paranoianovel Chapter 748 Texas Crisis
Chapter 748 Texas Crisis
Chapter 748 Texas Crisis
Under the golden iris flag, the vice admiral and governor of Cuba, standing on the bridge, was watching the British landing operation with a telescope.
"Strictly disciplined and well-equipped, when did the British pocket army become so powerful?"
Governor Enrique was not a fool who only knew how to talk big and relied on his prominent family background or nepotism to rise to power.
On the contrary, he was a typical civilian general. He had fought against the British-backed Carlist rebels in the mountains and had also fought against the British Army. He knew very well that these British war machines were not as impressive as they looked.
The captain of the Joan of Arc, a naval colonel, reminded: "Excuse me, Governor Enrique. The Cuban fleet only has one battleship, three cruisers and some small and medium-sized gunboats. Before the Richelieu and the Home Fleet arrive, we should avoid conflict with the British."
Enrique snorted and said, "Although I don't understand the navy, I still know how to count."
He paused for a moment, and then continued, "Are we just going to retreat in disgrace? Colonel Guillaume, we have already yielded too many times to those damned, goat-sucking, hell-bent, Satan-believing British!"
Enrique was a Spaniard, a new representative of the bourgeoisie, and a trusted general promoted by Queen Isabella II herself.
It was also in this world line that Isabella II's marriage to the Bourbon dynasty led to the birth of the "Franco-Spanish United Kingdom".
Ever since the last War of the Spanish Succession, when France helped Spain regain Gibraltar, which had been lost for nearly two hundred years, Governor Enrique has become a "die-hard French baguette."
In his view, only by clinging to France can Spain, whose national power is declining, regain its former glory.
Colonel Guillaume hesitated for a moment, but still said, "I think you should wait until the message arrives from the mainland before making a decision."
He was not worried that Governor Enrique, who loved France even more than he usually showed and struck hard at the rebels who resisted French rule, might be a traitor with evil intentions, but sometimes, it was precisely such people who were prone to do bad things.
"Then just wait."
Enrique snorted lightly, somewhat dissatisfied, but fortunately the call back came faster than he expected.
The signalman came running over: "General, there is a message from the mainland asking us to exercise restraint and try not to engage in an exchange of fire with the British."
Enrique frowned: "So, we're just going to watch?"
"His Majesty the King wants us to find out why the British are making such a fuss before making a decision."
The Republic of Texas is actually a tough nut to crack. Compared with the indigenous people and small Latin American countries, even without counting the wolf tribes, its strength is among the best. It has had many conflicts with the regional power Mexico and has always had the upper hand.
Given the British's shameless and pragmatic style, it is impossible that they chose this target just to show off their military power, right?
"How did the intelligence department analyze it?"
The signalman gave the answer: "They speculate that Texas must have some kind of mineral, a kind of magic stone or white crystal, and the reserves are extremely rich. Or they have finally made up their minds to eradicate this cancer that seriously threatens the security of British North America."
Enrique snorted coldly. "If they wanted to eradicate the cancer, they would have done it long ago. Mexico has such rich silver mines, and the volume is also larger. Didn't the British take direct action? Or is it more reliable to say that there is a magic stone mine under Texas?"
White crystal and magic stone mines are the cornerstones of the world's second industrial revolution. While other countries are still using the tactic of firing in a line, the British Army has already driven Land Cruisers and armored airships. It is simply not like an army of the same era.
This cliff-like lead is based on its almost semi-monopoly on magic stones and white crystal mines.
The rest of the industrial countries can only burn coal, and even coal mines are extremely scarce, such as mainland France after losing the Alsace-Lorraine region.
Spain is not a place rich in minerals, and the industries of both countries rely on overseas colonies.
But if the two sides go to war and the sea routes are blocked, France's war potential will be immediately halved.
Enrique clenched his fists. "If there really is a white crystal or magic stone under Texas, we can no longer retreat! Pass on my order, and prepare the entire ship for battle."
Captain Guillaume was horrified: "General, the Empire and our allies are not ready for a full-scale war with the French!"
Right now, Tsarist Russia was trying to abolish serfdom, but the local nobles were not buying it at all. After all, to abolish serfdom, they had to give serfs a piece of land of their own.
There was no hope of expecting the nobles to give up their own flesh and blood. The only option was for the government to invest in purchasing the land. At the very least, some farm tools had to be distributed to the liberated serfs so that they could reclaim the frozen land. This required a large amount of money.
At this time, Tsarist Russia had neither the plan nor the ability to expand outward.
France was entering a period of rapid development of national strength. On the one hand, it was carrying out colonial expansion around the world, and on the other hand, it was vigorously following the Second Industrial Revolution. Once a war broke out, it would definitely be interrupted.
"I'm not crazy. The Empire is not ready for a fight, but the British are also not ready to go to war with us. Only by making this gesture can we fight a bigger enemy with a smaller one and gain more benefits!"
Aboard the Sea King Power.
Admiral George frowned. He didn't expect that the French would be so aggressive now. A mere colonial squadron dared to provoke the British Empire.
He was sure that within an hour, the expeditionary force would be able to send the enemy fleet to the bottom of the sea.
