Wild North America 1846

Chapter 597 Policy Red Line
London
Prime Minister's Residence, 11 Downing Street

"Is the news true?" asked the Prime Minister, Lord William Ewart Gladstone, frowning.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron Harry Bockton, glanced at Colonial Secretary William Cecil and Cabinet Secretary Robert Jr. in the Prime Minister's Office. Seeing that neither of them meant to explain, he nodded in response;

"Yes, Your Excellency, the Orientals are building a fortress at the southern end of the Suez Canal. For this purpose, more than 3.7 civilians have been conscripted in Egypt. It is said that this number is still increasing rapidly."

"So... the scale of the project is quite large?"

"That's right, this is a defense project called the Three Lakes Fortress, which consists of multiple parts. It aims to greatly enhance Datang's military presence in the local area. After it is successfully completed, it will be no less than Sevastopol. The solid fortress group, the hard bones that are really hard to crack."

"And it's a real big trouble." The Prime Minister Lord William Ewart Gladstone blurted out, and he walked to the window with his hands on his hips, just to prevent others from seeing his helpless look.

Looking out the window, he took a deep breath and asked, "How is our garrison in Egypt?"

The answer was Colonial Minister William Cecil, who performed an elegant knightly etiquette in a very gentlemanly manner, and responded in a sincere tone;

"Honorable Prime Minister;

I think all ideas of intervention by force should be ruled out, and throughout 1872 we had a number of military forces including the Royal Scottish Highland Musketeers, the Royal Manchester Grenadiers, in the Suez Canal Zone.

But all cavalry and infantry forces combined did not total more than 1.72 men.

Combined with the Royal Navy, we can maintain the suppression of the French army in Alexandria and Port Said, and we have a certain advantage in the competition.

The premise is that
The decline of the French army in the current Franco-Prussian war in Europe has made the French more cooperative in their pursuit of overseas interests.In exchange for support in Europe on issues such as ending the German Empire's military domination and mass smuggling, this cannot be ignored.

On the other hand, Datang has no similar demands on the UK.

Therefore, it is reflected in international interest disputes, which rely more on strength than exchange of interests.The British Army is obviously not up to the ability to keep the other side humble.

Objectively speaking
The Datang Army is not inferior to us in terms of equipment and training, and has no absolute advantage in strength and weapons. From a prudent point of view, it is not recommended to initiate disputes.

In that case, the probability of disappointment is high.

At this stage, I think the main focus of the cabinet should be on the French across the English Channel.

The French have come up with 50 billion francs in war reparations, and the Germans have been dragging their feet on ending the occupation. We must tell them clearly; it is time to leave.

The speed of the rise of the German Empire is beyond expectations. This may be the second Great Tang we have cultivated, and being in the center of Europe, it is bound to be more harmful and require more energy.

Until the issue of the occupied territories of France is resolved, there may not be enough power to distract him. "

There is no need to hide it from the Prime Minister. The content that is classified as top secret to ordinary grassroots is just a common topic of daily discussion in Downing Street.

The Minister of the British Colonial Office ranks very high in the cabinet, ranking third after the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Prime Minister John frowned unnoticed, with a dissatisfied expression on his face, and asked with a frown: "Is it just letting it go like this, without taking necessary measures?"

"Two policy consultation letters have been issued, but don't expect the Tang cabinet to respond soon. These Orientals are quite good at prevarication..." Foreign Minister Baron Harry Bockton sighed softly Feeling helpless for the difficult Datang official, he spread his hands and said;

"We want Datang to explain Egypt's policy, and hope that they will stop large-scale construction, stop building fortresses, strengthen cooperation with the British side in the canal zone, and not act unilaterally...

I have said everything, but I still go my own way.

The cold-blooded prince of Egypt has a lot of power, and even the Tang cabinet can hardly stop it. The only one who really works is the Tang emperor Richard, but this is a more difficult dictatorial figure.

There are not many measures we can take. Datang holds 22% of the shares of the Suez Canal, so it is difficult to completely exclude them. "

"Damn it! Any action against Datang will encounter great resistance in the parliament. There is a large group of people who speak for them, all with vested interests." Prime Minister William walked away from the window and sat down at his desk, holding his hand He knocked heavily on the table and said;

"On the issue of the Suez Canal, it is extremely important to the authority of Her Majesty the Queen to obtain the remaining shares of France, and the Suez Canal should belong to England.

On this point, I have reached a consensus with Lord Dale and most of the cabinet.

But a majority of the opposition in parliament believes the current government has exaggerated the importance of the stake deal

With the strength of Britain, military control of the canal and Egypt is feasible.The way to do this is either through Egyptian neutrality, or military occupation, which gives more complete control over the Canal Zone.

Equity purchases are pure superfluous, trousers and fart stupidity.

These MPs underestimated the complexity of the problem. If Britain resorted to military action in Egypt, France and Datang would come together and unite against us.

Through the closure of the canal incident, I can feel Datang's strong will to maintain a long-term military presence.

