I've been reading Devouring the Dragon of the World lately, and this book is really good!

It was not easy to openly argue with a world number one empire, but Napoleon, with the backing of the Franco-German alliance, hardened his attitude towards Gladstone. France didn't care what kind of toughness Prime Minister Gladstone would show, and he didn't even care what kind of strategy the other side would take. In his eyes, the British Army is a bunch of guys who send experience. He would not care to add to the achievements of the French army and inflict heavy damage on the exploits of the British army.

Napoleon's performance deflated Gladstone, and in the face of a national leader who did not eat hard and soft, they were going to settle this gold-mining area. At this time, Britain was still in various colonial disputes, and Gladstone had to clean up the mess left by the previous prime minister, Disraeli, on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and on the Transvaal.

"France cannot be the protector of the Transvaal, and I absolutely disagree with that. Either let the Transvaal be under the co-trusteeship of several countries, or let him be absolutely independent, and no country should interfere, and the conditions given by Britain are these, you can choose for yourself. ”

Prime Minister Gladstone, who is already undiplomatic, is trying to show his tough side, warning both sides that the British are not vegetarians.

"I choose the third, and we don't choose either."

Napoleon said coldly, "Why should I give up the Transvaal, if the British feel that they have the strength, then take it." From today onwards, South Africa is no longer yours. The United Kingdom and France will co-host the region, not just the Transvaal, but beyond. Both France and Germany would take it and expel all the British troops. ”

"You dare!"

Prime Minister Gladstone said angrily, "Believe it or not, I'm going to make it impossible for all of you to eat and walk around!" ”

Napoleon said unceremoniously, "I dare, what am I not afraid of, the British can play a battle loss ratio of hundreds to one, is there anything I have to fear?" Your army is a piece of, even if you have a strong navy? France controls nearly one-third of Africa's land, and if you join forces with Germany to grab all your land, what's the matter, who are you going to find in this anti-French alliance? Looking for distant Russia? ”

"You!"

However, Frederick III, who was on the sidelines, was terrified when he heard this, because this was completely different from the plan he had said before, they just wanted to blackmail Britain and force all British troops away from South Africa, but Napoleon's words and deeds at this time were clearly trying to provoke a colonial war in Africa.

Frederick III winked at Napoleon, but he ignored him.

He felt that Napoleon was now playing a little bigger, a little bigger than he had imagined. But with danger came the opportunity, if they could indeed expel the British troops from their colonies in southern Africa, the rest would become German territory.

The Kaiser supported the Parliament, but that did not mean that he was not ambitious, especially when France rushed forward to challenge the order, the Germans quietly followed behind him to take a stand and get a piece of the dispute between the two sides.

"Germany has declared its position on the Transvaal, and then there is the question of British colonies in southern Africa, and I know of course that you have great ocean-going transport capabilities, and I have no doubt that you will use your ships to land and fight. But I'm sorry, France may have been more than half a century ahead of you in terms of weapons, and even if you have the most powerful army and a large number of soldiers, so what? One of our machine guns can crush one of your companies, make the once invincible lobster soldiers surrender in the face of bullets, on land, France is the undisputed hegemon, especially under the union of France and Germany, we ravage your colonies and expel you British, so what? ”

Crazy, just crazy.

Prime Minister Gladstone could no longer see whether the person in front of him was Emperor Napoleon or the crazy Ivan the Terrible.

For the gold mines of the Transvaal, Napoleon was willing to fight a colonial war in Africa at the expense of the entire country. And more importantly, Britain is not ready, they are already at war with Russia, Germany is now being co-opted by France, and if there is really a war, Britain will fight alone. Behind the French, however, are allies.

Prime Minister Gladstone wondered, when exactly did the French accumulate so many allies? Could it be that he has been building his own political circle in the past decade?

The financially overwhelmed Russians were easily managed by French loans, and now the Germans have also been taken down by the gold mines and Frederick III's pro-German policies, Prime Minister Gladstone, I don't know what else the French have not used behind the scenes, but Napoleon is afraid that now is the time to really show his political talent.

Is this still the Emperor of Na who established the European order by force during the First Empire? He had not even anticipated all the circumstances of the Prophet, and had figured out the countermeasures of his research, and all that he had done over the years was simply directed against the British.

Prime Minister Gladstone felt inexplicably frightened, he was scared. An opponent who does not know the details is far more terrible than a strong opponent, Napoleon must have more cards in his hand that have not been revealed, and France did not fall with the passing of the Second Empire, but became strong again in his hands.

After all, the British were also afraid of losing all their colonies, which was somewhat more than worth the cost.

"Okay."

Prime Minister Gladstone scratched his head, and he stopped talking, but finally said, "We can talk about the Transvaal later." ”

Seeing that the other party finally relented, Napoleon continued, "The question of the Transvaal must now be clarified, the oppressed Boers must be independent, and if you do not let them become independent, then France will do it themselves." ”

"England."

In order to save face in London, Prime Minister Gladstone also gave an explanation to the country, and finally as a delaying measure, he avoided three shares first, anyway, sovereignty is still in the hands of Britain, and after this period of limelight, he can do whatever he wants.

He had to take a deep breath and said, "We can set aside the gold mining area, but we have one condition, that is, the sovereignty of the Transvaal must be in the hands of Great Britain, and France can send troops to the gold mining area, but we must have the sovereignty of the Transvaal." This is the final bottom line of Britain, if you don't agree, then go to war. ”