The British are in action, and other countries are not idle, especially the four countries of Prussia, Russia, Poland, and Ottomans, which are at the center of the whirlpool, are working public relations.

In order to gain the diplomatic support of Russia in European countries, the diplomats of the four countries are like hard-working bees, constantly shuttling through the embassies of various countries.

France, Austria, and Germany, which are also at the center of the whirlpool, seem to be asleep, and there is no movement at all.

Hummel knew that things were not as simple as they seemed, not that they didn't want to move, but that they couldn't move, and that it was Austria's best choice to adapt to all changes.

The French did not move, and he also understood that, thanks to the prestige left by Napoleon, to this day, European countries have not relaxed their vigilance against France.

Under such circumstances, no matter how much the Paris government's diplomacy is conducted, the European countries will not give up their fear of them.

Wanting to annex the Rhineland, any country on the European continent would be on their side with the exception of Monaco, which was controlled by the French themselves.

Small countries can also coerce and induce them to remain neutral, what about several large countries? Even if they wanted to exchange benefits, France could not afford to pay that price. If it's destined to be useless, why waste energy?

The Federal Reich of Germany did not move, which made Hummel wonder, if he wanted to seize the Rhineland, he could not do it without the support of European countries.

Leave everything to the British, and they just wait to sit back and enjoy it? When John Bull is doing charity, how can they be allowed to work in vain without enough benefits?

It was impossible for the Federal Reich of Germany not to have an interest in the Rhineland, and the capture of the Rhineland would greatly promote their domestic heavy industry.

There was no action at all, so I was so relieved and bold to let the British deal with it, wouldn't I be afraid of being sold by John Bull.

You know, there are quite a few countries interested in the Rhineland. In addition to the French, Belgium is also a competitor.

Under normal circumstances, Belgium is too weak, and at most it is secretly thought. But once there is the support of the great powers, it is not necessarily.

The Federal Reich of Germany could afford to buy the Rhineland, and Belgium could afford to buy it.

For the Kingdom of Prussia, it was in more interest for Belgium to give the Rhineland region to the German Federal Empire.

Belgium is also the younger brother of the British, and handing over the Rhineland to Belgium is not the best option, but as long as it does not fall into the hands of the French, the London government is equally acceptable.

There must be an untold secret in the fact that the Federal Reich of Germany still believed in the British, knowing that there were rivals.

Humel ordered: "Halls, immediately send a telegram to Vienna, so that their intelligence organization can find out about the insider trading between Britain and Germany as soon as possible." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Secretary Halls replied

……

The London Conference was officially convened on July 20, 1874, at which Polish Foreign Minister V.W. Vłobloblevski rightly accused the Russians of invading Poland and made three proposals to the international conference:

1. To condemn and sanction the crimes of Russian aggression against Poland;

2. The immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Poland;

3. The tsarist government compensated the Kingdom of Poland for its war losses.

There is no doubt that the proposal of the Poles was diplomatically supported by the countries of Europe, which condemned the atrocities of the Russians.

Perhaps in order to add to the Russians' obstruction, or perhaps there was some other calculation, British Foreign Secretary Maclean, who was presiding over the meeting, proposed a vote.

Naturally, the result was one-sided, with 13 of the 16 delegates of Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Poland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Morocco, Black, Nordic, and Ottoman attending the meeting voting in favor of the Poles.

Austria and Montenegro chose to abstain, and the only negative vote was cast by the Russians themselves. There was a veto, and the resolution was annulled because the Russians were against it.

Hummel was puzzled, he had no idea what medicine was sold in the gourds of the British. The international conference was not binding and no treaty had been signed.

In fact, it did nothing but make the Russian delegates look ugly. There is no problem with everyone verbally supporting Poland, and if you want all countries to send troops to intervene in this Russian-Polish war, it is better to wash and sleep!

Hummel did not doubt the ability of the British to deceive, and if the London government was willing to spend a lot of money to convince the Kingdom of Prussia that it was okay, other countries should not think about it.

It is clear that the British had no intention of supporting the Prussians in a war, and that this input was not proportional to the output.

If the Russians were to be defeated, the Berlin government would have defaulted, and all the investments of the British would have been lost.

It's not that the Berlin government wants to pay the bills, but at that point, they really can't pay the money.

The war is a gold-swallowing beast, and the Berlin government has repaid less than one-third of the debts owed in the last Russo-Prussian war, and what will they pay back again?

