced to the point where they could only be the underlings of the navy.

Gladstone looked at the gloating Minister of War and frowned. It would be nice to see the French suffer, but it would not be nice to see the Austrians rise to power at the expense of the Austrians.

Once Egypt fell into the hands of Austria, a giant that spanned across Asia, Africa, and Europe would appear.

In this era of colonial empires where the weak were prey to the strong, such a giant would definitely not sleep there.

Originally, Austria was the dominant power on the African continent, and Britannia, together with France, Portugal, Spain, and other colonial empires, could barely compete with them.

If France was driven out, British Africa would definitely become Austria's next target. With the loss of British Africa, Britannia's road to India would be blocked.

Prime Minister Gladstone didn't dare to continue to imagine what would happen next. In short, it would be a disaster for Great Britain if Austria became the hegemon of Europe and Africa.

"The situation now is very bad. The damn Gaul idiot has lost the courage of his ancestors, and all he has left is the ability to brag. What's worse is that we can't watch this idiot fail.

Once Egypt falls into Austria's hands, the French will be able to use their absolute advantage in manpower and resources. Even Napoleon can't save the situation.

"It doesn 'that the France is defeated. It doesn' matter. the France is France. is. If we don't make use of this war to greatly deplete their strength, we won't have a good future. "

From a personal point of view, Gladstone did not want to support the French, but he had no choice. The French army in Egypt had failed again.

Just two days ago, the Suez defense line that the French had painstakingly built was broken, and the war had reached the heart of Egypt. If they didn't help the French, French Egypt would change hands.

Britannia couldn't bear the consequences of Austria taking control of Egypt. The Government of the United Kingdom had to help the French.

Rosario shook his head. "Prime Minister, the situation now is indeed terrible, but we also have to face reality.

Austria's advantage on the African continent is too great. Unless the French can transfer a million main forces into the African battlefield, there is no way to reverse the situation.

Of course, this is purely from a military point of view. If there are changes in other areas, such as a problem with the supply of the Austrian African Legion, or a revolution, the situation will be different. "

The Colonial Secretary, Primrose, immediately rejected, "Your Excellency, such a change is almost impossible. According to the intelligence gathered by the African colonial government, the Government of Vienna had sent a large number of strategic supplies to Austrian Africa before the war.

The specific amount is not certain for the time being, but they definitely won't have any logistical problems for the time being. If the French are stronger and persist in Egypt for a year or two, there might be a chance.

It's even more unreliable to expect a revolution in Austrian Africa. You have to know that the main force of the Austrian colonization of Africa are nobles and farmers. They are different from the descendants of the criminals in the New World.

According to the intelligence from Africa, the Vienna Palace gave the order, and these guys happily joined the war without the slightest bit of reluctance. "

That was the truth. If they wanted to instigate Austrian Africa to become independent, the British would have done it a long time ago. No, to be exact, they had already done it, but it ended in failure.

There were also preconditions for independence. Unlike the exiled criminals, most of the Austrian immigrants went there voluntarily, and had a much stronger sense of belonging to their country.

In particular, Austria was still promoting the process of African localization, which gave the vested interests no reason to rebel. If they wanted to replicate the American independence movement in Africa, there was no mass base at all.

After all, the 13 states of North America seemed to be a colony of the British, but most of the immigrants came from Europe and lacked a sense of belonging to Britannia.

The number of pure English immigrants was small to begin with, less than one-tenth of the total population. Moreover, most of these people were exiled criminals. It was already good enough that they did not hate England. It was simply a dream to expect them to take the initiative to defend Britannia's colonial rule.

They were already at odds with Britannia. After a conflict of interest, the capitalists raised their arms and called for help, and the people naturally rushed to respond.

Such a thing would never work in Austrian Alkebulan. Dumping did exist, but unfortunately, the capitalists in Austrian Africa were not strong enough and had no right to speak at all.

The nobles and farmers who held power were mainly engaged in mining and plantations. They did not care about the dumping of industrial products, or rather, they did not think that they were being dumped at all.

Industrial products were not produced out of thin air. They also needed to purchase industrial raw materials, and it just so happened that everyone was a producer of industrial raw materials.

On one hand, they transported industrial raw materials to the country, and on the other hand, they enjoyed the cheap industrial and commercial products produced in the country. Everyone's life was very comfortable.

If independence was really achieved and there was an anti-dumping, they would be the biggest victims. Not only would they have to pay for industrialization, but the income from planting cash crops would also be greatly reduced.

