Chapter 474: Chapter 47, The British Plan
 

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The flames of war in South Africa raised great concerns for the London Government. They once believed that Austria and the French had made a secret deal to strike at the German Federation Empire.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur. Austria did not take any action, otherwise, they would have faced a new threat.

Although Austria in the Mediterranean is formidable, it does not pose a threat to Britannia. Once Germany Region unifies, the situation in the Atlantic Ocean would change, narrowing the distance between the two powers.

Of course, this threat is relative. Franz was also concerned about the threat from the British, given that the Royal Navy is the strongest of its time.

Since nothing happened, it made Prime Minister Benjamin even more perplexed. He could not see what the Austrians wanted to do.

Indifferent to the threat posed by France? Impossible! The Habsburg dynasty had been entangled with the French on the European Continent for centuries, so how could they not be aware of their adversary’s terror?

The annexation of Italy by France is not just about expanding territory, but also about establishing France’s dominance in the Mediterranean and as the continental hegemon.

On this issue, would Austria have any reason to compromise? Even if they were worried about directly confronting France and consequently being exploited by Fisherman’s profits, after the London Government agreed to the alliance, the Vienna Government should have taken action.

Concerned, Prime Minister Benjamin asked, “Have we gotten to the bottom of the France and Austria deal?”

The less comprehensible it was, the more problematic it seemed. To uncover the secret dealings between France and Austria, the London Government exerted its utmost efforts and even activated its highest level of undercover agents.

As a result, many spies hidden in both France and Austria had been exposed, and the information sent back was still fragmented and required analysis and inference.

Foreign Minister McLean pondered for a moment and said, “Our intelligence is insufficient; we can only make a preliminary judgment.

It’s roughly as follows: Austria has tacitly allowed France to annex the Italian Area in exchange for French recognition of their unification of the Germany Region.

Possibly, there might be other reciprocal interests, such as the two countries agreeing to divide the Mediterranean, pushing us out, and secret negotiations over dividing the African Continent, and so on.

In recent years, relations between France and Austria have been very close. In their overseas colonial expansion, they seem to have an understanding, mostly staying out of each other’s way and rarely coming into direct conflict.

The sudden move by the French caught the Vienna Government off guard. Austria had not had enough time to prepare; to unify the Germany Region, they could not circumvent the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Vienna Government initially intended to use the Prusso-Russian war to weaken Prussia. They did not anticipate that the Russians would be so disappointing and actually lose the war.

Were it not for this turn of events, the nationalists would have pressured the defeated Kingdom of Prussia to join the Shinra Empire, and Austria would have unified the Germany Region by now.

An unexpected incident caused the Vienna Government’s plans to fail entirely. Now, they might still be struggling with whether or not to unify the Germany Region by force.

Speculations are often the most terrifying. True and false information, chaotically mixed, succeeded in misleading the British. McLean chose the most logical conclusion.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as if they accepted this explanation. The most frightening thing is always the unknown. Once the ins and outs of a matter are understood, there are ways to solve it.

Finance Minister Motoli analyzed, “In recent years, the Vienna Government has invested a large amount of fiscal revenue into economic development and has not prepared for military purposes.

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The Kingdom of Prussia is no weak power, and with the lessons learned from the Russians, the Vienna Government would not rashly take action against them without adequate preparation.

However, we still need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Austria has too great an advantage over Prussia, and once the Vienna Government resolves to take action, the war readiness time will not be too long.

War is no child’s play, especially modern warfare, which heavily relies on logistics. When two countries go to war, a series of material preparations is necessary. This requires significant financial and human resources, and secrecy is simply not possible.

Judging whether a country is preparing for war based on the flow of materials is still quite reliable.

“We do need to be on the alert,” said Franz. “One Great France is already enough to deal with; we absolutely cannot allow another unified Shinra Empire to emerge.

After many years of development, the gap in strength between Prussia and Austria has not narrowed but has further widened.

Despite the Prussians winning the Prusso-Russian war, these spoils of war still need time to digest, and cannot be fully converted into strength in the short term.

Austria’s standing army has now reached 580,000, and if war breaks out, they could mobilize an additional two to three million troops in the shortest time possible.

