Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

November 20, 1863.

All European countries are closely following the development of the situation in Ethiopia.

At this time, Austria recruited 310 steamships and traditional sailing ships of various sizes from the mainland, and transported a large number of 30,000 Nigerian coolies from Nigeria to the local area, providing Prince Olsperg with the opportunity to accelerate the expansion of the engineering corps. labor force.

In addition to people, there are also horses, mules, and camels purchased.

Indian war elephants were even purchased from the colonies ruled by the British Viceroy of India.

Accompanying him were reporters from various European countries, carrying the most advanced photography technology of this era.

Obviously, Austria still cannot help but be happy with its success, and wants to show European countries how Austria is advancing its rule in Ethiopia.

Build the reputation of the Austrian Empire.

On December 10, 1863, in view of Tewodros II's refusal to release the troops, the Austrian army began to advance towards the inland Desai Fortress.

This city in north-central Ethiopia is regarded as the central city leading to the north from Addis Abel, the capital of Ethiopia.

Because the terrain is dangerous, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The Italian Western Front had been in a stalemate here for a long time, so the international reporters accompanying them took pictures violently, so that they could be used as pictures in newspapers in various European countries to write a story about Italy's heavy security situation with numerous casualties.

In particular, they felt that they needed to write more about the detailed description of the difficult terrain and difficulty in being conquered by foreign enemies.

Because they were about to witness the beginning of Austria's attack.

So under the attack of naval heavy artillery, these international reporters quickly saw that this city where 20,000 Ethiopian troops were stationed was slowly broken.

Subsequently, the Ethiopian army, which could not withstand the heavy artillery attack, fought head-on with the Austrian army. The cruelty on the battlefield made these battlefield-experienced war reporters somewhat silent. This was not the first time they had seen this scene.

In every foreign battlefield in the UK, they will send accompanying reporters to take various records, so as to report domestically, so that people in the UK can always know the situation on the battlefield ahead.

Austria's self-confidence is indeed justified. This time, their 30,000 Austrian troops attacked the 20,000 Ethiopian troops, and finally paid a price of 6,000 troops and captured the city of Desai.

The Ethiopian army finally retreated under heavy artillery attack.

20,000 people, leaving behind 12,000 corpses and seriously injured people, retreated to the southern town of Efeson next to the Awash River.

Austria also became famous because of this, with casualties less than 1:2. This is such a high ratio.

This is much better than Italy's almost flat casualty rate.

For a moment, Italy was lying there and was shot again.

Italians have become the object of ridicule on almost every occasion in Europe, with their heads almost hanging down to their crotches.

"Vienna, Austria, has grown a lot of face this time. No wonder the German Confederation Council of Representatives has been much quieter this time."

Moltke, Chief of General Staff of the Prussian Army, followed: "At the next meeting, those congressmen who want to come to Vienna will jump up and down again. It seems that we really need to take action. Austria must be weakened and they cannot continue to expand their reputation."

King William I of Prussia and Prime Minister Bismarck also nodded in agreement.

William I said to Bismarck: "However, how to stop the opponent, the means and skills of this attack are the most important."

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured. Compared with the constant turmoil in Austria's colony of Nigeria, Prussia's governance in Africa has already entered a stable stage,"

"Nigeria?" Moltke and William I looked at Bismarck in confusion.

Bismarck said mysteriously: "The situation in East Africa has attracted all the attention of Europe. If this is the case, then we just start in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Nigeria's territory is too big. It is not just Prussia who is unhappy. Austria occupies this piece of Africa. It is fertile." land, other countries are also dissatisfied with Austria.”

"Tsarist Russia?" Only Tsarist Russia can have ambitions. This was Moltke's idea.

"Wrong, it's France"

After Bismarck shook his head in denial, he said: "France has long had ambitions to open the north-south passage. After Austria occupied Nigeria, it was already dissatisfied. Now, taking advantage of Ethiopia to hold back Austria's military power, it has plans to move south from Niger."

As he spoke, Bismarck took out a piece of paper and said, "This is intelligence from France, which shows that France is doing this."

This was cabinet information that William I had never seen. Moltke had seen it for the first time as a military officer. This was information arranged by Prussia in several dies in the French government.

Seeing the many deployments of Napoleon III, several people understood that this was not something that was started in a day or two. It was obvious that France had been planning for a long time.

After Bismarck saw the two of them reading, he said: "Therefore, in the east, we do not need to participate in the war, but we must put enough pressure on Austria to make the Austrian mainland send additional troops to deploy to the edge of the Red Sea. Only in this way can we break Napoleon III's Scruples.”

The two also nodded, agreeing with Bismarck's idea.

Napoleon III was very ambitious, but slightly lacking in courage. Therefore, only by showing him the hope of victory could he be moved to do this.

Both of them lamented that Bismarck had really figured out the heart of Napoleon III.

December 15, 1863.

Moltke, one of the top representatives of the Prussian military and Chief of the Prussian Army General Staff, held a military press conference in Berlin.

As the surrounding situation deteriorated, Prussia's security was affected.

He announced that in the Prussian colony of Somalia in East Africa, based on the original 200 million troops stationed, he decided to increase the number of troops by another 20,000.

These soldiers will have a new deployment and will be stationed in Hargeisa, close to Ethiopia's northern port.

Many people were confused by the sudden news that 20,000 people were deployed to Hargeisa next to Djibouti, and many people noticed Prussia's statement.

What is Ethiopia’s Djibouti?

Obviously, this is because Prussia no longer agrees with Austria's occupation status, or with Ethiopia's rule.

Moreover, the location where 20,000 people were deployed could still threaten the retreat route of the Austrian army, next to the port of Djibouti.

This was obviously done deliberately by the Prussian military. The purpose was naturally to create security risks for the Austrian army and prevent them from continuing to march towards Ethiopia with peace of mind.

This made all European countries understand that Prussia and Austria, the two giants within the German Confederation, finally began to stop suppressing the dispute between the two countries and had unabashedly expanded it into a dispute over international status.

Apparently the surface has turned white and deteriorated.

“We are only protecting our interests, and we oppose any action that harms Prussian interests, including territorial and economic interests.

Ethiopia is an important market for our Prussian goods and we cannot afford to lose this great market. "

Mao Qi said loudly.

"Therefore, we cannot afford to watch our market disappear."