Chapter four hundred and seventy seventh conclusion
"But Prime Minister Pitt, you also know that our navy has no advantage at all in Gibraltar. Sir Winston is also here. I will make it clear that if the navy loses control of the Strait of Gibraltar, then what will happen with only five thousand troops?"
Can hold Gibraltar!'
As soon as Wolfenter finished speaking, Winston, who was the Lord of the Navy, turned green. He couldn't be so irritating. Looking at Wolfenter's eyes, he obviously thought that the Navy would not win.
.
"Your Excellency Wolfenter, I must interrupt you. Although the Royal Navy does not have the upper hand in the Strait of Gibraltar, I believe that the excellent navy of our British Empire is not as good as the second-rate ones of Spain and France.
Worthy!"
Regardless of whether the navy can win in the future, the current situation must not be lost, so Winston said the above sentence, but obviously his words did not have a good effect. I saw Wolfenter blinking as if
Winston was very aggrieved because he did not understand what he said.
At this moment, George III, who was sitting at the top, finally spoke. He frowned, looked at the three Pitts and said:
"The cabinet's opinion is correct. The key to defending Gibraltar is not the number of troops, but whether the Strait of Gibraltar is in our hands. Once our navy loses control of Gibraltar, even if tens of thousands more troops are sent to Gibraltar,
Still to no avail..."
"But, Your Majesty......"
Hearing that George III did not agree to send more reinforcements, Wolfenter was a little anxious. Just when he was about to dissuade him, George III glared at him and suppressed what he wanted to say.
"The 30,000 men in Spain are not a concern. Our top priority is the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet, which is our innermost concern. Just now Winston told me that the Home Fleet cannot dispatch reinforcements for the time being while maintaining a deterrent to the French Navy. This
This is the biggest problem. I hope the cabinet can come up with a plan for this!"
After hearing what George III said, Pitt immediately agreed.
While Elstner and McClung were dealing with each other, a special investigation team headed by Prussian Justice Minister Lucas was investigating the shooting. The houses on both sides of the street that were used as cover for the British at the time of the incident were also searched one by one.
access.
Because the location where Ernst and others were at that time happened to be the houses on both sides of the street, and except for one which was a pub, the others were ordinary residences. The owners of these residences quickly admitted that British people had rented them from them on the day of the incident.
The house. And the time was only one day, because the price given by the British was very high, so the house owners did not raise any objection. Even because the British conditions were too generous, several house owners even left a rental agreement, in which
There are even British handprints.
In these houses, Lucas also found gunpowder residue left behind when bullets were fired.
Elstner soon approached Macron again. He told Macron that the murderer must be handed over immediately, otherwise the Prussian government would take coercive measures.
Elstner's uncharacteristic attitude caused Macron to immediately panic. At this time, Augustus, who had not returned to London with Pitt, quickly came to Brandenburg after learning about the incident.
In the Prussian palace, Augustus read the investigation report of Lucas and his party provided by William and proposed to William that he hoped that Prussia could take into account the friendship between Britain and Prussia and reduce the influence of this matter to the lowest level.
At the lowest, Augustus said that he would give Prussia a satisfactory answer. But the premise is that this incident must not be related to Ernst.
William was very enthusiastic about Augustus, but he had no choice but to deal with Augustus's request. After all, Ernst's incident happened on the streets of Brandenburg. Basically, William was at this moment.
Everyone in Landenburg knew that Ernst blatantly violated Prussian laws. If the Prussian government protected Ernst, it would make the people of the country dissatisfied.
After failing to reach an agreement, Augusta was ready to leave the Prussian palace. But before he could leave the palace gate, Queen Anna of Prussia appeared in front of him.
At this moment, Anna did not come to have a friendly meeting with Augustus as the Queen of Prussia. Looking at Anna's stern look, Augustus felt a little uneasy. After all, Anna is Karl's biological sister, so she can be considered a
The owner of the suffering.
Of course, Anna did not act like a shrew in broad daylight. After all, she was the Queen of Prussia. She had to pay attention to her identity no matter what, so Anna just said lightly:
"His Royal Highness Augustus is so majestic. At that time, the Hanoverian electorate lineage was well-known in the empire, and all the princes admired it. But looking at the current performance, could it be said that the Hanoverian electorate lineage has been assimilated by the British?
Or is it that after taking over the British Empire, the descendants of the Elector of Hanover even turned against their former benefactors? This is the behavior of a villain!"
