After the signing of the Russian-Argentine Treaty, the Emir King was only temporarily relieved, in fact, he could not trust all the Western countries, and he was forced to choose an alliance with the Russians.

With the beginning of the Central Asian wrestling between Britain and Russia, Afghanistan, as a small country, simply does not have the strength to be neutral, and a choice must be made.

Frankly, neither Britain nor Russia has a good choice, and each one is peeking into the territory of Afghanistan.

The Russians are friendly, that is, their tentacles are not so far now, and the wooing of Afghanistan can not only add to the blockage of the British, but most importantly, it can increase the success rate of the southward strategy.

It was precisely because he could not reach it that the emir was able to make an alliance with the Russians with confidence. If he really wanted to become a neighbor of the Russians, the emir would not dare to sign this treaty.

This is not without purpose, looking at the many neighbors of the Russian Empire, apart from the powerful Austria, which one has not been invaded by the Russians?

This alone is enough to illustrate the problem. Therefore, while getting closer to the Russians, the emir king also did not give up on détente with the British.

Even if the emir knew that the British were paying attention to Afghanistan all the time, there was no way, if the small country wanted to survive, the politicians could not hold grudges.

……

King Emir righteously refused: "Mr. Walters, your country's request is too much, we can defend our own security, and we do not need your country's garrison.

No sovereign country in the world can tolerate the stationing of troops on its own soil. ”

After days of testing, Walters has become very clear that this is the bottom line of the Afghan government, and there is no room for negotiation.

"Your Majesty, if your country does not agree with our garrison, then let go of a road and let our army go north to help the Bulha Khanate, which is being invaded by the Russians."

Excuses were more acceptable than garrisons, but the Emir was suspicious of the purpose of the British, who were as trustworthy as toilet paper.

After a moment of hesitation, the emir king again refused: "If your country wants to help the Khanate of Braha, there are two other ways to go, so why pass through Afghanistan?"

You must know that the traffic on our side is very bad, and the people in the country are very hostile to your country, and accidents can easily occur when the army passes. ”

Regardless of whether the British have tricks or not, since they have chosen to take sides, and let the British army borrow the way, the Russians will definitely not be able to explain.

The snake and mouse died the fastest at both ends, such a simple truth, Emir still understood, and directly chose to move the trouble to Jiangdong.

As long as these English plague gods can be sent away, the Emir does not care which country the British borrow from.

Waltes's heart sank, he knew that this excuse was not perfect, and to send troops to rescue the Khanate of Braha, there were three ways to reach it.

Given the choice, there is no need for the British government to insist on borrowing from Afghanistan, where anti-British sentiment is the strongest.

Knowing is knowing, but it is never admitted. Walters, who has a strong psychological quality, replied without changing his face: "Of course, it is out of Anglo-Argentine friendship."

Although there have been some unpleasant experiences between our two countries in the past, that is a thing of the past, and now the London government wants to restore the relationship between the two countries.

Borrowing from your country is an opportunity to break the ice in the relations between the two countries. As long as this is done, it is possible that our two countries will become true allies in the future. ”

In the shortest possible time, he had made up a reason that sounded good, and Walters admired his wit a little.

It's just that the final pie is a little scary, and there are few nominal allies of Britain, and the real allies are estimated to be impossible to find when they open the history books.

Whoever believes it will really have water in his head. The emir was not stupid, and when he heard this explanation, he completely despaired of the British.

He didn't answer at the moment, just stared at Walters up and down, and his contempt was revealed.

Without fooling the emir, Walters was not surprised in any way. It would be hilarious if a king who had been killed in a political struggle could be fooled so easily by a few words.

After looking at each other for two minutes, Walters slowly asked, "Has your country signed a secret treaty with the Russians?" ”

After being called to break his heart, Emir's face changed greatly, and then he reacted again.

There are less than one person in the know, and the possibility of leakage is almost zero, so Walters's questioning is a temptation.

hurriedly denied it: "Of course not, how can we have evil Russians to deal with?" ”

Emir is not a qualified actor, and the panic revealed between his eyebrows has exposed a lot of problems.

After gaining insight into the truth, Walters knew that this time the wooing mission had failed. didn't continue to entangle, coped with a few words, and left.

