Chapter 977： Headache for head, foot pain for foot

Knowing the current affairs is one of the important reasons for Japan's success.

From the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government tried hard to hold the British thighs, although John Bull didn't see them well enough, and didn't accept them as the little brother who was sent to the door.

But for decades of hard work, there is always an impression. However, in international competition, the impression score alone is not enough, and more importantly, it depends on opportunities.

For the Japanese, now is undoubtedly the best opportunity. The international situation is changing, and the British, isolated by European society, are now in desperate need of allies.

The overlord has the hegemony of its own. What Britain needs is allies, not pets, and it is impossible to accept all cats and dogs.

The original space-time Japan proved its strength in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and it was regarded by the British and became the vanguard of the anti-Russian in the Far East.

Now is no exception. In the battle for the Philippine Islands, Japan's strength has given the British a high look before they have a chance for further contact.

...

Downing Street, Prime Minister Gladstone hasn't had a good night's sleep since the European War was won, and he seemed to be ten years old.

The Vienna Peace Conference, which just concluded, gave Britain a fatal blow. The arrogant French empire has now been severed, and it is impossible to count on it in a short time.

Without any accident, the German-Austrian merger that Britain was most worried about happened, and the revived Holy Roman Empire became the new European hegemon.

And this overlord is different from the previous parallel overlords. The strength is too strong, making the challengers daunting.

It turns out that there is no worst, only worse. As a supporter of France, Britain has long stood on the opposite side of the anti-French alliance.

Even if it is a counter-attack at the last moment, it does not mean that the matter is over. There are Strait protectors, and the anti-French alliance is naturally unable to liquidate them.

Without direct liquidation, it does not mean giving up revenge. At the last moment of the Vienna Peace Conference, the anti-French alliance was in a hurry, and the "European Union" with Austria at its core appeared.

As the name suggests, the "European Union" is naturally an alliance of continental European countries. Although Britain also belongs to Europe, they are a maritime country, so the European Union is nothing to them.

From the literal meaning, Gladstone also knows that Austria pulls all countries to form the "European Union" to grab the right to speak.

Whether it is willing to accept it or not, Britain, which is excluded, has lost its right to speak on the European continent.

This is not the worst. To make matters worse, no one stipulates that the "European Union" can only manage European affairs. If the Vienna government is willing, it can use this alliance to interfere in international affairs.

The strength of the European Union far exceeds the sum of the rest of the countries. In this age when the fist is the truth, the right to speak is naturally unparalleled.

In other words, the supremacy of Britain has been shaken. Although they still have the world's largest Royal Navy, they still have no confidence in the face of the freak of the "European Union".

Originally thought it was only the British and Austrian hegemony, but the director took the wrong script, and the plot became Britain and the "European Union" hegemony. Fortunately, the shooting hasn't been completed yet, or Britain would be dead.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with Russia, the West, the Nordic Federation and other countries. Generally speaking, there is no room for optimism. Everyone's confidence in the Holy Roman Empire is much higher than we expected.

Now we can only wait for the enemy to make mistakes and then look for opportunities to divide the European Union. If this alliance is not disbanded, we will always be in a passive position, and there is nothing we can do to hide behind the Holy Roman Empire. "

It can be seen that George is in a very bad mood. As Britain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the international situation has developed to the present stage and the title of "British Minister of Foreign Affairs" is already firmly established.

The political opponents did not take the opportunity to attack, not because of understanding, not because of integrity, but because no one wants to take up this mess. When all the dust settles, that's when he gets out.

In contrast, the situation of others in the cabinet is much better. Regardless of how deteriorating the international situation, Britain still reaped enough benefits in the European War.

Most of the wealth accumulated by the French has flowed into Britain through trade, and the British Isles are now in their most prosperous period.

Although in the long run, the London government's poor decision-making has put Britain in an awkward position; but in the short term, all classes in the country have benefited, and the public has a good impression of the government.

In fact, George thinks too much. The title of "worst foreign minister in history" will only be given to him by later generations. At the moment, the British people do not realize what they have lost.

Since acquiring the French warships by diplomatic means, it has consolidated the dominance of the Royal Navy.

After the dominant position, public opinion criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs much less.

Gladstone waved his hand: "Come slowly, we are not in a hurry. The Holy Roman Empire has just been re-established, and there are still a lot of internal problems. For a long time to come, the Vienna government will be busy sorting out internal affairs. Just ignore us.

The anti-French alliance is not monolithic, now it is only because the French have joined together for a short time. France was weakened miserably at the Vienna Peace Conference, and the threat to countries has been greatly reduced. When everyone does not feel the threat of the French, this alliance should die.

Regardless of the power and prestige of the Holy Roman Empire, the more they toss, the easier it is to arouse the jealousy of all countries. France is a lesson for the past.

