Saigon Governor's Palace

"General Guba, what do you think?" Montapero, the governor of Saigon, raised the letter in his hand and asked with interest.

General Guba once led the French expeditionary force to participate in the Qing and French battles 11 years ago, and fought against the Liangguang New Army, the Black Flag Army, the Green Battalion Army, and the defenders of Taiwan, Penghu and Fujian Matsu, and knew the strength of the Qing Dynasty army very well.

"I can only say that the luck of the Fuso people is good, the Qing Dynasty army they encountered in Korea or the three eastern provinces, the upper limit of strength can be at most the same as the Black Flag Army, and the will to fight is too different, well, so they picked the right opponent at the right time and won an easy victory." General Guba shrugged helplessly.

In comparison, the French were much less lucky.

The island of Madagascar is forced to share benefits with the African Expeditionary Force of the Ocean Kingdom, and the two sides are currently negotiating a formal treaty to demarcate the border and fix it in their respective spheres of influence on the island of Madagascar, so as not to have a major conflict.

The war was extremely expensive, and in the First Qing War, the French government made three additional budgets in order to win the war, the first allocation of 2.8 million francs, the second allocation of 3 million francs, and the third allocation of 50 million francs, a total of 55.8 million francs of military spending, and the Féjury cabinet collapsed, but in the end nothing was gained.

Originally, the French proposed a war indemnity of 200 million francs, which was later reduced to 80 million francs, but Gu Yanchuan, the governor of Liangguang who participated in the negotiations, was extremely tough, and after the war, France did not even get a single franc indemnity, which can be said to be a miserable reparation.

Therefore, in the struggle for colonies in Africa, the French government wisely ruled out the option of war, and the 23-area island of Madagascar could satisfy the appetite of the French colonists, and they could not afford to fight another war for the remaining colonies.

It's not that you're afraid of anyone, it's that it's unnecessary.

The military strength of the Ocean Kingdom has been widely recognized by the Western powers, and its military combat effectiveness is considered to be at the level of an army of the same size as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it is almost in the second rank in Europe.

In the northern part of Vietnam

Now the governor of northern Vietnam, Gu Zhiwen, has become the de facto king of northern Vietnam, with 20,000 fully equipped new troops under his command, 12,000 black flag troops, and dozens of battalions of green battalions.

In the face of this tricky hard bone, the Governor's Office of Saigon, France, also felt at a loss.

"According to the general's opinion, we can't take advantage of the Qing Dynasty's lack of time to look south, and solve the Qing army entrenched in Beiqi in one fell swoop to achieve the unification of the Indochina Peninsula?"

"No, dear Your Excellency the Governor-General, the French army has never feared any enemy. Here's the problem...... How much the cabinet is willing to pay for this. ”

"Be specific, General."

"I mean the great warlord General Gu entrenched in northern Vietnam, his 20,000 new troops are all strong troops trained by military instructors of the Ocean Kingdom, and the grassroots troops are full of professionally educated officers, whose strength must not be underestimated, to defeat such a strong army, France must come up with an army of the same size, plus the Black Flag Army and other auxiliary forces, It is initially estimated that the size of the French expeditionary force should not be less than 25,000 men, considering that it may be supported by the two regions, the number of French troops should be placed at 30,000 men, and we also need the support of the fleet to blockade the bay. ”

"Oh sell ga, this can't be!" Saigon Governor Montapero exclaimed.

As the supreme ruler of the French colonial ministry in Indochina, the governor of Saigon, Montapero, was an experienced colonial official who knew what the general's demands meant.

This means huge military spending of more than 50 million francs, and it is not necessarily possible to win.

A very simple arithmetic problem;

The Saigon Governor's Office amassed 12,000 heavy troops in Hanoi, and the rest of Indochina combined, the number of French soldiers was less than 8,000.

If the Second Qing-French War really happened, just gnawing at this big warlord entrenched in northern Vietnam, it would be necessary to transfer no less than 4,000 people from the colonies of Indochina and send more than 14,000 expeditionary troops from the French mainland, which would be a huge expense.

At a one-way cost of 400 francs (£20) per soldier, the cost of shipping personnel and armament alone would be more than 6 million francs, which was only the minimum.