Specifically, we can refer to the group of farmers in the United States of America. In order to resist the North's trade protection policy, they could jump out and declare independence.

If the capitalists dared to cause trouble, there was no need for the Government of Vienna to intervene. As the vested interests, the nobles and farmers would first suppress them.

Foreign Minister George echoed, "I can prove this point. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also instigated the Austrian Africa independence movement, and even supported a few independent organizations, but these guys did not make a name for themselves.

Austria's development of mining and plantation economy in Africa directly tied the vested interests of the local people together. It is not realistic to disintegrate Austrian Africa from the inside.

Looking at the current situation, unless the French win the European War, it is only a matter of time before Egypt falls.

Of course, we may be able to stop Austria's actions by directly sending troops to intervene, but the interests involved are too great. "

Sending troops to intervene was a joke to begin with. The main force of Britannia's miniature army was still fighting against the Russians in Afghanistan. With only the colonial troops in British Africa, they could only be sent out as bystanders.

After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone slowly said, "The international situation is about to get out of control. We must end the war with Russia as soon as possible to deal with the next changes.

The war in Afghanistan has progressed to this point, and there is no point in continuing. At this time, the Russians are also in a difficult position. If we release a signal of peace to them, presumably the Tsarist government will not choose to fight to the death.

After all, the emergence of a giant across Asia, Africa, and Europe threatens not only our interests, but also their interests. "

In the early days of the Anglo-Russian War in Afghanistan, the war was indeed fierce because of interests. Unfortunately, the cruel reality told them that this was a war of attrition with no end in sight. If they really fought to the end, it would only cause damage to both sides.

With the changes in the international situation, the tired Britain and Russia coincidentally reduced the intensity of the war and turned into onlookers watching the excitement of the two countries, Fao and Russia.

Perhaps in order to let the two countries of Fao and Russia feel at ease, the two countries, which should have stopped, very tacitly chose to continue this war game.

Although it was a game, people still died in it. Whether it was the British Army or the Russian Army, they did not give up the intention to kill the other party. If they showed the slightest flaw, they would be pursued by the enemy.

In a sense, such a war of attrition was also beneficial to Britannia. The Government of the United Kingdom had enough financial resources to drag down the Russians. Moreover, British India would only be safe if the Tsarist government really felt the pinch.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as the best of both worlds in this world. In order to contain the growing Austria, Gladstone could only give up the "Hairy Bear Bloodletting Plan".

Foreign Minister George reminded, "Prime Minister, it is not difficult to armistice with the Russians now, but it is very difficult to armistice according to our previous expectations.

At present, the Russian Army still controls three-quarters of the territory in the Regions of Afghanistan. With the greed of the Tsarist government, there is almost no hope for us to get back the land that we did not get on the battlefield at the negotiating table.

The conflict between us and the Russians is too deep, and with the Austrians stirring up sh * t, I am afraid this armistice negotiation will not go smoothly.

Judging from the current situation, French Egypt would not be able to hold on for long. If the French Army could not make a breakthrough on the European continent, the established fact that Austria occupied Egypt would be established.

The Russians did not want to see Austria grow, but Russia and Austria were traditional allies after all. The Tsarist government would not fall out with Austria for no reason. They would most likely choose to be neutral on the Egyptian issue.

Next, to force the Austrians to make concessions and spit out the Egyptian area, we can only rely on the French and ourselves.

However, we have to use the French and restrict them. We can't let the French take the opportunity to grow, which is very troublesome.

To do this, we need more allies. It is best to be able to unite the European countries to intervene and solve the problem through diplomatic means. "

Limited by the European Continental Balance Policy, the diplomacy of the Government of the United Kingdom had always been timid in this European War. They were afraid that if they did not handle it properly, a European overlord would come out.

There was no other way, the international situation was changing too fast. The enemies of Britannia were always changing. First, it was the Russians who jumped out, then the ambitious French, and before they could react, Austria appeared.

They had to suppress them, but they could not suppress them too harshly. They had to maintain the fragile balance and make the Government of London exhausted.

In a sense, since the outbreak of the European War, Britannia's European Continental Balance Policy had problems, and it could not keep up with the changes in the international situation.

Everyone knew the problem. Unfortunately, Britain was an island country, and it was innately determined that they had no better choice. Only by maintaining the balance of Europe could they maintain their hegemony.

Gladstone nodded and looked out of the window. "It is indeed very troublesome, but no matter how troublesome it is, we have to do it. This is our responsibility.

Moreover, while maintaining the balance of Europe, we have to find ways to weaken the strength of the Fao and France. We can't let them continue to grow. "