Holy Roman Empire

Both were blamed for the failures, so they might as well be called the "Blame Alliance." However, there are differences even among those who take the blame.

Austria jumped willingly to take the blame.

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Austria is spreading rumors, denigrating the national image of France, and claiming economic damages.

Austria's Foreign Ministry: That's not the case, we were simply stating the facts to help the people of Europe understand the truth.

...

The situation with the Tsarist Government was different; they were blamed without even leaving home, as if the blame fell from the sky.

When the Vienna Government takes the blame, it was a mutual agreement, a necessity between France and Austria, turning their quarrel into a mere political game.

The blame thrown by the British was different, deploying troops to attack British forces in Afghanistan, which was no different from declaring war.

Although not afraid of going to war with the British, in the absence of any benefit, the Russians naturally were unwilling to take this unjust blame for their adversary.

St. Petersburg

Foreign Minister Oscar Ximenes: "Your Majesty, the situation has been clarified. After the British forces occupied the Afghan Region, they faced fierce resistance from the locals, resulting in heavy losses for their troops.

The British Government has slandered us by claiming that our troops secretly attacked the British forces in Afghanistan, just to avoid taking responsibility for their heavy front-line losses and to appease their domestic public."

What does a war with England mean?

Looking at the map, it's clear that it's really no big deal; apart from the possibility of war breaking out in the Central Asian region, the two sides cannot reach each other in other areas.

In theory, the Royal Navy could indeed blockade the coastline of the Russian Empire, but in practice, it's utterly unfeasible.

Russia's shipbuilding industry is underdeveloped, and domestic long-distance shipping companies are rare. The overseas trade shipping business is mostly undertaken by international shipping companies.

Including Britain's shipping companies, they all share a large slice of the pie. The Royal Navy enforcing an embargo won't surely detain their own ships, right?

To put it bluntly, Russia's main seaports are concentrated in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and even if the Royal Navy blocks them, they could still pretend to trade with the Nordic Federation or Austria.

In those days, without satellite monitoring, who would know the true origins and destinations of these ships? Detaining ships randomly would surely provoke an international dispute.

Hearing this answer, Army Minister Ivanov furiously said, "Your Majesty, the British keep testing the limits of the Empire, and we can no longer tolerate this.

We must respond with the strongest measures and hit them hard. Let the whole world know that the great Russian Empire is not to be trificked with!"

"Firmness" is not without reason. In fact, since Marshal Ivanov became the Army Minister, the Russian military has become relatively conservative.

If it weren't for the British Government's blame-shifting, which exposed the weak combat capability of the British forces, Marshal Ivanov would absolutely not advocate for war now.

Alexander III hesitated; a Tsar who dared not wage war was not a qualified Tsar.

Being peace-loving was just a matter of interest. Now that the British had exposed their weakness, it would be utterly irrational not to take the opportunity to kick them while they're down!

But are the British really that weak?

Alexander III was very skeptical; he knew very well that the Indian Colonial Army did not represent the true combat strength of the British Army.

The troops attacking Afghanistan this time consisted mostly of the Indian Colonial Army, with less than one fifth of the total forces coming from the mainland.

Seeing Alexander III wavering, Ivanov continued to persuade, "Your Majesty, the British have long been hollow inside.

After so many years, they haven't made any progress. The combat strength of the British forces probably isn't even up to the level during the first Near Eastern War.

The Afghan war is a testament, and the earlier South African war also serves as proof.

At that time, the British sent their main forces, yet they couldn't even defeat a hastily assembled militia from Austria. The combat strength of the British forces can be imagined.

Now is the best opportunity. The three Khanates of Central Asia have already been crippled, and it won't be long before our troops reach Afghanistan.

Even though the British have preemptively occupied the Afghan Region, their foundation there is unstable, and there are guerrillas causing trouble.

We can completely take advantage of their vulnerability and take over the Afghan Region to lay the groundwork for advancing south into India."

The survival of the fittest was the essence of the era, and the Tsarist Government's initial goal was simply to take control of the Central Asia region.