Building fortresses is only the latest effort to strengthen existence, and if there is no confrontation, then there is only cooperation. "

"That may be the only sensible course of action, seconded." The Foreign Secretary, Baron Harry Bockton, immediately agreed.

Colonial Secretary William Cecil shrugged his shoulders and said in a tone of "I knew it would be so"; "Frankly, when the Orientals launched their expeditions, I expected such a day to come.

Denying them access to the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar had deeply irritated the dictator.

The willfulness of the French without consideration just gave Datang the best excuse to intervene in the Middle East.

What we can do now is to draw a red line for Datang. Suez City is the edge of the red line. Any attempt to cross the red line will be regarded as a flagrant provocation to the British Empire and its European allies.

Britain will not allow Datang to maintain a military presence on the Mediterranean coast, nor will it allow them to get involved in the Mediterranean region, and will use practical actions to prevent them from expanding their influence.

Just like we dealt with Tsarist Russia, we will not hesitate to launch a large-scale war when necessary. "

"Excellent." The prime minister, Lord William Ewart Gladstone, applauded first, then turned his head and ordered; "According to the spirit of this red line, organize a clearly worded negotiation to be sent to the Tang cabinet I will personally sign the letter. From now on, this will be the official position of the United Kingdom to prevent Easterners from reaching out everywhere.”

"Okay, honorable Prime Minister, I'm going to draft the negotiating letter, and please have a look at it when I'm done." Cabinet Secretary Robert Jr. stood up as he spoke, turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him gently. .

Imperial Capital Chang'an
This super metropolis with the second largest population in the world is developing in full swing in a peaceful and open environment. There are more and more cars on the street, mixed with trams and horse-drawn carriages, showing a very modern scene. .

Longshouyuan District, where upper-class nobles gather, seems to be the green lung of the entire metropolis. The vegetation here is lush, and big trees as thick as two people hugging each other can be seen everywhere. The environment is elegant and quiet.

under the shade of green trees

Occasionally, the cornices and brackets of palace-style buildings are exposed, and black cars with family badges or aristocratic carriages wrapped in velvet horses are all entering and leaving the road, showing a strong atmosphere of high society.

Numerous noble mansions surrounded the Daming Palace like stars and the moon, and the wide Danfengmen Avenue separated the nobles from the common people.

In the entire Longshou area, you can often see Royal Guards patrolling in formation, patrolling cavalry in groups of two, as well as vigilant, burly and sturdy noble private guards and some patrolling policemen.

Ordinary people who enter without authorization are often questioned.

And owning a mansion in Longshouyuan District, living next to the high-ranking nobles of the empire is the ultimate dream of almost all wealthy businessmen, but very few of them can realize their dreams.

Daming Palace
The refreshed Emperor Li Cha came out of the bedroom, and the curtain behind him occasionally revealed a few snow-white and graceful figures. It was another beautiful morning.

After breakfast, come to the imperial study.

Li Cha immediately saw the diplomatic letter from the UK signed by the British Prime Minister, emphasizing the British policy position, mainly concerning the Egyptian issue and the policy red line.

Putting down the diplomatic letter, Li Cha gently tapped the case with his slender fingers. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly smiled...

This diplomacy rarely shows the domineering style of the British Empire, saying to Datang in an almost commanding tone, "What can you do? What can't you do..."

This exposed the usual gangster face of the Anglo-Saxons. Although he wore a tuxedo and looked like a gentleman, he inadvertently revealed his true nature, and he was still a robber.

If you really want to be angry about this, you can't get angry.

This aspect reflects the strength and prosperity of the Tang Empire, which has begun to make the British deeply afraid.

This high-level diplomatic letter has already indicated that the British side is working hard to communicate with Datang and coordinate on a series of issues such as the two sides' colonial development, sphere of influence, and direction of colonial expansion, so as to prevent misjudgment.

This is a good beginning……

Gently tapping the imperial case with his fingers, Emperor Li Cha reviewed the layout in Egypt and the Red Sea area in his mind, and after confirming that there were no hidden dangers, he nodded affirmatively.

Today, the direction of the Tang Empire's colonial development is not Egypt and Northeast Africa, but because of accidental events, it was started in advance, and now it can be delayed.

After the completion of the Three Lakes defensive fortress system, in order to alleviate the doubts of the British side, they can take the initiative to strengthen cooperation, enhance military mutual trust, and then introduce British capital to build Yunzhong Province.

The ultimate beneficiaries can only be overseas new colonies, so why not do it?

Time is in our own favor, and there is no need to make the relationship between the two countries quite tense. This is not in the fundamental interest of the Tang Empire's development, and it is better to maintain a tacit understanding.

The so-called policy red line of the British side, let them leave such an illusion.

The empire has no intention of meddling in the surrounding areas of the Mediterranean Sea in the near and mid-term, and can maintain a tacit understanding for a long period of time, and do things that are not costly.

Of course, if the opportunity arises, that's another matter.

In the final analysis
What competes between countries is the overall national power. When the strength reaches a certain level, you can say "no".

(End of this chapter)