Holy Roman Empire

……

Chapter 1: Proclamation without War

The messy news reports, while mobilizing the patriotic sentiment of the people, also affected the British government.

The Ministry of Police was the first to be affected. Looking at the crowd outside who wanted the government to reveal the truth, Minister of Police James Mulder looked bewildered.

After reacting, James Moulder immediately ordered: "Send someone out to explain that the assassination of Walters took place in Afghanistan, and it is not within the scope of the police department's management.

If you want to know the truth about the assassination, let them ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "

No matter how powerful the police department is, it is only responsible for local security issues. The assassination cases that occurred abroad have nothing to do with them. James Mulder does not want to bear this unwarranted disaster.

……

The Ministry of Police is unwilling to wade into this muddy water, and neither is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Unlucky Sir George was blocked as soon as he went out.

A reporter asked: "Dear Sir George, we need to know the truth of the matter, and we must not let the hero's blood flow in vain."

There was nothing wrong with it. Walters was portrayed as a hero by the media overnight. Under the coercion and temptation of the enemy, he still insisted on safeguarding the interests of Britain.

The assassination case seems to have nothing to do with coercion, but this is not a problem. The editors of the entertainment news section completed the supplement in the shortest possible time.

If the time is not too short, it is estimated that these guys can still make up a heroine in their brains, and add a romantic love story.

The question was asked by a reporter from the London Daily. As a political news media, it is relatively fair, but there is no brain-dead plot added.

Facing a group of reporters, in order to maintain his good image, Foreign Minister George had no choice but to stand up.

"Sir, the truth of the incident is still under investigation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received relevant information. In fact, we have not yet established diplomatic relations in Afghanistan, and there is no diplomatic embassy there.

This time Walters visited Afghanistan was appointed by the Governor-General of India. For details, you can go to the Colonial Department for details.

We will pay close attention to the progress of the case, and when we have the results, we will issue an announcement. "

Although what George said is true, Britain and Afghanistan have not established diplomatic relations, Waters is not an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can do nothing but pay attention, but this answer does not satisfy the reporters, it is too official .

A reporter asked: "Sir, don't you think this is an excuse?

The police department said it couldn't handle it, because the assassination happened outside the country, and the police department had no right to intervene, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs came.

We believe this explanation. After all, the police department's scope of authority is only in the local area, which is clearly stipulated by the law.

Now you say that we should go to the Colonial Department to find out the truth under the pretext of not establishing diplomatic relations and appointing the Governor of India, which seems reasonable.

Then, do you know that when we passed by the Colonial Department just now, we asked about it, and some officials said that foreign affairs are the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So who should be responsible for this assassination?People want to know the truth, who should give the answer? "

The assassination of Walters involved too much. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Colonial Ministry, and the Police Department could all intervene, and they all had reasons to shirk.

Now being blocked by reporters, apart from scolding his colleagues for their black hearts, Sir George can only admit that he is unlucky.

After a little thought, Sir George replied seriously: "Sir, your question is very valuable.

But we must also consider the particularity of the Walters assassination case. Britain is a country ruled by law, and the duties and powers of various departments are clearly defined.

Before this, we had no experience in dealing with similar incidents.Now that I have a problem, it is inevitable that I will panic.

The case happened thousands of miles away in Central Asia, and none of us know the details. In fact, the government has only received a telegram from India so far.

Please give us a moment and send someone to intervene in the investigation.If you are worried that someone will shirk their responsibilities, I would propose that all departments jointly form an investigation team. "

……

It took a lot of talking and talking before Sir George got rid of the reporters.As for the joint investigation team, that is a joke.

It will be two months at the earliest when the investigation team is formed and departs from the UK to Central Asia.

After all this time, what else is there to look up?The black hand behind the scenes has already dealt with the beginning and the end, turning it into a headless case.

……

In line with the principle that the pain alone is worse than the pain of others, Sir George did not choose to bear the pressure alone, but decisively chose to share it with everyone.

"Waters' assassination was apparently carried out by a religious extremist organization, but we don't know if there is a black hand behind the scenes.

There are too many suspects. In theory, the Russians are the most suspected. Assassinating Waters can cut off the possibility of Afghanistan falling to us.

However, such extreme measures are likely to lead to the outbreak of war. Now the Russians are beyond the reach of the Afghan region, and it is not good for them to provoke a war.

The second is Austria. Not long ago, the Austrian envoy to Persia visited Afghanistan with the main purpose of bringing together Russia and Afghanistan for an alliance.

