I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1137 Fox's Helplessness
1797 4 Month 2 Day.

After brief negotiations, the Earl of Florida Blanca and the Archbishop of Briand signed supplementary clauses to the Treaty of Fez.

France acquired ownership of the port of Ceuta and granted Spanish ships the right to enter the port for resupply.

France and Spain will form a joint fleet (each contributing at least 5 battleships of the third tier or higher and 10 warships of the fifth tier or higher. France will also provide 25 steam warships, while Spain will provide fleet supplies) to cut off British naval supplies to Gibraltar from the sea.

Well, they say they want to cut it off, but in reality, it's basically impossible.

In such a narrow area as the Strait of Gibraltar, the French steam warships could not take advantage of their maneuverability, while the British Navy could rely on its numerical superiority in battleships to wage positional warfare.

At most, they'll try to harass the transport ships when the opportunity arises.

However, Joseph knew that historically, the French and Spanish navies had not cooperated very well in the Battle of Trafalgar. Therefore, he also wanted to use the Battle of Gibraltar to allow the combined fleet to undergo a long period of training and coordination, laying a good foundation for the decisive battle in the Atlantic in the future.

In addition, France and Spain jointly dispatched 14,000 troops to besiege Gibraltar by land—the place was too narrow, and such a large force was basically not enough to deploy—6,000 French troops and 8,000 Spanish troops.

The Mediterranean Sea will once again be engulfed in flames.

……

While Sirte was busy cleaning up the mess in Morocco for the Spanish, in the hall of the Gatchina Palace in St. Petersburg, British Foreign Secretary Fox was experiencing the biggest setback of his diplomatic career.

"Do you really understand what I mean?" Fox stared at Count Ostermann with a look of surprise and doubt. "I guarantee I can persuade Austria and Prussia to send troops together, with each sending at least 5 men. The accident we had last time will not happen again."

"And your country will receive all the land east of Warsaw after the war, and I assure you that Prussia and Austria will accept this condition."

The Russian Foreign Minister sighed somewhat helplessly: "You must have misunderstood. His Majesty the Emperor's meaning is very clear: our country will pursue a friendly policy towards Poland..."

Fox was clearly agitated, and his voice rose a few decibels: "There's no one else here, so don't joke around!"
"You and Poland, what word did you use again? 'Friendly'? The whole world knows that's absolutely impossible."

“Okay, if you accept my suggestion, our country can provide you with another £30 in low-interest loans.”

Count Ostermann just kept shaking his head: "I didn't misspoke, it's 'friendly,' or in English, 'friendly.' In fact, we have already presented our credentials to Warsaw."

"They refused, twice!" Fox practically roared.

“Please calm down.” Count Osterman stood up. “It’s almost time for dinner. We can continue our discussion tomorrow.”

He gestured toward the door, but in his heart he was cursing Paul I for the thousandth time.

The British are right. How could Russia possibly be friendly with Poland?
Poland is a land route to Central Europe, and it has a vast East European Plain and a population of millions of Orthodox Christians. Russia must get its hands on it!
In fact, due to the expulsion of the special envoy to Poland twice, voices in St. Petersburg have already emerged calling for a war response to this humiliation.

However, the Tsar's attitude was extremely firm, and he invited Württemberg to act as an intermediary to convey goodwill to Poland, hoping to reduce the number of troops stationed on the border between the two countries by 70%.

On the other hand, the Tsar continued to deploy troops and supplies to the Khiva region, preparing to implement his Indian strategy.

On the land leading to the banquet hall, Fox was still making his efforts: "As you know, the recent Greek uprising has achieved remarkable results, with the Klept militia killing thousands of Ottoman garrison soldiers."

“I can reveal some information to you: Austria is willing to accept your country's entry into Serbia. If the Ottomans intervene militarily, our country will firmly stand on Russia's side!” Count Ostermann paused, turning his head to ask, “Then, what are the terms of the exchange?”

He knew, of course, that the British wouldn't come to him for no reason.

It should be noted that Serbia is located at the northwestern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, from where one can travel to Germany and Italy, effectively giving Russia a land route to Western Europe.

Once Greece becomes independent, the Ottoman Empire will lose its crucial support in the Balkans and thus be unable to intervene in the situation in Serbia. Russia could even get its hands on Bosnia further west—if it can "convince" Austria, which is also interested in the region.

Currently, Serbia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria are all Ottoman territories.

Such great benefits must come at a price.

Fox quickly replied, "This is all for the sake of the traditional friendship between Britain and Russia. However, as you know, France has always opposed your country's expansion into the Balkans."

"So we probably need to demonstrate some strength in order for France to accept this result."

He lowered his voice further: "Our country will also recognize His Majesty the Tsar's rule over the island of Malta. This also requires strengthening our influence in the Mediterranean, where the French currently intend to control."

Count Osterman couldn't help but smile and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll try again to see if I can persuade His Majesty."

If we were to ask what could most impress His Majesty the Tsar right now, Malta would undoubtedly be the top choice.

A month ago, the Vatican suddenly announced that it was absolutely unacceptable for the Knights of Malta to have an Orthodox Christian as their patron, and that the patronage was invalid.

It is said that if the French chief minister had not intervened, the Pope would have almost excommunicated the high-ranking members of the Knights Order.

Well, of course he didn't know that Pope Pius VI was announcing how to handle the matter of the Sovereign Order of Malta based on a script given to him by Archbishop Talleyrand of France.

What he didn't know was that Britain had also promised to hand over Malta to Paul I in the past, but after the British Navy took control of the island, it never withdrew.

The next day.

In the Tsar's study, Paul I waved his hand impatiently at his foreign minister and said, "The British? They are not to be trusted at all."

"If Serbia is needed, I will send my own army to conquer it!"
"As for Poland, you've forgotten how Austria and Prussia watched us fight the Poles a few years ago while they kept picking up the scraps on the Western Front."

"Let me repeat myself, our current strategic focus is on the Far East."

Well, of course it wasn't because his mother, Ye Er, decided to invade Poland that he had to choose a different path.

Earl Osterman sighed inwardly and had no choice but to play his trump card: "Your Majesty, the British have promised to help you obtain Malta."

Paul I scoffed: "How could these traitors to Christianity possibly influence the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church?"
"They don't need to worry about that. The French Crown Prince has already written to me saying that he also dislikes the Papacy."

(End of this chapter)