Without any exceptions, representatives of Britain, France, Austria and Spain appeared at the negotiating table. Unable to get what they wanted in the secret negotiations, the southern government did not hesitate to invite the foreign powers to intervene.

Balancing the strength of the north and the south is the common wish of the four countries, and the government of the north is stronger in terms of comprehensive national strength than the south, so it is naturally the object of everyone's suppression.

Even the Indian representatives appeared at the negotiating table, not to talk about racial contradictions, white supremacy, and to lean back in the face of interests.

Of course, the weakest Indians only sat in and waited for the outcome, but they still had no say at the negotiating table.

As a large tribal alliance, the Indians were too weak to be compared to the North and the South.

From the very beginning of the meeting, the North and the South were at loggerheads over legal issues. The things that were secretly contacted in private were hidden by both parties.

Privately engaging with the enemy without parliamentary approval is a shady affair, and once exposed, it is a political crisis.

At the same time as it was being opened, the results of the Russian-American joint fleet in the suppression of pirates in the Channel Islands of the United States also came out. I don't know how many pirates were killed, but the combined Russian-American fleet was almost wiped out anyway.

"The Navy can't win against pirates" is not news, and it is understandable that the Navy can't do pirates when it's lonely. In the era of sail warships, the gap between the strength of pirates and the navy was not insurmountable.

However, this time, a Russian fleet and the US West Coast Fleet combined with 23 warships, and when they went to encircle and suppress the pirates, two small ships finally escaped, which can be said to be completely annihilated, which is big news.

If it was the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Hawaiian Kingdom, the navy of such a small country was destroyed by pirates, everyone can understand it.

Even if the U.S. West Coast Fleet is pressed and beaten by pirates, everyone can accept it. After all, they are outbreaks, and it is normal for the navy to not be strong.

However, the protagonist is the Russian Navy, and it happens to be at the juncture of the Russo-Prussian War, and the problem is magnified.

This kind of thing happened, and the federal government certainly can't sit idly by.

In any case, the Russians were also helping them to eradicate piracy, and President Lincoln immediately ordered a fleet from the east coast to go to the Channel Islands to exterminate pirates.

Anyway, now it's all at the negotiating table, the great powers have intervened, and whoever wants to continue the war is the enemy of Anglo-French Austria. Since the war cannot be fought, it is not a big problem to divide the troops on the west coast.

At the same time as the military deployment, the federal government also notified the tsarist government by telegram as soon as possible. Of course, I also informed the European countries in passing. The telegraph line had to be transferred from various European countries, and the news was naturally leaked.

At present, there is only one telegraph line between Europe and the United States, and there is no direct telegraph line from the United States to Russia.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, the federal government blocked the news, and countries could only rely on ships to transmit it.

The news of the defeat in the naval battle, even if the Americans wanted to keep it secret, could not hide it for a few days.

Moreover, the situation is no longer the same, the importance of the Russians to the federal government has declined, and President Lincoln naturally does not care about the trouble caused by the leak of the news to the Russians.

Turning the other cheek and not recognizing people is a common trick used by American politicians. If you want to win the friendship of Americans, just use interests to speak, everything else is nonsense.

Historically, the tsarist government supported the federal government to complete the reunification of the country, and when the Americans recovered from the civil war, they immediately became the vanguard of anti-Russia.

The backers of the Russo-Japanese War were not only the British, but also the Americans.

There is no way, the term of office of the president of the United States is only 4 years, and he cannot be re-elected for more than 2 terms. No matter how good the relationship is, all the investment in the next government will be wasted.

Almost all republics have done very poorly in terms of policy continuity. A lot of times it's a denial for the sake of negation.

As the opposition has overturned its political opponents in the election, it is politically correct to have to reverse the policies of the previous term.

Even if you know that your predecessor is right, you have to do it, otherwise how can you explain it to the voters? Or rather, to explain to the supporters behind the scenes.

……

At the Vienna Palace, after receiving the news of the almost total annihilation of the Russian Navy, Franz just laughed it off.

Knowing that the relationship with the British is so bad, he still has to go to the Americas to block others, isn't this looking for his own death?

"Pirate" ambush?

Who doesn't know that the ancestors of the British Navy were pirates? It's just that they're legal pirates. Don't look at the past ten years, the British Navy has been washed ashore, but occasional visitors are still indispensable.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were rumors of pirates from the British navy, although the British did not admit it.

After a second of silence for the Russians, Franz began to gloat.

He had heard a lot of jokes about the Russian Navy, but his personal experience was different.

It's all a minor problem, anyway, the tsarist government has always relied on the army for food, when has the navy ever been strong?

The size of the Russian Navy is not small, and the total tonnage is second only to that of Britain, France, Austria and the United States. It started in the 17th century and has been around for 200 years.

However, this does not mean that the Russian Navy is strong. On the contrary, the current Russian Navy is far behind the countries of Europe.

The major naval powers are building ironclad ships, and only the Russian Navy is holding on to sail warships. There is no other reason than simply because there is no money.

First the war in the Near East, then the reforms of Alexander II, and now the war in Prussia, where did the tsarist government have the financial resources to develop the navy?

In this respect, Nicholas I was prescient in appointing Menshikov in charge of the navy.

I haven't trained my naval combat ability, but my land combat ability has improved? finally has a skill, and did not let the military expenditure be in vain.

Franz was considering whether to give Alexander II attention and send a navy to attack the Prussian coast.

