Chapter 83

"What! Shepstone commanded a mixed formation of 10,000 regular troops and 1,000 indigenous troops, but they were defeated when they attacked the Zulu Kingdom, and fewer than 2,000 people fled back to the British colonies.

Except for the 4,300 people who were captured, all the others died in the war. Shep Stone was a waste. We arranged such a fat man for him in vain. "

Queen Victoria now has the heart of wanting to kill Shep Stone. A good Governor of the Cape of Good Hope has done this. This is not to find an excuse for those who are dissatisfied with the current government cabinet and the royal family to fire him and his wife. attack them?

"Now things are getting more and more confusing. Your Excellency Russell and the Viscount, how can you say that the Zulu Kingdom is so bold and dares to challenge the United Kingdom?

What is he going to do? Aren't they afraid of arousing our anger and causing the whole of the UK to do everything in their power to directly wipe out all their citizens from the whole world? "

The 43-year-old Queen Victoria had a slightly plump figure because of the birth of nine children, so when she patted the table angrily, she brought a hint of amorous feelings, and her round face flushed angrily.

During this time, she was dizzy. The Belgian civil strife, the Franco-Hoppe alliance, and the Dutch-Russian territorial transaction had already forced her to stand up to these challenges in less than three months after losing her husband.

This made her dissatisfied, but now even a small native country has dared to declare war on the dignified British Empire. All the British people, including her, have suppressed the anger they have been holding for this period of time. It exploded at this moment.

So they agreed to Shep Stone's attack at that time, but in less than 10 days, 11,000 British soldiers formed an army, and it was like being sent to people to be slaughtered, and it was easily gone.

Two out of ten is a disgrace to the British Empire.

She is also dissatisfied that other European countries have used a sarcastic tone in the news reports of various countries to treat the fiasco suffered by the United Kingdom in southern Africa this time, which has always been promoted by Queen Victoria. are inconsistent with European policy.

This was another blow to her.

She absolutely does not want to see a connected and united European Union, because this is the biggest threat and nightmare for the British Isles, which are isolated overseas.

In short, now she feels a headache when she thinks of this.

Now, thinking about what happened recently, it seems that William IV has a lot to do with him, and as a result, his previous goodwill towards Holland has also diminished.

As Her Majesty the Queen of the British Empire, Queen Victoria was just complaining. She thought about it, looked at the Minister of Defense William Mitt next to her, and said, "How is our military strength in Southern Africa now?"

Mitt had already memorized this, listening to Queen Victoria's question, with a solemn response unique to a soldier on his face: "Originally there were 15,000 regular troops and 3,000 indigenous troops, but now there are only 5,000 left behind. The 2,000 or so escaped from Minghe, a total of 7,000 regular troops, plus 2,000 indigenous troops, a total of 9,000 troops."

"What about the indigenous troops in the Zulu Kingdom?"

Hearing the Queen's question, Mitt sighed, "The Zulu Kingdom lost less than 1,500 people in this battle."

Speaking of which, seeing the Queen, Prime Minister Palmerston and Foreign Secretary Russell, etc. are not very good-looking.

In his heart, he mourned for his comrades in the army, and continued to sigh: "The army of the Zulu Kingdom has 30,000 people, and all of them participated in the war this time."

"That is, in a 1-3 situation, we lost the war?"

When Queen Victoria heard the comparison of the number of people who participated in the war, her face finally looked better, and it was better one to three, not too embarrassing to lose.

However, her anger did not diminish at the thought that southern Africa had lost an average military force all of a sudden.

But she was helpless, because after thinking about it for a while, she thought of the mood of the British people. What the people of the British Empire want most is to win a big game, so as to restore the country's prestige and make the British no longer be ridiculed by European countries. .

Originally, the British walked on the soil of various European countries over the years. They were enviable objects, flattering objects, and carefully treated objects. Now, with the feedback she received, Europeans began to respect the British people no longer. , has been delegated to an equal position.

"If this incident in the Zulu Kingdom is not handled well, the government may fall, and our royal family will suffer a huge risk of reputational damage. Everyone, everyone here is the most visionary in our British Empire, and now is the time to come. When it's time for me to serve the country, please tell me what you think."

"Your Majesty, I think this incident is a little strange."

It was Russell who spoke, and Russell's gloomy face said:

"Zulu Kingdom actually chose to kill all the negotiators when we sent people to negotiate with him, and even chose to do so; Etucheng, what a contradictory thing, I think it's unreasonable to think about it. , there are many contradictions."

"What do you mean?" The angry Queen Victoria was woken up and realized that something was wrong.

Yes, the Zulu Kingdom has always been respectful to Britain before, for fear that Britain would destroy them, but now it is better to attack the United Kingdom on its own initiative. This is an incredible move.

"Your Majesty, I think there must be some inside story, it's not that we know the inside story."

John Russell: "There are many people who are dissatisfied with us. Maybe it is not impossible for our opponent to provoke the Zulu Kingdom to provoke the authority of the British Empire."

Suck!

Suck it up!

Everyone was shocked by Russell's idea. Is there a country that has secretly attacked Britain?

is it possible? Who doesn't know that the UK is the most powerful country in the world, that country dares to be so presumptuous and provocative to the UK, isn't that the rhythm of courting death?

Only an indigenous kingdom like the Zulu Kingdom would do such a thing.

How dare any European country.

So these questions were put in front of Russell.

However, he replied: "One country naturally dare not, but what if there are three countries?"

Hearing this, everyone including Queen Victoria was shocked by his guess.

The Fapuho of the Three-Power Agreement Alliance?

"They actually cooperated to such a degree?" Queen Victoria asked gloomily.

But who is Russell? He is a famous British politician who has been a British Prime Minister. He is known as the four kings of Britain with Palmerston and Stanley and Peel of the Tory Party. He has been a trend-setter in British politics for 30 years. , they control the development route of the United Kingdom. Even Queen Victoria can only learn politics from them. These four people can be regarded as her true mentors. Russell is famous for his political sensitivity.

At this time, the Viscount Palmerston said slowly: "There is nothing impossible in this world, even a character like Napoleon I has been defeated, not to mention that he has signed a contract in black and white. ."

"Your Majesty, let's get ready as soon as possible. These three countries will be a challenge for Britain in the next period of time."

"Then I don't know, how is Your Excellency the Viscount going to deal with it?"

Palmerston did not answer, but gave the opportunity to Russell next to him.

Russell understood, "Britain's balance of power diplomacy will not change. This has been the basis of the Tories and Whigs for decades, and we should naturally continue to uphold it.

However, since these three countries have formed an alliance, in order to check and balance them, we, the United Kingdom, can also use another alliance to deal with them, fight fire with fire, and continue to balance the power of the European continent."

"Then I don't know who Lord Russell's balance of power is. You must know these three countries, but they are not weak?" It was Minister of Defense Mitt who spoke.

Russell asked, "How about Austria?"

Mitte: "Austria is good, but it's better than the other. Austria is stronger than Prussia, but France is slightly better."

Russell said with a smile: "Then with the support of our British Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia changed its name this year and almost unified the Apennine Peninsula, Italy."

"It remains to be seen how powerful this Italy will be, but I estimate that it should not be as good as Prussia, but don't forget Your Excellency Russell, Italy and Austria are still quarreling over Venice.

Based on my years of experience in the military, the Kingdom of Italy should be about the same strength as the Netherlands, and if it wants to overwhelm the tripartite agreement, there is still one country that can overwhelm France."

When Russell heard the words, his eyes lit up, and he spoke the name of the third country in an astonishing way. Everyone present was shocked when they heard it.

How could it be!