Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

At 6 a.m. on October 10, 1878.

British Empire, London.

Inside Buckingham Palace.

"Well, as the Netherlands' arms business grows bigger and bigger, more and more countries maintain close diplomatic relations with the Netherlands, and the Netherlands sells more and more weapons to them. Now countries are becoming more and more dependent on the Netherlands. "

Queen Victoria sighed: "Back then, Britain had always been the world's most powerful arms seller. Even the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were extremely proud of being able to purchase British naval warships. Unexpectedly, with the rise of the Netherlands, now it is The Netherlands took their place. The British suffered heavy losses."

Prime Minister Creston did not object when he heard this.

Queen Victoria asked: "How did President Mitre of Argentina respond?"

Creston replied excitedly: "Everything is under control. Mitre is very ambitious, so this time we just mentioned that Britain is willing to support their actions, and he couldn't wait to agree."

Queen Victoria nodded and said: "In Brazil, Prime Minister Fonseca and Brazilian Emperor Pedro II are currently fighting fiercely. The confrontation between Brazilian aristocratic forces and capitalist forces is becoming more and more intense, so Brazil has no time to go abroad.

This has provided a huge strategic opportunity for Miter’s Argentina, so it is understandable that Argentina wants to take the opportunity to become bigger in South America.”

Creston hesitated to speak, and finally said vigilantly: "According to the news from MI-6, the German Empire seems to be very interested in Paraguay."

"Is it that central South American country with a population of only 400,000 that Napoleon III supported? That small country that almost fought with the Brazilian Empire and Argentina over Uruguay?"

Queen Victoria was astonished. Suddenly, she seemed to understand why Creston was worried.

"Is your Excellency the Prime Minister worried that the German Empire will see that it is meddling in what is happening in South America?"

Creston: "Her Majesty the Queen is right, that is Paraguay, but what I am most worried about is that the German Empire does not have Paraguay. What I am even more worried about is that the German Empire also has ambitions towards Uruguay. The most worrying thing is that Yes, we need to be careful that the German Empire takes advantage of the fight between us and the Netherlands in Chile, and then takes the opportunity to enter South America and form a three-legged confrontation with us and the Netherlands."

The more he talked about it, the more it seemed to Clayton that it was the same thing.

He and the queen looked at each other, showing the same concern.

Creston asked: "Should we inform the Netherlands to prevent the German Empire from taking advantage of the situation?"

Queen Victoria shook her head and said with a wry smile: "The nature is different. The Netherlands challenges us because of core issues. The Netherlands thought of taking the opportunity to compete with us on the ocean. On the contrary, it is the German Empire. They are expanding their overseas influence, and they are just like you. That is to say, they did not directly attack the traditional allies of the Netherlands. This was already a compromise with the Netherlands. Similarly, the United Kingdom did not become their target.

Therefore, if we block the German Empire at this time, then our success in attracting the other party to conduct maritime exercises in the northwest Indian Ocean some time ago will be in vain. "

Creston frowned and said: "Bismarck and William I are indeed shameless and insidious, but they have to admit that their plans are impeccable. Paraguay has They turned to the German Empire. In recent years, the German Empire had surpassed the Second French Empire and became their military aid country. It was also half of the German Empire's allies in South America. At this time, where Germany intervened, Argentina and Brazil were both interested. I am wary, I am afraid that in order to defend against the German Empire, Argentina will have to make certain concessions to the Netherlands."

Queen Victoria: "No, Argentina's Mitre probably won't. This can be seen from the fact that he was able to rely on the Netherlands to directly overthrow the previous = government and quickly take power directly. After these years, there are many people in the Argentine Federation. As his political ally, the German Empire's support for Paraguay will not immediately pose a threat, not to mention that after more than ten years of development, Paraguay currently has only 600,000 people. Argentina has a population of more than 4 million, and Brazil has a population of 10 million. Facing these powerful neighbors, those in the German Empire will not act rashly, but unless something unexpected happens to Argentina and Brazil."

Creston said worriedly: "Is the Queen afraid that Argentina will be dragged into the Chilean war by us, and then they will take the opportunity to launch an invasion war on Argentina's northern border?"

Queen Victoria nodded in recognition and pointed out: "The German Empire has always been very courageous. This possibility is more than half, not to mention that Brazil is still fighting internally. If something unexpected happens to Uruguay at this time, it is not impossible."

The situation in South America made the two of them very upset, especially when they knew that the German Empire actually intended to intervene. They felt that there was a hodgepodge there, and all European countries seemed to intend to exert their influence there.

