January 1, 1843, New Year's Day.

England, London, 10 Downing Street.

"The entire territory of Belgium has fallen, and the Netherlands has declared that it respects the territorial integrity of Luxembourg!" These two important messages sent to the UK at the same time directly shocked the cabinet members who were still enjoying their afternoon tea and almost spit out all the black tea they had drunk before; Throwing away the cookie in his hand, he hurried to the prime minister's office to attend an emergency meeting.

"Damn it, that William II really has no spine, he was ready to surrender without firing a shot. But what happened to Belgium? I have seen their Leopold I, this man is a tough guy, he shouldn't be so fast It is right to submit." Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne said with some helplessness.

"It is said that in order to stop the German Confederate troops, he led the Belgian army out of the city and was unfortunately captured." Lord John Russell replied.

"The King of the Netherlands is a cowardly and futile waste. We can no longer swallow it so meekly. We must force him to go to war with the German Confederation." Palmerston suggested.

At this time, the Secretary of War John Satter raised a question, which is military common sense that politicians have ignored.

"Have you ever thought about how Austria and Prussia reached Belgium after only a few days of war? Could it be that they flew there?"

It's just that this most critical point has been ignored by politicians, who are not in the mood to discuss the minutiae of strategy and tactics.

"Okay, we don't have time and energy to think about other things. The first task now is to urge the Dutch to persevere and resist to the end, and we need to contact the French to send troops to Wallonia, so that the **** of the German Confederation A strong enough threat. We must immediately bring about the Franco-Dutch Triple Alliance..."

Words cannot express the mood of the Viscount Melbourne at the moment, he already feels the crisis is imminent. In less than a week, the entire territory of Belgium has fallen, which is really unexpected.

"Any news from Russia?" asked Palmerston.

"Unfortunately, it's winter now. I thought that St. Petersburg would have to pass through Hamburg and Berlin first, and then take a carriage for half a month..." A cabinet member waved his hand helplessly.

"Damn it!" Palmerston finally became impatient at this moment, because he seemed to feel that he and Britain had become the prey of others.

It seems that the Russians are far from being able to quench their thirst, and now they can only pin their hopes on the French.

In fact, there are other reasons why the British are unwilling to land and fight in Europe, that is, they do not have enough troops to fight on land, and the European war a few decades ago made everyone understand the truth, that is, the cost of war with the great powers The cost and loss can be described as huge, and it is not worth the candle for any country.

"We can negotiate a peaceful solution to this crisis," John Russell proposed.

This is the best idea he can think of. After all, the situation is out of control at this time. It will take time for the United Kingdom to recover from the unfavorable situation, and this is the only way to go right now.

"But at this time Pu'ao already has the advantage, so how could he negotiate with us?"

The prime minister, the Viscount Melbourne, understood what John Russell meant, but the reason why Prussian and Austrian countries were able to win Belgium in a short period of time must have been planned for a long time.

Now that Belgium is occupied, the Netherlands has promised to make concessions, Puao has completed their set goals, what they have to do now is to end the war and force the other party to sign an alliance under the city, rather than settle the dispute through lip service.

"No, I think they will accept this proposal, because they want to end the war, just need our recognition. In other words, as long as we don't sign the contract, the war will not end."

Palmerston expressed his inner opinion with certainty. He believed in the current British influence, and he believed in his own judgment even more.

Others also felt that Palmerston's words were indeed reasonable, and at this time another piece of good news came.

"France has decided to send troops!" a cabinet member shouted excitedly.

In history, it was the French who sent troops that scared away the Dutch and allowed Belgium to gain true independence. At this time, France decided to send troops, and it must be ready to fight to the end with the German Confederation.

The cabinet members all analyzed in this way. The London stock market soared the next day, and businessmen celebrated like crazy. Even Lionel Rothschild, who had been standing still before, began to make big moves.

The machines in the world's factories began to run at full speed. Faced with too many orders to be filled, the factory owners raised their workers' wages one after another to get a share of the next feast.

France, Paris, Palace of the Duelleries.

Louis-Philippe frowned at the envoy from Vienna.

"Does your country mean to let me occupy my son-in-law's territory?"

"No, just place him under your protection. The new Grand Duchy of Belgium will have only French-speaking inhabitants, who will accept French laws and be led by you and your son-in-law."

Johann von Weissenborn briefly served as Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire in history, but at this time he was just an unknown diplomat.

Although Louis-Philippe was very displeased on the surface, he was relieved in his heart. The speed of the opponent's advancement is surprising, and their occupation of Belgium is an extra layer of meaning.

This land used to be called the Austrian Netherlands, and the reason why Louis Philippe wavered before was because he was afraid that the Austrians would want to relive the old dream. If they were allowed to build an enclave in front of their own house, wouldn't it make the whole of France sleepless?

However, this time Austria proposed quite generous conditions, only to return the territory of Luxembourg and turn Liege into a free trade zone.

And our side will get the Walloon territory except Liege and West Luxembourg~lightnovelpub.net~ This is more than one million educated and high-quality population; there are rich coal and iron resources on it, which makes France covet Three feet.

The condition offered by the other side of the strait is to transfer Luxembourg to France after defeating the German Confederation, and to allow the establishment of a French-Belgian customs union. Compared with the two, it is obvious that the promise made by the Austrians is much more affordable.

If they really sent troops rashly as requested by the British, I am afraid that the first batch of French troops entering Wallonia would have become prisoners at this time.

Although France is expanding wildly at this time, its strength is actually stretched. The French invested a lot in the colonies, and they could rely on those bankers at first, but the disadvantages appeared over time.

Except for Texas, the French colonies are losing money. One is that the input and output are not proportional, and the other is that the maintenance cost is staggering.

All of this is of course due to the obstruction of Britain and the United States behind the scenes. If France really chooses to fight to the end with the German Confederation at this time, I am afraid that Louis Philippe will follow in the footsteps of Louis XVI within a few months. Hollowed out, the whole law is relying on debt to survive.

Of course, it is due to the fact that the method is very concealed. Many powers do not know the emptiness in France, including Franz, so he will not stop working to provoke the conflict between the two powers of Britain and France. He does not know that France today Already stretched and exhausted.

All-out war with the German Confederation? Louis-Philippe would definitely not make such a choice, and he was still thinking about how to use political means to keep Belgium.

Fortunately, the Austrians have found a solution for him now, just as someone just gave him a pillow when he was going to rest; but the "kind-hearted" Louis-Philippe still pretended to be reluctant and divided Belgium with tears.