Wild North America 1846

Chapter 597 Policy Red Line

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 597 Policy Red Line

London

11 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence

"Is the news correct?" Prime Minister Lord William Ewart Gladstone asked with a frown.

The Foreign Minister, Baron Harry Burketon, glanced at the Colonial Secretary William Cecil and the Cabinet Secretary Robert Jr. in the Prime Minister's Office. Seeing that neither of them had any intention of explaining, he nodded in response;

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Orientals are building a fortress-type fortress at the southern end of the Suez Canal. For this purpose, more than 37,000 civilians have been recruited from Egypt. It is said that this number is still increasing rapidly."

"So... the scale of the project is quite large?"

"Yes, this is a defense project called Sanhu Fortress, which is composed of multiple parts. It is designed to greatly enhance the Tang Dynasty's military presence in the local area. After it is successfully completed, it will be a city no less than Sevastopol.

A group of solid fortresses, a really hard nut to crack.”

"And a real big trouble." Prime Minister Lord William Ewart Gladstone blurted out. He walked to the window with his hands on his hips, just not to let others see his anxious and helpless look.

Looking out the window, taking a deep breath, he asked, "How is the situation of our military garrison in Egypt?"

The person who answered was William Cecil, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. He very gentlemanly performed an elegant chivalry etiquette and responded in a sincere tone;

“Dear Prime Minister;

I think all ideas of armed intervention should be ruled out. Throughout 1872, we successively invested some military forces in the Suez Canal Zone, including the Royal Scottish Highland Fusiliers and the Royal Manchester Grenadier Regiment.

But the total number of cavalry and infantry forces combined did not exceed 17,200.

Combined with the power of the Royal Navy, we can maintain the suppression of the French army in Alexandria and Port Said, and gain a certain advantage in the competition.

The premise is that

The current decline of the French army in the Franco-Prussian War in Europe has led the French to adopt a more cooperative attitude in their overseas interests. In exchange for support in ending the German Empire's military warlords and large-scale smuggling in Europe, this cannot be ignored.

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On the other hand, Datang had no similar demands for Britain.

Therefore, in international interest negotiations, it is more about strength rather than exchange of interests. The British Army obviously does not have the ability to keep the other party in a humble attitude.

Objectively speaking

The Tang Army is not inferior to us in terms of equipment and training. It does not have absolute advantages in strength and weapons. From a cautious point of view, it is not recommended to actively provoke disputes.

In that case, the probability of disappointment is high.

At this stage, I think the cabinet's main focus should be on the French across the English Channel.

The French have paid 5 billion francs in war reparations, but the Germans have been reluctant to end the occupation. We must tell them clearly; it is time to leave.

The rise of the German Empire is unexpected. This may be the second Tang Dynasty we have cultivated. Moreover, being in the center of Europe, it will inevitably cause greater harm and require more energy.

There may not be enough power to distract him until the issue of the occupied French territories is resolved."

There is no need to hide it when facing the Prime Minister. Contents that are top secret to ordinary people are just ordinary topics of daily discussion in Downing Street.

The British Secretary of State for the Colonies ranks very high in the cabinet, ranking third after the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Prime Minister John raised his eyebrows unnoticed, with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. He frowned and asked, "Are you just letting it go without taking the necessary measures?"

"Two policy consultation letters have been sent out, but don't expect the Datang Cabinet to respond soon. These Easterners are quite good at prevaricating and procrastinating..." Baron Harry Burketon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, sighed lightly, with a look on his face.

Feeling a little helpless for the difficult Tang officials, he spread his hands and said;

"We want Datang to explain Egypt's policy, and we hope they will stop large-scale construction, stop building fortresses, strengthen cooperation with the British in the canal zone, and not act unilaterally without authorization...

I have said everything, but I still go my own way.

The cold-blooded prince of Egypt had great power, and even the Tang cabinet had a hard time stopping it. The only one who really had the power was Emperor Richard of the Tang Dynasty, but he was a dictatorial figure who was even more difficult to talk to.

There are not many methods we can take. Datang holds 22% of the shares of the Suez Canal, so it is difficult to completely exclude them."

"Damn it! Any action against Datang will encounter great resistance in the parliament. There is a large group of people speaking for them, all of whom are vested interests." Prime Minister William left the window and walked to his desk to sit down, using his hands

He knocked on the table hard and said;

"It is extremely important to Her Majesty's authority to secure France's remaining share in the Suez Canal, which should belong to England.

On this point, I have reached a consensus with Lord Del and the majority of the cabinet.

But most opposition members of parliament believe the current government has exaggerated the importance of equity deals

With Britain's strength, military control of the canal and Egypt is feasible. The way to achieve this is either through Egyptian neutrality or military occupation, which can more completely control the canal zone.

Equity purchase is purely unnecessary and a stupid act of taking off your pants and farting.

These congressmen underestimated the complexity of the problem. If Britain resorted to military action in Egypt, France and the Tang Dynasty would come together and unite against us.

Through the canal closure incident, I can feel the strong will of the Tang Dynasty to maintain a long-term military presence.