The carriage slowly drove out of the palace, and Walters, who was in a bad mood, had already closed his eyes, pondering how to break the Russian-Argentine Treaty.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped, and with his experience of entering and leaving the palace many times, Waltes knew that it was impossible to return to his residence so quickly, and immediately asked, "What happened?" ”

Before the guards could reply, a series of loud bangs erupted, the carriage was overturned, and Walters lost the last of his consciousness.

The survivors of the guards, who narrowly escaped, only reacted at this time - they were assassinated again.

Unlike the previous assassinations, this one was clearly carefully prepared, starting with the initial blockade and the subsequent suicide attacks.

Murderer?

If the guy who rushed up with a bomb on his back counted, then there would be rotten meat left now.

Without high-tech identification technology, who knows who the real culprit is?

Even if the identity of the murderer is deduced by luck, it will have no effect, and the dead man will not speak.

After receiving the news, the emir king fainted directly, and he really couldn't bear the blow.

At this moment, Redmond has already embarked on the journey home, facilitated the alliance between Russia and Afghanistan, and his apparent task has been completed, and the rest has nothing to do with Austria.

……

In the government building in Calcutta, Governor Lytton, who had just stepped into the office, received this news that I don't know if it was good or bad.

From the point of view of the Viceroy of India, the assassination was timely, providing Britain with a pretext to invade Afghanistan.

It is a pity that Britain is engaged in an arms race with France and Austria, and now is not a good time to provoke a war.

"Bang" sounded for a lifetime, and piping hot coffee spilled out in all directions. Although Walters was sent out by him to do things, as an envoy he also represented the face of Britain.

Now that he was killed, it was difficult for Lytton to restrain his emotions, and he immediately reprimanded angrily: "This is a provocation to Britain, and the Afghan government is ordered to hand over the murderer within a week, otherwise it will bear the consequences." ”

As the viceroy of India, Lytton's power was enormous, including waging war against foreign countries.

In fact, most of the territory of British India today was expanded by the colonial governors themselves. If you wait for the London government to decide on anything, then don't think about doing anything.

Overall situation?

Not in his position, not in his politics. Thinking about the big picture of the country, that is the job of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and the Viceroy of India only needs to think about the "big picture of the Indian region".

After a pause, Governor Lytton ordered again: "Order all troops to be ready for battle, and the humiliation inflicted by the enemy on Britain can only be baptized with blood!" ”

It doesn't matter what the truth is, Governor Lytton has recognized the Afghan government anyway.

……

In London, when the news of the assassination broke, it was already evening.

After receiving this bad news, Prime Minister Gladstone had no time to rest. The conscience of heaven and earth, he really didn't want to do things in Central Asia at this time.

Including the sending of a mission to Afghanistan, Gladstone knew nothing.

It's not that Prime Minister Gladstone is lazy, it's mainly such trivial things that don't need the prime minister to bother at all.

It was just a mission, and if it weren't for the assassination of Walters and the slap in the face of Britain, no one would have reported to him by now.

Prime Minister Gladstone asked, "Has the murderer been found?" ”

Who the murderer is, Prime Minister Gladstone is not interested in knowing. As a qualified politician, his first concern was what Britain could gain from it.

Questioning the murderer is more like a routine. Generally speaking, how to maximize the interests of Britain, the real culprit will be pointed out as needed.

Foreign Secretary George shook his head: "It is suspected that it is related to the local religious extremist organization, who did it, there are too few clues left at the scene, and it is difficult to find out for a while." ”

It's not the answer to the answer, it's not an extremist organization that can send dead soldiers with bombs on their backs, it's also an extremist organization.

Even if the average person wants to play assassination, he will not have the courage to launch a suicide attack with a bomb on his back.

Whether to take advantage of the topic and take the opportunity to invade Afghanistan has become Prime Minister Gladstone's biggest problem at the moment.

The arms race has only just begun, and moving now on Afghanistan will undoubtedly increase the financial pressure on the Government.

But it is unacceptable to give up this opportunity. After all, this kind of convincing excuse for war is hard to find, and if you miss it, you will miss it forever.

The assassination of the mission involved the bottom line jointly defended by the great powers, and no one in the international community could say anything about it as an excuse.

Even if the Russians were to intervene, it would only be done in secret, and it would not be possible to come out open.