On the third day, the British Cabinet convened an emergency closed-door meeting to discuss the Ottoman situation.

Foreign Minister Diresli spoke first: "Gentlemen, we don't know whether the Chinese emperor was seriously injured in the attack, what happened in the Dobamache Palace that night, and the life and death of the Ottoman Sultan and several important ministers, we don't know, but I know that the severance of diplomatic relations between China and the Ottoman Empire has sent a very dangerous signal that China is going to use force against the Ottoman Empire." “

A younger cabinet member was puzzled: "Your Excellency Diresley, what does China gain by attacking the Ottoman Empire?" Is he going to reverse his promises, expand his territory to the Black Sea coast, or even take Istanbul for himself? “

Diresli smiled and shook his head: "You don't understand, I have been in contact with the Chinese emperor, this person is very dangerous, difficult to entangle, and very cunning, and even I think that he is not injured at all, but only in the name of being injured to carry out military operations against the Ottoman Empire."

But this man has one advantage, that is, he is extremely faithful to his promises, whether it is politically and militarily realistic, or in terms of national credit, China will only stop at the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, otherwise it will cause unease in Europe, and the Chinese emperor is a man who understands and will not be so unwise.

But don't forget, gentlemen, what is the best thing about the Chinese emperor? It's split! Split other countries! He could defeat the Ottoman Empire militarily, and then support the independence of the weak ethnic groups in the Balkans and the South Caucasus, such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Georgia, Armenia, Ossetia, Chechnya, etc., and weaken the Ottoman Empire to the greatest extent, so as to gain the gratitude and friendship of these newly established states. Influence in the Balkans and even Central and Eastern Europe.

According to the latest information, the forces of the two Chinese armies have been driven out of Kiev. Led by Li Xiucheng and Li Erhu respectively, this army is 90% likely to pass through the Ukrainian steppes. Romania and Bulgaria, straight to Istanbul. “

A whisper erupted in the middle of the meeting, and after a few minutes, the rebel said: "Gentlemen, it is completely clear from this that China does have an attempt to split the Ottoman Empire, and has indeed begun to act, so there are two choices before us. Is it to stop China? Or join China? “

Home Secretary Haig said: "I don't think there is any point in stopping China, first of all, it will destroy the friendship between Britain and China, and secondly, the Chinese army will come to Istanbul in half a month at most, and time will not allow us to mobilize troops."

Thirdly, the Ottoman Empire used to help us block Russia's access to the Mediterranean, but now Russia has been divided into two Russias. And in the foreseeable future, it will inevitably fall into a long civil war, and Russia will be greatly weakened, and it will no longer be able to threaten the security of Europe. This also meant that the Ottoman Empire lost its value of existence.

Finally, the Balkans and the South Caucasus were founded by the Balkans and the South Caucasus. It would further fragment Europe, which is in line with Britain's stated national policy to prevent continental unity. So we have absolutely no reason to stop China, of course. China should not be the sole owner of the benefits, but we should actively intervene, if not to take the lead in the Balkans and the South Caucasus, then at least have the right to participate. "Yes, yes, that's good!" There was a chorus of voices in the middle of the table.

"Therefore, we should provide emergency military assistance to the Balkan peoples, and we must preempt the Chinese army, so as to show our importance, and the aid should not be provided by Britain alone, but by many European countries such as France, Austria, and Prussia, especially Austria, whose assistance can arrive as soon as possible, but only in the common name of our countries, and the good name cannot be enjoyed by Austria alone." "I agree, after the meeting, I will communicate with the countries involved in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." Diresli nodded, and said, "I wonder what you think about Istanbul?" “

Haig spread his hands: "The Chinese will definitely sack Istanbul in the name of avenging their emperor, just as they do all over the world, robbing all the wealth and women they can rob, killing all the men they can kill, this is very inhumane and cruel, but unfortunately, we are powerless to stop it, so can we put pressure on China to ask for a piece of the pie?" For example, we can not have women, but the treasure and gold should not be monopolized by the Chinese family. “

Diresli said helplessly: "According to my understanding of the Chinese emperor, this is absolutely impossible, he is a greedy person, it is impossible to spit out the meat of the mouth, unless we can send the army to Istanbul first, and this is even more impossible, gentlemen, don't think too much about this question, what I want to ask is the question of Istanbul's ownership after the war." "Huh?" Everyone turned their puzzled eyes to Diresley, and even sentenced Messton to be puzzled: "Istanbul is the capital of the Ottoman Empire, even after being robbed by the Chinese, but the Chinese always have to leave, is there any problem with this?" "There's a problem!" Diresley said: "The Ottoman Empire was only a small country in Asia Minor a few hundred years ago, I think about it, it seems to be called the Seljuk Turks, he destroyed the Byzantine Empire, so from this point of view, the Ottoman Empire is also an aggressor, when he was strong, there was no problem with Istanbul, but now the Ottoman is very weak, he has no ability to keep Istanbul anymore, Austria will definitely covet it, maybe the Chinese will leave, Austria will declare war on the Ottomans, will take it, you say, what will happen if Istanbul falls into Austrian hands? "Needless to say, as long as Austria takes advantage of the withdrawal of Chinese troops and occupies Istanbul as quickly as possible, it is possible to encroach on the entire Balkans, and then force Hungary to merge with him to form Austria-Hungary. Not a single voice thought about it.

"Istanbul must not fall into Austrian hands!" The rest of them have expressed their positions. "Good!" Di Resli pressed his hands: "Britain is too far away to make Istanbul an overseas enclave, and the European countries will not allow us to do so, but we can decide who occupies Istanbul, and my opinion is to trade Istanbul to Greece."

My reason is that Istanbul used to be the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and the Byzantine civilization came from ancient Rome, and as we all know, the ancient Roman civilization inherited the ancient hope civilization, so in terms of origin, Greece has the right to take over Istanbul, which is also a recognition of the contribution of Greek civilization to the world.

In addition, Greece is a country with a chaotic political situation and a lazy people, and if he gets Istanbul, presumably China will not oppose it, and it will not affect the situation in the Balkans, and even further, it will be beneficial for our country to control the Bosphorus, and then the Black Sea. “。

(To be continued.) )