I am afraid that they will not toss. If the Vienna government maintains its current international image and does not engage in affairs on the European continent, it will be really troublesome. "

The defeat of France had a great impact on Britain, and both the civil society and the government were analyzing the reasons. The final conclusion shocked them all.

There is no way, the reason for France's defeat is also applicable to Britain-"too many people have offended".

The French have offended many people, and the British have offended many people. Fortunately, there is strait protection. Otherwise, Britain still exists or not, it is an unknown.

Reflection is reflection, and the London government has not reversed this situation after working together for a while. With the establishment of the European Union, no European country will ally with them.

Including France, which has just been defeated, is no exception. Many French now believe that their defeat was betrayed by the British, and the revolutionary government in Paris is a puppet supported by the British.

In a sense, this is not wrong. The first stop of the French Revolutionary Party in exile was London. If it weren't for the protection of the British government, these guys would have been cracked by the Bonaparte dynasty.

On the surface, if the British government does not stab the knife at the last minute, but gives all-out support, the French may not be unable to end the war in a decent way.

After the defeat, many arrogant French people are still unwilling to admit that the defeat was due to their lack of strength, and they desperately need an excuse that they can accept.

Under the guidance of someone with a heart, conspiracy theories have become popular. Britain happened to meet all the conditions and was pushed to the forefront.

Of course, these are all minor issues. After the defeat of the war, France has been unable to enter the eyes of the British government, and can do nothing but yell.

Foreign Secretary George: "There is another question. The Japanese hope to buy warships from us to fight against the Spanish expeditionary fleet.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested agreeing to them. With the end of the European War, the victorious Spaniards became restless. There even appeared in Madrid newspapers that the Strait of Gibraltar was reclaimed.

Although it is not a climate yet, we still have to be vigilant. If Vienna provokes a bit behind the scenes, maybe the confident Spaniard will do something stupid.

In order to avoid the worst from happening, we had better find a chance to sober the Spaniards.

Anyway, with the disappearance of the French Navy, the pressure on the Royal Navy has been greatly reduced. We will soon accept a large number of warships from the French Navy. For a long time in the future, the Royal Navy will face the problem of surplus warships.

Taking the opportunity to deal with a batch of surplus warships to the Japanese can not only use them to consume Spain's strength, but also save a lot of money. "

There are too many worries about warships, and currently only the British enjoy it alone. Originally, the Royal Navy had a large number of warships, and now it has taken over half of the French warships. The next problem the Royal Navy will face is that there are warships and no one will fly.

Because a large warship auction has just ended, the international arms market is just saturated, and there is no second buyer besides Japan.

The Secretary of the Navy Astley cursed: "Don't mention the French warships to me. The **** Austrians have thrown us a bunch of rags, and nearly one-tenth of the warships are about to be retired.

And the engineers and shipbuilding technology they promised are all nonsense. The so-called engineers are just a bunch of coolies.

The handover of shipbuilding technical materials were mixed together, most of which were sailing warships, even if there were French core technologies, we would not be able to find them for a while. "

As the second largest naval power in the world, the French navy is also very strong. Although it is not as good as Britain on the whole, it ranks first in the world in some areas.

No one will allow competitors to grow bigger, and Austria is no exception. Fighting competitors is naturally omnipotent.

From the beginning, the Royal Navy did not expect to obtain the core technology of the French, even if the Austrians dared to give it, they did not dare to use it directly.

It's just that someone put it on, Astley still feels uncomfortable. Especially after learning that they were the only ones enjoying the special treatment, Astley's mood was even worse.

"There is no problem with the capital ships. I don't need to mention any flaws. In any case, these warships have also consolidated the dominance of the Royal Navy.

In the long run, Austria will be our biggest enemy in the future; but in a short period of time, it is the Russians who threaten us the most.

The Tsarist government has announced the establishment of the Central Asia Railway. After determining that the European continent could not break through, the Russian strategy has been transferred to India.

It is certainly not enough to respond passively. We must find ways to take the initiative. Everyone knows how complicated the geographic environment of Afghanistan is. To combat the Russians, it is better to open up new fronts.

There are not many options left to us, and the Nordic Federation cannot count on it. In addition to continuing to support the Persians, we have to find an enemy for the Russians in the Far East to make the tsarist government exhausted.

Of course, the Nanyang region cannot give up either. With the establishment of the European Union, our competition in Nanyang has also fallen into a disadvantage. If the Spaniards take back the Philippine Islands, the situation will be even worse for us.

The Admiralty sent people to evaluate the strength of the Japanese navy and, if possible, let them become a nail that we inserted into the Nanyang region. "

Gladstone was also very helpless to make such a decision. Knowing that this is a symptom, not the root cause, but there is no way, Britain can only choose to treat the symptom first.