Holy Roman Empire

While the Japanese Government hesitated, Anglo-French negotiations also reached a crucial moment. The French, caught in a strategic disadvantage, no longer had the confidence to set terms and had to make significant concessions to the British.

Negotiations, favorable towards Britain, should have been reassuring, yet Prime Minister Gladstone now found no cause for jubilation.

"Is it really impossible to recover the situation in the African battlefield?"

"Walk enough night roads," one eventually encounters ghosts. Britannia's years-long policy of balancing power in Europe was showing a deadly flaw and appeared on the brink of collapse.

There was no choice, the once impressive French, who were not as formidable on the battlefield as they boasted, led to the London Government making a strategic misjudgment.

Like it or not, Gladstone had to admit: the once unequaled French Army was no more, and a France without Napoleon had lost its power to dominate the continent.

As the war progressed, the French Army was still unable to break through in Europe, and Africa was dominated by the Austrians, with things looking increasingly bleak for France.

"From a military standpoint, the fall of French Africa is only a matter of time; the Austrians have seized strategic initiative.

If the situation weren't irretrievable, the proud French would not have bowed so easily to us."

Army Minister Rosario said sarcastically.

The Anglo-French relationship has always been fraught, especially for the British Army, who viewed France as their perpetual pain.

If it weren't for the expulsion from Europe by the French, Britannia would not have become solely a maritime power, nor would they have been reduced to being the Navy's lackey.

Gazing at the gloating Army Minister, Gladstone frowned. Reveling in the French misfortune indeed had its joy, but the cost was a potentially dominant Austria, which was far from splendid.

One only needed to look at the map to know, once Egypt fell into Austrian hands, a behemoth spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe would emerge.

In this era of colonial empires where the strong prey on the weak, such a behemoth certainly would not lie idle.

Originally, Austria alone in Africa was unmatched; only by combining the forces of Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, and other colonial empires could they barely contend with Austria.

If France were expelled, British-Africa would assuredly become Austria's next target. Without British-Africa, Britain's thoroughfare to India would be blocked.

What would follow, Prime Minister Gladstone dared not imagine. Anyway, allowing Austria to hold power in Europe while dominating Africa would be an absolute disaster for Britain.

"The current situation is very bad; the damned Gallic fools have lost the valor of their ancestors, leaving only their talent for bragging — worse is that we cannot just watch this fool fail.

Once Egypt falls into Austrian hands, the Anti-French Alliance will use their overwhelming manpower and material resources to simply grind down the French. Even a resurrected Napoleon could not reverse the situation.

It's not important if the French are defeated, but we cannot watch Austria achieve an easy victory. If we don't significantly deplete their strength during this war, we can forget about having any good days ahead."

Personally, Gladstone had no desire to aid the French, but there was no alternative — who's to blame when the French forces in Egypt have failed yet again?

Just two days ago, the carefully maintained Suez defense line by the French crumbled; battle has spread to the Egyptian mainland. Without immediate help for France, French Egypt would change hands.

Britain cannot afford the consequences of Austria controlling Egypt; the British Government must extend a helping hand to the French.

Rosario shook his head, "Prime Minister, the current situation is indeed bad, but we must face reality.

Austria's advantage in Africa is too great; unless the French can redeploy a million-strong main force to the African battlefield, they simply cannot turn the tide.

Of course, this is merely a military analysis. If there were changes elsewhere, such as supply issues for the Austro-African Corps or a revolutionary outbreak, it would be a different story."

Colonial Minister Primrose immediately refuted, "Minister, such unexpected changes are nearly impossible. According to intelligence gathered by the African Colonial Government, the Vienna Government had shipped a large amount of strategic materials to Austro-Africa before the war started.

The exact amount remains uncertain, but they are unlikely to face logistical problems for a while yet. If the French can hunker down a little, say for a year or two in the Egypt Area, there might still be a chance.

But expecting a revolution in Austro-Africa is even more unreliable. You will notice that the main force colonizing Africa comprises nobility and farmers — quite unlike the descendants of criminals in the New World.

As per the intelligence from Africa, at the command of Vienna Palace, these people joyfully went to war without the slightest reluctance."

That's the truth, if instigating independence in Austro-Africa were possible, the British would have done it long ago. No, to be precise, they had already tried and ultimately failed.

Even independence movements require preconditions. Unlike the deported criminals, most of Austro-Africa's immigrants went willingly, feeling a stronger sense of connection to their homeland.

Especially since Austria was promoting a process of African indigenization, this gave the beneficiaries even less reason to revolt. Hoping to replicate America's independence in Africa simply lacks a populist base.

After all, although the Thirteen Colonies appeared to be under English rule, most immigrants were actually from the European continent and lacked a sense of belonging to Britain.

Pure English immigrants were scarce, making up less than one-tenth of the total population, and many of these were deported criminals. Expecting them to maintain colonial rule without resenting England was fanciful; when conflicts of interest arose, capitalists called to arms and the public was quick to respond.

Similar events simply couldn't take place in Austro-Africa. The dumping of goods did exist, but sadly, the capitalists in Austro-Africa weren't effective at all, having virtually no say in the matter.

The nobility and plantation owners who wielded power were mainly engaged in mining and plantation agriculture; they simply didn't care about the dumping of industrial goods, or it could be said that nobody really believed they were being dumped on.

