When Gladstone received the telegram from Paris, he was more shocked.

It was not the arrogant rhetoric of the telegram or the hostility of the French, but the attitude of Paris in this matter that showed that there was no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides.

The French were more cautious about the British than they were about the Egyptian riots, and the Anglo-French alliance of decades ago had collapsed, and the union of interests had become synonymous with hostile conflict.

From the French's point of view, they believed that the Egyptians were not to blame, and that London, which deliberately provoked a war between the two countries, was the object of rivalry.

And the French are like the red dragon in William Blake's paintings, trying to devour Europe with their teeth and claws.

Under such circumstances, Prime Minister Gladstone had no choice, and if he really wanted to go to war, he would have to have a hard-to-go clash with the French army over the Suez Canal. The Transvaal had already learned the horrors of the French army - their defensive line was impeccable, and the lobster men's charge was futile. And after witnessing the power of the Maxim, the British also stepped up their research on heavy machine guns, trying to develop weapons that could rival the French.

The French, who have been on the tech tree for nearly twenty or thirty years, will not let the other side easily break their dominance. By this time, the smokeless flame had gradually begun to spread in European countries, and the French no longer had an advantage, so they needed not only to fight alone, but also to have a reliable ally.

At Napoleon's inducement, Frederick III became the obvious choice. It also became Napoleon's confidence in calling Britain.

In addition to the Slavic grey cattle, known as the steamrollers of Europe, this group of Germanic barbarians had the potential to challenge the British.

Gladstone analyzed, "The French dare to be so tough now, I think it's because Berlin has overnodded their heads. The new Frederick III was in a hurry to make a difference, so their first goal was to compete for a colony that had enough voice to speak. The previous Transvaal gave them a taste of sweetness, the greed in their hearts had been opened, and they would definitely not budge on the Egyptian issue. So even in the face of the combined forces of France and Germany, we cannot be cowardly. ”

Gladstone has the support of the British royal family behind them, coupled with the support of the army, which also gives them the confidence to fight a tough battle against the combined forces of rebellious Paris and Berlin.

"This battle must be fought."

"It is necessary to make them realize how stupid their actions are through the way of war."

When Gladstone had finished reading Napoleon's humiliation, he was finally outraged. The harsh words of the telegram were like a sword tormenting his heart, mocking his poor foreign policy and political achievements.

"Our interests in Egypt are unshakable, and we will not let anyone shake them, and we will get the Suez Canal, which France controls. They take the gold mines of the Transvaal, and I will let the Suez Canal no longer have French ships to pass! ”

Gladstone's impassioned speech in Parliament convinced the Conservatives. At the same time, it also made them realize the importance of the Egyptian question.

"The British army is ready, each and every one of us is ready to fight for the glory of Great Britain, whether on the battlefield or in Parliament, where the sun rises is the sphere of interest of the British!"

Congress passed the bill very unanimously this time. More often than not, Egypt is an established sphere of interest, and no one wants their sphere of interest to be taken back by a group of indigenous people.

At this time, the British military department had prepared a plan: the British detachment, the vanguard of ironclads, gunboats and destroyers, would be the first to bombard Alexandria, which was the weakest defended. The British had prepared an army force of 25,000 men for a direct landing operation, and the weak defenders of the mountain port would be the most fatal weakness of the Egyptian government. After annihilating the defenders, Cairo can be attacked from the north.

If the offensive to the north was blocked, the British army would look for opportunities on the Eastern Front. And the biggest breakthrough is the current Suez Canal, which is why the British army is desperately trying to win over Paris. But Paris's reluctance to cooperate annoyed Gladstone, so he hoped for the death of both the Egyptians and the French in this campaign.

Mixed and contradictory emotions led the British to develop a two-way plan.

London saw the French and Egyptian armies as rivals, and Napoleon was better at winning hearts than Gladstone and his English invaders, who knew only simple conquests.

The British solved the problem with their fists, and Napoleon solved it with interests.

Just after Britain declared war on the Egyptian Fatherland Party, he sent a telegram to Arabi, the leader of the Fatherland Party and an Egyptian resistant, telling them that France was willing to remain neutral and even stop the British army on the Eastern Front, as long as France was given access to the Suez Canal. Because the Eastern Front involved French interests, he did not want to involve his roots in the war.

"France's goal is only the Suez Canal, if I don't want to see French interests involved in the war."

And this telegram was like a charcoal in the snow, which lifted Arabi's spirits.

Arabi was well aware that the Egyptian army could not defeat both the British and French invaders at the same time, and he was aware of the recent tensions between Paris and London. So Arabi was very interested in the conditions that Napoleon threw out.

But the Fatherland Party reacted mixed to the resolution.

Some see this as the wrong choice, contrary to their goal of independence, while others believe that when Egypt cannot achieve full independence, it should choose a compromise rule. For example, for the time being, they agreed to cooperate with the French to delay their pressure on the Eastern Front.

Everyone was in a mess, and everyone was refuting the claims of others while emphasizing their own claims, and it was at the most critical moment that Arabi stepped forward. Put an end to the chaos.

"Listen to me, returning the ownership of the Suez Canal to the French, although it is different from our original goal, is not a betrayal of the motherland. Until we have driven the invaders out, we will negotiate with the French if they are willing to negotiate. The sovereignty of the Suez Canal must be taken back, and we can compensate them for their economic losses. If the French had insisted on occupying the Suez Canal, there could have been no doubt that Egypt would have easily driven them out of our territory when there was only one imperialist power. What we should be afraid of is Great Britain, who has a large fleet and the strongest land force, even a detachment of which is enough to bring a catastrophe to Egypt. ”

"It is dangerous for us to pretend to cooperate with the French and to use our maneuvering between Britain and France to gain the greatest political power," Arabi explained. ”

Al-Arabi's argument united the entire Fatherland Party, who also believed that this "benign deception" would free Egypt from the cloud of European politics that hung over them.

It's just that no one didn't realize that he had reversed priorities, and the Egyptians considered British military power to be a well-deserved hegemon. France was nothing more than a declining empire that barely maintained its respectable position.

However, he forgot one thing, the current president of France was a madman who was called a war maniac by the anti-French coalition during the First Empire.

He can restore the decaying and declining army to the best imperial legion in Europe, and he will not take Egypt's ants seriously.

Napoleon had already decided what he would do next.

The Suez Canal, this is exactly the opportunity for him to be ready to stir up and break the situation in Europe!