Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 556 An Extraordinary Year

Meanwhile, Spain, the country that sparked the European war, now has a new king. Maximilian landed in Barcelona with the support of Austria and Iran.

Other countries tacitly accepted this outcome, and compared to the Republicans, allowing the Habsburgs to return to Spain was far less well-known. Maximilian took the opportunity to meet with a group of Spanish government officials in Barcelona.

Subsequently, the king issued the Barcelona Declaration, promising to respect Parliament and act within the bounds of the law. He also pledged to elevate Spain's status and revitalize its economy.

The Spanish public didn't object much; after all, it couldn't be worse than the Bourbon, could it?

In exchange, Maximilian relinquished the Sicilian throne, which would be passed on to another prince. This was also to prevent another country from becoming too powerful and disrupting the balance of power in Europe.

France finally elected a provisional government, and the defense government led by General Trochet prepared for the upcoming Battle of Paris. Meanwhile, the Southern Republicans' hastily assembled army marched north to provide reinforcements, but was blocked by Prince Karl's forces and stalled in the Orléans area.

Trochet's policy was to buy time, allowing the Southern Legion to gain strength and eventually engage the enemy in a decisive battle. Currently, the main forces defending Paris consist of 180,000 regular troops and 300,000 National Guard troops.

Needless to say, the Self-Defense Forces are just a bunch of militiamen, full of enthusiasm but lacking in professionalism, and they can't even standardize their equipment! When those people fight, it's basically just a bunch of civilians fighting each other!

Are 180,000 regular troops really reliable? Not really. The so-called regular troops currently remaining in Paris are only slightly better than the National Guard.

The true elite of the empire have now all fallen in the north. General Bazin of Metz has gathered over 100,000 defeated soldiers and is desperately defending the isolated city. In Prussian prisoner-of-war camps across the country, there are still 100,000 French veterans captured, most of whom were taken from Sedan, and a small number from other battles.

Of the 180,000 who remained in Paris, no more than 20,000 were veterans who had fought alongside Napoleon III in his campaigns, while the rest were mostly new recruits who had served for only one or two years.

Although they were all equipped with uniforms and wore the same weapons, and their discipline was impeccable, making them resemble an army, they were no match for veterans who had fought for more than ten years, and even less so for the Prussian legions.

Then came the garbage time. Prussia was unstoppable. France signed the surrender treaty, meaning they would have to accept the cession of territory and the payment of reparations. As for the final amount, that depended on their negotiating skills.

Not only in Europe, but also in Asia, a change has taken place. The Japanese Emperor has officially drawn his sword against the Shogunate. In January of this year, the Kogosho Conference demanded that Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu return his official position and territory to the Imperial Court.

This incident provoked the shogunate and further intensified the antagonism between the two sides. Army troops from the Aizu and Kuwana domains marched from Osaka towards Kyoto under the pretext of paying homage to the Emperor. Simultaneously, government forces, primarily composed of troops from the Satsuma and Choshu domains, also amassed a large force. On January 27th, armed conflict erupted between the two sides at Toba and Fushimi, south of Kyoto, known as the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. The Satsuma-Choshu army achieved an overwhelming military victory, the anti-shogunate faction seized real power in the new government, and declared Tokugawa Yoshinobu an enemy of the court.

On February 1st, Tokugawa Yoshinobu abandoned Osaka Castle and fled back to Edo by sea. The shogunate army, now without its commander, collapsed, ending the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. The imperial court subsequently issued an order to subjugate Tokugawa Yoshinobu. On February 3rd, Yoshinobu was stripped of his official post; on the 9th, an expeditionary force led by Saigo Takamori, primarily composed of troops from Satsuma and Choshu domains, departed from Kyoto. From March 12th to 13th, the expeditionary forces approached Edo, deciding to launch a general offensive on March 15th. The shogunate's pro-war faction demanded a decisive battle, but Katsu Kaishu, a senior shogunate official, recognized the dire situation of declining public support and successfully negotiated with Saigo Takamori, commander of the Satsuma-Choshu army, persuading Tokugawa Yoshinobu to surrender. On April 11th, the new government forces peacefully took over Edo, placing Tokugawa Yoshinobu under house arrest, but the Tokugawa family was able to continue its rule.

Both sides found it difficult to impose this agreement on their followers. In Kyoto, Iwakura Tomomi and his followers had to overcome the opposition of the imperialists, who demanded harsher punishments, causing the announcement of the agreement's terms to be delayed for several weeks.

In Edo, Saigo was forced to use force to suppress the protests of three thousand Tokugawa retainers against the treatment of their lord. A portion of the shogunate navy, under the command of Enomoto Takeaki, refused to surrender and fled north.

More seriously, after the fall of the shogunate, the Tohoku domains initially followed the orders of the Ōu pacification commissioner dispatched to Sendai by the new government. However, because the Ōu domains wanted to petition the new government for a pardon for the Aizu and Shonai domains' status as "enemies of the court," they formed a comradeship alliance to achieve this goal. But after their petition for pardon was rejected, the alliance of domains transformed into a military alliance against the new government's forces.

They emphasized that Satsuma and Choshu were "evil advisors," that the Emperor was being deceived, and were prepared to defend their rights. They advocated eliminating the Satsuma traitors who were close to the "young emperor."

Spain, France, and Japan all experienced dramatic changes simultaneously, making 1868 a truly pivotal year.

Nasser al-Din had to attach a map of Japan alongside his map of France; the Shogunate army had been defeated far too quickly. Iran, before it could even prepare a policy for overthrowing the Shogunate, had already occupied most of the territory.

"The garrison in Ryukyu needs to be increased to 8000 men, and additional ships are needed for protection to prevent the Japanese army from advancing south."

State Secretary Gervorok noted down the Shah's orders, preparing to relay them to the Army, Navy, and other departments. Besides troop movements, there was also the infiltration into the Far East and affiliated Korea. Japan's only role was to resist Russia to the north; therefore, the vast unexplored territory of Hokkaido was the bottom line for Japanese expansion from Iran. Furthermore, neither southward nor westward expansion was permissible—this policy was stated in theory, but difficult to implement in practice.

Because Japan also has its ambitions, forcing it to go to the harsh north instead of the prosperous south is bound to cause resentment. Moreover, what if Japan and Russia join forces to exert pressure on the Far East? This is something Iran must be wary of.

“Shah, news has come from the Eastern Bank that the textile factory we jointly established with Far Eastern merchants has started operations.”

This factory uses machinery made in Iran, employs 600 workers, and was the first modern enterprise in the Far East, located in the Shanghai International Settlement.

This is the first collaboration between Iranian and Far Eastern capital, and the results will depend on subsequent operations. But it's a good start nonetheless.

(End of this chapter)