But he didn't dare to do so, because the empire and its allies were not ready for war.
Moreover, the alliance between Britain and Germany was unilaterally biased towards Germany.
Because once the German Confederation is sandwiched between France and Russia, Britain will have to step in personally to mediate.
Even though Germany advocated "territory under the sun" and took an increasingly tough stance towards Britain, in Vienna, the anti-British voices were no less powerful than those of the anti-French and anti-Russian factions.
Otherwise, two hegemons, France and Russia, will emerge to divide the European continent equally. The new continental system formed by the two will directly exclude Britain from Europe, and those small countries in Europe that are fence-sitters will all turn to the continental alliance.
By then, it would not be Britain that was imposing a sea blockade on them, but rather Britain would be blockaded by them on land and squeezed out of the European circle.
On the contrary, if France declared war on Britain, Emperor Francis the Great would most likely choose to remain inactive, unless the French navy went all out and landed on the British mainland.
When Britain and France went to war, Tsarist Russia, as France's ally, had to lend a hand. After all, this hungry bear had been eyeing British Persia and British India for a long time.
In the absence of a land fulcrum, the war can only turn into a protracted maritime blockade, which is a lose-lose situation for both sides.
If the empire cannot capture the French mainland, it will be difficult to achieve further victories. Even if it forces France to negotiate peace, it will not gain much benefit.
After all, what you can’t get on the battlefield, you can’t get at the negotiating table.
We can't expect a small country like Belgium to stand up and act as a pioneer in the fight against France, right? I'm afraid it will be defeated in the first round.
"We can't fight, at least not now, but we can't retreat either. If we give in to a French fleet, then the throne of world hegemony will also change hands, right?"
Admiral George was in a dilemma: "Pass on my order, get ready for battle, but without my permission, no one can fire the first shot at those damn Gauls!"
Thus, a dramatic scene was born.
Both sides were on the verge of a fight, yet both were afraid to act rashly, appearing aggressive on the outside but being timid on the inside, like two cats facing each other, roaring at the top of their lungs, arching their backs, and flailing their fur, yet neither dared to go beyond the line.
...
In New Naples, on a tower, more than a dozen Texas scouts were carefully observing the enemy's landing progress.
One of the leaders was somewhat dissatisfied and said, "Boss, what do you think the chief is thinking? Are we just going to watch them land and occupy New Naples?"
"Just follow orders."
The centurion glanced at him sideways and said nothing.
This sight made the gang leader feel cold all over. He stepped aside awkwardly and carefully observed through the telescope on the lighthouse how the British deployed their battle formation in the port of New Naples.
The more he looked, the more frightened he became: "Boss, these British guys are much stronger than the colonial state militia. Look at their landships. Even if we fire artillery at them, we may not be able to penetrate the armor on them."
The centurion was a little surprised: "What ship? How do you know that piece of iron is called this?"
The cornerman was just slightly stunned, then replied calmly: "Boss, have you forgotten that in the north, the British used this kind of iron thing to massacre the black rebels. The small-caliber artillery they captured from the colonial army only produced sparks when it hit it."
Suddenly someone shouted: "The French are coming!"
The fleur-de-lis flag was so eye-catching in the darkness, which meant that the only two naval powers in the world had appeared. Their naval forces were far ahead in both quantity and quality. They only needed a squadron to easily send the navy of a regional power like Mexico to the bottom of the sea.
Originally, there was only one naval power of this level, and that was Britain.
In the era of sailing warships, it was fully capable of sending all the fleets of the following powers into the sea in one battle on its own.
It was the arrival of the ironclad era that swept all the previous sailing warships into the dustbin of history. The French, who inherited the Spanish legacy, were barely qualified to launch a naval arms race with the British.
The gang leader was very excited because Britain and France were old enemies and had been loving and hating each other for hundreds of years.
"Boss, this is good news."
The centurion was not optimistic: "If the English are jackals, then the French are jaguars, and we are the meat they are fighting for."
In terms of colonial policy, the French were sometimes even more cruel than their American counterparts.
After all, the British no longer lack industrial raw materials and are expanding all over the world with the aim of expanding their own market and dumping industrial products in exchange for profits.
The French are different. They lack industrial raw materials in their own country and often brutally exploit the indigenous people of the colonies, turning them into miners for them to mine industrial raw materials.
Of course, as an industrial country, France also attaches great importance to the development of overseas markets, but the focus is different.
The situation was different for the Germans who had just caught the colonial bandwagon. Germany had no shortage of industrial raw material production sites and markets. Galicia, Hungary, and Illyria all had rich mineral resources.
Even the Teutonic Knights to its northeast fell within its sphere of influence.
What they claimed as "territory under the sun" and "opening up living space for the Germans" was actually just changing the cage and replacing the bird, establishing the so-called "New Germany" in the colonies.
The centurion's tone was very cold and hard: "Don't expect a French squadron to dare to fight the British. They are just another robber who came to watch the show and wanted to get a piece of the pie."
The kings of the Bourbon family were not all as generous as Louis XVI, who sold his head to aid the United States in the original historical line. On the contrary, these generations of Bourbon kings were unusually shrewd and capable, and they managed to stabilize the crumbling monarchy in France.