If we add the French troops mobilized in the colonies of Indochina, this figure will break through the 10 million franc mark in a straight line, and the military expenditure for the war in the early stage of war preparation will not be less than 18 million francs.

Every month that the war dragged on was millions of francs.

That's it

Montapero shrugged helplessly and said; "Foreign Minister Mr. Arnoldto is quite concerned about the situation in Indochina Peninsula, and the letter raised the issue of Beiqi, and it seems that we must reflect the real situation to the country, and it is up to them to make a decision."

"I think it's a very wise decision, Your Excellency the Governor."

"Yes, dear general, we can't do anything now, we have to wait for the situation to develop further, it's a really depressing reality."

"What about the Russians?"

"They are also waiting for the news to be clear, compared to our transcendent position, Tsarist Russia is almost bound to win the three northeastern provinces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and at this point, the Fuso State will inevitably suffer strong resistance from the Tsarist Empire, and we, as allies, no matter how reluctant we are, can only stand on the side of Tsarist Russia."

"I understand very well, Mr. Governor-General, that the core interests of France are in Europe, and the Franco-Russian alliance is the core policy of the government, and we have paid too much for this, and the Far East policy can only be subordinated to the core interests of the government in Europe, and the Franco-Russian alliance relationship must not be damaged because of this."

"That's a very good point, Mr. General, and that's exactly what we're talking about." Saigon Governor Montaperio waved his hand gloomily and changed the subject; "Let's talk about some happy things, recently the port has arrived a batch of authentic French luxury, there are very good vintage French red wines, champagne and dry cheese, as well as Spanish ham and Arabian thoroughbreds, I heard that they are all imported goods organized by Normandy foreign companies, is Mr. General interested?"

"Of course, I'm very interested."

"Then wait a while, the general and I will go with me to meet the Chinese Taipan of the Normandy Foreign Bank, I believe there will definitely be something to gain."

"No problem, Your Excellency the Governor, I will be happy to accompany you."

At the height of the First Sino-Japanese War, the major powers of Europe and the United States frequently held formal and informal diplomatic meetings in East Asia, privately communicating their respective positions and declaring the bottom line of their respective interests, staging a silent diplomatic game.

The Ocean Kingdom is naturally in the middle of it, adhering to a neutral attitude, and following up as a participant without showing the mountains.

Horn of Africa

Humen City, Somali Region

Thanks to its advantageous port location on the edge of the Red Sea, Humen has developed very rapidly, and in just a few years, it has become a new trading city with a population of more than 130,000.

But Humen's economy is far more developed than that of the average agricultural and pastoral city, with castle-like buildings and high-rise buildings, and wealthy Chinese-born city dwellers dressed in sophisticated clothes walking the streets and alleys, often followed by a few masked Arab wives and concubines, who seem to have no shortage of money in their pockets.

Heavily armed city guard soldiers, in teams of 12 people, patrol the streets and alleys of the city back and forth to maintain law and order, which greatly deters unscrupulous adventurers.

Anyone in the know knows;

Humen City is the lair of Baron Li Yong, known as the "African Lion King", the king of smuggling in the whole of North Africa and Arabia, who was canonized by the king as a lifetime nobleman for his outstanding contribution to the construction of Humen City.

During the Civil War on Australian soil

An army of tens of thousands of people traveled thousands of miles to the Red Sea Trench Fortress to make the coastal defense fortress on Great Hanish Island impregnable, and mobilized black indigenous laborers to build a large-scale fortress on Little Hanish Island, which has begun to take shape in more than four years.

Since last year

This army of tens of thousands of people began to be demobilized and demobilized, and more than 3,000 soldiers were discharged in a year, all of whom were arranged in Humen City and suburban towns to enrich the landlords' armed forces in the area.

At the end of October this year, more than 3,000 soldiers were retired, and in addition to some of them arranged in the surrounding areas of Humen City, other soldiers were arranged to Xi'an City, Ed City and other places, adding thousands of small and medium-sized plantation owners to the area.

The core of Somali Prefecture is on the line of Xi'an, Ede and Humen, and the 603-kilometer-long railway line has long been connected, extending from the Djibouti region to the west to the Eritrea region, ending in Humen City.

