Chapter 60 Britain Joins the Game

London, England.

The British Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne, is planning the coronation ceremony of the famous Queen Victoria, who will be crowned in Westminster Abbey one year later.

The Queen has just ascended the throne, and the whole country is still in chaos.

Palmerston took a letter, opened it and took a look at it before slamming it to the ground.

"These damn bastards should exile all French emperors to St. Helena!"

Viscount Melbourne glanced at Palmerston and laughed.

"Mr. Palmerston, Her Majesty the Queen has just ascended the throne, so please be happy. Don't let the Queen think we don't welcome her. The British Empire is not afraid of any challenge, so let's put it aside first."

Palmerston handed the letter to Viscount Melbourne in a bad mood. Viscount Melbourne opened the letter and his blood pressure soared immediately. He wanted to tear the letter to pieces immediately.

"Don't tear it up, Her Majesty the Queen hasn't read it yet." Palmerston reminded.

Viscount Melbourne had to withdraw his hand in dismay, but he really didn't expect that the Spaniards would actually marry the French, and the object of the marriage was the young Queen.

"We can never accept the emergence of such a behemoth in Europe. This is not in the interests of the British Empire!" Viscount Melbourne said.

"That's natural. We have no choice." Palmerston replied.

"What is the reaction of the Russians?" Viscount Melbourne asked.

"Tsar Nicholas I was very angry at first, because it reminded him of the Napoleonic Empire that burned Moscow. But his advisers reminded him that the combination of France and Spain would make us British have no time to look east, so that the Russian Empire could take the Ottoman Empire's legacy alone."

The "Eastern Question" of competing for the Ottoman Empire's legacy became the theme of European diplomacy in the 19th century. Turkey and its territories such as the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor and North Africa are located in the must-pass place from the European continent to the Middle East and Asia, and its strategic position is extremely important.

The Balkans and the Mediterranean region are rich in resources such as coal, iron, and cotton, and are a favorable sales market and raw material production area. Britain regarded the Ottoman Empire as the target of its expansion into the Middle East and the focus of its competition with the Tsar.

The other two focal areas of competition between Britain and Russia were Afghanistan and Qing Dynasty.

The representative of the Russian threat theory was Lord Palmerston, who would naturally not miss the opportunity to discredit Russia because he would also implement his anti-Russian plan worldwide.

"Damn Russians." Viscount Melbourne did not comment too much on the Tsarist government because he himself did not want to go to war with the Tsar.

"What about Austria's attitude?"

"Austria? You know, their emperor is a bit that, and our ambassador does not think highly of him. As for the Regency Council, they don't care about international affairs at all, they only care about themselves." Palmerston replied.

"It's not that there was no reply." Palmerston spoke with a bit of a twisted tone.

"What did they say!"

"Archduke Franz Karl said he was going to attend the wedding of Isabella II and Prince Antoine."

"Really! Idiot! One is six years old and the other is twelve years old. Doesn't he have common sense?" Viscount Melbourne said.

Palmerston and Viscount Melbourne were silent for a while.

"So they just sit there and watch the monsters of France and Spain emerge?!" Viscount Melbourne asked.

"At least from now on, there is no movement. Prime Minister, why don't you ask Prussia?"

"Their opinions are not important."

"Okay, Prime Minister. In fact, King William IV of Prussia protested to France and Spain." Palmerston shrugged, "But no one cares."

"What about Carlos?" Viscount Melbourne asked.

"He is still hiding in the Pyrenees in northern Spain. After the death of General Suramar, the Carlos army is in disarray. At its peak, the Carlos faction had 70,000 soldiers, but now it is probably less than 20,000." Palmerston replied.

"So, you send someone to contact Carlos and tell him that we are willing to support him. But Spain must remain neutral and cannot ally with France."

Pyrenees, Spain.

"Damn it! Damn it! I never proposed to Louis Philippe that my heir marry the Princess of Orleans. Why don't you believe me? This is the conspiracy of the false queen. They are slandering me and want to destroy my reputation."

Carlos was roaring hysterically, but Carlos' generals and staff fell silent.

Some people couldn't help thinking, "Is the throne of France less important than your reputation? We would rather this be true. Now that the Regent Queen Christina has joined forces with France, is there any hope for the Carlos faction?"

"Damn it, the false queen is allied with Louis Philippe. The purpose of their writing this letter is to humiliate us! Don't you think so? Marotto."

The false queen refers to the Regent Queen Christina.

Rafael Marotto is Carlos' most trusted general, but at this time he has never stopped contacting the Regent Queen. It's just that he did it very secretly, making Carlos think that he is his most staunch supporter.

Historically, it was this Rafael Maroto who killed the main general of the Carlos faction and personally cut off Carlos's hopes.

"Your Majesty, I know you have tried very hard. You don't have to hide this fact. I think you can take all necessary measures for your throne."

"Shut up! Marotto! I tell you! I never asked for a marriage with the Orleans family, and I will never let my son marry a woman from the Orleans family! They will only pollute the bloodline of my family!"

The generals of the Carlos faction could only look at each other in dismay. In fact, most generals hoped that Carlos would let his eldest son marry the daughter of Louis Philippe, so that at least they could keep the French neutral.

But at this time, Carlos denied it like a demon, which really disappointed his generals.

Especially Marotto, he had long planned to abandon Carlos and surrender to the regent Queen Christina.

It's just that Carlos' supporters still account for the majority in the army now, so he had to endure it.

A general said, "Your Majesty, the French have closed the border and refused to sell us food and medicine. If this continues, it won't be long before our supplies will be consumed, and then we will really be finished."

"There is also news that the French are already gathering troops, and they are ready to cooperate with the pseudo-queen's army to completely trap us in the mountains." Another general said.

In the four years since the uprising, Carlos has never shown any military talent, and this time is no exception. He just sat dejectedly on the chair.

At this time, the Spanish government army has assembled 50,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, ready to cooperate with the French to completely wipe out the remnants of the Carlos faction entrenched in the Pyrenees.

In fact, the total strength of the Spanish government army has reached 250,000, but due to the tyranny and natural disasters in recent years, uprisings have continued in various parts of Spain, and sufficient troops must be reserved in the local area to suppress the uprisings that occur from time to time.

This time, the regent queen Christiana sent her most trusted generals and the most powerful corps, hoping to cooperate with the French to completely eliminate the threat of Carlos.

However, the French commander in charge of this operation, Lieutenant General Pierre, received an order to cooperate with the Spanish.

Thanks to Book Friend 20170803232307184, Book Friend 160805111027083, Book Friend 20180115154952244, Fujivan, Book Friend 151128153614033, Qingdeng Changran, Death_Honour, Book Friend 20181203204041918 for their monthly tickets, and all the readers for their support.