More than a decade ago, Austria set a record by mobilizing over one million eight hundred thousand troops in a month. In terms of mobilization mechanisms, the Austrians have already reached the forefront of the world.

Perhaps even the Austro-African forces could mobilize one million troops. And these troops are not weak in combat, as now a bunch of aristocratic private armies can hold their own against us in South Africa.

Although Prussia’s standing army numbers 360,000, it is limited by financial and human resources and the impact of the Prusso-Russian war. Preliminary estimates put their current maximum mobilization at around 700,000.

The Berlin Government is now increasing reserve training, and according to the Prussian Staff’s plan, they will train one million reservists within ten years. In the future, their mobilization capability is hoped to surpass 1.5 million.

Since the Near Eastern War, the mode of warfare in the European Continent has changed. Future wars will definitely involve large troop formations, and our army size is falling behind the times.

The one speaking was Army Minister Brent, who, seeing the massive development of European armies while his own lobster soldiers were stuck in place, felt urgency in his heart.

The era of large troop formation warfare has already arrived, a fact anticipated by many. The recently concluded Prusso-Russian war saw the Russian Empire single-handedly taking on many enemies, with a total strength at one time surpassing two million.

This number was unimaginable in the past. If not for transportation limitations and the corruption of the Tsarist Government, the Russians could have won the war with their numerical advantage.

Having personally experienced this once, everyone had to admit that modern warfare allows for the use of far more troops than in the past. In the absence of clear quality advantage, the human wave tactic becomes the simplest and most effective strategy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s discuss the army issue later; for now, let’s focus on how to respond to this challenge.”

How can the army think of expanding? Even the landlord’s family has no surplus grain. Due to maintaining the Royal Navy, the London Government has nearly exhausted its financial resources. Another creature consuming gold like this would be unbearable for anyone.

The daily military expenses of France and Austria each year are no less than theirs, and some years they even exceed them. Naturally, the Royal Navy still ensures absolute superiority and thus gets the lion’s share of the defense budget.

Typically, the Royal Navy taking away seventy to eighty percent of the military budget is standard practice, and there have been occasions when it has taken ninety percent.

In France and Austria, if the navy could get half of the military budget, it would be considered generous; most of the time, the army takes the majority.

Take Austria as an example, in the annual military budget, the army usually takes away 55% to 60%, and the remainder is the navy’s budget.

The situation in France is much the same. Unless there is a naval arms race, the naval budget of France and Austria is unlikely to exceed that of the army.

Against this backdrop, the Royal Navy’s position as the master of the seas was solidified. If the army wanted to expand, it would either have to increase military spending or squeeze the navy’s share.

Both are impossible, significantly increasing military expenditure would be more than the London Government’s finances could bear, and reducing naval expenditures would be tantamount to slow self-destruction.

Once the Royal Navy’s advantage was gone, Britannia’s good days would also be over. Any sign of decline would prompt the European nations to pounce and carve up their colonial empire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was aware that the army’s problems could not be resolved, and without waiting for Brandt to continue, he quickly moved the conversation on.

Knowing the gravity of the situation, Foreign Minister McLean took over the topic smoothly, “Austria is already very strong, and we absolutely cannot allow them to unify the German Region.

The Kingdom of Prussia is under too much military pressure and needs to face the military forces from Russia and Austria. I suggest we continue to strengthen the Kingdom of Prussia, and when necessary, we could let them annex the Kingdom of Poland.

However, the timing should not be too early, as the Russian Empire has not yet recovered. If we let them absorb Poland prematurely, they might join forces with Austria to slay the Russian Empire first.

We need a balanced European Continent. The frequent emergence of major powers is not a good phenomenon, and if we don’t change this state, the European Continent will be unified again sooner or later.

Therefore, Greater France must also be dismantled. Otherwise, when the annexation of weaker countries by stronger ones becomes habitual, that’ll pose a major problem.”

The outcome of a “unified European Continent” was too terrifying. A unified Europe would truly be the death of Britannia.

John Bull has always been acutely aware of crises. As soon as there was a trend towards unification among the European powers, they would immediately face suppression.

