Chapter 931： Have their own calculations (1/2)

In St. Petersburg, after receiving a peace signal from the British, Alexander III sighed helplessly.

This war in Afghanistan was a typo, and for the Russian Empire, it was a complete start, but it almost made a bronze record in the end.

At the beginning, the Afghan guerrillas cooperated, and the Russian army beat the British all the way. Unfortunately, the Afghan area was not smooth. As the front continued to advance, the logistical pressure on the Russian army was also increasing.

Coupled with the continuous arrival of British reinforcements, the Russian army lost its military advantage, and the situation on the battlefield gradually changed.

By now, the war in Afghanistan has evolved into a war of attrition. Facing the wealthy and powerful British, the impoverished Tsarist government was obviously unable to resist.

It seems that the Russian army has the upper hand in the Afghan battlefield, but in fact the tsarist government also has misery.

Up to now, the Russian army has paid nearly half a million casualties and billions of rubles in war expenses. However, the legendary India is still beyond reach.

Casualties are just a small problem. After all, they regained Central Asia and occupied three quarters of Afghanistan. Even the exchange ratio between the two sides reached an astonishing 1.1:3.7, which can be said to be the best record of the Russian army in the past 50 years.

Of course, this is a record of adding the Central Asian Khanate and the Indian colonial army. Simply playing with the British main force, the Russian army still does not take much advantage.

It doesn't matter if there is water, it doesn't affect the tsarist government's political propaganda. In short, the performance of the Russian army on the battlefield has explained the past to all aspects.

The headache for Alexander III is finances. Since his succession, the family assets accumulated by the tsarist government have all been involved. He has also owed huge debts, and more importantly, he has not been able to enter India.

If the Russian army has already penetrated India, then smash the pot and sell iron, and Alexander III will continue the war.

It's a pity that there is no if in reality. The British have already reacted. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of main troops sent from the mainland, there are also two million Indian colonial troops waiting in battle.

According to the information from the front lines, the main British forces have rarely come out for decisive battles. Most of the time, they supervised the battles in the rear, using colonial forces to entangle with the Russian forces. British generals did not even care about casualties.

If you continue at this pace, the Indians will not die and the British will not admit defeat.

No matter how worthless, gray animals are more expensive than the natives in the colonies. Regardless of the exchange ratio, the Russian army suffers. After all, there are 300 million Indians on the opposite side.

”Get ready to negotiate with the British!”

After making this decision, Alexander III was depressed. The closest opportunity of the Russian Empire to India was so missed.

”Yes!”

”Your Majesty, shall we inform the Austrians, after all...”

Before the Foreign Secretary Oscar Jimenez could finish speaking, Alexander III interrupted: ”You figure it out! Anyway, the British don't want to fight anymore, and we don't have the ability to fight.”

After speaking, Alexander III turned and left.

There is no doubt that the Russian Empire is not incapable of continuing this war. After all, there are Austrian nurses who are replenishing blood behind, and they can hold on for a while.

The key is that in the case of inability to capture India, continuing this war will drag the British, and will only make Austria, which is advancing on the African continent leaps and bounds, not in the interests of the Russian Empire.

No matter how good an ally is, it cannot resist the temptation of interest.

According to the prior agreement, the Vienna government supported the Tsarist government's entry into India in exchange for Russia's support for Austria to dominate Africa. After the war, the two countries shared the European hegemony.

The Tsarist government is now truce with the British, and it is also pitting teammates. But there is no way. The tsarist government has determined that it cannot get India, so it cannot watch Austria dominate Africa.

Otherwise, the strength of the two countries will be further expanded after the war. In this age of the weak and the strong, once there is an imbalance of power, the so-called shared European hegemony is a joke.

Alexander III's political mind is still very bright, knowing the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, in order to reduce political influence, decisively choose to throw the pot.

...

Since deciding to support the French, the British Foreign Office has taken a series of actions, and the British-Russian truce is only one of the measures.

After all, the Russians are Austria's allies, and they cannot be fooled by them in a few words. Among other things, the contradictions between Britain and Russia cannot be solved in a short time.

Just fought a battle, turned around and formed an alliance. These Sao operations exist in theory, and maybe they can be done in the Middle Ages.

But today with the rise of nationalism, anyone who dares to play like this must have a revolution.

In Tokyo, the British minister who sent away the uninvited guests, Ito Bowen, was not well.

It was hard to coordinate the interests of all parties, reluctantly suppress the voice of going south, and continue to implement the previous strategy of going north. Now that the British have mixed up, the situation has changed again.

Needless to think about it, the British even visited him as the leader of the opposition, let alone the politicians who originally supported the southward move, they must have been lobbyed.

While Ito Hirofumi was thinking about countermeasures, the voice of the attendant suddenly sounded.

”Prime Minister, the palace is calling, asking you to go to the royal conference immediately.”

With a ”bang”, Ito Hirobumi's water glass fell to the ground. It came so quickly that there was no preparation time for him at all.

There is no doubt that there must be domestic political forces behind this. Otherwise, the British minister will not just leave, and the imperial conference will be held soon.

Such a move is nothing but a demonstration to him, asking him, the opposition to go south, to retreat.

There is no way, the ”three heroes” of the Meiji Restoration have all passed away, and there is no Dinghai Shenzhen that can suppress all political forces, and the means of political struggle have become more and more unique.

For example, these guys are hiding from him, the Prime Minister, privately contacting the British, and even reaching an agreement.

Knowing it, Ito Bowen is essentially powerless. Regardless of his reputation in later generations, he has never managed to keep his promise.