The tranquility of Downing Street has been shattered, and Prime Minister Gladstone is finally facing the biggest political issue of his presidency – a tough and self-serving response to the challenge that the Tuileries has brought to him. But all of this is risky, and if it is not handled well, it will be a bloody conflict.

The carriage stopped at Downing Street, and the tall Duke jumped out of the carriage.

At this time, the Duke of Cambridge took the telegram from the front and hurried to the office of the Prime Minister Gladstone. He looked serious, after all, the content was beyond his expectations. In his previous discussions with Prime Minister Gladstone, he vowed that everything the French were doing was bluffing, in order to force Britain to make compromises and concessions. Then the Tuileries Palace slapped the Duke of Cambridge hard with practical actions, and told him seriously that the Tuileries Palace was not joking, they were very serious about preparing to start a war.

The telegrams sent from Egypt were like a relay and finally reached Prime Minister Gladstone. After reading the telegram, the prime minister only let out a long sigh and muttered to himself, "Is this forcing us to make a choice?" What is the calculation of the Tuileries Palace? We simply do not want to start a war with France. Now the situation in Europe is so complicated! ”

Since Prime Minister Gladstone came to power, he has come to realize that the previous policy of isolation on the mainland is no longer working. The countries that hated each other and cooperated with each other either slowly united into an alliance or entente, or they cooperated with each other's rivals to group the countries of the entire European continent. France, for example, has done a great job in this regard, being a military ally with Germany, but inextricably linked with Russia in terms of economic aid. In the end, he incited Germany and Russia against Britain, and this dazzling situation forced Prime Minister Gladstone to do nothing.

"I think there is only one possibility for France to snatch Egypt by all means."

The Duke of Cambridge put forward his own idea, which he thought sounded ridiculous, "We used to run Egypt in cooperation with the French, but now the situation is different, because the Transvaal and the two sides are directly turning against each other. Now the question arises, if the French want to retake Egypt and re-establish hegemony in the Mediterranean, she also needs to have an ally of sufficient weight in Egypt. And for this ally, Germany is the best choice, the biggest possibility is that this time the Franco-German alliance is just a cover, in fact, the French are to contain us, and help their allies to open up colonies. In this way, the interests of France and Germany are more tightly tied. ”

Gladstone froze for a moment, scratching his head, feeling as if something was slowly converging in his chaotic thoughts. Eventually, the messy clues are combined into the answer he wants.

"I see, I see, I finally understood that the French were making this calculation. They wanted to occupy Egypt and force the British to withdraw from North Africa, eventually cutting us off from Asia. It's clever enough to calculate. Why didn't I expect that in the morning? After the occupation of Egypt, the Red Sea, as a hub for maritime transportation, would also fall into their hands. As a result, the passage between us and the Indian Ocean was blocked, and we had to go around the Cape of Good Hope. Damn it! ”

Gladstone was angry at the ferocity of the French scheme, which literally drove them to death. At the same time, he realized that if he wanted to turn defeat into victory, he had to win the war in Egypt. Anyway, the French at this time were on the defensive, and they did not need to attack Great Britain directly.

"After expelling all the French in Egypt, even if we win this battle, we don't need to start a declaration of war against France with no bones. And in order to disgust the French, we also prepared a special gift to block the sea near the English Channel, forcing the French merchant ships to take a detour. Anyway, now that they have unilaterally declared war, it is not surprising that the British side has made any indications. ”

The Duke of Cambridge showed his talent in front of Gladstone at every turn, but also to protect his interests in the British War Office, and General Wolseley was now in a dilemma, and he was about to win the long-term power struggle.

He had even figured out a way to ascend and descend secretly, forcing his old opponent to admit defeat and surrender.

"By the way, and what should we do about General Wolseley? Originally, London wanted to end the war in a short time, but his delay led to the current situation. ”

The Duke of Cambridge put all the fault that did not belong to Walsley on him, after all, wars always need a scapegoat, especially the defeated side.

Gladstone suddenly remembered this "culprit". In fact, it was not his fault at all, except that Wolseley happened to be in Egypt and happened to command the British army to attack Cairo. All of this happened to be under the operation of the Duke of Cambridge, but it became a crime.

I am afraid that at this time, Walsley, who was far away in Egypt, never thought that he would painstakingly want to clear his name, but in the end he was cut off halfway by his old opponent.

After hearing the Duke of Cambridge's "kind" reminder, Gladstone also realized that this was a problem, and he pondered for a while, and said, "After this war is over, I think he should be transferred back to the Army Headquarters." He must be suspended for a period of time until the problem is clearly explained. ”

"But I think we can transfer her to the Quartermaster Department as a minister, a position that also requires someone who is in the same capacity as him. What does the Prime Minister think? ”

Gladstone was already preoccupied by what was in front of him, and he was not interested in what would happen to Wolseley next.

"Just do what you do, I'm not interested in getting involved. Now the British should take care of their affairs with France, otherwise they will not even know how to spell the dead word by then. ”

"Duke of Cambridge, do you want to see us go to war with France?"

The Duke of Cambridge shook his head and whispered, "Although I am from the British Army, to be honest, I don't want to see a war. ”

The British Army seemed to have a deeper meaning in the mouth of the Duke of Cambridge.

After all, the British Army is much a traitor.

"That's right."

Prime Minister Gladstone put it more bluntly, "I want to sit in this position for a few more years." ”