While the Japanese government was hesitating, the Anglo-French negotiations also entered a critical moment. The French, who had fallen into strategic passivity, had no confidence to negotiate conditions and had to make substantial concessions to the British.

Negotiations are moving in favor of Britain, which should have been a welcome thing, but Prime Minister Gladstone is not happy now.

"Is the African battlefield really irreparable?"

If you walk too much at night, you will eventually encounter ghosts. Britain's policy of balancing the European continent, which has lasted for many years, is now showing a fatal flaw, and it is about to collapse.

There was no way, the performance of the coaxing French on the battlefield was far less than what they shouted on weekdays, which made the London government make a strategic miscalculation.

Whether they like it or not, Gladstone must admit that the French army, which was once rivaled, no longer exists, and France without Napoleon has lost the strength to fight the continent.

Up to the end of the war, the French army was still unable to break through on the European continent, and the African continent was beaten by Austria, and the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable for France.

"Militarily, the fall of French Africa was only a matter of time, and the Austrians had already seized the strategic initiative.

If it weren't for the irreparable situation, the arrogant French would not have bowed to us so easily. ”

War Secretary Rosario scoffed.

Relations between Britain and France have always been discordant, especially for the British Army, France is their eternal pain.

If it had not been driven out of Europe by the French, Britain would not have become a mere sea power, and they would not have been reduced to the point where they could only be the little brother of the navy.

Looking at the gloating Secretary of War, Gladstone's brow furrowed. It is a joy to see the French unlucky, but it is not wonderful to have Austria to be the only one.

If you open the map, you can see that once Egypt fell into the hands of Austria, a giant across Asia, Africa and Europe appeared.

In this era of colonial empires, such a giant will definitely not sleep on his stomach there.

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

If France had been driven out, British Africa would have been Austria's next target. With the loss of British Africa, the Canton Highway from Britain to India was blocked.

What will happen next, Prime Minister Gladstone does not dare to continue to imagine. In short, allowing Austria to dominate the continent and dominate Africa would be an absolute disaster for Britain.

"The situation is very bad now, damn Gaul idiots, who have lost the bravery of their ancestors, are left with the ability to brag, and even worse we can't watch this fool fail.

Once the Egyptian region fell into Austrian hands, the anti-French alliance could use the absolute superiority in manpower and material resources to directly consume the French, and even Napoleon's resurrection could not save the situation.

It doesn't matter if the French are defeated, the point is that we can't watch Austria win easily. If we don't take advantage of this war to greatly deplete their strength, we won't want to have a good life in the future. ”

Personally, Gladstone didn't want to support the French, but there was no way, who let the French army in Egypt fail again?

Just two days ago, the Suez Line, which the French had painstakingly managed, had broken through, and the flames of war had reached the heart of Egypt, and if the French were not helped, French Egypt would change hands.

Britain could not afford Austria's control of Egypt, and the British government had to pull the French along.

Rosario shook his head: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the current situation is indeed bad, but we also have to face reality.

Austria's advantage on the continent was too great for the French to turn the tide unless the French could draw a million main troops into the African theater.

Of course, this is only a purely military analysis. This is not the case if something else happens, such as a supply problem with the Austrian Afrika Korps, or if a revolution breaks out. ”

Colonial Minister Primros immediately vetoed: "Your Excellency, such a change is almost impossible. According to information gathered by the African colonial government, the Vienna government had sent a large number of strategic materials to Austrian Africa before the war.

The exact amount is uncertain for the time being, but they certainly won't have logistical problems for a while. If the French had been a little stronger and had held out in Egypt for a year or two, there might have been a chance to see it.

It would be even more unreliable to expect a revolution in Austrian Africa. You must know that the main force of Austria's colonization of Africa was the aristocracy and farmers, which were different from the descendants of the criminals in the New World.

The information from Africa, the order from the Vienna Palace, these guys happily entered the war, without the slightest reluctance. ”

It is a fact that if Austrian Africa had been instigated for independence, the British would have done it long ago. No, to be exact, I've done it, but it ended in failure.

Unlike exiled criminals, most of the Austrian immigrants went there on their own initiative, and their sense of belonging to the country was much stronger.

In particular, Austria is still promoting the process of indigenization in Africa, which makes it even more difficult for vested interests to rebel. To replicate the American independence movement in Africa, there is simply no mass base.

After all, the thirteen states of North America seem to be colonies of the British, but most of the immigrants come from the European continent and lack a sense of belonging to Britain.

Pure English immigrants are inherently small, less than one-tenth of the total population, but most of these guys are exiled criminals, and it is good not to hate England, and it is simply a dream to expect them to take the initiative to maintain British colonial rule.

After a conflict of interest, the capitalists raised their arms and the people naturally rushed to respond.

