"Britain is facing challenges!"

From the Battle of Cologne to New Year's Day, almost every day, the newspapers in London told people the same thing about the fact that Britain was facing a challenge. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Britannia is up for the challenge!

No one would doubt this, but how did Britain rise to the challenge?

Britain will rise to the challenge at sea and on land!

This was the promise made by Prime Minister Palmston in his speech to the House of Lords, and as part of the promise, one could read in the newspapers that in every shipyard in Britain, new ironclads were being built, ironclads were crowding Britain's slipways, and that the new breech-loading rifled guns in the Tower of London had been finalized, and Armstrong was desperately rushing to produce breech-loading guns. Britain is mobilizing every ounce of its strength to meet the challenge coming to China.

"Britain is paying the price for its slackness!"

Everything proves this, from the "Battle of Canton Bay" to the first glimpse of the power of ironclads and breech-loading guns, to the appearance of breech-loading guns, the British have always maintained a British calm, and now, they have paid the price, at least in the speech of Prime Minister Palmston. Britain has not failed, the present defeat is only a setback in weapons, and now Britain is reversing its decline. Once the ironclad ships and rear-loading rifled guns were in large service, they could quickly repel the Chinese.

But before that?

Before that, the Royal Navy could only cower in Britain and watch the Chinese continue to occupy their colonies.

In London, everyone knew that the British Empire could flourish. It was the wealth of these colonies that it depended on. Without these colonies, the British Empire would immediately become a second-rate country in Europe, which the arrogant British could never bear.

Faced with the occupation of Australia, the attack on South Africa, and the threat of even India, Palmston, as Prime Minister, was in a state of anxiety, although he had long made up his mind that he could not lose his overseas colonies again, after all, if he lost the colonies, he would never get them back.

But he couldn't cobble together enough forces to protect India, and the Indian governor racked his brains to recruit a colonial army of more than 500,000 people, and in order to command this army, he recruited a large number of expatriates into the army, so he finally breathed a sigh of relief, at least in the eyes of London, a colonial army of 500,000 people was enough to maintain the situation in India.

But the situation developed far beyond their expectations, and a telegram from St. Petersburg to London once again put a bad situation in front of everyone.

The Russians crossed the Polish-Indian border!

The Russians declared war on the British!

Although from the day the Russians entered Persia, London believed that Russia would definitely take advantage of the fire, and in order to win the support of Russia, he even privately expressed to them that he understood their actions in Persia, but when the Russians sent their troops to India, it still took Palmston half a day to react, and when he reacted, there was only one thought left in his mind.

Finished!

For Palmston, he knew very well that the declaration of war by the Russians meant that everything had changed, and the whole of Europe would see that now it was not only China that was challenging Britain, but also Russia!

"After Russia declares war on us, it is likely that countries will wait and see, join it, and if they join it, then we will have to think about homeland defense operations!"

For the first time, Palmston, Prime Minister of Great Britain, realized that Britain was now in a very dangerous situation, and that Britain had never been more dangerous since Napoleon.

"A few months ago, we had planned to send troops to Chinese West Africa, but it was known that their fleet was gathered in the port of Anxi, and our plans had to be put on hold indefinitely......"

Palmston's brow twitched even involuntarily at the mention of the port of Ansi, and just a few years ago, the British even understood "China's control of the port of Ansi", of course, in order to suppress the Spaniards. And now, Anxi Port has become a hidden danger at hand, and what is the most depressing? It was the tens of thousands of tons of coal stored there, or the Welsh anthracite produced in the British, or even the ship that declared war between the two countries, and a ship of thousands of tons of coal that was transported to the port of Anxi, and now that coal has invariably become fuel for the Chinese fleet.

"Maybe the port of Anxi is still far from the UK, and there is no coal there, but for the UK, it is a potential threat, but they can't threaten the mainland from there, they can only intercept our merchant ships at sea, but because of the number of warships, the number of interceptions is also very limited, but now everything has changed......"

With a cigar in his hand, Palmston's brow furrowed.

"After Russia is involved in this war, other countries, such as the French, are likely to make the same choice, after all, Britain is already in a difficult situation for them, and now is the time for them to take advantage of the fire! If the French get involved in the war, then the threat of the homeland will be inevitable! ”

This was what Palmston was really worried about, maybe he would have worried that the colonial legions would not be able to defend India, but now he was more worried about the attack on his homeland!

"The Chinese, the French, and even the Russians, they may even form a huge combined fleet and attack the British mainland, and when the time comes, it will undoubtedly be a disaster for Britain, and we can't even deal with this disaster!"

What has the Royal Navy relied on to defend the sea lanes over the past few months? When there were no ironclad ships, the Royal Navy did not sink, but relied on the huge thousands of old warships, relying on the numerical superiority, forming a threat to the Chinese fleet, but once Russia and France joined it, not only the numerical superiority would be the news, but even the distance superiority would disappear.