As for the Afghan Region, since it had fallen into British hands, the military had abandoned hope and was preparing to wait for the next opportunity.

However, plans never keep up with changes, and when they discovered that the British forces occupying the Afghan Region were weak and couldn't even handle the Afghan Guerrillas, Marshal Ivanov immediately changed his mind.

"Heaven's gifts not seized invite Heaven's wrath."

To miss such an opportunity was akin to a crime. As the leader of the military, how could he turn away such low-hanging fruit and instead seek out tough opponents?

Foreign Minister Oscar Ximenes added, "We recently had a secret contact with the French. The Paris Government doesn't oppose our entry into the Indian Ocean.

If we were to fall out with the British now, the French wouldn't send troops to interfere, and Austria would support us.

All diplomatic obstacles have been cleared. The remaining issues are military ones. As long as the military is confident of victory, we can implement the southern strategy."

Upon hearing the news, Alexander III was startled, "The French turned their allies over so quickly?"

He then realized that it seemed the French Government didn't wish to betray their allies, but currently, they couldn't give any help to the British either.

Due to issues in Central Europe, France and Austria were having disputes. At this time, to send troops to help the British would just be giving Austria an opportunity, right?

"Are there any financial issues?"

Traditionally, almost every time before a war would break out, the Finance Ministry would conventionally object.

It wasn't that the Finance Minister lacked a bigger picture, mainly the Tsarist Government was poor. If they didn't take precautions, what would happen if the war ran out of money halfway through?

No one wanted to be the scapegoat. Hence, the Russian Finance Minister had always been the leader of the anti-war faction. As long as he mentioned financial difficulties beforehand, if funds ran out in the middle of the war, it wouldn't be the fault of the Finance Ministry.

Each time the Finance Ministry opposed, and it was rare to encounter a case when they didn't, which is why Alexander III was surprised.

Finance Minister Alisher Gurov answered with a smile, "There are indeed some financial difficulties, but with the effort of various colleagues, we have raised a war fund.

Just last month, we signed a loan contract with the Austrian National Bank for 50 million divine shield; additionally, we reached an agreement with the French finance group. We've issued bonds worth 270 million Francs secured against industrial raw materials.

As long as our total forces do not exceed half a million men and the war does not last over a year, our finances will be sustainable."

(1 pound = 2 divine shields = 25 Francs)

In fact, it's not only the military that coveted India; the Finance Ministry's desire for India was second to none.

Because of profits from war trophies sold after the third Near East War and substantial funds obtained from helping Austria settle immigrants, the Tsarist Government had offset nearly thirty percent of its debt.

Combined with the debts steadily repaid over recent years, the Tsarist Government's total debt had decreased by nearly forty percent.

Apart from reduced debt pressure, Russia's economy had also developed to some extent in recent years. Although the pace was still snail-like, it was, at least, progressing.

With both internally accumulated and externally borrowed funds, the war expenses for several hundred thousand troops for one year were secured.

Alexander III exclaimed in surprise, "The French agreed to issue bonds for us?"

No wonder he was astonished, for due to Russia's reputation, its government bonds could only be sold domestically and were unsalable even in allied Austria.

Regardless of the relationship or high interest rates, financial institutions that had suffered losses were unwilling to take a second chance.

In contrast, French financial regulation was much looser. Bonds represent risk investments; in case of defaults, the buyer bears the responsibility alone; the issuing agency doesn't need to bear any joint liability.
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Capitalists, after all, are swayed by sufficient profits, which naturally attract participants. What surprised Alexander III was that the French Government hadn't intervened.

It's important to know that England and France were allies. For the French to issue bonds for Russians at this time was outright like stabbing their ally.

Finance Minister Alisher Gurov nodded his head, "Yes, the French Government has not interfered!

However, the interest and fees are very high, and the bond amount can't be too large. It can only be carried out in the mode of private enterprise fundraising."

For the Tsarist Government, the process is not important; the result is what matters. As long as the funds could be secured, there was no substantial difference between corporate and government bonds.

...