Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 483: When the Snipe and the Clam Fight, First Kill the Fisherman

The uprising in Rome gave many people an opportunity to kick the French while they were down. International opinion heavily criticized the French government, including the French media.

This was the aftermath of ideological chaos. Some supported religious reform, some opposed it, and many simply opposed for the sake of opposition.

Napoleon III might have been accustomed to this by now. Domestic public opinion didn’t impact him much, and he continued to suppress the rebellion methodically.

This deeply disappointed the British. The Italian uprising couldn’t shake the foundation of France. As long as Paris remained stable, the French Empire was hard to topple.

As expected, the major Roman uprising lasted less than a week before being crushed by the French. More accurately, the resistance was shattered in a single morning.

A disorganized mob remains a disorganized mob. Though the uprising seemed grand, the internal organization was a mess.

The revolutionaries never managed to control the situation. Although the Church participated in the uprising, they feared the French’s strength and had no confidence in the revolution.

They stirred trouble to get attention, believing that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. By demonstrating some strength to the French, they aimed to secure more favorable conditions for themselves without intending to fight the French to the end.

When the French army swiftly arrived to quell the rebellion, these participants quickly switched sides and betrayed the revolutionaries.

Before the British could intervene, the Italian independence movement had already waned. Apart from some scattered guerrilla forces still resisting, the cities once controlled by the insurgents had fallen back into French hands.

In London, Prime Minister Benjamin was deeply troubled. The situation in South Africa was tense, with urgent requests for aid arriving punctually three times a day.

He had painstakingly orchestrated an Italian independence movement, only for it to falter as soon as it began. The Italians had a strong spirit of independence, but their combat capabilities were lacking.

There were many revolutionaries who were good at talking and great at shouting slogans. But on the battlefield, these people were usually the first to flee.

Still, there were some positive outcomes. After the failed uprising, Italy’s cultural industry saw significant growth, with a surge of new artists.

However, the flourishing of Italian artistic creation was not Prime Minister Benjamin’s concern. He was busy dealing with the aftermath.

With so many mishaps occurring during his tenure, it was almost certain he wouldn’t participate in the next election, to avoid a humiliating defeat.

Not being able to run in the next election didn’t bother him much anymore. However, the immediate issues had to be addressed. Otherwise, he might not last until the election and be forced out early.

Queen Victoria, who rarely intervened in politics, had already summoned him three times this week, demanding that he quickly come up with a plan to solve the current problems.

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Foreign Secretary Maclean analyzed the situation with a troubled expression, “Prime Minister, the current situation is very unfavorable for us. France and Austria are now standing together.

The Austrian government has tacitly allowed the French to annex Italy, refraining from any intervention. If they had intervened, the Italian independence movement would not have failed so quickly.

In the Mediterranean, they have joined forces to confine us to a corner. While in South Africa, they have also united, showing clear intentions of seizing the Cape of Good Hope.

From a strategic perspective, this Franco-Austrian alliance is not just about expanding their influence on the European continent. It’s highly likely they aim to seize maritime supremacy.

We are currently losing our grip on the Mediterranean. If we also lose the Cape of Good Hope, the distance to the Indian Ocean will significantly increase.

This will affect our control over India and even our influence in the Far East. The Austrians have already extended their reach into the Arabian Peninsula, getting dangerously close to India.

For now, the Royal Navy can still suppress their ambitions, but under the broader context of the Franco-Austrian alliance, how long we can maintain this suppression is uncertain.

It’s time to change our foreign policy. I propose that we recognize the Greater French Empire in exchange for France allowing us to join their alliance.”

Joining the alliance is not as simple as it sounds. France has already annexed Italy, while Austria has yet to gain anything. If the French government compromises now, the Austrian government will surely be dissatisfied.

Although the specifics of the Franco-Austrian alliance are uncertain, Maclean is confident that Austria has not yet received the benefits promised by the treaty.

In his view, merely the gains from South Africa are insufficient to cover Austria’s involvement costs. After all, Austria has invested heavily in the Anglo-Boer War, making it very challenging to recoup their expenses.

From a perspective of interests, when two partners join forces in a business venture, and one profits massively while the other barely breaks even, such a partnership is bound to fail.

Prime Minister Benjamin rubbed his forehead, caught in hesitation. Recognizing the Greater French Empire was easy, but the repercussions would be severe.

