Chapter 465： 0 billion subsidy for Britain

When Palmerston and Raglan heard that the Foreign Secretary wanted to meet them at the same time, they immediately realized that something unknown might be happening in the Near East.

A look of panic appeared on both Palmerston's and Raglan's faces.

Could it be that the Russian Empire has already broken through Silistra and marched towards Constantinople?

A ridiculous idea poured into Palmerston's mind, and was instantly rejected by Palmerston!

For once Silistra was breached, the first to face the Russian Empire army was not the Kingdom of Britain, but the French Empire.

The French army of 40,000 (Palmeston's intelligence) in the Varna area will never be defeated so soon!

"Quick! Let him in!" Palmerston hurriedly said to the chief secretary.

Now is not the time to speculate!

The Chief Secretary immediately turned around and opened the door after receiving Prime Minister Palmerston's approval, inviting the Foreign Secretary to enter.

After the foreign minister entered, the chief secretary left and closed the door intimately.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Your Excellency the Baron!" Lord Clarendon greeted Palmerston and Baron Raglan in turn.

"Minister Villiers! You want to meet Baron Raglan and me in such a hurry. Did something happen to the Eastern Region?" Palmerston asked directly.

Lord Clarendon nodded, walked slowly to the desk and handed the telegram to Palmerston, with a deep tone: "Our army is suffering serious combat attrition on the Gallipoli Peninsula!"

Palmerston, who took the folded telegram, unfolded the telegram. The content of the telegram made Palmerston, who had a smile on his face, change his face immediately.

Baron Raglan, who was sitting opposite Palmerston, saw Palmerston's gloomy face, and his relaxed heart also suddenly fell to the bottom.

Although Baron Raglan didn't know the content of the telegram, he already knew the answer from what Earl Clarendon had just said and Palmerston's expression.

After reading the telegram, I was afraid that Maston took a deep breath and handed the telegram to Baron Raglan in a deep voice: "You should also take a look!"

Baron Raglan took the telegram handed over by Palmerston and read it carefully, his face immediately turned the color of a pig's liver, and finally he could not help but slap the telegram on the table and cursed: "Dunda What on earth did that guy do? He can't even do such a trivial thing as logistical support! And Airey (the chief quartermaster of the British Expeditionary Force, major general), what does he eat? Do what he can or can't do it. Get me out of the army and get out of the army!"

"Commander Raglan, I think our priority right now is not to correct mistakes, but to reduce our non-combat attrition as much as possible! I don't want our troops to be out of combat before the war with the Russian Empire comes. Lose more than half of the staff due to attrition!" Palmerston raised his hand to stop Baron Raglan's abuse, calmly analyzing the current situation.

According to the content of the cable, the night before (that is, when Ambassador Cowley sent the letter from Paris) the Gallipoli Peninsula was a rare snowstorm that was rarely seen in several years.

At first, the Duke of Cambridge, who served as the temporary commander of Britain, just thought it was a short-lived blizzard, so he didn't care too much, and still stayed in Gallipoli step by step.

However, as time went by, the snowstorm got bigger and bigger, and after only 8 hours, it had already submerged both feet. It was only at this time that the Duke of Cambridge realized that the situation was developing in a direction that was not conducive to the army. The biting cold wind blew relentlessly on every thin tent.

The thin tent alone could not stop the biting cold wind. The soldiers in the tent were wrapped in the same thin quilt and shivered together. Every moment, some soldiers were frostbitten and even facing death.

To make matters worse, the British Kingdom was not prepared for winter supplies at all. After a heavy snowfall, even the basic living materials could not be transported. At this time, the morale of the British army was already low before the war began.

When the weather cleared up a little, when the Duke of Cambridge re-counted the number of troops, he found that nearly 50 British troops had frozen to death in just one night, and 200 patients with frostbite needed treatment.

The Duke of Cambridge had no choice but to divide into two groups. One group went to Constantinople to tell the news to the garrison stationed in London, hoping that Ambassador Canning would report it to London, and the other group went to the British Fleet Command in Malta to seek information. Support from the Commander of the Maltese Fleet.

After receiving the help of the Duke of Cambridge, Canning immediately went to Topkapi Palace to seek the support of Abdul Mejid I.

However, although Abdul Mejid I was the host of the Near East, he was equally powerless about the current situation in Britain.

