Chapter 60 Britain enters the game
London, England.
The British Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne, is planning the coronation of the famous Queen Victoria, who will be crowned in Westminster Abbey a year later.
The Queen has just ascended the throne and the whole country is still in chaos.
Palmerston took a letter, opened it, glanced at it twice, and then threw the letter heavily to the ground.
"These damn bastards should exile all French emperors to St. Helena Island!"
Viscount Melbourne glanced at Palmerston and smiled.
"Mr. Palmerston, please be happy when Her Majesty has just ascended the throne. Don't let the Queen think that we don't welcome her when she sees it. The British Empire is not afraid of any challenge. Let's put it aside beforehand."
Palmerston handed the letter to Viscount Melbourne angrily. As soon as Viscount Melbourne opened the letter, his blood pressure soared and he wanted to tear the letter into pieces immediately.
"Don't tear it up, Her Majesty the Queen hasn't read it yet," Palmerston reminded.
Viscount Melbourne had no choice but to retract his hand angrily, but he really didn't expect that the Spanish would actually marry the French, and the object of the marriage would still be the young Her Majesty the Queen.
"We must never accept the emergence of such a behemoth in Europe. This is not in the interests of the British Empire!" Viscount Melbourne said.
"That's natural, we have no choice," replied Palmerston.
"What's the Russian reaction?" Viscount Melbourne asked.
"Tsar Nicholas I was very angry at first because it reminded him of the Napoleonic Empire that burned Moscow. But his advisers reminded him that the combination of France and Spain would leave us Britain with no time to look east, so that the Russian Empire could monopolize The legacy of the Ottoman Empire."
The "Oriental Question", which competed for the Ottoman Empire's legacy, became the theme of European diplomacy in the nineteenth century. Turkey and its territories including the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, and North Africa are located on the route from the European continent to the Middle East and Asia, and their strategic position is extremely important.
The Balkans and the Mediterranean region are rich in coal, iron, cotton and other resources, and are a favorable sales market and source of raw materials. Britain regarded the Ottoman Empire as the object of its expansion into the Middle East and the focus of competition with the Tsar.
The other two focus areas that Britain and Russia competed for were Afghanistan and the Qing Dynasty.
The representative figure of the Russian threat theory is Lord Palmerston. Naturally, he will not let go of this opportunity to smear Russia, because he also wants to implement his anti-Russian plan around the world.
"Damn Russians." Viscount Melbourne did not comment too much on the Tsarist government because he himself did not want to go to war with the Tsar.
"What about Austria's attitude?"
"Austria? You know, their emperor, sort of, our ambassador doesn't think highly of him. As for the regent council, they don't care about international affairs at all, they only care about themselves." Palmerston replied.
"It's not like there's no reply at all." Palmerston's tone was a little awkward when he spoke.
"What did they say!"
"Archduke Franz Karl said he was going to attend the wedding of Isabella II and Prince Antoine."
"Really! Idiots! One is six years old and the other is twelve years old. Doesn't he have common sense?" Viscount Melbourne said.
Palmerston and the Viscount Melbourne were silent for a while.
"Then they just sit back and watch the monster France and Spain emerge?!" Viscount Melbourne asked.
"At least from now on, there is no movement. Prime Minister, why don't you ask Prussia?"
"Their opinions don't matter."
"Okay, Prime Minister. In fact, King William IV of Prussia sent a protest to France and Spain." Palmerston shrugged. "But no one cares."
"Where's Carlos?" Viscount Melbourne asked.
"Still hiding in the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain, after the death of General Suramar, the Carlist army was in disarray. At its peak, the Carlist army had 70,000 soldiers, but now it is probably less than 20,000." Palmerston answer.
"In this way, you send someone to contact Carlos and tell him that we are willing to fund him. But Spain must remain neutral and cannot ally with France."
Spain, Pyrenees.
"Damn it! Damn it! I never proposed to Louis Philippe that my heir should marry the Princess of Orléans. Why don't you believe me? This is a conspiracy of the pseudo-queen. They are slandering me and trying to destroy me. reputation."
Carlos was roaring hysterically, but Carlos' generals and staff fell silent.
Some people can't help but wonder, "Is the throne of France not as important as your reputation? We would rather this be true. Now that Queen Regent Christina has joined forces with France, is there any hope for the Carlists?"
"Damn it, the puppet queen is allied with Louis Philippe, and their purpose of writing this letter is to humiliate us! Really, right? Marotto."
The pseudo-queen refers to Queen Regent Christina.
Rafael Maroto was Carlos's most trusted general, but at this time he never broke off contact with the Queen Regent. But he did it very secretly, making Carlos think he was his strongest supporter.
Historically, it was this Rafael Marotto who killed the main generals of the Carlos faction and personally cut off Carlos' hope.
"Your Majesty, I know you have worked very hard. There is no need for you to hide this fact. I think that for your throne, all necessary means can be taken."
"Shut up! Maroto! I tell you! I have never asked for a marriage to the Orleans family, and I will never let my son marry a woman from the Orleans family! They will only pollute the blood of my family!"
The Carlist generals had no choice but to look at each other. In fact, most of the generals hoped that Carlos would let his eldest son marry Louis Philippe's daughter, so that at least he could retain the hope of neutralizing the French.
But at this time, Carlos denied it as if he was possessed, which really disappointed his generals.
Especially Maroto, who had long planned to give up Carlos and surrender to Queen Regent Cristina.
It was only now that Carlos's supporters still accounted for the majority in the army, so he had to endure it.
A general said, "Your Majesty, the French have closed the border and refused to sell us food and medicine. If this continues, it won't be long before our supplies are exhausted, and we will be really finished by then."
"There is also news that the French are already gathering troops. They are preparing to cooperate with the puppet queen's army to completely trap us in the mountains." Another general said.
In the four years since he started his army, Carlos had never shown any military talent, and this time was no exception. He just sat slumped in his chair.
At this time, the Spanish government forces had assembled 50,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, preparing to cooperate with the French to completely wipe out the remaining Carlist forces entrenched in the Pyrenees.
In fact, the total strength of the Spanish government army has reached 250,000. However, due to tyranny and natural disasters over the years, uprisings have continued throughout Spain. Sufficient local forces must be retained to suppress uprisings that occur from time to time.
This time, Queen Regent Christiana sent her most trusted generals and most powerful troops, hoping to cooperate with the French to completely eliminate the threat of Carlos.
However, the French commander in charge of this operation, Lieutenant General Pierre, received orders to cooperate with the Spanish in fighting.
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