Chapter 838

One wave has not settled, and another has risen.

When the arms race between Britain, France and Austria was reaching its climax, Central Asia was on the rise again.

On July 11, 1887, Litton, the British governor in India, suddenly notified the Afghan government that a delegation would be sent to visit Kabushi.

The weasel greets the chicken with New Year's greetings, naturally it is uneasy and kind.

Although it has been many years since the last Anglo-Afghan war, the colonial activities of the British in Afghanistan have never stopped, and there has never been a so-called friendship between the two countries.

Anti-British sentiment among the Afghan people has always been very serious, given the unsafety of the delegation and the reaction of the Russians.

Abdul Rahman Khan-Emir declined the British request in order not to cause trouble.

However, Governor Litton is not the one who admits defeat.

Unable to resist the entanglement of the British, in September, Emil was forced to agree to the British demands.

The British went, and the Russians naturally couldn't watch their little brother being bullied, and then the tsarist government sent a delegation.

What happened later, Franz is not clear, anyway, Britain and Russia are centered on the fight for Afghanistan.

Franz asked: "How do the Russians want our support?"

Austria and Afghanistan are thousands of miles apart, with a Persian Empire in between.

The Vienna government doesn't like to stretch out their hands, and there will be no Austrian influence in such places that have no interests and are out of reach.

In Afghanistan, only Britain and Russia have the right to speak.

In this context, the tsarist government wants to gain Austrian support, no matter how you look at it, it feels wrong.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg replied: "The Russians want us to help distract the British, preferably to find something for the British government to do."

Carefully recalling the competition between Britain and Russia in the original time and space over the Afghanistan region, Franz finally found that something was wrong, and the second Anglo-Afghan war was over.

After realizing that something was wrong, Franz motioned for everyone to rest for the time being, and hurriedly went to the secret room to retrieve the memoirs written at the beginning of the journey and read them.

He quickly figured out the causes and consequences. Affected by the Prussian-Prussian War, the Russians did not care about expanding to Central Asia a few years ago.

Without the threat of the Russians and the heavy losses in the First Anglo-Afghan War, the British would naturally not have a strong desire to seize the Afghan region.

By the way, Britain and Austria also played a key role in fighting for the "Anglo-Bulgarian War" that broke out in South Africa.

It cost hundreds of millions of pounds, and finally got nothing, which directly affected the colonial policy of the British government.

Under various factors, Afghanistan, which had little interest, was very lucky to escape.

Now that the Russians are making a comeback and surrendering the target of expansion to Central Asia again, Afghanistan, a small pro-Russian country, is very annoying.

Returning to the conference room again, Franz picked up the teacup and took a sip before slowly saying, "What do you think, how about we find a way to provoke the second Anglo-Afghan war?"

The sudden reversal of the style of painting, everyone, look at me, I look at you, all with a confused expression, have no idea what medicine is sold in the emperor's gourd.

Seeing that the crowd did not respond, Franz instructed the attendant, "Come here with the map of Central Asia."

...

"Look at Afghanistan here, the Central Asian Khanate to the north, the British India to the south, the Far Eastern Empire to the east, and the Persian Empire to the west, which can be said to be the heart of Asia.

Whoever masters this will master the strategic initiative in Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia, which is very important to both Britain and Russia.

In the past few years, the Russians were busy with European issues and had no time to take care of Central Asia. Naturally, the British could slowly infiltrate Afghanistan without rushing.

Now that the Russians have turned around and refocused their expansion on Central Asia, the pro-Russian Afghanistan has made the British embarrassed.

Do you think the British would be at ease if the Russians behaved a little bit out of line and failed to win over Afghanistan diplomatically? "

Prime Minister Carr: "Your Majesty, it is not difficult for the Russians to stimulate the British, nor is it difficult to undermine the British plan to win over Afghanistan.

It's just that we are at a critical moment in the arms race, and no matter how important the Afghanistan region is, it is not as important as the hegemony of the Royal Navy.

No matter how deeply the British government feels, they will not provoke a second Anglo-Afghan war until the arms race is over. "

This is the most realistic issue. In the face of the two challengers to Fao, no matter how big the British are, they must prioritize their priorities.

Franz nodded: "Yes! Under normal circumstances, the British would not launch a second war in Afghanistan in the arms race.

Nor did I expect war to break out immediately, and delaying the time would also serve its purpose.

All we have to do now is cheer up the Russians, tell the tsarist government that this arms race will last for years, and reassure them that they can take on the British.

When necessary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can directly help the Afghan government to strengthen its confidence, for example: sponsor some guns and ammunition.

With the two powers standing behind them, they should be able to frighten people. It's really not possible, just send someone to kill the British envoys and intensify the contradiction between the two sides. "

Bottom line, integrity, etc., can be discarded at critical moments. In order to create contradictions, Franz even came up with the method of assassination.

Of course, the assassination is the assassination, this pot is still thrown away

of. Either let the Afghans do it themselves, or let the Russians do the back, it has nothing to do with Austria anyway.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, Afghanistan is now virtually surrounded by the British, and if war breaks out, neither we nor the Russians can reach it.

Without our support, Afghanistan alone might not last long.

If the British occupied the Afghanistan area, and the Russians wanted to go south, it would not be as simple as it is now. "

I have to admit that the current international situation facing Afghanistan is really bad.

The south is directly bordered by the British; the Central Asian Khanate in the north is the younger brother of the British; the Persian Empire in the west is also pro-British, or is forced to be pro-British; the east is temporarily safe, but this line is not. good to go.

Once a war breaks out, Afghanistan will immediately fall into a situation of isolation and helplessness, even with international aid, it is difficult to bring in.

As an agricultural country, without international aid, the odds of winning against the British are too slim.

However, the strategic position of Afghanistan is very important. Once the British are occupied and operated here, with the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it will be difficult for Russia to go south again.

Even the British could turn around and co-operate with several younger brothers in Central Asia to cause trouble for the tsarist government.

Franz shook his head: "As long as we want to support them, we can definitely send it in.

The big deal is to send airships to drop supplies to them. If the voyage is not enough, they can just land in Persia when they return.

Even if the Persian government was more inclined towards the British, they could only pretend to see nothing on this issue.

Don't underestimate Afghanistan, as long as they have enough weapons, they can make the British devastated, and it will definitely not end in the short term.

Even if the situation does get out of hand and the British do occupy Afghanistan, we can support Russia in fighting all the way through Central Asia.

As long as the British are not given time to run the place, I believe that the Russians are still capable of defeating the British. "

This is the truth, Franz really has confidence in Afghanistan, and the imperial cemetery is not a vain name.

Even if they can't win, the Afghan people can still win. When the city is lost, there are still towns, and when the towns are lost, there are still mountains and forests.

Anyway, people are still alive, they will not stop fighting.

Several great empires in the original time and space fell into the sand in Afghanistan one after another, all of which were dragged down by heavy military expenses.

Unless the British start killing and commit genocide as soon as they come up, it will be difficult to win.

By contrast, Franz's confidence in the Russians is not that great. The main reason is that the three major wars in recent decades have hurt the vitality of the Russian Empire.

If nothing else, the population of the Russian Empire alone is more than 30 million less than in the same period in history, and the proportion of young adults is at least five percentage points lower than in the same period in history.

The seemingly powerful Russian Empire is actually in its weakest state. It’s okay to be reckless in a short period of time, and it really can’t stand a protracted war.

If the British really did not care about the cost, the tsarist government might not be able to stand against Asan and the Russians against gray animals.

Franz's lack of confidence in the Russians does not mean that others have no confidence in the Russians. The cabinet has been persuaded.