Something like this simply doesn't work in Austrian Africa. Commodity dumping does exist, but it is a pity that the capitalists in Austrian Africa do not give their strength and do not have any say at all.

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

Industrial products are not created out of thin air, and they also need to purchase industrial raw materials, and it happens that everyone is a producer of industrial raw materials.

On the one hand, we will deliver industrial raw materials to the country, and on the other hand, we will enjoy the cheap industrial and commercial products produced in China, and we will not have much comfort in our small life.

If they really become independent and engage in anti-dumping, they will be the biggest victims. Not only will we have to pay for industrialization, but even the profits from growing cash crops will be greatly reduced.

For details, you can refer to the group of farmers in the Confederate States of America. In order to resist the trade protection policy of the north, they can jump out and make an independent.

The capitalists dared to make a fuss, and they did not need the intervention of the Vienna government, and the nobles and farmers, who were vested interests, suppressed them first.

Foreign Secretary George chimed in: "I can attest to this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also instigated the Austrian African independence movement, and even supported several independent organizations, but these guys have not succeeded."

Austria's mining and plantation economy in Africa directly tied vested interests to the homeland. Dismantling Austrian Africa from within is simply unrealistic.

As things stand, unless the French win the continental war, it is only a matter of time before Egypt falls.

Of course, we might be able to hinder Austria's actions by intervening directly, but the stakes are too great. ”

Sending troops to intervene, this would have been a joke. Britain's miniature version of the army, the main force is still fighting the Russians in Afghanistan, and with only the little colonial troops in British Africa, they can only fight soy sauce.

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

The war in Afghanistan has been going on so far that there is no point in continuing. At this time, the Russians were also difficult to ride the tiger, sending them a signal of peace, presumably the tsarist government would not choose to die.

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, it was indeed because of interests, and the war was fought so fiercely. It's a pity that the cruel reality tells them that this is a war of attrition with no end in sight, and if they really fight to the end, they will only lose both.

With the changes in the international situation, the tired Britain and Russia invariably reduced the intensity of the war, and the people who ate melons watched the excitement of France and Austria.

Perhaps in order to reassure France and Austria about the bold PK, Britain and Russia, which were supposed to stop, chose to continue this war game with a very tacit understanding.

Even though it's a game, it's also about killing people. Neither the British nor the Russian army gave up their intention to kill the other party, but whenever they showed the slightest flaw, they would be chased and beaten by the enemy.

In a sense, such a war of attrition would also be beneficial to Britain, and the British government had enough financial resources to drag down the Russians. Moreover, British India would only be safe if the tsarist government was really in pain.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the best of both worlds, and in order to contain Austria, which is becoming bigger, Gladstone can only give up the "hairy bear bloodletting plan" first.

Foreign Secretary George reminded: "Your Excellency, it is not difficult to cease war with the Russians now, but it is very difficult to cease war as we had anticipated.

At present, the Russian army still controls three-quarters of the territory of Afghanistan, and with the greed of the tsarist government, the land that we did not get on the battlefield wants to get back at the negotiating table, and there is almost no hope.

The contradictions between us and the Russians are too deep, and with the Austrians as-stirring sticks, I am afraid that this armistice negotiation will not go well.

Judging by the current situation, French Egypt will not be able to hold on for long. If the French army could not make a breakthrough on the European continent, the established fact of the Austrian occupation of Egypt was created.

The Russians do not want to see Austria become bigger, but Russia and Austria are traditional allies after all, and the tsarist government cannot turn against Austria for no reason, and they will most likely choose neutrality on the Egyptian issue.

The next step is to force the Austrians to make concessions and spit out and eat Egypt, and the only people we can rely on are the French and ourselves.

However, we need to use the French and restrict them, and we must not let the French take advantage of the opportunity to become bigger, which requires a lot of work.

To do this, we need more allies. It would be better to intervene with the European countries and solve the problem diplomatically. ”

Limited by the policy of balancing the European continent, the British government's diplomacy in this European war has always been timid, for fear that a misoperation will bring out a continental hegemon.

There is no way, the international situation is changing too quickly. Britain's enemies were constantly changing, first the Russians who jumped out on their own, then the ambitious French, and before they could react, Austria had popped up again.

It is necessary to suppress it, but not to suppress it too harshly, and it is necessary to maintain a fragile balance that will make the London government exhausted.

In a sense, since the outbreak of the European War, Britain's policy of balancing the European continent has been problematic and can no longer keep up with the changes in the international situation.

Everyone knows the problem, but unfortunately Britain is an island country, and it is determined by nature that they have no better choice. Only by maintaining the balance of the European continent can they maintain their hegemony.

Gladstone nodded and looked out the window: "It's really troublesome, but no matter how troublesome it is, it must be done, it's our responsibility."

And, while maintaining the balance on the continent, we also need to find ways to weaken the power of France and Austria so that they cannot continue to grow. ”

……