In the past, the Chinese fleet did not threaten the British mainland because they did not have a port near the British mainland to anchor, so they were only in Chinese West Africa. But as soon as the French join in, everything will change, the French port will be open to the Chinese, and at that time, Chinese armored ships will appear at the mouth of the Thames at any time, firing shells at the British mainland!

For the first time since Napoleonic times, Britain itself is facing a real crisis! In Napoleon's time, there was also the Royal Navy as a defense, and now, what does Britain rely on to defend its country?

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, are you saying that the French, the third emperor, will be just as ...... as the Russians"

In a panicked tone, Mr. Russell, as foreign secretary, said that he had been engaged in active diplomacy over the past few months to get France to tilt toward Britain, or at least to maintain friendly neutrality, rather than toward China. However, the words of His Excellency the Prime Minister made his whole body nervous, which was a denial of his work.

"This is impossible, the emperor would never do that, he knows very well why Napoleon failed back then, for him, he will never risk the risk of the throne shaking and choose to go to war with Britain, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I believe he can't do this!"

For that Emperor Napoleon III, he knew very well what was most important in the eyes of that person, for him, even the interests of France were not as important as the French throne, and it was because of this that he would do everything possible to buy all classes, and his foreign policy was vacillating and cautious. In this case, his first consideration must be his throne, and not the so-called national interest.

Therefore, he believed that, at least for now, when the power of Britain was still overwhelmingly superior to France, His Majesty the Emperor would never be able to risk his own throne. His ambitions will give way to reality, as they were in the Crimean War, and in spite of his grievances, what will happen in the end?

He had nothing to do but deceive himself. As for the French generals, they would not have recklessly entered the war. His knowledge of France convinced Russell that his diplomatic efforts had been successful, and that he would at least keep France friendly and neutral.

As for making the French allies of Britain, after the betrayal of the Crimean War, it is impossible for any sane Frenchman to trust British promises anymore, at least not now.

"Russell, my friend, you must know that there is no friendship between nations. Only eternal benefits! ”

After this exclamation, Palmston even regretted the suppression of France after the end of the Crimean War, on the basis of this principle, and now he has tasted the bitter fruit of his original choice.

"Why did the Russians declare war on us? It's because they see that we have no way to protect our colonies! ”

Although unwilling to admit it, Palmston had to face this reality, because the reality that the Royal Navy had no armored ships made Britain now have no strength to protect the vast colonies, and could only watch the Chinese occupy the British colonies as if they were no one.

"So the Russians set their eyes on India,. If the Russians could see India, how could the French turn a blind eye? One thing is certain, my friend, that the whole world is likely to be our enemy, not because of our conflict, but because now England is a teenager with a great deal of gold but cannot defend itself! How could the bullies not keep their eyes on us? ”

Bully!

In Palmston's view, whether it is a Russian or a French, they are all bullies, bullies who take advantage of the fire. Once upon a time, Britain played such a role again and again. And now, Britain has become the meat on the board, allowing others to bully.

It's a change that Palmston can't accept, but has to face.

"Your Excellency, if the French are to join in, how can we protect Britain?"

Russell looked at the prime minister with some nervousness, his tone full of concern for the future, and he believed that once the news of Russia's declaration of war on Britain spread, it would cause some kind of panic in London.

For the first time in history, Britain had to face an attack from two great powers.

Neither China, nor Russia!

They may be far away from the UK, but they are two big countries. Now Russell even thinks that if China had been regarded as a big country in advance, he might not have the current predicament at all.

Thinking of this, he set his sights on the Prime Minister, and it was the Prime Minister's obstinate behavior that put Britain in the current situation. If we hadn't sent a fleet and hadn't intervened in Panama, how would we be in the situation we are in today?

But it's too late to say anything, and Chinese won't stop their offensive until they get what they want...... Thinking of this, Russell's eyes lit up,

"French!"

Russell looked at the Prime Minister and said.

"Your Excellency, maybe for now we will be able to keep the French neutral, at least for some time to come."

"Oh,"

Looking at Russell in surprise, Palmston asked rhetorically.

"Let the French remain neutral? What's the solution? ”

"Your Excellency, His Majesty of France has always been interested in Mexico, and what if we support that, not just in favor of him in protecting the loan by force, but in favor of their occupation of Mexico?"

What Russell said about borrowing is Mexican President Benito? Juárez stopped paying interest on foreign borrowings on July 17 last year, angering Mexico's biggest borrowers, Spain, Britain and France. The three countries signed the Treaty of London on October 31 last year to recover their loans from Mexico. However, due to the situation, Yizhen was unable to make the trip. And Russell knew very well that the French were not just trying to guarantee their loans.

“…… They have always been interested in the silver mines of northern Mexico, and if we support them in invading Mexico, or even annexing it, we will at least allow the French to trap their forces in Mexico, rather than invest their forces in the invasion of England......"

Russell's suggestion caused Palmston to ponder for a moment, then he pondered.

"And the Turks, we saved Turkey in the Crimean War, now it's time for them to repay us, to let the Turks attack Russia, since the Chinese can use the state of Wu to sign, our power then we can also use other people's countries to contain their power!"

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