In addition to its overseas territory of British Guiana, the UK currently only has some small islands in the Caribbean in South America. Chile was originally Britain's strategic location in the East Pacific, but now it has been cut off by two-thirds of its territory.

Fortunately, it still controls the southern third of Chile's territory, which controls the Strait of Magellan and the Drake Strait in southern Chile.

Suddenly, Greville Gower, the British Foreign Secretary, arrived at Buckingham Palace. His face was solemn, and his hand holding the telegram was trembling. After a sign of salute, he said sadly: "Your Majesty the Queen, Your Excellency the Prime Minister." , something big happened in South America”

Queen Victoria and Creston suddenly felt bad.

The Queen hurriedly opened the telegram sent by Greville Gower and opened it. She suddenly felt light-headed. She was shocked by the bad news above, and the bad news was not the worst for her, only worse.

Forced himself to calm down in shock.

She handed the telegram to Creston who was waiting impatiently.

The latter opened the telegram and read it in a few seconds.

Later, his expression was as ugly as Queen Victoria's and Greville Gower's.

Greville said angrily: "Damn it, the Netherlands unexpectedly attacked our fleet there at 6 a.m. Chilean time. This time we suffered heavy losses. Our entire fleet actually lost 6 warships in the sneak attack this time, and the others were damaged and helpless. There are still 2 fleets with a total of 15 ships fighting. Since there are only 7 ships left. The port of Valdivia was bombarded by the Dutch fleet, and we could only head south in a hurry. We had been defeated and all retreated to the south of Col. Puerto Montt in Corvado Bay”

He said: "In terms of the army, the Mascaiano government was completely defeated by Arturo Lauzon's army attack and also evacuated to the town of Osorno, 50 kilometers north of Puerto Montt."

Creston asked in disbelief: "Don't the Netherlands only have 9 warships?"

Queen Victoria also looked over in confusion, which made Greville Gower smile bitterly and said: "But they used more than 20 submarines. The Netherlands used submarine sneak attacks to disrupt the order of our fleet, and then took advantage of the fleet It was random, the Dutch surface ships launched a double attack from underwater and surface, and we were defeated."

Queen Victoria stopped Creston who wanted to ask more questions, but ordered: "Go to Miter, Argentina immediately to take action. Otherwise, Britain's promise to support him will be invalid. The deadline is within one week."

Creston immediately told Greville Gower the plan, and then the latter left quickly. Obviously, the situation in South America had caused Britain to encounter an unprecedented crisis, and it must be resolved quickly.

Creston immediately said: "It seems that William IV is ready to fight us head-on. In this case, it's time for us to show our intimidation power."

He didn't say anything intimidating, but the Queen nodded.

"Yes, it seems that we were too kind in the past. I hope God will forgive the tragedy caused by the violent revenge of the avengers."

Queen Victoria immediately issued an order: "Immediately call the South African fleet centered on the Cape of Good Hope to block the entire South African offshore waterway. As long as the tricolor flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is flying on the ship, they will not be allowed to dock in our South African ports.

At the same time, not only in South Africa, starting today, Dutch commercial ships and warships are not allowed to pass through our Suez Canal. Gibraltar also supervises all Dutch ships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. If there are suspicious ships, you can board them to inspect them."

Creston asked hurriedly: "In what name? I'm afraid it will arouse concerns among other countries about British rule over the key straits and trigger a backlash."

Queen Victoria shook her head: "Just use the excuse that there are British fugitives on the Dutch ship. The excuses are everywhere, just like the opium war."

"There is also an order that starting today, no Dutch industrial products will be imported into any British territory. At a minimum, Dutch people in British territory are required to leave the land under British jurisdiction within a week."

Creston said: "Currently there are more than 20,000 Dutch people in the UK, of which 9,000 are in London. The rest are distributed in other places in the British Isles, 7,000, 2,000 in Canada, and the rest are distributed overseas in the UK. Everywhere in the territory, if we force each other to leave, will it cause major economic problems?"

He raised his head and said awkwardly: "The Netherlands has developed rapidly in recent years. Currently, most of the 20,000 people are high-value asset owners, or they are involved in financial stocks, securities, futures and other economies in London. If something like this happens suddenly , which is indeed a problem for the British economy.”

Queen Victoria glanced at him sharply, and then said sternly: "The current situation no longer allows us to retreat, just do as I say."

After speaking, her tone softened slightly and she said harmoniously: "Don't worry, we have the tools to overcome these emerging problems. Don't forget, we are fortunate to have the help of the Rothschild family."