Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 1147 - 161: Let Indians Defend India

Starting a war is always easy; ending it is difficult. This time was no exception. As the disadvantaged party, if Britannia wanted to withdraw from this war, she would inevitably have to pay a price.

The continuous bombing indeed lowered the morale of the British populace, but even lowered expectations couldn’t justify sacrificing their homeland.

Not to mention allowing Ireland, Scotland, and Wales independence— the British Government didn’t even want to relinquish control over India.

Despite their reluctance, politicians have always been unprincipled, and compromise was possible when necessary.

At the moment, the situation in India was disintegrating. Faced with the onslaught of millions from the Allied Forces, falling was merely a matter of time.

If it couldn’t be preserved, then compromise was possible. Of course, this was just a possibility; the prideful John Bull would not bow his head until the very last moment.

To force the British to surrender more quickly, on October 17, 1905, Franz ordered the combined fleet to head east into the Indian Ocean and fully launch the "Grand Battle of India."

London

Minister of India Hill: "Since August this year, the enemy has launched fierce attacks on India from both the east and the northwest; the situation is extremely precarious.

In the northwest, the enemy has already occupied Islamabad, and much of Pakistan has fallen; on the eastern front, they have occupied Burma and are now marching toward the Bay of Bengal.

The colonial government has tried everything, even going so far as to promise the Indians independence after the war to gain local support.

However, facing the enemy’s fierce attacks, we still seem powerless. What’s more, the enemy’s navy has now moved east, and it won’t be long before they open a third front from the sea.

According to the current situation, if we don’t receive reinforcements, we can only abandon the rich plains of the Indus River and the Ganges River, retreating to hold out in the Malwa Plateau."

The Indus River Plain and the Ganges River Plain are the heartlands of India; abandoning these regions is tantamount to abandoning India altogether.

Holding out in the plateau is a joke— no matter how firm Britannia’s foundations in India, colonists are, after all, just colonists.

When strong, they naturally can command respect; once they show signs of decay, trouble instantly arises.

In fact, India is already in turmoil. If not for the lingering authority of the Great Britain Empire and the strong handling by Governor Robert, it would probably be engulfed in chaos.

But even high authority can’t withstand the erosion of failure. Just a few more losses and the situation would immediately collapse.

Navy Minister Swindon: "Sending reinforcements is impossible! The enemy holds the Suez Canal, and the Cape of Good Hope has already fallen; to reach India, we would have to take a long detour, which time simply does not permit."

Reality is cruel. On the same journey to the Indian Ocean, the Royal Navy needs to travel tens of thousands more miles than the Allied Forces.

Indeed, if we are led by the nose by the enemy, they might have just reached India when the enemy turns back to attack the British Isles.

Without the Royal Navy to intercept, Britannia has no way to stop the enemy from landing. Once the British Isles fall, it’s as though we’ve truly lost everything.

Essentially, losing India means losing money, the empire, the future; losing the homeland means losing our lives.

"Reinforcing India really isn’t feasible. By this point, Britannia is essentially battling against the whole world; what we can do now is minimize the losses for the empire.

For the great Britannia, we cannot abandon any glimmer of hope until the very last moment.

Even if we can’t hold India, we shouldn’t make it cheap for the enemy. Didn’t Governor Robert promise India independence? Then let the Indians take up arms and defend their own nation!"

It was clear that Adam was suffering from his occupational disease. As the Foreign Minister of the Great Britain Empire, Adam’s greatest skill was also in being a "troublemaker."

Being capable of raising the Oceanic Alliance while all of Europe was against him was enough to prove his abilities. Even if this alliance eventually collapsed, that wasn’t a diplomatic issue.

Not strong enough on its own, relying merely on diplomacy won’t reverse Britannia’s decline, but using diplomatic methods to trouble the enemy, Adam was still professional.

"You’re mad!"

"If we grant India independence, then we’ve completely lost the Subcontinent, and the Great Britain Empire will surely decline!"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Asquith roared.

"The ’jewel in the Queen’s Crown,’ is not an empty title. Each year, India contributes billions of British Pounds to the Great Britain Empire; without this income, Britannia would be just an ordinary great power."

Foreign Minister Adam: "My lord, please calm down, nobody is saying we should give up on India. It’s just that, relying solely on our own strength, we simply can’t hold the Subcontinent.