A railway branch line of more than 20 kilometers extending from Humen City has been built all the way to Humen Pass, which closely links this majestic pass between the mountains and the rear city, and greatly enhances the defensive resilience of the pass.

Really speaking of which

The fundamental reason for Humen's prosperity is the large-scale smuggling trade and transit trade in the Red Sea port, which has added tremendous impetus to the development of this new city.

Now, a new opportunity has arrived.

On 12 February 1893, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia informed the Italian Government that, as of 2 May 1894, he would cease to perform all the rights and obligations of the Treaty of Usali.

When the news came back, the Italians exploded.

From Rome to Sicily, there was a lot of shouting and killing, and as a country with a history of using black slaves for thousands of years, the Kingdom of Italy had absolute confidence in the black indigenous people of Africa.

The Italian royal government was filled with righteous indignation, and immediately sent 15,000 troops to the African region, and handed it over to General Balatieri to command an armed invasion of Ethiopia, preparing to completely destroy the Kingdom of Ethiopia in one fell swoop, so that they could taste the power of the Italians.

The war broke out, but the results were shocking.

On July 17, 1894, the first Italian legions arrived in Kassala and fought their first battle there, defeating the army of thousands gathered by the local African indigenous chieftains, resulting in their first victory.

The army of the Kingdom of Ethiopia totals about hundreds of thousands of people, more than 70% of which are equipped with breech-loading rifles, including 10,000 cavalry, and their combat effectiveness is not weak under the training of mercenary instructors from the British and the Kingdom of the Great Ocean.

The indigenous lords of Ethiopia were also army commanders, and they generally fought fiercely to defend their territory, and as an ancient kingdom in North Africa, Ethiopia had frequent contact with Western missionaries, caravans, and mercenary groups in modern times, and was not an African indigenous kingdom that knew nothing about the West.

Menelik II's descendant army is the core of the kingdom, this army hired Chinese instructors from Xi'an City and Humen City for training with high salaries, and the musket equipment rate reached 100%, and even had more than 30 field artillery smuggled from Humen, and its combat effectiveness was relatively strong among Uncle Black.

In January 1895, the Italian army defeated the indigenous chieftains eight times in a row, winning eight consecutive victories.

In March, the Italian army began a full-scale offensive and successfully captured Adigrad.

In the face of the harsh war situation, the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II could not sit still, and at the great price of ceding part of Eritrea's territory, the invited mercenary king Baron Li Yong led his troops to the war.

For mercenaries, there is no position, only interests.

Therefore, Baron Li Yong gladly accepted the invitation, and as soon as he ascended to the heights, he organized a mercenary army of 1,800 people to enter the battlefield.

At this time, the Kingdom of Ethiopia had mobilized 150,000 troops and smuggled a large number of rifles and other arms and equipment from Xi'an City, gritting its teeth and preparing to win this war no matter how difficult it was.

After the entry of the Humen mercenaries, the situation on the battlefield quickly began to reverse.

On April 7, 1895, Li Yong led his troops to cooperate with the Duke of Marconeno of Ethiopia to carry out a frontal feint in the battle of Amba-Araji, focusing on flank detour tactics, breaking through the Italian artillery defense line in one fell swoop, and 3,000 Ethiopian knights and 1,800 mercenaries launched a charge, completely defeating the 3,500-strong Italian army and winning the first major victory.

When the news broke, the Italian legionaries were shaken, and General Baratieri realized that he had encountered a strong enemy and quickly asked for reinforcements from home.

In mid-April, 6,000 Italian troops arrived in Kasara, bringing the total number of Italian expeditionary force soldiers back to 18,000, each soldier armed to the teeth, and 68 ironclad tractors entered service with the expeditionary force, forming an ironclad chariot brigade.

You saw it right, it is the "Iron Bull" heavy four-wheeled tractor imported from Australia, and the Italians themselves modified the ironclad chariot.

In this day and age

The army and navy of the Kingdom of Italy are quite advanced in equipment, active in military thinking, extremely capable of accepting new ideas, and even extremely innovative in thinking.

For example, the "Durio", the pillar of the Italian Navy, not only has four twin 450 mm 20 times caliber Armstrong guns and three 360 mm torpedo tubes, but also has a wide deck that can transport 10,000 soldiers across the Mediterranean.