Anna's ridicule made Augustus's face turn livid, but he could not refute.
Anna's words are not unfounded. The Habsburg family is indeed the benefactor of the Elector of Hanover. The Hanover dynasty can be traced back to Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria. And Henry's youngest son William became the Duke of Lunenburg. In 1692,
Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor of the Habsburg dynasty, appointed the Duke of Braunschweig-Lunenburg as the 9th hereditary elector, the elector of Hanover. From then on, the Duke of Braunschweig-Lunenburg
And his descendants took the surname of Fengguo and changed their surname to Hanover.
If it weren't for the support of Leopold I, the Hanover family would not have become electors. Although this elector is more symbolic, becoming an elector after all is an improvement in status. And in the future,
In the Grand Alliance War, the Habsburg dynasty helped Hanover resist the French attack.
Seeing Augustus's silent response, Anna could no longer speak provocatively, so she had to walk away with a cold face.
After returning to the British Embassy, Augustus immediately called Ernst to him and then gave him a fierce lecture. Seeing the somewhat dissatisfied look on Ernst's face, Augustus felt even more headache.
.
The Prussian 16th, 17th, and 18th Divisions have been reorganized extremely quickly. So far, they have all been reorganized. What these three divisions lack now is battlefield experience.
William had previously promised the British to send the 17th Division to England, but now because of Ernst's affairs, the 17th Division could not go.
........................................
As time entered November, the British saw the situation in Gibraltar getting worse and the French and Spanish colonial armies mobilizing frequently. After all, they still did not struggle with the Prussians on the Ernst issue for too long.
The British agreed to Prussia's request to expand colonies in the central part of the North American continent. At the same time, the British government would reduce taxes on Prussian merchant ships on the Atlantic route for two years, and the British Royal Navy would provide the greatest convenience to Prussian merchant ships.
This condition is not unfavorable, and those colonies can be ignored for the time being. After all, these colonies are still in the hands of Spain and the French, but the two-year tax exemption for Prussian merchant ships is a heavy bargaining chip.
Although Prussia and the British are allies, the British have always regarded the Atlantic as an inner lake. Merchant ships in the Atlantic must pay taxes to the British. Otherwise, the pirates will rob the merchant ships before the British can clean up.
.In the past few years, the Prussian merchant ships had to pay a large amount of tax to the British every year, amounting to about 800,000 silver marks.
In the end, the Prussian government announced that according to the investigation, the assassination of Karl was carried out by one of Ernst's bodyguards. The guard was injured by Karl in the previous fight between Ernst and Karl, and then he held a grudge and contacted him later.
He ordered several of his friends to ambush Karl in a place he must pass through in order to take revenge.
The shooting ended in an anticlimactic manner, but this resolution dissatisfied the Austrian side. Austria only received a compensation of 100,000 pounds and an apology statement from the British, which made Leopold II a little angry.
Prompted Leopold II's decision to join the Spanish camp.
Anna was also dissatisfied with the Prussian government's statement, but she did not go to William to make trouble.
Anna's temper is a little stubborn, but that doesn't mean she's stupid. The past few months of getting along with him have allowed Anna to understand what kind of person William is, so she didn't do anything stupid.
However, William's solution also gave Anna a sense of crisis. Anna knew that the relationship between herself and William could not continue like this, otherwise it would be detrimental to the Habsburg family. After all, if she could not tie William's heart, then this
The second marriage is completely meaningless.
Both Karl and Ernst left Brandenburg and returned to their respective countries in November. The most depressed person was undoubtedly Christine. Originally, she wanted to continue to watch the fun, but now that everyone has left, she
Where to go to watch the fun.
On November 25th, Brandenburg ushered in the first snow of the year. Looking at the snowy scene outside the window always makes people feel a little emotional, and that is exactly what happened to William right now.
In recent years, thanks to God's favor and the efforts of the Prussian people, Prussia has not been hit by natural disasters. With crops from the New World entering Prussia, Prussia's grain production has also increased, and the Prussian treasury has sufficient grain.
In comparison, the Marks in the Prussian treasury were somewhat insufficient. Someone once suggested to William that he sell part of the grain stocks in exchange for cash, but this request was rejected by William.
In just over a month, 1790 will be over, but 1791 will definitely not be an ordinary year. There is no guarantee that a European war will take place. Therefore, the food and grass in the national treasury must be prepared for emergencies.