Chapter 855

On the battlefield of Afghanistan, after a series of hard battles, the British army successfully defeated the main force of the Afghan government forces.

On July 16, 1888, the British army successfully captured Kabul after paying more than 3,000 casualties, and the surviving Afghan government was forced to withdraw to the Hinduku Mountains.

This great victory was won with great difficulty. The British did not hide it, and the London government issued an announcement to the outside world as soon as possible.

Watching the British show off their achievements, Franz was also a little worried. This ending was too unexpected. The Afghan government did not hold on to it for even half a year.

The British occupied Kabul, and the Russians were still fighting fiercely with the Central Asian Khanate. Once the British army penetrated Afghanistan and directly connected with the Central Asian Khanate, the war behind the Russians would be difficult to fight.

This is completely different from the previous plan. Originally, Franz wanted to delay Afghanistan for a while, and let the Russians push the front all the way to British India, so as to stimulate the British.

Without being stimulated, the London government will most likely not be ruthless with the Russians, and it is very likely that it will stop after occupying the Afghanistan area.

As for the three Khanates of Central Asia, most of them can be saved if they can. If they cannot be saved, it is not impossible to sell them and compromise with the Russians.

Perhaps in the years to come, the Afghan region will be a heavy burden for the British, but the Russians are not much weakened.

The aggressive ally of the Russian Empire should not be too strong, otherwise it will make people unable to sleep.

After rubbing his forehead, Franz said helplessly: "The Russian war loan has been approved. Now the Tsarist government needs our support."

There is no way to influence the British government, only to agitate the tsarist government. Now I can only hope that the bear is greedy and can fight to the end for India and the British.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, this time is not suitable to release goodwill, it seems too deliberate.

If the Russians wanted to get war loans, it was better to go through the formal process and have them take out the mortgage.

Lest people find out that we want to provoke an Anglo-Russian war and cause unnecessary trouble. "

Politics needs to be framed. It is true that Austria wanted to provoke the Anglo-Russian war, but after thinking about it, it was absolutely impossible to say it.

From the very beginning, the Vienna government has positioned itself as: it has no interest in the Central Asian war, and was forced to support the Russians because of the Russian-Austrian alliance.

Cheering on the Russians is out of sympathy and has absolutely no intention of doing things.

Believe it or not, the Vienna government believed it anyway.

"Um!"

Franz nodded in approval, the current situation is indeed not suitable for Austria to do too much.

However, it is impossible to do nothing, let the situation develop on its own, and Austria's strategic goals cannot be achieved.

Prime Minister Carr: "The British and Russian governments are not fools. The situation has developed to this stage, and it is impossible to start from the top to achieve our strategic goals.

Perhaps now we should change our minds. To intensify the contradiction between the two countries, it is not necessary for the two governments to agree.

With the development of the war situation, it is a matter of time before Britain and Russia border on each other. Once there is no buffer between the two sides, it will be much easier to create conflicts.

Up to now, the British have only invested five Indian colonial divisions and a small number of local troops, and the combat effectiveness of these troops is very limited.

It's okay to deal with the Afghan government, but it's impossible to intimidate the Russians. All we need to do is push in the dark and let the radicals of the Russian army do it. "

After listening to the Prime Minister's explanation, Franz suddenly found himself caught in a misunderstanding. In this era of the weak, everything must be said with "strength".

The British seemed to have the upper hand, but the Indian colonialists really couldn't hold back. Not only will it fail to deter the Russians, but it will also inspire their ambitions.

It is not impossible to change this, immediately expand the army, and draw hundreds of thousands of regular troops from the mainland to confront the Russians.

It seems that it is not difficult to operate, but the problem is that expanding the army also costs money.

This is not a one-time cost, but a long-term cost. As long as the Russian Empire does not fall, Britain must deploy heavy troops in Afghanistan.

Affected by this, Britain is no longer a pure sea power country, and it must also develop land power. Although this "land" is not a native land, the importance of India is a little less than that of the native land.

The Army has taken up a lot of military spending, and if things go on like this, it will inevitably affect the development of the Royal Navy.

Not only these questions, Franz thought of more. It seems that the British have occupied Kabul, but the resistance of the Afghans has not stopped.

It can not be seen in the short term, that is, the territory occupied by the British is not large. After occupying the whole of Afghanistan, whether these Indian divisions can maintain local order is a problem.

Seeing a chaotic Afghanistan, the Russians have no reason not to be tempted?

As long as the Russians made a move, the British government could not help but not fight. It's a big deal to be the one-time sponsor, throwing money to make Britain and Russia pk.

