The distribution of the Royal Navy and the number of capital ships

The North Sea Fleet consisted of 35 battleships, of which 10 were 1st class, 10 were 2nd class, and 15 were 3rd class.

The Mediterranean Fleet consisted of 31 battleships, of which 1 was a 1st class, 4 2nd class, 26 3rd class.

The West African Fleet had 17 battleships, of which 1 was a 2nd class battleship and 16 was 3rd class.

The Indian Ocean Fleet has 25 battleships, of which 1 is a 1st class, 2 is 2nd, 22 is a 3rd class.

The South American Fleet consisted of 8 battleships, all of which were of the third rank.

5 battleships in the West Indies, including one battleship of the second rank and 4 battleships of the third rank.

The Atlantic Fleet had 10 battleships, including 1 battleship of the second rank and 9 battleships of the third rank.

6 battleships of the Pacific Fleet, all of which were battleships of the third rank.

The Cape of Good Hope fleet consisted of 5 battleships, of which 1 battleship of the second class and 4 battleships of the third class.

When the full picture of the British Royal Navy came to light, both the Great Eastern Fleet (25 ships), which the French were proud of, and the Black Sea Fleet (40 ships) of the Russians, were all eclipsed.

Austrian Adriatic Fleet (21 battleships, counting captured Egyptians).

The British Royal Navy will be stationed in Crete, which is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Austria, France, and Russia, which are watching for hegemony in the Mediterranean.

The treaties between the British and the Ottomans were also clearly written, and their naval power was unrefutable at all. By this time, the Helmut fiasco had long since been forgotten as an inconsequential vignette, replaced by a reverence for British maritime supremacy.

All that Britain had lost before was regained today. Of course, this did not satisfy the Anglo-Saxons, and the British Royal Navy was going to hand over all ten captured Egyptian warships to the Ottoman Empire.

Thus, the spearhead was once again pointed at the Austrian Empire.

"Your Excellency, I feel that your country should return the captured warships and prisoners of war. What do you think? ”

As soon as these words came out, the temperature in the venue plummeted.

Everyone felt that Austria was in trouble, Britain had both a strength advantage and a moral advantage, and if the fleet was surrendered, then the Ottoman Empire would have 29 battleships, which could fully compete with the French Great Eastern Fleet, as well as the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Then everything is back to square one, which is not a substantial loss for the other powers, perhaps it will be enough to sacrifice the interests of Austria, which is clearly isolated.

Insisting on going its own way would inevitably provoke the resentment of the Great Powers, but it was unlikely that the Austrian navy would ever emerge if it were to be abandoned.

Metternich was now beginning to regret putting the treasure on the British, who he had always thought would gain their trust as long as he listened to them in everything.

Historically, Metternich was desperate to follow in the footsteps of Britain during the Turkish-Egyptian War, and in the end, both men and money were lost, and Vienna was transformed from a conference capital into a club capital.

For a gambler, making wrong bets is a common thing, and the key to becoming a master is to be able to stop losses in time.

It is clear that Metternich was one such master, and when Napoleon's empire was in full swing, he chose to let Franz II marry his daughter and sue for peace.

After Napoleon's defeat of Russia, Metternich immediately beat the water dogs, and after the war, he successfully established the Vienna system, which maintained the dignity of the Austrian Empire for nearly three decades.

"I think there is a problem with your wording, those are the trophies of our country, it was the Austrian Empire that saved those craftsmen, not captured, and if any of them were willing to return to Egypt, we would not force them to stay."

There is no doubt that Metternich did not intend to hand over the fleet, because after repeated betrayals by the British, he finally decided to completely change his original assumptions and instead use stop-loss as a new strategy in the continuation of the Austrian talks, "Perhaps the Archduke Franz is right." He thought to himself.

"The British can't be allies, at best they can be business partners, and if they don't behave, the best thing to do is to fight back." That's what Franz said about Britain.

"Your Excellency, I think you should think for peace in the Near East. Those fleets did not belong to Austria in the first place, they were the property of the Ottoman Empire. If the Ottoman Empire can regain the warships captured by our country and yours, then the balance of power in the Mediterranean will be restored. ”

In the face of Metternich's hard-line attitude, Canning relented first, because what the British Parliament demanded was to rebalance the power of the Mediterranean, not to provoke another war.

Although the language was still tough, from the subtle changes in tone and body movements, Metternich had noticed that the other party was not completely sure, so he replied more firmly.

"It would be better to transfer General Helmut's fleet and General Simond's fleet to the Ottoman Empire, and at the same time limit the number of warships of various countries, so that the sea power in the Mediterranean region can really reach a balance."

Canning was dumbfounded.

If the British did hand over the two fleets to the Ottoman Empire, there would be no doubt that Russia would lose its hegemony in the Black Sea. Limiting the number of warships was undoubtedly a fatal blow to France, which was thriving on the colonial road at this time.

The Ottomans would be happy, at least they would have been able to keep their empire alive for a few more decades.

Although Metternich did not say it explicitly, it aroused the deepest fears in the hearts of Russia and France.

Neserlov and Kizot were both pro-British, but they also knew what would happen if British power was allowed to continue to expand in the Near East.

The Ottomans were the younger brothers of Britain at this time, and the stronger the former, the more difficult it was for the great powers to benefit from it. The British, however, were an exception, as they had the strongest industry and the closest relations with the Ottomans.

The Austrians' possession of the "Egyptian legacy" would not undermine the stability of the region, but if the Ottomans had obtained the "Egyptian legacy" and the support of the British, it would have been easy to upset the balance in the Near East and even the Mediterranean.

The great powers began to discuss how to deal with it, and Cunning quickly changed his strategy, avoiding Metternich's edge and throwing a sweet date.

"If the Austrian Empire is willing to surrender its fleet, the Ottoman Empire is willing to exchange it for the province of Tripoli."

Of course, if Palmerston were to be replaced, he would definitely use his advantage to threaten Austria with war, and Metternich might not be able to easily deal with it at that time.

But Canning doesn't have Palmerston's courage, and he's also a bottom-line person, unlike the latter, who can do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.

As mentioned earlier, Tripoli was also considered a rotten land at this time after the slave trade was banned, and its proximity to Egypt was practically out of the control of the Ottoman Sultan.

The sent sultan became the emperor of the soil, and only paid a symbolic tax every year, which has become a big trend.

Franz knew the value of Tripoli, but people at the time didn't know that it included Prince Metternich.

"A desert in exchange for a fleet? Unless the yellow sand there turns to gold. "Metternich has a tough attitude.

"But your country agreed to the exchange of prisoners of war.." Canning said.

"My country has agreed to return the prisoners of war, but it has not said that it will return the weapons, so will your country also return the weapons to the prisoners when they are released?"

Metternich's remarks were unanimously agreed by the ambassadors, not because he was justified, but because it was in their interest for Austria to win.

The title is wrong, so I can't make do with it. It should be "Britain's Mediterranean Hegemony"

(End of chapter)