Chapter 190: The French Retreat

"Ambassador Edward, Ambassador Halpert, our side came to these negotiations with great sincerity. However, if the British have no sincerity at all, then I'm afraid these negotiations will be difficult. This meeting can be concluded," Talleyrand said, looking at Halpert and Edward.

"Well then! To show the sincerity of the British Empire, my country can waive the compensation for our fallen soldiers. How about that?" Edward proposed.

Talleyrand shook his head. "Ambassador Edward, I think I have made myself very clear. The Netherlands is our territory. The presence of British soldiers in the Netherlands is an act of aggression, and their deaths are entirely the fault of the British government."

Watching Talleyrand's resolute expression, Halpert and Edward both looked extremely displeased. From Talleyrand's words, they could tell that the French government completely regarded the Netherlands as their own territory. With this stance, it would be very difficult for Britain to achieve its goal of Dutch independence.

"Your Excellency Talleyrand, Ambassador Edward, it's normal to have disagreements in negotiations. Both sides should show some sincerity, which will help the negotiations to continue," Halpert intervened as a peacemaker.

"No, Your Excellency Ambassador Halpert. There should be no disagreement on this issue, because the Netherlands is indisputably French territory. I assume your ambassador also wouldn't want the Irish issue brought up for negotiation, would he?" Talleyrand retorted to Edward.

"You..." Mentioning the Irish issue, Edward suddenly felt choked up, his face turning red but unable to speak.

Ireland had always been an unstable factor for Britain. Although both the Irish and the British lived on the British Isles, they were like water and fire, fundamentally opposed. The root cause was Britain's persistent intention to annex Ireland.

This situation persisted until the Industrial Revolution, which gave Britain the opportunity to greatly increase its national strength. It was then that the British military defeated the Irish army and annexed the island of Ireland.

Even so, resistance in Ireland has been constant and sporadic, never ceasing. This made it an unstable factor within Britain. Hence, Talleyrand brought up the Irish issue.

Sure enough, after hearing about Ireland, Edward's face became extremely ugly, as if he had eaten shit.

"No, Ireland is different from the Netherlands. They cannot be equated," Edward said angrily after a long pause.

"Why are they different? What's the difference between them?" Talleyrand mocked, responding with a question.

"Well then, Ambassador Edward, I think we should focus on some substantive issues. After all, the British army is still holding out in Middelburg. If we take too long in negotiations, they may not hold out that long. You should know how strong our army is," Talleyrand said.

"The British army is strong too! Especially the navy. The French army has no chance against the British navy of the British Empire," Edward retorted.

"Then let's just stalemate! The French government and the French people can endure," Talleyrand responded excitedly.

"Alright, alright. Adjourn! Let's adjourn temporarily," Halpert shouted as he stood up.

Edward and Talleyrand were both too emotionally charged at this point, and Halpert had no choice but to resort to this method.

At this moment, Halpert was beginning to regret. Should he have intervened in this assignment at all? It seemed very difficult for negotiations between England and France to continue. If the negotiations failed and war broke out again, would the Netherlands, wedged between the Netherlands and France, get involved? After all, the Netherlands and the Netherlands are adjacent.

If the war really spread to the territory of the Netherlands, then Halpert, as the active facilitator of these negotiations, would not fare well.

So, after the temporary adjournment, Halpert immediately found French Ambassador Talleyrand and began discussing with him.

"Ambassador Talleyrand, it seems that this approach may not work," Halpert began.

"Do you want us to lower our conditions?" Seeing that Talleyrand did not speak, Halpert cautiously suggested.

"Well, my country can agree not to deploy the navy within the Netherlands. The reason why the British are like a cat on a hot tin roof is because they are worried that our country will also deploy the navy within the Netherlands and threaten Britain," Talleyrand said.

The situation had indeed become tense. Neither side could overpower the other, and negotiations were the best option. Due to the superiority of the British navy, the British navy could freely strike coastal cities in France. Compared with the losses caused by the British navy, the achievement of annihilating the British army in Middelburg was not as impressive as it had been.

Therefore, to avoid greater losses, the French government is willing to negotiate, even if it means sacrificing some interests. As long as the loss of those interests is not too great, France can accept it.

Furthermore, the position of Middelburg is rather awkward. It is too close to England, which has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the Netherlands is very close to England, right under their noses. If France deploys its navy there, it would only take half a day for the French navy to reach England and catch them off guard.

However, there is a cost to being under the nose of the English. They can monitor the Netherlands at any time. With the powerful British navy, as long as the French navy makes any move in the Netherlands, the British can easily find out.

Therefore, deploying a naval base here may not be the best choice. Since this is the case, it would be better to use the Dutch naval base as a condition to pressure the British into making concessions.

"Oh! Really? That's great. I believe that with your country making such concessions, the British will definitely back down," Haarlepete said with a smile upon hearing Talulang's words.

This time, the French did indeed step back, and it wasn't a small step. I believe that with this step back from the French, the negotiations will definitely proceed smoothly.

"Please wait a moment. I will go find Ambassador Edward to tell him the good news. I believe the British will back down this time," Haarlepete said eagerly.

With that, Haarlepete left in a hurry. Seeing this, Talulang just smiled and said nothing.

At the same time, in another conference room, Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Ambassador, also wore a face of concern. With the war dragging on, both the French and even domestically in Britain, there was immense pressure. Prior to his arrival, King George III and Prime Minister William Pitt had exerted pressure on him as well. Just as Talulang had mentioned, if the twenty thousand British troops were annihilated in the Netherlands, the soldiers' families and the War Office would undoubtedly pressure the Cabinet immensely. At that point, the angry populace might indeed overthrow the government. As such, this "incompetent" Foreign Ambassador might be scapegoated by the government. 

While the government was eager to end the war, he couldn't sign overly humiliating treaties. At the very least, the end of the war must be on equal terms with France. He could imagine if he did sign a treaty unfavorable to Britain, not only would his conscience be troubled, but the British government wouldn't spare him either.

"Sigh!" 

Suddenly, the door of the conference room creaked open, and in walked the Dutch Ambassador Haarlepete.

"Haarlepete?" Edward exclaimed in confusion. Wasn't it supposed to be a recess now? Why was Haarlepete looking for him?

"Ambassador Edward, I have good news to tell you. The French have backed down," Haarlepete said, his face filled with excitement, in stark contrast to Edward's puzzled expression. He hurried over to Edward and said to him.

"What? The French have backed down? Is this true? What kind of concessions have they made?"