It would mean that their arch-enemy, France, would grow even stronger. On the surface, the annexation of Italy by the French Empire would directly boost its overall national strength by one-third.

If France successfully completes its internal consolidation, its power will continue to grow, causing Britain to lose many of its advantages over France.

Unlike Austria, which is separated from them by France and Spain, the British government doesn’t feel much pressure from it. But France, separated only by a body of water, is different. Britain has to face this pressure directly, and the British government has always remained highly vigilant.

“Then let’s give it a try. The Franco-Austrian alliance poses too great a threat to us, we must break them apart. Many within the Austrian government oppose the Greater French Empire. We can use these people.”

Having made this decision, Prime Minister Benjamin sighed in relief. Despite the Royal Navy’s constant assurances that it could safeguard Britain’s territory, he still felt the pressure of facing two great powers simultaneously.

He was quite unlucky. Looking back at British diplomatic history, this should be considered their most isolated era.

After the tireless efforts of their predecessors and the expensive lessons learned by various European countries, they were no longer so easy to fool.

Seeing the trend of an alliance between France and Austria, everyone has chosen to protect themselves. While opposing the establishment of the Greater French Empire is correct, they are only voicing their opposition without taking any concrete actions, remaining in a wait-and-see state.

This situation deeply troubled Prime Minister Benjamin. The anti-French alliance had become nominal, not to mention the secret anti-Austrian alliance they were secretly plotting, which they couldn’t dare to bring up at this time.

If they provoked them too much, France and Austria might drop their pretense altogether and openly carve up Europe, which would be like lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot.

It was widely believed that France and Austria would inevitably clash over European dominance—a concept proposed by his predecessor, Prime Minister John Russell. To sow discord between the two nations, they even propagated this idea.

Plans never keep pace with changes. Everyone agreed that France and Austria would eventually clash over European supremacy, but the timing of this conflict was uncertain.

For instance, currently, there’s another widely circulated idea among France and Austria: clear the field first to prevent any fisherman from benefiting.

This put them in a difficult position. Both sides were intentionally restraining their conflicts, planning to eliminate the “fisherman” before their final showdown, which made things very awkward for Britain as the “fisherman”.

After addressing one issue, another old problem resurfaced. The Colonial Secretary, Louis, said, “Gentlemen, the situation on the South African front is dire, as you have seen from the urgent requests for reinforcements.

If we don’t want to lose the Cape of Good Hope, we need to send reinforcements quickly! The casualties on the front lines are very high, and if we respond too slowly, they might just surrender directly to the enemy.”

Using the threat of surrender to force the government to send reinforcements is not a clever tactic. While the British government may indeed make concessions now, they will certainly hold people accountable later.

Undoubtedly, this was not the work of Governor Delf. As a politician, he would not jeopardize himself like this.

However, there are still those who aren’t afraid of the British government—the private colonial companies. They are a crucial part of the armed forces in South Africa, aren’t involved in politics, and have strong backing, so they don’t care about offending the Cabinet.

It’s not just the colonial companies; the middle and lower-level bureaucrats within the colonial government also don’t care about the British government. They are not soldiers with a duty to defend the territory, so even if there is an investigation after the war, it won’t reach these small fries.

So these threatening telegrams appeared in the British government. If reinforcements were delayed and there was no hope of victory, these people might indeed surrender to save their own lives.

The atmosphere became awkward. Recently, everyone has seen the casualty reports from the Cape Town Governor’s office.

To ordinary people, it might just be a set of data: an average of 700-800 casualties per day, along with ten times as many enemy casualties, making the losses seem negligible.

Outsiders see the excitement; insiders see the essence. These officials understood enough about military matters to realize the consequences.

They knew the attackers were mostly cannon fodder units, which the enemy had in endless supply. No matter how heavy the losses, the enemy wouldn’t mind.

In this situation, the impact on morale was evident. The best option would be to launch a counterattack and engage in a decisive battle with the enemy, otherwise, they would be at a disadvantage if this dragged on.

Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of a rope for ten years. (TN: “Once bitten, twice shy” is the English equivalent of this idiom.)

Governor Delf had faced his opponent over a dozen times, each ending in defeat. All his ambitions had been worn down, and he no longer dared to venture out for a decisive battle.

The British government was also afraid to give the order, as everyone feared taking responsibility. Although there were quite a number of British troops in Cape Town, enough to put up a fight, sadly no one had the courage to fight.

