After Palmerston said this in a heavy tone, the three ministers present were also stunned for a moment, and they could not believe what they had heard.

After a while, the Duke of Newcastle, who came to his senses, asked Palmerston for confirmation: "Your Excellency, could it be that the Russian Empire has declared war on the Kingdom of Britain?" ”

"No!" Palmerston shook his head and replied to the three ministers present.

Before the three ministers could breathe a sigh of relief, Palmerston continued: "Worse than a declaration of war!" According to information from the Near East, the fleet of the Russian Empire sees our fleet as a helper of the French fleet and attacks our ships! ”

The three ministers present could not believe their ears, the fleet of the Russian Empire launched an attack on the British fleet? Isn't this just lighting a candle in a pit - looking for (death)!

"What about the fleet casualties?" The Duke of Newcastle preemptively asked.

"There were no mass casualties, and it was three Russian steam clippers and a double-deck battleship that attacked the British fleet!" Speaking of this, Palmerston's voice couldn't help but carry a hint of arrogance and contempt peculiar to the Anglo-Saxons: "However, they are facing our British Empire's newest steam double-decker warship!" The Imperial Navy not only withstood the attacks of the Russian Empire, but also sank a Russian steam clipper! ”

"That is, the Russian Empire is already at war with us?" The Duke of Newcastle spoke with a sense of excitement.

As long as there was a war between the Kingdom of Britain and the Russian Empire, the shackles that "shackled" the British Army could be lifted, and the British Army would be able to get more resources tilted.

At this moment, the Duke of Newcastle really loved those Russians to death.

If it weren't for them, the Duke of Newcastle would have been fighting Gladstone for a long time.

The Duke of Newcastle held back the excitement in his heart and couldn't help but sneak a glance at Gladstone.

Now Gladstone was standing in place with a blank gaze, and his mind kept echoing "the Russian Empire was at war with Britain."

"Now, we have to do something!" Although Lord Clarendon's voice was quiet, it was very clear in this quiet "secret room".

"Yes! We have to do something! The Duke of Newcastle chimed in, then observed Palmerston.

After a brief period of distraction, Palmerston readjusted his original state, first at Gladstone, then at Clarendon and Newcastle, and finally, gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Now that we have entered a state of war, then the 80,000 mentioned before can be overthrown, Minister Perham!" ”

"In!" On the surface, he responded solemnly to the Duke of Newcastle in Palmerston, and in his heart he had already judged his own little profit.

"From now on, Britain is recruiting a large number of people who are willing to join the British army! The number of people is around 14w, which means you still need to recruit 10w people! Palmerston gave a strict order to Newcastle, "Remember! I want a team that can fight, not a plate of loose sand! ”

"Your Excellency, can the War Department go to the factory to 'recruit'" the Duke of Newcastle tentatively asked Palmerston if he could force a strong man in the factory.

After all, the discipline and will to obey the workers in these days are far higher than those of the lumpenproletarians caught casually in the streets.

It's just that arresting workers without authorization is easy to cause unnecessary trouble.

"Yes!" Palmerston did not hesitate too much, he also knew the problems faced by the War Department, so he relaxed the conditions appropriately.

How can the workers who are part of the empire "do nothing" in the factory, the battlefield is their final destination.

"I promise that I will be able to train qualified soldiers in the shortest possible time!" With Palmerston's assurances, the Duke of Newcastle was free to let the gendarmes below arrest the workers.

"Minister Gladstone, you're bothered by the issue of army appropriations!" Palmerston said to Gladstone sincerely.

Huge expenditures in a short period of time will inevitably lead to financial turmoil in the Empire, and in this case, it will be a test of a qualified Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"I can only do my best!" Gladers replied to Palmerston with a reluctant look on his face.

After explaining Gladstone and Newcastle's tasks, Palmerston looked at Clarendon again, pointed at Lord Clarendon with his halberd, and said, "Minister Villiers, you should go to Buckingham Palace now and tell Queen Victoria and Princess Albert the news immediately!" ”

"Yes!" Clarendon was ordered to leave, followed by Gladstone and Newcastle.

Palmerston was the only one left in the room, sitting alone on the couch and staring out the window at the sky. After a long time, the Prime Minister's secretary pushed the door in again, "Prime Minister! ”

Palmerston, who came back to his senses, still looked at the secretary with a slightly dull gaze, and then pointed to the secretary and ordered: "You call the Russian ambassador, Baron Brunol, now!" ”

"Yes! Prime minister! The Prime Minister's Secretary straightened up and replied firmly to Palmerston.

About half an hour later, the Russian ambassador, Baron Brunol, appeared in front of Palmerston, looking at Palmerston with a puzzled expression.

In the face of the doubtful Brunol, Palmerston still politely announced to him that the Kingdom of Britain was about to draw up a war against Russia!