Even if you win the war and get a lot of loot, these booty cannot be cash, most of them are real estate and land, and they cannot be converted into wealth in a short period of time.

Even because of the war, more money needs to be invested in the development of new occupied areas. For a long time, the contribution of these new territories to the treasury was negative.

Unless the British continue to increase their loans and let the Berlin government borrow new debts to pay off old debts, the Kingdom of Prussia, which has no money, is doomed to default.

……

At the Vienna Palace, after receiving what happened at the London meeting, Franz's face changed dramatically. It seems like a prosaic vote, but in fact it is a hidden murderous motive.

The Russians do not feel that they are themselves isolated, and that it will not be worse if they are against the European countries.

If you change countries, it will be different, ignoring the attitudes of European countries, then you also need capital that can ignore European countries.

There are only two countries on the European continent that are not afraid of hostility, one is the Russian Empire, which is heavily indebted and has a geographical advantage. The vast territory + cold winter made the Russian Empire invincible.

Other than that, there is Britain alone. Even if everyone is unhappy with them, there is a strait barrier, and the Royal Navy is strong, they can't be helpless at all.

Other European countries are different, if you want to mix on the mainland, you can't make yourself the enemy of the whole world. Every time you stand on the opposite side of Europe, it means that the crisis is one point closer.

Napoleon's experience has already taught everyone: without a superior strategic position, without the strength to single-handedly compete with the European continent, it is better not to waste well.

Franz was sure that the British were not targeting the Russians this time, and that the declining Russian Empire was no longer worth so much thought.

It is worth the painstaking calculations of the British, except for France and Austria, there is no third party. At present, the government in Paris is still fighting among itself, and it is unlikely that something will happen in the short term, and most of it will be against Austria.

"The British have already made a move, how do you think we can deal with it?"

Prime Minister Felix: "Your Majesty, it depends on what the British want to do. There are not many places that we can be targeted at the moment, and even fewer places that are worth calculating in the UK.

The British made small moves at this time, either to disrupt our strategy of German reunification, or to sabotage our plan for eastward expansion.

If it were the former, they would most likely start with the Federal Reich of Germany. Nominally, this last link remains in our strategy of German reunification.

However, the Federal Empire of Germany was deeply divided internally, and it seemed that its strength was not small, but its power was very limited.

Even if they were able to integrate the German Federal Empire, there would be no way to win the hearts of the people in the short term. Learning from the Kingdom of Prussia to free itself from the influence of German nationalism was not something that could be done overnight.

If it was against the latter, then the British were going to keep the Ottoman Empire. This does not contradict our strategic goals, anyway, the plan has already been completed, and the war in the Near East already needs exactly an excuse to stop.

Now the main goal of the British is to deny the French access to the Rhineland, which should be incidental to us. The British, French and Austrian Triple Alliance is still there, and the British should not go too far. ”

Is it that simple? Franz was very skeptical, he did not think that the British had laid so much foreshadowing in the early stage, and that their appetite was so small in the end.

Foreign Secretary Wessenberg: "I remember that two days ago, our embassy in London sent a telegram explaining that the Federal Reich was behaving abnormally and asking the intelligence agencies to find out about the Anglo-German insider trade.

Combined with the current situation, it can be inferred that there is likely to be a transaction between Britain and Germany that is unfavorable to us, and in order to avoid being discovered by us, the Federal Reich of Germany chose to brake quietly.

Of course, it is also very unlikely that the British released smoke bombs, and the German Federal Government just played a play with them to confuse us.

It's very easy to break the game, the Federal German Empire thinks that the annexation of the Rhineland is a sure win, so we will muddy the waters.

Didn't the Belgians reveal their intention to buy the Rhineland? Then let's get them moving, one more competitor to buy, presumably the Prussians should be happy. ”

I don't know what the British planned, it doesn't matter, it's right to disrupt their deployment first and muddy the waters.

At this time, Belgium jumped out, and the London government had to make a choice, and only one of the two younger brothers could support it, so the relationship between the British and the abandoned one would inevitably be affected.

After a little thought, Franz decided: "Then let's encourage Belgium to go, but this pressure is not enough."

At this point, there is no point in secrecy, and presumably the Franco-Prussian and Franco-Prussian countries have probably guessed the plan of the British.

Then just make things clear and let them know that we and the British have joined forces to support the German Confederation in gaining the Rhineland.

Let the two countries also jump out and directly overturn the table. ”