A wave has not settled, and another wave has risen.

At a time when the arms race between Britain, France, and Austria was reaching its climax, Central Asia was once again in turmoil.

On July 11, 1887, the British Viceroy in India, Lytton, suddenly informed the Afghan government that he was sending a delegation to visit Kabush.

The weasel greets the chickens for the New Year, which is naturally uneasy and kind.

Although many years have passed since the last Anglo-Afghan war, the British colonization of Afghanistan has never stopped, and there has never been a so-called friendship between the two countries.

Anti-British sentiment in Afghanistan has always been very strong, given the inability to guarantee the safety of the delegation, as well as the reaction of the Russians.

In order not to get into trouble, Abdul Rahman Khan-emir politely refused the request of the British.

However, Governor Lytton was not a man to admit defeat, and repeatedly made demands, with the intention of not giving up if he did not agree.

Unable to resist the pestering of the British, in September the Emir was forced to agree to the British's demands.

The British went, and the Russians, naturally, could not watch their little brother being bullied, and then the tsarist government also sent a delegation.

What happened next, Franz is not clear, anyway, Britain and Russia are engaged in the struggle for Afghanistan.

Franz asked: "How do the Russians want us to support?" ”

Austria and Afghanistan were separated by thousands of miles, with a Persian Empire in between.

The Vienna government did not like to stretch out its hands indiscriminately, and in such a place where there was no interest and could not be reached, there would naturally be no Austrian power.

In Afghanistan, only Britain and Russia really have the right to speak.

Against this background, the tsarist government's desire to gain Austrian support was not right no matter how you look at it.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg replied: "The Russians want us to help distract the British, and preferably find something to do for the British government." ”

Carefully recalling the original time and space of the British and Russian disputes over Afghanistan, Franz finally realized that something was wrong, and the second Anglo-Afghan war was over.

After realizing that something was wrong, Franz motioned for everyone to rest for the time being, and hurriedly went to the secret room to take out the memoirs written at the beginning of the crossing and consulted them.

He soon figured out the cause and effect, and due to the influence of the Russo-Prussian War, the Russians did not care about expanding into Central Asia in previous years.

Without the threat of the Russians, coupled with the heavy losses of the First Anglo-Afghan War, the British naturally did not have a strong desire to seize the Afghan region.

By the way, the "Anglo-Boer War" that broke out between Britain and Austria for South Africa also played a key role.

Hundreds of millions of pounds were spent, and the end result was nothing, which directly affected the colonial policy of the British government.

Under the influence of many factors, Afghanistan, which has not had much interest, escaped very narrowly.

Now that the Russians have made a comeback and once again surrendered their expansion to Central Asia, Afghanistan, a small, pro-Russian country, is an eyesore.

Back in the conference room, Franz picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then said slowly: "What do you think we should do to find a way to provoke a second Anglo-Afghan war?" ”

The sudden reversal of the painting style, everyone look at me, I look at you, all with confused expressions, completely unaware of what kind of medicine is sold in the emperor's gourd.

Seeing that the crowd did not react, Franz instructed his attendants: "Take the map of Central Asia." ”

……

"You see Afghanistan here, bordered by the Central Asian Khanate to the north, British India to the south, the Far Eastern Empire to the east, the Persian Empire to the west, so to speak, the heart of Asia.

Whoever masters this place will have the strategic initiative in Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia, and this is very important to Britain and Russia.

A few years ago, the Russians were too busy with European issues to take care of Central Asia, so the British could naturally infiltrate Afghanistan slowly and unhurriedly.

Now that the Russians have turned around and redirected their expansion to Central Asia, pro-Russian Afghanistan is a difficult thing for the British.

If the Russians behave a little more out of the ordinary, do you think the British will be reassured after the failure of diplomacy to woo Afghanistan? ”

Prime Minister Karl: "Your Majesty, it is not difficult for the Russians to provoke the British, nor is it difficult to sabotage the British's plan to win over Afghanistan.