It's better to spend a sum of money now and weaken two competitors at the same time than to spend more money in the future and play the game in person.

"The Prime Minister is right, we really need to change our minds now and take a lower-level line. The matter of provoking a conflict between Britain and Russia will be handed over to the intelligence department.

The Ministry of Finance is going to prepare first. In addition to the current war loan of 50 million Aegis, it will prepare 300 million Aegis for the Russians in the next three years.

Kim, this time we have to support the Russians to the end. "

When not all the money was paid by Austria, most of the war costs had to be solved by the tsarist government itself.

For example: the most common grain, there are many in the warehouse of the tsarist government, and it is enough to transport it.

Relatively speaking, gray animals are still very economical. As long as the food problem is solved, each person can go to the battlefield with a rifle.

The self-financing of the Tsarist government, plus this huge sum from Austria, was enough for the Russian army of several hundred thousand to fight for several years.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

...

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "It is not only the Central Asian battlefield that needs attention, but the European continent is now at a critical moment of change.

Since the alliance between Britain and France, the French have become more and more rampant. Just last week, the French government bought the British Coal Association.

The British Coal Association has departed from the International Coal Export Federation and has taken the lead in reducing the price of coal exported to France by 20%, which is comparable to the average export price of coal in the international market.

Now the French are pressuring Belgium and the North German Confederation to increase their total coal exports to France by 30 percent and to cut prices by 69 percent.

This price is not only far lower than the international coal price, but even lower than the local coal price of several coal-producing countries in Europe.

Coupled with various costs, some coal mines that are difficult to mine may directly fall into a state of loss. "

In fact, the average price of international coal exports was also pulled up because of the sanctions imposed by the International Coal Export Federation on the French.

In the case of excluding freight, it is about 20% higher than the average coal price in Austria, while the price of coal purchased in France is about 50% higher.

The export price is so high, plus various miscellaneous expenses, and finally in the hands of the buyer, the price may exceed half.

Coal is a just-needed product, because the British and Austrian joint team led the operation, and the French were unable to fight before.

After the alliance between Britain and France, the siege net was broken and the international situation improved, and the French government could not help but take action.

After bribing the British, he used his own fists to bully Belgium and the North German Confederation.

As for Austria, another coal-exporting alliance, its share in the international coal export market is negligible and has been ignored by the French.

Although there is no calculator, Franz also knows that the purpose of the French is to break the embarrassing situation of high domestic energy prices.

Without a calculator, Franz quickly came to the conclusion that, with the average retail price of finished coal in Austria at 1, the French previous purchase price was 1.5.

1.5*(1—0.69)=0.465

The French just want to buy at 46.5% of the retail price, including the miscellaneous taxes, shipping costs, wholesale and retailer profits, this price can be basically achieved by the French companies and the Austrian energy price.

This is only on par with Austria. In fact, in Britain, a major coal-producing country, the average domestic coal price is even lower, about three or five percentage points lower.

It can be seen from these data that French industrial and commercial products are not competitive, not without reason.

It is true that the coal industry makes huge profits, but it is not so much. Domestic suppliers cannot get such low prices.

At the prices the French are setting now, unless Belgium and the North German Confederation exempt coal producers from all taxes, most companies will be in the red.

The French have no problem wanting to reduce energy costs, but the problem now is that the French government wants Belgium and the German Confederation to pay for them.

Prime Minister Karl was surprised: "The French are crazy, how can Belgium and North Germany accept such a price?

Even if the two governments were forced to accept the French military threat, I am afraid the capitalists would not agree. "

It's not "I'm afraid" or it will definitely not agree. Capital has begun to internationalize this year. Take the coal mines in the Rhineland region as an example, a large part of the mines have fallen into the hands of British and Austrian capital.

How can these capitalists accept such a price that harms their own interests?

The big deal is not to do business with French people, and there is no fear at all if you have a foreign background. In the end, the ones who are really affected are probably those who have no background...

Franz nodded: "If you want to kill him, you must first make him mad. If the French are so mad, it will be a good thing for us.

These conditions have exceeded the bottom line of Belgium and North Germany, and it is impossible for the two countries to agree.

If the French dare to use force, Belgium and the North German Confederation will fall to us. I don't mind sending troops to fight them for the sake of our allies.

But the French are not that stupid, they are not ready for war, it will not do them any good to turn their faces now, this is probably just a temptation for them.

The lion's big opening now is just to test the bottom line of the two countries and to lower the expectations of the two countries.

If nothing else, in the next negotiation, the French will show a little bit of goodwill, and the two countries will choose to compromise. "

This is the helplessness of a small country, the sorrow of the weak...