It is a bit too coincidental that the assassination broke out just after the Austrian minister left.The problem is that planning this assassination is not good for Austria.

Once the war breaks out, Austria will be powerless to prevent us from occupying Afghanistan. The only value is probably to interrupt the arms race.

Only from this aspect of analysis, the suspicion of the French has surpassed that of Austria.After all, the French government has the weakest financial resources and is under the greatest pressure.

Of course, other countries also have a lot of suspicion.In order to provoke confrontation among major powers, many countries have the motive of using black hands.

It is not ruled out that there is no mastermind behind the scenes, but it is the work of local religious extremist organizations in Afghanistan. After all, Walters has been assassinated many times before.

We have too little information in our hands to pin down the identity of the enemy.The public wants the truth, but the investigation simply cannot proceed.

The anti-British sentiment in Afghanistan is serious. If someone is sent to investigate, I am afraid that even the safety of the members of the investigation team cannot be guaranteed.

Can't let the Afghan government investigate and finally give us an answer? "

Sir George highlighted all the possibilities, definitely not to track down the real culprit, but more to let everyone choose the "true culprit".

Britain pursues the interests first, and whoever is the murderer is the most beneficial to Britain, then whoever is behind the scenes.

Colonial Secretary Primrose sneered: "Sir, we have no choice at all, right?"

Multiple-choice questions are correct, but they are multiple-choice questions with published answers.

It is not just picking an enemy at random to gain the approval of the people.A bunch of reporters are chasing after the government to get the truth. If there is no pusher behind the opposition party, no one will believe what they say.

The ones that are really weighty and convincing are actually Russia and France, and there is also a weak Afghanistan.

The Royal Navy can't go ashore. If the blame is pinned on a certain big country, it can only be arguing, and it is impossible to give the domestic people the explanation they want.

For the Gladstone cabinet, that was asking for trouble.

Lord of the Admiralty Sir Astley Cooper-Key warned: "This is an enemy plot to provoke a war in Central Asia and sabotage our plans to bring Fao down."

The Admiralty's opposition was inevitable, and once war broke out, the government had less money to spend on the arms race.

The final result is likely to be a compromise with France and Austria to end this arms race.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Childers: "It is not terrible to destroy the arms race, but the trouble is that we want to stop it, and France and Austria may not agree.

If the second Afghan war breaks out, France and Austria will not be left alone, and will encourage the Russians to confront us in Central Asia while continuing the arms race.

We are under a lot of pressure! "

Not only is there a lot of pressure, but it is obviously exhausting.Both sides are very important. If there is a problem with either side, Britain's supremacy will be shaken.

Foreign Minister Georges: "There is no if, this is bound to happen. It is uncertain whether the French will support the Russian envoy's expansion in Central Asia, but Austria will definitely support it.

If possible, the Foreign Office would like to suspend the arms race before a second Afghan war breaks out. "

Secretary of the Navy Astley Cooper Key hastily objected: "This is impossible! We can stop, France and Austria will not stop.

If you don't want to see the name of the world's number one naval power change hands after the war, then don't make such jokes. "

International competition has always been "killing you while you are sick", but there is no such thing as mercy.

Don't say that the Austrian navy surpasses Britain, even if it is only equal, it is enough to shake their maritime dominance.

In the final analysis, there are currently three countries capable of competing for maritime supremacy, and any two countries that start a fight will be cheap fishermen on the sidelines.

Once the Royal Navy loses its absolute dominant position, it will only have a deterrent effect, and it is impossible to provoke a war that will hurt both sides.

In fact, since ten years ago, the deterrence of the Royal Navy has been declining.Facing the French and Austrian navies that were catching up, the British government did not have a good solution.

Seeing the escalation of the quarrel, Prime Minister Gladstone waved his hand to stop it and said, "Stop it, now is not the time to quarrel. The situation seems to be not good for us, but it is actually not that bad.

The Afghanistan region was originally what we wanted to win. This assassination case only brought forward the time of action and did not affect our established strategy.

As for the issue of the naval arms race, unless Faoken shuts down together, we will definitely continue to follow up.

Everyone is worried that it is nothing more than a financial problem, but it is not impossible to solve it.

The purpose of launching a war is to seek justice for Britain. We decide when and how far we will fight.