Industrial products weren't created out of thin air; they too required the purchase of industrial raw materials, and it just so happened that everyone was a producer of these raw materials.

On the one hand, they supplied the domestic market with industrial raw materials, and on the other, they enjoyed cheap industrial and commercial products produced domestically, leading to quite comfortable lives for everyone.

If there were real independence and anti-dumping movements took off, they would be the biggest victims. They would not only have to pay for industrialization, but the profits from their cultivated cash crops would also significantly decrease.

One could take a look at the plantation owners in the United States of America. To resist the North's trade protection policies, they even jumped out to declare independence.

If the capitalists dared to stir trouble, there wouldn't even be a need for the Vienna Government to intervene—as beneficiaries, the nobility and plantation owners would suppress them first.

Foreign Minister George chimed in, "On this matter, I can provide evidence. The Foreign Office has also instigated independence movements in Austro-Africa and even supported a few independence organizations, but these fellows never amounted to much.

The development of mining and plantation economies by Austria in Africa has directly tied the beneficiaries to the homeland. Dismantling Austro-Africa from the inside is utterly unrealistic.

From the current situation, unless the French win the war on the European Continent, the fall of Egypt is only a matter of time.

Of course, if we were to send troops directly to intervene, we might be able to hinder Austria's actions, but that would involve too great a variety of interests."

Sending troops to intervene was, in fact, a joke. Britannia's pint-sized army, with its main force engaged in a fierce battle with the Russians in Afghanistan, could hardly make a difference by dispatching the meager colonial forces from British-Africa—they would be of no more consequence than bystanders.

After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone slowly said, "The international situation is about to spiral out of control, and we must end the war with the Russians as soon as possible to cope with the upcoming changes.

The Afghan War has lost its significance at this stage. The Russians are also in a difficult position at this point, and releasing a signal of peace, the Tsarist Government will likely not choose to stubbornly resist.

After all, the emergence of a behemoth spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe threatens not only our interests but equally their interests."

Indeed, the Anglo-Russian war in Afghanistan was initially intense due to interests. Sadly, the brutal reality informed them that this was an interminable war of attrition, with nothing to gain but mutual devastation should it continue to the bitter end.

As international dynamics shifted rapidly, Britain and Russia, both wearied by the war, tacitly lowered the intensity of their conflict and turned into onlookers, watching the spectacle between France and Austria unfold.

Perhaps to reassure France and Austria to boldly carry on their contest, Britain and Russia, which should have ceased hostilities, very tacitly chose to continue their war game.

Though called a game, it still resulted in deaths. Neither the British Army nor the Russian Army gave up their intentions to obliterate the other; any sign of weakness was relentlessly exploited by the enemy.

In a sense, such a war of attrition was advantageous for Britannia—the British Government had the financial strength to drag Russia down. Moreover, only by inflicting genuine pain on the Tsarist Government could British-India be secured. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

Unfortunately, in this world, you can't have it all. To contain the growing power of Austria, Gladstone had to abandon the "bleeding of Mao Xiong plan."

Foreign Minister George reminded, "Prime Minister Sir, it's not difficult to cease hostilities with the Russians now, but to stop the war according to our previous expectations is quite challenging.

Currently, the Russian Army still controls three-quarters of the Afghan Region's territory. Given the Tsarist Government's greed, the land we couldn't secure on the battlefield will have nearly no hope of being reclaimed at the negotiating table.

The contradictions between us and Russia are too deep, and with the Austrians playing the spoiler, these ceasefire negotiations are likely to be anything but smooth.

Considering the current circumstances, French Egypt can't hold out much longer. If the French Army fails to achieve a breakthrough on the European Continent, the Austrian fait accompli in occupying Egypt will have been established."

The Russians do not want to see Austria grow stronger, but since Russia and Austria are traditional allies, the Tsarist Government is unlikely to turn against Austria without good reason, and will most likely choose neutrality on the Egypt issue.

In the next step to force Austria to back down and regurgitate the Egyptian Area, we can only rely on the French and ourselves.

The problem is that we have to use the French while limiting them; we cannot allow them to grow stronger in the process, which requires a lot of intricate work.

To achieve this, we need more allies. It would be best to unite with other European countries to intervene, resolving the issue through diplomatic means."

Limited by the policy of maintaining a balance in Europe, the British Government's diplomacy has been overly cautious in this European war, fearing that a misstep could lead to the rise of a dominant power on the European Continent.

There was no choice—the international situation was changing too quickly. Britannia's enemies constantly shifted, first Russia of its own accord and then the ambitious French, with Austria showing up before one could react.

Both suppression and excessive suppression must be avoided to maintain a fragile balance, leaving the London Government run ragged.

In a sense, since the outbreak of the European war, Britannia's policy of maintaining a European balance has been problematic, unable to keep pace with the changes in the international situation.

The problem was known to all, but unfortunately, as an island country, Britannia was inherently limited in its options. Only by maintaining the balance in Europe could their hegemony be preserved.

Gladstone nodded, looking out of the window, "Indeed, it is very troublesome, but no matter how difficult, we must proceed. It is our responsibility.

Moreover, while maintaining the balance on the European Continent, we must also seek ways to weaken the powers of France and Austria, preventing them from continuing to grow stronger."

...