Building a fortress is just the latest effort to strengthen our presence. If we can't fight, we can only cooperate."

"This may be the only sensible approach, seconded." Foreign Secretary Baron Harry Burketon immediately agreed.

Colonial Secretary William Cecil shrugged and said in a tone of "I knew it would be like this"; "Frankly speaking, when the Easterners launched their expedition, I expected such a day.

The original refusal to allow them to enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar deeply irritated the dictator.

The French's reckless willfulness gave Datang the best excuse to intervene in the Middle East.

What we can do now is to draw a red line for Datang. The city of Suez is the edge of the red line. Any attempt to cross the red line will be regarded as a blatant provocation to the British Empire and European allies.

Britain would not allow the Tang Dynasty to maintain a military presence on the Mediterranean coast, nor would it allow them to encroach on the Mediterranean region. It would use practical actions to prevent them from expanding their influence.

Just like how we dealt with Tsarist Russia, we would not hesitate to launch a large-scale war when necessary."

"Excellent." Prime Minister Lord William Ewart Gladstone was the first to applaud, and then turned around and ordered; "In accordance with the spirit of this red line, compile a clearly worded representation to be sent to the Datang Cabinet.

I will personally sign the letter. From now on, this will serve as Britain’s official position to prevent Easterners from reaching out everywhere.”

"Okay, dear Prime Minister, I'm going to draft a negotiation letter. I'll ask you to review it when I'm done." Cabinet Secretary Robert Jr. stood up, turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door gently.

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Chang'an, the imperial capital

This megacity with the second most populous population in the world is developing in full swing in a peaceful and open environment. More and more cars are on the streets, mixed with the traffic of trams and horse-drawn carriages, showing a very modern scene.

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The Longshouyuan District, where the upper class aristocrats gather, seems to be the green lung of the entire metropolis. The vegetation here is lush and trees as thick as two people can hug each other can be seen everywhere. The environment is elegant and quiet.

under the shade of green trees

Occasionally, the cornices and brackets of the palace-style buildings are exposed, and large black cars with family crests or aristocratic carriages draped in velvet horse jackets come and go on the road, giving off a strong upper-class atmosphere.

Countless noble residences surround the Daming Palace like stars and the moon. The wide Danfeng Gate Avenue separates the nobles from the common people.

Throughout the Longshou original area, you can often see patrolling Royal Guards soldiers, patrol cavalry in groups of two, as well as vigilant, burly and tough noble private guards and some patrol police.

Ordinary people entering without permission will often be questioned.

Owning a mansion in Longshou District and living next to the upper class nobles of the empire is the ultimate dream of almost all wealthy businessmen, but very few can realize their dreams.

Inside Daming Palace

The refreshed Emperor Richard walked out of the palace, and the curtains lifted behind him occasionally revealed a few graceful white figures. It was another beautiful morning.

After breakfast, we went to the imperial study.

Richard immediately saw the diplomatic letter from the United Kingdom, signed by the British Prime Minister personally, emphasizing the British policy stance, mainly on the Egyptian issue and policy red lines.

Putting down the diplomatic letter, Richard tapped the imperial case gently with his slender fingers. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly smiled...

This diplomacy rarely showed the domineering style of the British Empire, saying to the Tang Dynasty in an almost commanding tone, "What can you do? What can't you do..."

This exposed the Anglo-Saxons' usual gangster appearance. Although they wore a tuxedo and acted like a gentleman, they inadvertently revealed their true nature, which was still a gangster gene.

If you really want to get angry about this, you won't be able to get angry at all.

This aspect reflects the power of the Tang Empire, which has begun to make the British deeply fearful.

This high-level diplomatic letter has shown that the British side is working hard to communicate with Datang and coordinate on a series of issues such as the colonial development, sphere of influence, and direction of colonial expansion of both parties to prevent miscalculation.

This is a good beginning……

With his fingers tapping the imperial case gently, Emperor Richard reviewed the layout in Egypt and the Red Sea area in his mind. After confirming that there were no hidden dangers, he nodded affirmatively.

Today, the direction of the colonial development of the Tang Empire is not Egypt and Northeast Africa. It is just that due to accidental events, it started in advance, and now it can be slowed down.

After the Three Lakes defense fortress system is completed, in order to alleviate the British doubts, we can proactively strengthen cooperation, enhance military mutual trust, and then introduce British capital to build Yunzhong Province.

In the end, the only beneficiaries will be new overseas colonies, so why not?

Time is on our side, and there is no need to make the relationship between the two countries very tense. This is not in line with the fundamental interests of the Tang Empire's development. It is better to maintain a tacit understanding.

As for the so-called policy red lines of the British side, let them leave such an illusion.

The empire has no intention of getting involved in the areas around the Mediterranean in the near or medium term. It can maintain a tacit understanding for a long time and just do things that are beneficial and free of charge.

Of course, if the opportunity arises, that's another matter.

in the final analysis

What competes between countries is the overall national strength. When the strength reaches a certain level, they can say "no".

(End of chapter)