The Eagle of Eastern Europe

The news from Cairo spread along the Nile River to Lower Egypt, and all mosques issued orders to expel heretics to their believers. Except for coastal cities, which are milder, other cities are very serious.

The canal zone also received news from the merchants. All soldiers were on standby and warned merchant ships traveling between the north and the south that they would not be allowed to pass until the matter was resolved.

"What, what do I do with this boatload of coffee?"

"And my candy"

"This cotton must be shipped over quickly, otherwise we will breach the contract."

Businessmen complained to officials that the canal had helped them a lot, and they would not have easily closed this golden waterway if it had not been for Egypt's situation.

"Everyone, you must be aware of the recent events in Egypt. We have to do this for safety. I hope you can wait."

As soon as these words came out, the businessmen quarreled again, and business matters would change in one day. The canal is now closed and we don’t know when it will reopen. This is a huge loss.

The ships on the Red Sea are drifting like this, and there are many ships coming through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait behind. The Canal Zone urgently sent a message to Constantinople, hoping that they could negotiate with Egypt so that they could reopen the canal.

"What are they going to do!!!"

Baptiste had finally prepared the cost of the army, and now the canal was closed again. Not only that, the revenue handed over by the Eastern colonies has not yet been shipped, which is another bad news for the national treasury.

"We must act quickly. The gold and silver transported from the east have not yet passed through the canal, and many merchants also rely on this. If it cannot be solved in a short time, it will have a great impact on the empire's tax revenue."

"Okay, Baptiste, it's useless for you to be anxious now. The most important thing now is to prepare for the war with Egypt. This is the first time for the empire to fight from both ends."

Now the empire is recruiting troops to prepare for a war with Europe. Now that something is happening in Egypt, half of the army can only be divided to fight. Or call in the army again, but this is not a good thing for the empire.

"Now, first send part of the army to Ashkelon and the Canal Zone, and let Governor Woike lead the army south and attack Jerusalem north."

"Oh, Prime Minister. That's not the problem. You should know the importance of Egypt. I don't know how many merchants trade through this canal. Now that it is suddenly disconnected, domestic merchants don't know how much they will lose."

"Why don't I understand what you are saying? The most important thing now is to arrange everything and wait for His Majesty to come back."

But businessmen would not wait that long, especially the blue members of the House of Commons, who were immediately angry when they heard the Egyptian canal was closed. I can't wait to go to Egypt right away.

"In the imperial war, we should attack Egypt. They think that we are still the same country as before, and we won't speak up when things happen. But haven't they thought about the current growth of the empire?"

"Hmph, they will only reject all outside news on their own territory."

Eastern trade is the lifeline of many merchants, and the canal is naturally their most important place. Now that it is closed due to the situation in Egypt, it means that the matter is not small at all.

"Now the empire should not negotiate with Egypt, but let the war decide the future."

"War, war, war..."

The hall of the House of Commons was filled with the sounds of war. Not only the blue faction, but also members of other factions joined in, because there are huge interests in the areas of Egypt and Jerusalem next to the canal. Even if the empire is preparing for a war in Europe, if it can fight Egypt once, it can still deter those European countries.

The more lasting impact of this incident is the stagnation of ocean trade. Each business bank is estimating the opening date and losses. Some small businessmen cannot bear this situation and will go bankrupt. This also forced Rome to end the battle in a short time.

Listerine began to assume new command. Some naval forces needed to change their itinerary to Egypt, and some merchant ships would also be requisitioned to transport personnel and supplies. At the same time, the Patriarch was also asked to take action and call on the people of the empire to go to Egypt to fight the pagans.

The ecumenical patriarch at this time was Carol, who had been following Romania for more than 30 years. When he heard about the pagan attack in the south, he directly issued a teaching in Hagia Sophia, declaring that Egypt had been controlled by the pagans and that the empire needed them to go south. Save this poor country.

Not only that, Baptiste also made an innovation. If you want the canal to be opened as soon as possible, then buy a government bond. This is also a contribution to the empire, and it only takes three years. Not only can you get When the principal is paid, a certain amount of interest can be earned.

This innovation is based on the Venetian hair bond method, which he has now modified. And those upper-class nobles saw that this was not only patriotic but also earned interest, so they directly paid for it. Members of the Blue faction alone collected 580,000 lei, and including other factions, members of the entire lower house spent 1.13 million lei. Far more than the bond share of 1 million lei.

With this money, Baptiste could continue to maintain imperial expenditures. And the prime minister decided to transfer 40,000 people to the Middle East. Together with Woick and the Canal Zone soldiers, a total of 60,000 people were put under Woick's command.

As for diplomacy, Listerine gave up directly. This situation cannot be delayed, and the new Sultan does not seem to be just pretending, so don't waste time.

Business news is always the fastest, even across the vast sea, it can always be delivered the fastest. Such news naturally also informed businessmen from other countries. They were delighted and expected Egypt to teach Rome a lesson.

It is more uncomfortable to watch the other person make money than to lose money yourself. This sentence is quite suitable when applied to them.

However, before the central government issued further orders, the troops in the Canal Zone began to fight back on their own. The Roman army stationed in Ashkelon moved eastward to occupy Gaza, and part of the army in the Canal Zone set out for the Sinai Peninsula.

It is not that there have been no attacks by the Egyptian army in the past few days, but they are all small teams. Just blast it with a cannon. But the new sultan was preparing to gather the largest army to attack, which made Alexander in the Canal Zone.

The only good thing is that there are not many troops in the Jerusalem area. They can try to occupy it to the maximum extent. The local city defenses have not been restored, and some have not even been maintained after Saladin. This gives them a big advantage.

The governor of Jerusalem ordered the defense of castles and towns, and with Cairo cut off by the canal, asked for help from the Two Holy Mosques. He knew the situation in Jerusalem very well, and he also knew that if Rome came, he would only surrender or suffer the consequences. So you must hold on to this place.