If you can't get a record in a naval battle, you can make up for it in a land battle. The elite Russian navy fought against the people recruited by the Kingdom of Prussia temporarily, and there was no pressure at all.

After a moment's hesitation, Franz decisively gave up on the tempting idea. Now is not the time, and if it is brought up at this time, Alexander II's face will be very ugly.

There's no rush here, it's okay to be later. Don't look at the tsarist navy combat effectiveness, but there is no pressure to bully the Prussian navy in a naval battle.

Even if the Kingdom of Prussia built ironclad ships, their technical ability was limited, and what they built was a pseudo-ironclad ship, so they didn't have to worry about the lack of artillery power to sink it.

Not necessarily in land warfare, they are all the pinnacle of naval combat capabilities in this era. Before they had played, no one knew which of the two of them was superior.

St. Petersburg, receiving that the main forces of the Far Eastern Fleet were almost completely wiped out during a visit to the United States, Alexander II was furious.

Shameful and thrown to the Americas, although he suspected that there was a British hand behind it, but there was no evidence?

The British Navy is professional in this regard, and if you take off your military uniform, you can convert a warship into a pirate. Even the Americans, who are the head of the land, did not find any problems.

Now that it is the era of ironclads, it is inevitable to eliminate sail warships. The pirate ships that now robbed the Russian Navy are still entrenched in the Channel Islands of the United States.

The man is gone, and the boat is still there.

Obviously, the British sold these obsolete warships to pirates, and completely cut off the Russian fleet from this sneak attack.

"My Lord of the Admiralty, can you tell me what is going on? When did the navy of the Russian Empire not even win a pirate fight? ”

Lawrence Lowrynski, who is now the Minister of the Navy, replied worriedly: "Your Majesty, these pirates have many warships in their hands, and they cannot be treated as ordinary pirates.

According to the information provided by the Americans, we can preliminarily judge that this was done by the British, and the guns on board were all British-made. It is even possible that the British Navy ambushed us posing as pirates.

But rest assured, the Admiralty is ready to send a fleet to the Pacific to wipe out these pirates and wash away our shame. ”

Alexander II scolded angrily: "Fool, you know that the British made a ghost, and you still have to send warships over, don't you think the loss is not big enough!" ”

Retaliation, of course, Alexander II thought, but strength did not allow it. If the enemy is British, no matter how many warships they send, it will be a result.

He did not dare to overestimate the integrity of the British, and the Royal Navy pretended to be pirates, but few countries could hold it.

Foreign Secretary Clarence proposed: "The majesty of the Empire cannot be desecrated, and these pirates must be exterminated."

But it is enough to send a fleet from the mainland, now the Russo-Prussian war is critical. The eradication of pirates can be solved by diplomatic means.

Whether it was for the Americans to send troops to exterminate them, or for the help of the Austrians. The British, for the sake of their own reputation, would not stand up for these pirates. ”

This is inevitable, even if John Bull is shameless, he will not collude with pirates on the surface. From the beginning, the pirates were outcasts.

The British just wanted to hit the Russians, and they didn't really want to turn against the Russians, and the current Russian Empire is not easy to mess with, and they are forced to fight another war to defend India.

Now there is a bunch of pirates left, which are to vent the anger of the Russians. lest the tsarist government have no steps down and run to find trouble with them.

The tsarist government had no money? This is true, but it does not mean that the Russian aristocracy has no money. Alexander II was forced to make a promise to India, and it was not a big problem to raise money from the domestic nobles, and it was not a big problem to finance a war.

Now the Russians are full of arrogance, and they think that the army is the best in the world, and it is not a problem to push all the way through.

Or if you raise money from overseas, as long as the benefits are enough, you are not afraid of not being able to borrow money.

The Austrian financial community did not dare to lend money to the tsarist government, mainly because they were worried about their ability to repay. If Alexander II had been willing to come up with the collateral that appealed to Franz, none of these problems would have existed.

The Russian Empire, which has a big business, has capital in its hands. As long as Alexander II was willing to betray the country, not to mention Austria, it would not be difficult to get a loan even from the French.

What would not happen under normal circumstances, not necessarily in the Russian Empire.

The divine operation of Peter III back then is still clearly recorded in the history books, who can guarantee that Alexander II will not dare to gamble?

Just like Nicholas I back then, if you win the bet, you will be the greatest tsar of Russia, and if you lose the bet, it is a big deal to see God in advance.

After hesitating for a moment, Alexander II made a decision: "Let's let the Americans take action, this time the incident was originally caused by them, and the aftermath work will naturally be done by them." ”

This is the wisest choice, because the strategic value of Russian-US relations is not high in the first place, and there is no need to invest too much capital.

Using this incident as an excuse to bring the relationship between the two countries to an end is in everyone's interest.

The federal government is not yet the American Imperial Federation of later generations, and there is no way to help them in European problems, not even a single loan aid.

Again, they can't give the Americans the help they want. The tragic fate of the navy was that the British were warning them not to get involved in the affairs of the Americas.

Alexander II, who was still preparing to fight for a seat in the north-south negotiations, was completely awakened.

The Russian Empire was indeed strong, and this was only on land. In Europe, Central Asia, and the Far East, they all have a great say, but in the Americas, which are separated by oceans, no one buys their accounts.

Which of the four countries participating in this mediation, Britain, France, Austria, and Spain, is not a naval power? Which one is in the Americas, without a fleet? Can't mobilize tens of thousands of troops?

Strength is the right to speak, haven't you seen the federal government that is good friends with them, and now you haven't invited them to participate?