In later years, this developed to the point where whoever was powerful would be repressed. A decade ago, the Russian Empire domineered the European Continent, and then John Bull worked hard to suppress the Russians.

Now that the Russians have declined, France and Austria have emerged. Fighting them single-handedly is not their style, and after some initial trials, they decisively adopted the strategy of targeting whoever emerged first.

The London Government had initially set its sights on Austria and was formulating plans to execute them when the French made their move.

It was not just an emergence, but after annexing the Italian Area, they even pushed their influence out of the Mediterranean.

This was intolerable. The London Government had no choice but to change its target. However, plans could not keep up with the sudden change, and Austria lacked cooperation. Without a proxy, John Bull watched helplessly as the French remained untouchable.

Prime Minister Benjamin spoke with gravity, “The Italian revolutionary leaders Garibaldi and Mazzini have already arrived in London, hoping to gain our support for the restoration of their country.

They have met with Victorio Emanuele II from the Former Sardinian Royal House, and the two sides have reached an agreement to unite against French rule.

In addition, some nobles from the Italian Area have contacted us, hoping we can convene an international conference to stop the French aggression.

However, these forces are too scattered, and even with our support, it would be difficult to shake the French rule in the Italian Area in the short term. We need more allies’ support.”

Having said that, he turned his gaze to Foreign Minister McLean, expecting him to provide a satisfactory answer.

McLean did not disappoint, and provided an answer, “This time, all the European nations stand opposite the French, yet due to awe of French power, none wish to offend the French overly.

Even the Austrians do not wish to see the French smoothly annex Italy. Though they might not interfere overtly, the Vienna Government would certainly not mind causing them trouble covertly.

The Foreign Office has already made contact with various countries, and all are willing to support the Italian independence movement, breaking the French ambition to monopolize the European Continent.

Austria is the exception; they fear the Italian independence movement might spread to Lombardy and Veneto and refuse to support the Italian Revolutionary Party.

That old fox Felix suggests we should contact the French Revolutionary Party and incite the French people to rise against colonial invasion.

Right, he also proposed supporting an anti-French King of Spain to further trouble the French.

In theory, all of this is feasible; the only issue is to gauge this carefully—lest when France falls, Austria takes over.”

Everyone is engaged in overt strategies, together to disturb the French. However, this time Austria refuses to take the lead, pushing everything onto the British.

Knowledge is one thing, action another. If Austria is a potential threat, the Greater French Empire is an immediate one.

Without swift action, Britain will have no foothold in the Mediterranean. Future British trade to the Indian Ocean will still be subject to French control.

Prime Minister Benjamin scoffed and said, “Let the Austrians gloat for a few days; there will be time for their tears later. Regardless of their schemes, proceed as originally planned and suppress the French first.

After dismantling Great France, we will settle accounts with them slowly. The Foreign Office is to use anti-French sentiment as a cover for secret contacts with various nations in preparation for establishing an Anti-Austrian alliance.”

The Anti-Russian alliance, Anti-French Alliance, Anti-Austrian alliance, these are carefully prepared by the British for their three competitors, Russia, France, and Austria.

The Anti-Russian alliance has already succeeded, and in a recent war, it defeated the Russians in one fell swoop, burying the Russian Empire’s hegemony in Europe.

The Anti-French Alliance isn’t new, but Napoleon III, changing the Napoleonic Era’s policy of opposition to all, by reconciling with various European nations, has delayed its establishment.

Now the situation has changed, with the formation of the Greater French Empire laying the groundwork for the re-establishment of the Anti-French Alliance.

If not for the critical missing link of Austria, by now the Anti-French Alliance may have already openly unfurled its banner. Faced with this alliance, it would be hard for Napoleon III not to compromise.

The Anti-Austrian alliance, long lying dormant, has in fact been long in preparation by the British. A glance at a map reveals neighboring Poland, Prussia, Switzerland—all with Anti-Austrian leanings.

Should the situation shift, leading the Russian Empire to oppose Austria, it’s not impossible; if the independence of Italy succeeds, this newborn nation would naturally become part of the Anti-Austrian camp.

It can be said that should the Vienna Government make one false move, they would step right into the trap set by the British, falling into a state of isolation.