"What! Your Excellency Prime Minister, you can't do that! Blonov couldn't help but shout excitedly.

"I'm sorry! If it weren't for the Russian Empire's unauthorized attack on the Kingdom of Britain in a few hours, the relationship between our two countries might not have fallen out at this point! Palmerston sighed in a wistful sigh, as if he was grieving the coming war.

"It's ridiculous!!" Brunoll shook his head and said to Palmerston with a sincere expression: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I don't know where you heard this news, but you must believe that the Russian Empire has always had great respect for the Kingdom of Britain, and we will never do such a heinous thing, someone must have framed it!" ”

"Mr. Ambassador, I don't want to find out who is right and who is wrong!" Palmerston said to Minister Brunoll in a tough manner: "Since the fleet of the Russian Empire has attacked Britain, it will have to bear the corresponding price!" ”

"Your Excellency, do you have to turn the originally harmonious relations between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Britain into a mortal enemy?" Brunoll whispered to defend the friendship between Russia and Britain.

"After the Russian Empire fired at Britain, we have become mortal enemies between us!" Palmerston was uncompromising, and Brunol responded.

Since Palmerston became the main battle faction, he has been destined to go all the way to the dark on this road.

If Palmerston's attitude is not enough to fight, those who originally supported him will immediately abandon him and go to someone who is more active.

Since the people of London could not wait for the truth to be ascertained, Palmerston simply declared war.

As long as the war began, it was difficult for the British cabinet to change.

For himself, and for the sake of Britain as a whole, the Russian Empire had to bear the corresponding consequences.

"In that case, I don't have anything more to say!" Brunol replied to Palmerston with a cold face: "Then we will see you on the battlefield!" ”

"See you on the battlefield!" Palmerston replied in the same way.

On November 2, 1853, after several days of rain and cold winds, the sun finally ushered in London.

In such weather, Lord Clarendon went to parliament to read out the news of Queen Victoria's declaration of war on the Russian Empire.

The letter not only portrayed Britain as a savior from the standpoint of defending the Ottoman Empire, but also criticized the Russian Imperial Fleet for its "undeclared war" against the British fleet.

When Clarendon finished reading it, Prime Minister Palmerston came to the stage to give a war speech, and the whole speech received so much applause that Palmerston had to stop several times and wait for the applause to end.

Immediately after the speech, Palmerston announced a vote on whether war should be declared against the Russian Empire.

In the end, the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Britain agreed overwhelmingly to declare war on the Russian Empire.

Then Palmerston took the opportunity to put forward a proposal on whether military spending should be increased, which called for a 50% increase in the military budget for the British Army, which means that the House of Commons needs to allocate 4.75 million pounds, which adds up to 14.25 million pounds of expenditure.

This proposal was overwhelmingly approved in the House of Lords, but was resisted by some people in the House of Commons, who believed that the increase in the budget was only to make the children of the nobles better off, and would not improve the quality of the army in the slightest, and some extremists even shouted the slogan of getting the nobles out of the army.

However, after Palmerston's nationalist mediation, the House of Commons approved the order.

The next morning, Prime Minister Palmerston informed Queen Victoria of the outcome of the House of Commons vote and accompanied Queen Victoria to St James's Palace.

At St. James's Palace, Queen Victoria, who was dressed in formal attire, summoned the Russian ambassador Brunol, in the presence of the prime minister and foreign secretary, and conveyed Britain's declaration of war to Brunol.

Baron Brunore, after burning Britain's declaration of war documents, left the Kingdom of Britain with members of the embassy.

The Kingdom of Britain, having completed the declaration of war, did not immediately begin to act, but proceeded to the next round of candidates for the commander of the British Expeditionary Force.

After several rounds of fierce fighting, the sixty-five-year-old Lord Raglan was appointed Commander of the Expeditionary Force, and the forty-two-year-old Sir John Burgoyne was appointed Commander of the Engineers.

It can be said that it is a veritable "old people's group".

In the headquarters that Raglan was about to prepare, there were also five senior officers as assistants, most of whom were about the same age as Raglan, the youngest of whom was the Duke of Cambridge who was a cousin of Queen Victoria.

While Britain was in a long wrangling, the French Empire, her rival on the other side of the river, was systematically industrializing production.

Among them, the Minne, the Napoleonic cannon, the rails and the locomotive became the focus of production, and the one by one Mingne gun was quickly packaged and packed after leaving the factory, and then transported by rail to the port of Toulon, where it was taken by transport, and most of them arrived in Constantinople and handed over to Abdul. The army of Mejid I, and a small part of the remaining part was quietly transported to the Syrian province (Ottoman province Syria + Jordan + Palestine + part of Saudi Arabia).

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