Only by letting the enemy realize that India is not just a ’creamy cake’ but also a ’hedgehog’ can we deter those hungry wolves.

India in the hands of the Indians still gives us a chance to reclaim it. But once it falls into enemy hands, then we truly have no hope left.

""

"The immediate priority is that we must find a way to survive this crisis. History has proved that no alliance can be sustained in the long run.

Right now, the enemy is in its prime, and we are powerless to fight back. This requires a temporary period of lying low, waiting for the enemy to become divided.

If the Empire can survive this crisis, we naturally can return to India in the future..."

Perhaps entering a state of oration, Adam continued with increasing enthusiasm, as if he were intoxicated by his own words.

Nobody broke his flow, understanding intuitively that people always need hope. No one wants to be a loser, and those present were no exception.

Now, betrayed by our allies, Britannia is powerless to win the war. About to become losers, everyone naturally felt indignant.

No matter how low the success rate of Adam’s plan might be, it was still better than having no plan at all.

After everyone had discussed the matters related primarily to India, Prime Minister Campbell finally spoke up indifferently.

"Let’s restart the negotiations!"

...

Another harsh winter descended, coating St. Petersburg in silver. Compared to before the war, Nicholas II now seemed to have aged ten years.

If the Great Britain Empire was to become the biggest loser of this war, then the Russian Empire would be the second biggest.

The nearly century-old Russian-Austrian Alliance had finally reached a turning point. The Vienna Government, having become a dominant world power, could not restrain itself and stabbed its ally in the back.

It was just a matter of restricting supplies, but the Russian Empire, already engulfed in turmoil, was immediately pushed to the brink of collapse.

One must understand that this restriction was not solely the action of the Holy Roman Empire; nearly every member of the Continental Alliance participated.

The Vienna Government, still caring somewhat for appearances, only reduced the supply of materials and did not completely cut them off, even helping the Tsarist Government preserve its frontline armies.

Other allies were not so courteous.

Inflating prices was considered gentle; banning exports of strategic materials to Russia was just standard procedure. The harshest step was not only banning their own exports but also seizing materials passing through their countries en route to Russia.

Officially it was called "temporary requisitioning"—since we are allies, borrowing some supplies doesn’t matter; it’s all in the name of wartime needs, and surely they would be returned after the war.

"Return after the war" sounded like a joke. The war would be over; why would they need strategic materials then?

Faced with such shameless behavior from his allies, Nicholas II was grinding his teeth in anger.

If this had happened during the prime of the Russian Empire, there would be no doubt about taking revenge.

Unfortunately, this was not the time of the Russian Empire. Facing such nearly provocative and shameless actions from his allies, Nicholas II could only choose to temporarily forgive.

Thoughts of revenge were best kept to the dark. The war-torn Russian Empire did not have the capacity to retaliate against the nations of Europe.

Not to mention simply detaining materials; even when retired officers from the allied armies appeared among the rebels, Nicholas II chose to turn a blind eye.

He couldn’t afford not to turn a blind eye; if he were too lucid, what he faced might not be "retired officers" from allies, but "active servicemen."

"How are the Austrians explaining this? After so many incidents, don’t they owe us an explanation?"

Catching the king to catch the thieves, it was clear to any discerning person that behind the countries daring to egregiously deceive the Russian Empire was the silent approval or even support of the Holy Roman Empire.

Lacking confidence, Nicholas II couldn’t directly seek justice from the Holy Roman Empire. frёeωebɳovel.com

The fact that the material supplies had not been completely severed showed that the Vienna Government merely intended to weaken the Russian Empire, not obliterate it.

Allies are there to be exploited, and the Tsarist Government had done its fair share of scheming too. When the Vienna Government once tried to unify the Germany Region, the Tsarist Government constantly meddled.

Now the tables had turned; it was the Holy Roman Empire’s turn to create troubles, leaving the Tsarist Government to suffer.

Foreign Minister Mikhailovich answered helplessly: "The Vienna Government’s explanation is that they are investigating.

They also suggest that we reflect on our past actions and repair relations with the allies to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"Warning," a blatant "warning."

At this moment, the previous junior partner following behind the Russian Empire was gone, replaced by the re-emerging world dominator.

As a dominator, it was unavoidable to show its power. Nicholas II was unlucky, catching this "special period" at just the wrong time.