Chapter 336

On September 3, 1867, the Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Siam and the Netherlands and President of the International Hague Court, Ross, held a high-profile joint press conference in Bangkok. When Rama IV faced newspaper reporters from all over the world, he was a victim as a victim. With a serious face, he offered to meet with Napoleon III to seek an end to the war, but he warned that if the Siamese civilians besieged in eastern Cambodia were killed by the French Empire, and that the French Empire carried out any large-scale expropriation of the occupied areas , the Kingdom of Siam will withdraw from negotiations with the French Empire.

Rama IV reiterated at the Bangkok press conference that day that he was willing to meet the great Napoleon III directly. He even suggested that Napoleon III could visit Bangkok to meet him. Even Rama IV expressed bitterly that in the case of ensuring safety, He was willing to go to Paris for talks, but Ross there offered to provide venues, such as Amsterdam, or Jakarta in the Far East, or Sydney or Melbourne in Australia, or even Darwin.

Rama IV pondered for a while, and naturally agreed with the proposal of the Dutch minister to meet the head of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, an international organization.

He shouted to newspaper reporters from all over the world that the people of Siam had shown on the battlefield that they were not afraid of the invading French Empire's army.

Ross told reporters that he would push His Majesty the Kingdom of Siam to take any opportunity to negotiate with the French Empire until the end of the war. "There are diplomatic and military solutions, so any healthy and sane person will choose the diplomatic approach, because he knows that even if it is difficult, it may save lives."

Ross expressed emotionally at the press conference that he believed that the French Empire might have the possibility of a national war in the West when Napoleon III lost his mind, but he did not want to believe that it would actually happen.

He warned with a slight threat that if that was the case, the Kingdom of Siam would get more help, and the Kingdom of Siam would get more weapons, absolutely crucial. "Once countries provide the Kingdom of Siam with enough advanced weapons, believe me, the Kingdom of Siam will recapture more temporarily occupied territories than it can afford."

Immediately after hearing this, Rama IV expressed his gratitude to Ross and the Netherlands behind him in front of everyone. The two of them also confirmed that the members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and countries including the Netherlands will meet within a week. The Kingdom of Siam will provide further financial assistance support.

After Ross, the British Governor of India, Sir John Laird Meyer Lawrence, also visited Bangkok. On behalf of the United Kingdom, he expressed his support for the current invasion of the Kingdom of Siam against the invasion. He said that the United Kingdom would cooperate with the Hague International Together, they are willing to provide security protection for the Kingdom of Siam, and resolutely oppose the invasion of the Kingdom of Siam by the French Empire in Southeast Asia.

In addition, the governor said, the British would send a team of officers to Bangkok to teach combat training to the Kingdom of Siam.

For this, Rama IV naturally expressed his gratitude.

However, some people are happy and some people are not happy.

The French Empire's foreign minister, Edmund Drouin de Luis, said in a public speech in Paris that in the military operations of the Kingdom of Siam, the great French Empire army has entered the second stage, and the first stage has already taken control of Cambodia The entire eastern part has been completed, and the second stage goal is to fully control the entire central and southern parts of the Cambodian region of the Kingdom of Siam, and has also won the eastern part of the central and southern parts. He even pointed out the strategic significance of it.

The foreign minister of the French Empire said that the goal of the French Empire was to fully control the central and southern parts of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Siam.

Regarding the controlled eastern areas and the central and southern eastern areas, Edmund Drouin de Luis stated that Paris knew the content of Rama IV's meeting with Ross, and he was concerned about Rama IV's request not to kill civilians. The move is very agreeable, he said: "The French army established a corridor to the east of the Kingdom of Siam, allowing these people to leave the east and the center and live where they wanted to go, and the French Empire was even willing to send troops to protect him when he arrived at the war. border area."

He also said that if the southern part of the coast is completely occupied, the French Empire will move in the Far East naval fleet of the French Empire and station it to effectively protect the army at sea. Obviously, this is to remind the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and other countries not to try to get out of the sea. A move to support the Kingdom of Siam.

If the French Empire achieved this goal, the Kingdom of Siam would lose all its coastline in Cambodia. This is very critical to the battle situation there.

This is also the highest-level official statement of the French Empire so far, and it is also one of the most specific explanations. It also shows that the French Empire will not slow down its offensive in the eastern and southern parts of the Kingdom of Siam in the short term, and it also shows that the French Empire is not subject to the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands. The influence of the visit of President Ross of the International Court of Justice in The Hague even made his own goals public.

I have to say that a big country is a big country, and doing things is just one word - hanging.

In this regard, Rama IV expressed dissatisfaction in Bangkok, which exposed the great imperialism of the French Empire.

Asked in Jakarta, the Dutch East Indies, of his opinion, Ross, who has left Bangkok, the Kingdom of Siam, said: The French Empire's invasion of the Kingdom of Siam is just the beginning, and it intends to invade other countries as well.

Even the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassador of the French Empire to the Netherlands on the same day. Countries that demanded support for the Kingdom of Siam also summoned the French ambassador to express their dissatisfaction. Other countries have also joined the Dutch team one after another.

The British Foreign Office said the UK firmly supports the Dutch approach and supports the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Siam.

The coming weeks could be decisive, with the French Empire likely to significantly increase its offensive against companies in the middle of the kingdom of Siam, a senior official in the Hague International Court of Justice said.

He said that the statement of the diplomat of the French Empire has put an end to the possibility of everyone guessing that the French Empire will end the war. Everyone has to admit that the ambitions of the French Empire are far more than the current achievements. Their ambitions are even bigger. Therefore, All countries are preparing for more sanctions on the French Empire in order to support the Kingdom of Siam.

At the same time, he also said that if possible, the Netherlands would be willing to sell state-of-the-art weapons to the Kingdom of Siam at some point in the future.

When asked if it included the most wanted steam battleships of the Kingdom of Siam, the Dutch diplomat did not give a clear answer, but said that the Netherlands would judge the nature of arms sales based on it and said that everything is possible.