Chapter 796 Britain launches a challenge to Ming Dynasty
To stop them, how to stop them?
war?
If it were 1895 now, Britain would definitely choose war.
Because at that time, the thinking of the British Empire had matured, and they had understood the underlying reasons why the empire could not be challenged. Only by defeating a challenger could it be possible to deter other potential challengers from acting rashly.
A tiger is no match for a pack of wolves!
Everyone understands this truth, but only true imperialists know the truth that "a tiger cannot defeat a pack of wolves, but it can kill the leader."
It is a pity that Britain, which has not yet evolved into a true empire, cannot fully weigh the pros and cons. It is not that they cannot weigh the pros and cons, but their profit-seeking nature still controls their behavior.
When Britain made concessions in Tokyo and East Africa, the world saw through Britain's tiger skin, which is why Britain has a headache now - because the imperial prestige it spent a century to build fell apart at this moment.
"We cannot guarantee that when we go to war with the Ming Dynasty in South Africa, France, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not be involved. We also cannot guarantee that when we fight the Ming Dynasty in North Africa, the Ming Dynasty, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not be involved.
Stay out of it!”
Faced with this almost deadlocked situation, a young man walked into No. 10 Downing Street. Cecil John Rhodes, a businessman from the Cape Colony who was studying at Oxford University, was influenced by the Colonial Secretary Henry Herbert.
Came in at the invitation of Earl Bert.
"March!"
Now Cecil has not founded the "De Beers Mining Company". He has just obtained the production of the largest "Rand" gold mine. The future South African currency "Rand" will come from the name of this mine. Of course, he
Now he is not the so-called "conqueror of Africa", he is just a businessman.
As a well-known businessman in Cape Town Colony, when he heard about the Ming Dynasty's army appearing in Namibia while studying at university, he hurriedly asked to see Earl Henry Herbert. This is why he stood in the Prime Minister's Office at No. 10 Downing Street.
reason.
"Your Excellency, the world has now reached the most critical moment. In the past, the British Empire relied on the strength of the empire to deter other countries, but what about now? The existence of the "Four-Nation Alliance" has made our strength deterrence a joke. In France, the Ming Dynasty deterrence
When the empire is at its foundation, what can we do? Declare war on them?"
Shaking his head, Ross said directly.
"March, we must march, we must capture Egypt before the French occupy Egypt, and send our troops to the interior of Africa before the Ming Dynasty capture Namibia. We must cross the Orange River and cross the
Go to the Kapu Plateau in the north to conquer the land there and prevent them from trying to unite West Africa and East Africa!"
"seize!"
Benjamin looked at the young man in front of him, was silent for a while, and then said.
"Get ahead of them and control their original goals in our hands. Just as we are unwilling to go to war with them, they are also unwilling to go to war with us. In this way, in some respects, we ensure that
for your own safety.”
"Not only is it safe, Your Excellency, but more importantly, the British Empire will become extremely powerful in the process. We can build a huge colony that stretches across the entire Africa from Cairo to Cape Town!"
Although Cecil is young, he is an ambitious imperialist. What he desires is conquest and expansion. In history, it was he who sounded the clarion call for Britain to expand into the interior of Africa. Now it is just
Just a little ahead of schedule.
"The method is good. We only need to invest a small amount of troops to conquer the local barbarians. However, Egypt... our occupation of Egypt may cause conflicts between us and Turkey. After all, it still belongs to Turkey in name."
Faced with the Prime Minister's question, Earl Henry Herbert said directly
"So what? So what's the big deal? Ever since Governor Ali, Egypt has been almost synonymous with independence, and now his son, Governor Said, has absolutely no connection with Istanbul, and what we need is not
Occupy, but protect, turn Egypt into our protectorate, protect Egypt from French invasion and occupation..."
Imperialists all over the world have something in common. They can always find some reasons and excuses for expansion. As for these reasons and excuses, it doesn't matter whether outsiders believe them or not. What's important is that they found them.
"And now Egypt is in a serious financial crisis. If we intervene appropriately and add the threat of the French, I think we can completely convince them."
What is the most important thing? The British Mediterranean Fleet is in Alexandria. If diplomats cannot convince, they can use the fleet to "persuade". They are all experienced experts, and of course they know how to "persuad" others.
"Then there's only one question left..."
Casting his gaze on the young man in front of him, Benjamin asked.
"Mr. Rhodes, you came from Cape Town Colony. In your opinion, how many troops do we need to invest to accomplish this goal?"
The Prime Minister's answer made Rhodes feel a little excited. He thought for a while and then said.
"In Namibia, because we need to directly confront the Ming army, my suggestion is to invest 5,000 people. Their goal is to prevent the Ming people from expanding to the south and inland of the Whale Bay, and in the north of the Kapu Plateau is
North of the Molopo River, there are only indigenous tribes there, and we only need to invest 1,500 to 2,000 people to conquer the vast central Africa."
Cecil's judgment was accurate. In another world, in 1893, he sent his confidant Starr Jameson, the administrator of the South African Company in the River District, to lead more than 1,500 white and mercenary soldiers, divided into
Three routes, marching into the hinterland of Africa.
In just two years, he conquered a large area of land, and then named the newly occupied inter-river area and the area south of the Zambia River "Rhodesia" after himself, which later became Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Malawi.
It was absolutely unbelievable that it took only 1,500 people to conquer such a vast land, but he succeeded!
"But we only have a few hundred troops in Cape Town,"
Benjamin thought for a while and then said.
"If we carry out this conquest, we need to mobilize the army from our base, um, 7,000 people. We can still draw this army, at least from India."
This is the army that must be mobilized. Even if the British cannot mobilize the army, there are still many Indians in India that the British can requisition and mobilize.
The Indians themselves are expendable to the British. If the Indians are transferred to Africa at this time, those Indians must be grateful.
"Time, we must get ahead of them and complete our occupation operation!"
After a pause, Benjamin continued.
"Okay, this is a competition, between us and the Ming Empire. The winner of this competition is not who is more powerful, but who is faster! The final winner is the fastest.