It's just that we are now at a critical juncture in the arms race, and the Afghan region, no matter how important, is not as important as the hegemony of the Royal Navy.

No matter how deeply touched the British government is, they will not provoke a second Anglo-Afghan war until the arms race is over. ”

This is the most realistic problem, in the face of the two challengers of France and Austria, no matter how big the British are, they must also distinguish between priorities and priorities.

Franz nodded: "Not bad!" Under normal circumstances, the British would not have launched a second war in Afghanistan in an arms race.

I also did not expect war to break out immediately, and to delay the time would have served the same purpose.

Now all we have to do is cheer up the Russians, tell the tsarist government that this arms race will last for years, and let them feel free to confront the British.

When necessary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can also directly help the Afghan government strengthen its confidence, for example, by sponsoring a part of the guns and ammunition.

The two powers standing behind them should be able to bluff people. It really can't be done, so simply send someone to kill the British envoys and intensify the contradictions between the two sides. ”

The bottom line, discipline or something can be discarded at a critical moment. In order to create contradictions, even Franz came up with the method of assassination.

Of course, assassination is assassination, and this pot is still shaken off. Either let the Afghans go on their own, or let the Russians carry it, anyway, it has nothing to do with Austria.

Foreign Secretary Wessenberg: "Your Majesty, Afghanistan is now essentially surrounded on all sides by the British, and if war breaks out, neither we nor the Russians will be able to reach it.

Without our support, Afghanistan alone will not be able to hold out for long.

If the British were allowed to occupy Afghanistan, it would not be as simple as it is now for the Russians to go south and then want to go south. ”

I have to admit that the international situation facing Afghanistan is really very bad.

to the south is directly bordered by the British; The Central Asian khanates in the north were the younger brothers of the British; The Persian Empire in the west was also pro-British, or rather forced to be pro-British; The east side is safe for the time being, but this line is not easy to follow.

As soon as war breaks out, Afghanistan will be left in a situation where it will be difficult to get international aid in, even if it is available.

As an agrarian country, without international aid, the odds of winning against the British were too slim.

However, the strategic location of Afghanistan is very important, once the British occupy it and operate here, with the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it will be difficult for Russia to move south.

Even the British, in turn, could deal with a few younger brothers in Central Asia and cause trouble for the tsarist government.

Franz shook his head: "As long as we want to support them, we will be able to send them in."

It's a big deal to send airships to drop supplies to them, and if the range is not enough, they can land directly in Persia when they return.

Even if the Persian government leaned towards the British, they could only pretend that they did not see anything on this issue.

Don't underestimate Afghanistan, as long as they have enough weapons, they can make the British burn out, and it will definitely not end in the short term.

Even if the situation really gets out of control and the British do occupy Afghanistan, we can support Russia to fight all the way along Central Asia.

As long as the British are not given time to run the place, I believe that the Russians are still capable of defeating the British. ”

This is true, Franz really has faith in Afghanistan, and the graveyard of empires is not in vain.

Even if they can't win, the Afghan people will be able to win. If the city is lost, there will be towns, and if the towns are lost, there will be mountains and forests.

Anyway, people are still alive, and they don't stop fighting.

Several major empires in the original time and space have collapsed in Afghanistan, and they have all been dragged down by heavy military expenditures.

Unless the British go on a killing spree and commit genocide as soon as they come up, it will be difficult to win.

Franz, by contrast, had little faith in the Russians. The main reason for this was the three great wars of recent decades, which hurt the vitality of the Russian Empire.

If nothing else, the population of the Russian Empire alone is more than 30 million less than that of the same period in history, and the proportion of young and strong people is at least five percentage points lower than that of the same period in history.

The seemingly powerful Russian Empire is actually in its weakest state, and it is okay to be reckless in a short period of time, but it is really impossible to withstand a protracted war.

If the British really didn't care about the cost, and Naasan and the Russians fought against the gray cattle, the tsarist government really might not be able to withstand it.

Franz did not have confidence in the Russians, which did not mean that others did not have confidence in the Russians, and the cabinet was convinced.

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