On the same night, in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, there were also people who talked all night...... Just a week after the Prussian government announced the expansion of the Standing 6 Army to 2o men and a significant increase in the military budget, the British Minister of Honour Palmerston visited Berlin.

"Now it is clear that Napoleon III will not give up the North American theater! Because the interests are so great, the world empire of France can only be realized in the New Great 6 and Africa, and not in Europe. So Prussia did not need to worry that France would intervene in the war of German unification, and I think that the decision of France to call up 10,000 new soldiers at the present time was only defensive. So we want to ...... Prussia was able to clear up the misunderstanding with France and negotiate a consensus on the unification of North Germany. ”

The speaker was Viscount Palmerston, a British minister visiting Berlin. The British minister now looks much older than he did during the war against Russia, his head is completely white, and his face is full of exhaustion. The British Empire, the world hegemon, has now been challenged like never before. France and China are rising at the same time, and both are showing signs of being unstoppable. To make matters more troublesome, these two challengers to the hegemony of the British Empire have so far remained monolithic. Mathilde I, the current number two of the Bonaparte family, has glued the two world empires together.

Although the British figured out a "combination of Britain and the United States" to gain enough power to suppress the Ming and France, it is difficult to say whether this plan will succeed so far.

The North American theater of war was in full swing, and although the northern federation suffered heavy losses in the west and center, it was in the eastern part of the United States, the main theater of battle. They still have a firm grip on the initiative. On the same day that Viscount Palmerston arrived in Berlin. The news of the Abandonment of Baltimore by the Confederate Coalition reached Europe, even though the Confederate Declarations claimed to have killed and wounded at least 20,000 Union troops in the Battle of Baltimore, while their own losses were less than 50,000. But the loss of ground is real. After all, the number of casualties is unclear.

What worries the British even more is the progress of the industrial and military technology of the United States of America! They may have captured the Jason machine gun and the Besemai breech gun in the winter of 1861, so similar weapons appeared in the Northern Army's sequence during the Baltimore Assault and Defense!

And at this moment when the North American war was going on, there was an accident here in Europe! Prussia, which had been on its stomach since the Napoleonic Wars, is now "rising" and putting on a posture of wanting to unify Germany with Austria.

To be honest, this incident also came as a surprise to London. Although they were also aware of the rapid development of Germany's industrial power after the establishment of the North German Customs Union, especially in the production of steel and coal. Benefiting from the resource advantages of the western region of Germany, the exhibition is particularly rapid. Although it is not as good as the United Kingdom, China and the United States in terms of production, it is on par with France and much ahead of Russia and Austria. And the population of 180,000 is not too small, at least a little more than the Austrian Empire was actually able to control the population. However, the internal politics of North Germany has always been very unstable, it is simply a "cradle of revolution", and liberalism, anarchism, GCISM and other chaotic ideas are rampant. As a result, Prussia was unable to wield its national strength. In the last war against Russia, although they also mobilized their troops in a pretentious manner, they did not dare to really fight after all. Such a country chose a good time for France to be deeply involved in the North American war and wanted to unify Germany. It really made the British Empire a little uncertain.

As far as Viscount Palmerston was concerned, a united and powerful Germany would certainly be a useful tool for balancing French hegemony in Europe. Regardless of the attitude of this Germany towards France, France always needs to maintain an army of hundreds of thousands to be on guard against Germany at all times. This would certainly be a drag on France's maritime supremacy...... It would be perfect if an Anglo-German alliance could be formed, with Britain in charge of the sea and Germany in charge of 6 places, to contain France together.

From this point of view, Britain should fully support the unification of Germany. But the current situation is not so simple. For Britain wanted to achieve its goal of annexing the industrial regions of the northeastern part of the United States of America, and it had to rely on the French power in North America. If Napoleon III had repatriated the elite French army to his homeland because of the German question, the United States of America would have been able to defeat the Confederate States of America and the Kingdom of California, and Britain's plans in North America would have been completely frustrated.

On the back of trade-offs, the British felt that they still needed the French to charge into North America, and that Prussia could not spoil the current situation, which was still very good. Therefore, Viscount Palmerston proposed a "Little German plan" that he thought would be acceptable to the French.

"Unification...... North Germany? ”

Hearing Viscount Palmerston's suggestion, Wilhelm I and Bismarck glanced at each other, and Bismarck said lightly: "Mr. Xiang, have you discussed this issue with the French emperor?" ”

"Not yet, but I'm sure Napoleon III would agree to it." Viscount Palmerston picked up a cup of coffee and took a sip gently. "Even if he doesn't agree, we, the British Empire, will force him to agree."

"In fact we had no intention of annexing Austria and Bohemia, and Little Germany had always been the target of Prussia." Wilhelm I said quietly, "A fully united Germany is also a burden, a heavy burden for us Prussia!" ”

Hearing this, Viscount Palmerston nodded slightly, as if he was still breathing, "This would be great, but I'm afraid it's hard to convince Napoleon III with empty words, and if you are willing to sign a treaty, I think I can convince Napoleon III." ”

"There is no problem, we can sign a treaty." Wilhelm I glanced at Bismarck, who suddenly interjected: "Mr. Xiang, I think that before signing the treaty, we should first determine the scope of Little Germany, right?" ”

Viscount Palmerston thought for a moment and nodded, "That's natural. ”

"The whole of Germany, with the exception of Austria and Bohemia, belongs to Little Germany." Bismarck looked at Palmerston with blazing eyes, "Your Excellency, this is our bottom line!" ”

"Except for Austria and Bohemia?" Viscount Palmerston frowned, "Does that include Schleswig-Holstein and Luxembourg?" ”

"Yes! These three principalities must be included! Bismarck said categorically, "It's obvious!" If we abandon Schleswig-Holstein, the whole of Germany will consider us traitors! And Luxembourg has rich reserves of iron ore, which is necessary for Little Germany to maintain a strong 6th Army. ”

Viscount Palmerston nodded with some embarrassment, Schleswig-Holstein's question was fine, after all, Denmark was too weak. But things are not so easy in Luxembourg. King Wilhelm II of the Netherlands, who now holds the position of Grand Duke of Luxembourg, fears that the Netherlands will be drawn into war if he refuses to cede this small country, which does not border the Netherlands proper. And if Wilhelm II ceded Luxembourg under British pressure, then the Netherlands is very likely to form an alliance with France in the future, which will strengthen France's advantage in the European Big 6. But if Prussia had not received Luxembourg, its industrial exhibition would have been limited by the lack of iron ore and would have been completely overwhelmed by France......

"Well, your opinion, the British Empire will take it into account." Viscount Palmerston nodded slightly, now that the crisis in Germany has just begun after all, who knows what things will turn out of? The British Empire could only try to mediate on all fronts, and now that it knew Prussia's asking price, it was time to go to France next, and I wonder if Napoleon III would listen to it? In addition, I had to find an opportunity to go to Vienna, if I could convince Joseph. It would be nice for Franz to back down so that both Prussia and Austria could hold on to their strength. This is what is most beneficial to the British Empire! (To be continued......)

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