Because the Ottoman Empire could not send supplies to the Gallipoli Peninsula when the snow was about to close the mountains, Abdul Mejid I politely made a suggestion to Canning, suggesting that he seek help from the French army .

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After all, the current Rhode Island is a French transshipment warehouse, and the materials stored in it can fully satisfy the French army itself, and at the same time support the embarrassed British army.

The British army only needs to discard all equipment and walk out of the Gallipoli Peninsula alone.

Canning left silently after hearing Abdul Majid I's suggestion.

Then, such a telegram appeared in the Foreign Office of Lord Clarendon.

"What can I do? What can I do?" Baron Raglan said with a gloomy face and dissatisfied: "It's nothing more than Britain continuing to defend the Gallipoli peninsula, or asking France for help! I really don't know why the War Department would do this. With such a stupid landing plan, don't they take a look at the topography of Gallipoli and then..."

"Okay!" Before Baron Raglan could finish speaking, Prime Minister Palmerston snapped: "This is not the time to hold anyone accountable! It took less than two weeks for 20,000 troops to lose 250 casualties. Man, this is indeed the fault of our cabinet! So we have to make a decision as soon as possible!"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister! Actually..." Lord Clarendon hesitated for a while, and then said again: "I have a letter from Ambassador Cowley here!"

"Ambassador Cowley?" Palmerston was stunned for a few seconds, and then asked impatiently, "Could there be a change in France?"

"No! No!" Lord Clarendon shook his head and handed Ambassador Cowley's letter to Palmerston.

Palmerston looked at Ambassador Cowley's letter again, and when he thought about the situation the British army was facing now, he couldn't help complaining about France: "Damn French! They must have known about Gallipoli's situation long ago. !"

"What's wrong?" Baron Raglan looked at Palmerston suspiciously.

"Look!" Palmerston handed the letter from Ambassador Cowley to Baron Raglan.

After reading the letter, Baron Raglan also couldn't help swearing at the behavior of the French Empire: "I will say that the **** French definitely don't really want to form an alliance with us! If they had told us earlier, we would have also Will not face this situation now!"

Lord Clarendon acted as if nothing had been heard, and said calmly: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, Commander Raglan, our army is suffering from this storm. The torment of the cabinet, the cabinet must come up with the regulations as soon as possible!"

"If Britain abandons its armaments and seeks help from France, there may be a solution... No! No!" Palmerston suddenly realized that there were reporters from The Times in this expeditionary force.

If they were told that the dignified British Empire had sought help from France, the Britons, who were too proud of themselves, would have torn the cabinet to shreds.

But if it is ignored, the British army stationed in Gallipoli is likely to face the danger of disintegration, and the British people will set off a greater wave of collapse.

Palmerston couldn't bet that the weather on Gallipoli's peninsula would turn in Britain's favor over the next few days.

Therefore, once you take the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet, what you have to face is not only the ability to do practical things, but also the awareness of taking the overall situation into consideration.

What is the big picture?

The overall situation is not only to take care of the emotions of the British people, but also to rescue the British soldiers smoothly.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I don't think you need to care about the impact of letting the army drop its current weapons and equipment!" Lord Clarendon suggested to Palmerston: "Now the whole of Britain has been submerged by the anti-Russian wave~www. novelhall.com~ We just need to put some pressure on The Times! Of course they won't report bad news for Britain. In the meantime, the government should..."

Clarendon's method is very simple. More than 90 years in advance, it is to render the Gallipoli evacuation as the British army to overcome difficulties and complete the strategic transfer of victory!

As for France, the wealthy Britain only needs to seal the mouth of the French Empire with money.

"Just do it!" Prime Minister Palmerston made up his mind and said to Lord Clarendon and Baron Raglan: "Isn't France standing in search of gold all over the world? (Jérôme Bonaparte is stabilizing the market, While limiting the outflow of gold and silver, actively search (short) gold to maintain the stable issuance of paper francs)! The Kingdom of Great Britain can help them by discounting their British bonds!"

The excavation of Australia's gold mines has also made Britain rich and rich, and Britain, which holds nearly one-third of the world's gold reserves, is not at all afraid of France's crazy run.

"Then who is going to make this happen?" Palmerston asked Baron Raglan and Lord Clarendon with a smile.

"I'll go!"