【War court and knee pillow, Austria's destiny】【】

Schönbrunn Palace, Franz Study.

"Okay, let's put this aside for a moment. Are there any new moves by the British?"

"As you might expect, the Red Shirts spent almost astronomical sums in Kabul. Moreover, the Afghans simply don't keep their promises. No matter how many times the British pay protection fees, they will be plundered by local tribes."

Adjani still admires Franz's judgment. After all, Britain is a so-called harvester of backward civilization, and almost no country can benefit from them.

This set of "pull one faction, fight another faction" and "open the door, free trade, and send civilization!" I don't know how many countries and nations have perished or knocked on the door of many markets. It can be said that it has been tried and tested.

This time, the emir supported by the British not only cannot control the situation in Afghanistan, but even his own safety depends on the protection of outsiders.

With the progress of the Anglo-Afghan War, the Sequoia Army, which once wrestled with Napoleon, who was Megatron in Europe, has completely lost the momentum of the early war.

At first the British succeeded in capturing Kabul with overwhelming force, even arresting Dost Mohammad and taking him to India under house arrest with few casualties on their side.

Because the victory came so easily, most British officers and soldiers quickly reveled in enjoyment and merrymaking. They even arranged entertainment such as cricket and horse racing and hunting in the city.

One night, the officers of the East India Company took their wives to a lively party as usual, enjoying the delicious Madeira white wine while watching performances including A Midsummer Night's Dream attentively.

But at this time, on the other side of the world.

Central Asia, the capital of an ancient kingdom.

An officer wearing a white jacket and black shorts got up from the bed and walked to the study in the middle of the night, then stared blankly at the giant map on the wall.

Yes, they have taken all the major cities, and only 200 people were killed to take the capital. Recalling the past made me feel like falling into an ice cave now trapped in this former palace.

Who would have thought that the situation after the conquest took a turn for the worse, and at least 2,000 casualties were paid in the three months after the occupation alone, so that not long ago, they were forced to pay the robbers "road money" to restore the supply line.

This sounds really ironic, how can a winner be coerced by a loser into making huge concessions.

A convoy of 300 people was easily ambushed while traveling along the Burr Pass, and all the 150 peaks were lost, and all the escorting soldiers were executed if they did not fall.

And now the British Empire actually wants to do business with their enemies. But even so, those indigenous tribes who received protection fees did not do anything with the money, and the safety of the transportation team was still not guaranteed. People report to God every day, and maybe it will be their turn soon.

After thinking about it, the officer had a headache, so he simply threw the map and the battle report into the brazier, opened the wine bottle, and woke up the dancing girl who was already asleep on the bed to continue to live and dream.

"Continue to be happy with me!...."

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, Franz's Study

"Very well done. The next thing we need to do is to fight a war without gunpowder. Yes, it is a propaganda war. Remember that this time you must highlight the fact that the Afghans took the initiative to attack the British convoy and brutally killed the hostages."

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【War court and knee pillow, Austria's destiny】【】

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Adjani didn't quite understand Franz's instructions, because the former emphasized the importance of Afghanistan's geographical location more than once; it is located at the crossroads of Central Asia, and it is a strategic location that can be attacked and defended. .

"Aren't you doing this to promote the British? Those gentlemen in the upper and lower houses of parliament will definitely put pressure on Whitehall. Isn't there no reason to withdraw troops from Afghanistan? When the time comes, they will calm down and use Afghanistan As a springboard, you can invade the Qing Dynasty in the east, pass through Persia in the west, and directly threaten the hinterland of Russia in the north..."

Franz did understand Adjani's worries, but the conquerors who tried to annex this mountainous country in history did not end well, even the Mongol Empire did not get the slightest benefit from it.

Afghanistan is a veritable graveyard of empires. Starting from the Alexander Empire, the Persian Empire, Datang, Mongolia, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, every world hegemon could not do anything to it in the end.

Of course, the main reason is not the tenacity of this nation or the steep terrain. In fact, there is only one word at the core - that is poverty. The barren land in its territory has too low carrying capacity, so invaders often need to bring their own supplies to supply the army.

In addition, the most important point is that this area is extremely devoid of valuable goods, which means that there is no item worth looting at all. To sum up, the maintenance cost of occupation after taking here is too high.

Although it has always been regarded as a strategic location, the topography and climatic conditions in Afghanistan are extremely complex; various defects such as mountains, deserts, and inconvenient transportation have weakened the core ruling power, so it is difficult to form a tradition of centralization. The infrastructure construction is almost blank, making it difficult for the aggressors to carry out effective raids by force.

"If conditions permit, I really hope that the British will be stuck in the Afghan swamp forever, so that we can free up enough time and energy to deal with their lackeys."

Not long ago, "Balkan Lu Bu" Milosh Obrenovic, with the help of the British both bright and dark, basically quelled the chaos in Serbia, and now it has become the biggest trouble in the eastern border of Austria.

"Grand Duke Franz, I can't understand why you are so afraid of the Serbs? After the civil war, they have been severely damaged, and the empire has deployed a full 80,000 troops in the Belgrade area.

And those guys on the opposite side have less than 20,000 soldiers, and they have almost no cannons, and they are even so shabby that several soldiers share a gun. "

"Miss Adjani, maybe you have heard this fable that when a mosquito bites someone, it only makes his arm a bag; and killing a mosquito is just a slap, but some people will not take the initiative because of this hit it?

What's more, this kind of pest may also be a carrier of deadly germs. No one wants to be bitten by it while walking in their back garden, do you think so? "

Adjani has always been unimpressed with Franz's overly vivid metaphors. Wallachia, Moldavia, Sardinia, the Papal States, and Ottomans are all mosquitos around, so why didn't he take the initiative to attack them?

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【War court and knee pillow, Austria's destiny】【】

After thinking about it, as a qualified subordinate, she still kept this question in her heart. "Well, I hope you don't get your hands dirty when you beat the mosquitoes. The editors of The Times should like this news very much, after all, it will not violate their conscience."

"Then how much is their conscience worth?" Franz, who was rarely relaxed recently, teased.

"Maybe between 50 and 100. If it is Mr. Thomas Barnes, it will be more, about 200 pounds." Adjani couldn't help laughing.

Thomas Barnes is a very important editor-in-chief in the history of The Times, and he and John Derain are called the two editor-in-chiefs of the newspaper.

During Barnes' tenure, The Times successfully became one of the most important mainstream media in the UK. He paid special attention to editorials, believing that they had dual functions of leading and reflecting public opinion.

Not only that, he is also very good at leading editorials, so "The Times" has gained great authority, even reaching the level of influencing the promotion of officials and the general election of political parties.

Because of this, many individuals and groups often bribe the editors of the newspaper in order to obtain a better image and a more open career.

At that time, the status of journalists was not high, and their salaries were low. Faced with the constant temptation, it was naturally impossible to hold back their hearts, so taking bribes and writing articles became one of the traditions of The Times.

They can even disregard facts and disregard their own interests for money, such as the famous "Gaosheng Incident" in the Sino-Japanese War.