We can even declare war on the Afghans first, and give an explanation to the domestic people. We don't need to send troops for the time being, and we can launch an attack when we are ready for war. "

……

Prologue to Chapter 1 and Six

On December 1887, 12, British Prime Minister Gladstone publicly declared war on Afghanistan in response to a parliamentary inquiry, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War broke out.

These days, the British Empire does not need the authorization of Congress to bully a small country. In fact, if it were not for the uproar of the assassination of Waters, Afghanistan would not even be eligible to declare war.

Like most small indigenous countries of this era, the European world never recognized the Afghan government at all.

In the perception of most Europeans, the Kingdom of Afghanistan is similar to the indigenous tribes.Even though the British army was defeated in the last Afghan war, it still did not change the perception of the outside world.

Because the Indian colonial army cannot represent Britain's real combat power, and it is only the East India Company that is fighting Afghanistan, not the entire British Empire.

This can be seen from declaring war on Afghanistan. Knowing that Afghanistan might be wronged, the British government declared war anyway, not even bothering to go through the investigation.

Since the declaration of war between Britain and Afghanistan, Franz has retired and became a happy melon-eating crowd.

However, we waited and waited, but nothing good happened.The slogans of the British government are earth-shattering, but there is no actual action.

It was agreed that the troops would be dispatched after Christmas, and the war would not start until February, and it would be the next Christmas after that.

At this time, if he didn't know that the British were playing propaganda without war, Franz would have been emperor for so many years in vain.

……

Franz asked: "How are the Russians preparing?"

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "The tsarist government has assembled two infantry divisions and one cavalry division in Central Asia, as well as a large amount of strategic materials.

Just wait for the ice and snow to melt and the domestic roads to be unimpeded before launching an attack on Central Asia. "

Just because the British don't move doesn't mean the Russians don't move either.Compared with the cunning British, the Russians are still better at fooling around.

Perhaps due to genetic inheritance, the Russians have always had little resistance to land, especially when they once occupied Central Asia.

Seeing that the newly recruited younger brother is in danger, he is encouraged by Austria.After weighing the pros and cons, no danger was found, so the tsarist government decided to do it.

Prime Minister Carr: "The British government declared no war on Afghanistan. It seems that they have realized the danger, and now it depends on their reluctance to give up.

The Russians have just recovered a bit of vitality, and at most they will eat one or two Central Asian Khanates. It is simply impossible to sweep Central Asia in one go and then go south to the Indian Ocean.

Now there are two options left for the British government, either to stop the arms race, concentrate on killing Afghanistan, and fight the Russians in Central Asia;

Whatever choice is made, the odds are good for the British.Of course, it is not ruled out that the London government has lost its head and started the arms race and Central Asia strategy at the same time. "

From Austria's point of view, of course, it is hoped that Britain will go to Central Asia to fight the Russians.No matter who wins or loses, Austria is the winner.

It doesn't matter whether they are allies or not. If the British can hack and kill the Russians, Franz doesn't mind awarding them a [-]-ton medal, which is definitely pure gold.

And vice versa, Franz didn't mind helping with all his might as long as the Russians could go south to India.Of course, it's fine if you sell the pot and sell the iron, it doesn't matter that much.

In contrast, the arms race is out of the question.Rather than throwing money at the expense of the British, it is better to use the money to develop the country.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg: "The British would not be so unwise to start an arms race and a Central Asian invasion at the same time.

The British government should be very entangled now, and they don't know which side to take care of. After all, they are fighting against the three major powers.

Perhaps we should help them, control the intensity of the arms race, and let the British feel confident and bold to go north to compete with the Russians.

On this issue, I believe the French will have a common language with us.

Napoleon IV was busy eradicating dissidents, and participating in the arms race was also a way to catch ducks on the shelves.If it can be ended early, he has no reason to refuse. "

Prime Minister Karl asked: "How do the Russians explain it? We promised to contain the British. I'm afraid it's unreasonable to give up now."

Russia and Austria are allies, and even the Russians rarely do things that violate the contract without authorization, let alone Austria, which cherishes its feathers.

Austria has been in Europe for hundreds of years, relying on diplomacy.Especially before the revival of Austria after the Anti-French War, during this period, it relied entirely on diplomatic means to maintain its status as a major country.

After so many years of operation, the international reputation of the Austrian government has become very valuable.

Unless it is sure that the Russians can be killed and get rid of the threat on the Eastern Front, the Austrian government will not easily breach the contract.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Mark replied: "This problem is easy to handle, as long as the Russians know that we have lent them the funds for shipbuilding and cannot afford to continue the arms race."