Governor Delf hoped the British government would send more troops to crush the enemy with overwhelming force, but the British government had no troops to send.

The British Army had only so many soldiers. If they sent all their troops today, Ireland would erupt in rebellion tomorrow. The British government was well aware of the Irish people’s desire for independence.

To expand the army, the navy would not agree. Expanding the army is easy, but reducing it is difficult.

Once the army’s scale expanded, reducing its size again wouldn’t be so simple. Even thinking with their fingers, everyone knew the army would have enough excuses to retain their expanded structure.

Everyone knew that although the situation in South Africa was critical, it had not yet reached the point of imminent loss. As long as there were still so many British troops around, and as long as there were no internal issues, the enemy wouldn’t be able to conquer Cape Town anytime soon.

The role the army played in this critical situation was also a difficult question to answer.

Even though the Secretary of State for War remained silent, the War Office had actually made many efforts to push for an expansion plan.

This Anglo-Boer War provided them with a golden opportunity. If the British government wanted to continue sending reinforcements, they would first need to expand the army.

Secretary of State for War Fox waved his hand and said, “Don’t look at me, you all know the British army is small. The officers and soldiers are very busy right now, and there are no idle forces to reinforce the front line in Cape Town.

Didn’t Delf ask for a hundred thousand reinforcements? As long as the cabinet expands the army by a hundred thousand, I can send the reinforcements over within a month.”

To send reinforcements within a month, if there hadn’t been prior preparation, no one would believe it if said out loud.

Of course, it might be just boasting as this sort of thing had happened before. There would be various unexpected incidents as reasons for the delay in dispatching troops.

First Lord of the Admiralty Robert mocked, “I recall the South African Boer republics’ army is about thirty or forty thousand, less than half the size of the Cape Town garrison.

The war has come to this state, and you still have the nerve to ask for army expansion? Isn’t this a waste of British resources?”

Before Fox could retort, Robert quickly added, “Don’t rush to explain, I know you want to say the enemy has a bunch of auxiliary troops. But can a group of temporary recruits, wielding sticks and charging, be considered an army?

Our colonial troops may not all be elite, but the enemy forces are also a ragtag bunch. Since the outbreak of war, not a single Austrian regular army unit has appeared on the battlefield.

Everyone is clear about the composition of the army of the Boer republics. It’s just a group of private militias, locally recruiting able-bodied men, and they fought their way from Transvaal to Cape Town. You should reflect on why our army’s combat effectiveness is so poor.

Over the years, there have been enough jokes about the army. Instead of improving combat effectiveness, you only think about increasing numbers. On the battlefield, it will only add to the enemy’s achievements.”

Robert and Fox had no personal grudge, but their positions dictated their stance. When it came to the budget competition, Robert, as the Naval Secretary, directly exposed the army’s weaknesses.

Fox angrily slammed the table and retorted, “Nonsense, the army’s combat effectiveness isn’t on par with the Austrians because of insufficient funding.

Just compare the military budgets, and that explains everything. Since the war in South Africa broke out, we’ve been suppressed by enemy firepower, otherwise, we wouldn’t have suffered so many defeats!”

Who’s afraid of a little argument? There are thousands of excuses. To reach their current positions, they’ve all fought their way up through countless verbal battles.

The naval-army rivalry exists in almost every country. Prime Minister Benjamin had to step in to mediate but both sides had valid points, leaving him with no excuse.

“Enough! This isn’t the place for your quarrels. If you want to argue, do it outside.”

The two exchanged glances and fell silent. The issue of army expansion was also shelved. Robert didn’t feel victorious, nor was Fox dissatisfied with the failure.

Obviously, this kind of thing has happened many times. Almost every time, the government would support the navy, then make some concessions to the army, slightly improving their treatment or modestly expanding their structure.

The problem of reinforcing Cape Town was quickly resolved. When it came to cannon fodder troops, as long as there were still Indians, John Bull wouldn’t back down.

The only issue was financial. The combat tasks that ten thousand British troops could accomplish might not be completed by fifty thousand Indian troops.

It seemed cheap on the surface, but in reality, anyone who used them knew the truth. If the quality wasn’t up to par, they would have to make up for it with quantity.

In the original timeline’s world wars, the British had to fight on the front lines themselves, which was enough to show that the cost-effectiveness of the Indian colonial army was still insufficient.

Otherwise, the British government would have used the Indian colonial army to overwhelm the enemy long ago.