Chapter 1308 Taking advantage of the situation

The United States' entry into the Allied camp will inevitably have a new impact on the subsequent world structure, and this will require East Africa to make new judgments and arrangements for future development.

Defense Minister Pripyat said: "With the joining of the United States, the strength of the Allied Powers has greatly increased. Even if Russia withdraws from the war, it will bring huge pressure to the Allies."

"According to our predictions, the next war between the two major camps will further move towards a competition of attrition and foundation. Unless the Allies can achieve successive victories militarily like they did on the Eastern Front, they will have to compete with the Allied Powers in terms of materials and national strength. Attrition, the Allies will eventually be at a disadvantage."

If you look at industry alone, the Allies are actually not weak. However, the Allied Powers, Britain and France, control more overseas colonies and have sufficient supplies of materials and energy. After the United States joined the Allied Powers, the industrial disadvantage of the Allied Powers camp was completely reversed.

Therefore, there is only one way left for the Allies, and that is to quickly open up the situation militarily. Whether it is the Western Front or the Eastern Front, as long as they can break through the Allied blockade, it will greatly reduce the pressure on the Allies.

Although Russia has withdrawn from the war, this does not mean the end of the Eastern Front battlefield. Now the Eastern Front battlefield has moved further south than before, from the area bordering the Allies and Russia to the Balkan Peninsula to the Persian Gulf.

The main force on this front is the United Kingdom. Since the end of last year, the United Kingdom has attacked the Ottoman Empire from multiple directions. This is also the reason for the complete interruption of trade between East Africa and the Allied Powers.

In the north, the British actively wooed Romania, Montenegro, Greece and other countries and forces to maintain the Allied Powers' inferiority in the Balkans.

The reason why these countries turned to the United Kingdom was actually quite normal. After all, regardless of the Allied Powers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, or even Bulgaria, it was possible for these countries to disappear from the Balkan Peninsula.

At the same time, Britain's own attack on the Ottoman Empire was divided into three parts. The first was to seize Constantinople, the second was to unite with Egypt to attack the west coast of the Ottoman Empire from the Red Sea, and the third was to join forces with Persia to block the Persian Gulf.

This is basically the situation of the "New Eastern Front Battlefield". Compared with the original Eastern Front Battlefield, it is more scattered, but every place where the British strike is a focus.

Chief of General Staff Cristiano said: "Judging from the current war situation, the Allies should want to achieve the following goals. The first is to completely block the Allies within the encirclement and block them from obtaining war energy and industry from the outside. Access to raw materials, weapons and other strategic resources.”

"Among them, the Persian Gulf and the Dardanelles are key nodes, which can not only block the Ottoman Empire's external contacts, but also cut off the linkage between the Allies on this basis."

"The Ottoman Empire itself is the weakest, and at the same time it controls the Allies' external communication channels. Therefore, the Allied Powers regard the Ottoman Empire as the focus of the current stage of the war, which is greatly conducive to weakening the power of the Allies."

"The second point is to share the pressure on the Western Front battlefield. Now that Russia has withdrawn from the war, it means that the Allies' millions of troops on the Eastern Front can be invested in other battlefields."

"This will put great pressure on France and Britain, so opening up more battlefields on the eastern front, especially with the help of the terrain of the Balkan Peninsula, can better deal with and contain the Allied forces."

"The third point is to enhance the confidence of the Allied camp. Russia's withdrawal from the war is a huge blow to the Allied camp. Launching a new round of offensive will help consolidate its allies' optimism about the war."

"This also means that in the next two or three years, the war will be more brutal, and more countries will be involved in the battlefield. If the civil war in Russia is included, the entire Europe will become a battlefield."

In the current situation, it is no longer possible for Britain and France to continue to work without contributing, especially Britain. Britain's previous performance on the battlefield could only be considered satisfactory, and was far inferior to France and Russia, which were going all out.

Although the United States entered the Entente to repair the mess left after Russia's withdrawal, Britain and France obviously did not fully trust the United States.

After all, Russia and the Allied Powers were bordering each other before, and there was no possibility of reconciliation without a major hemorrhage on either side. But the United States is different. The United States and the entire Europe are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, which means that the United States has a way out.

The worst-case scenario is to withdraw from the war and continue to return to America to be a tortoise. Anyway, the Allies cannot attack the United States across the Atlantic. With the help of geographical advantages and the world's third-largest naval strength, the United States still has confidence in defending the mainland. This is also The reason why the United States dared to directly side with the Allies.

Moreover, over the years, the United States has become accustomed to entertaining itself in the Americas. If it were to be blocked, the situation would not be much worse.

After listening to the analysis of senior government officials, Ernst asked: "In this case, how do you think we in East Africa will respond to today's international changes?"

Cristiano said: "Your Majesty, I think we should speed up negotiations with the United Kingdom on the division of power in the Indian Ocean. The French have set an example before, but the British have always been timid and insincere."

"Today, the UK's cutting off of trade in the Persian Gulf is itself harmful to the interests of East Africa, and the British government has never given us a satisfactory answer to this."

"So flexing our military muscles in real time will also allow Britain to compromise with the Empire where necessary."

The UK's ability to cut off the Persian Gulf trade route must have gone through multiple rounds of political and diplomatic games with the East African government.

After all, without the acquiescence of East Africa, the British would not have been able to attack the Basra area of ​​the Ottoman Empire so successfully.

This kind of game is mainly reflected in psychology. Any improper operation may lead to changes in the regional structure. This kind of psychological game at the national level is the norm in international exchanges.

Of course, this can also be understood as a political gamble, especially between the political and diplomatic activities of small countries and big countries.

Cristiano said: "Although we have not taken action in the Indian Ocean, this does not mean that there should be no gains in East Africa."

"In particular, Britain's military operations in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, as well as the previous British blockade of the Suez Canal, Gibraltar, etc., have really harmed imperial interests."

"On this point, Britain must give the empire a satisfactory answer. The most important of which is to redefine the sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean, especially strategic locations such as the Seychelles. It is best to negotiate with the United Kingdom and fall into the hands of the empire to further consolidate Imperial Strategic Security in the Indian Ocean.”

Simply put, Cristiano's idea is to take advantage of Britain's current weakness in global strategy, and East Africa should gain some tangible benefits.

Ernst agreed with Cristiano's view: "Indeed, no matter how the war situation in Europe changes, the change in the post-war world structure will inevitably mean that the European victors will once again dominate the European order and rely on Europe to suppress other regions. "

"We are facing this problem, and the United States is probably the same, and this will test the strength of the empire. So from a pragmatic point of view, to ensure that the future development of the empire is not restricted by Europe, we should control more overseas colonies as a matter of course. ”

Nowadays, East Africa is in a strategically active position. This strategic position makes East Africa inevitably the target of the two camps. And it is this position that facilitates East Africa's extortion of the two camps. This is not like the United States. The United States has joined the war, so it can only go to hell with the Allied Powers.

At present, the Allies have basically nothing to offer that can attract tangible interests in East Africa. Among the Entente countries, France has performed well and stabilized East Africa through some territorial transactions.

Only the UK's sincerity is insufficient, so East Africa will show a tougher attitude in the next diplomatic activities with the UK.