Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 1139 - 153, Seven-Injury Fist

Just look at the map and you’ll see that India was in danger. Fortunately, the Suez Canal was blocked; otherwise, if the enemy’s navy were to exit to the east, covering an attack by sea, the situation would have worsened even further.

Even now, the improvement wasn’t substantial; India was caught in a two-front war, which could potentially become a three-front war.

The only advantage they could count on was their geographical position. For the Allied Forces to come from the west, they had to cross the Persian Plateau—an immense logistical challenge.

In fact, the biggest reason Persia had held out for five months was due to the logistical constraints that limited the Allied Forces’ performance.

There was no other way; apart from major cities, most of Persia had no railroads and relied solely on human and animal transport.

The few railroads that did exist had been sabotaged by the Persian people. To ensure supply for the troops, the Vienna Government even mobilized hundreds of transport airships.

As the battlefront continually moved forward, the Allied Command also relocated to Zahedan. As the victor of the war, Archduke Friedrich showed no smile on his face.

“March all the way to India”—the slogan was easy to chant, but putting it into practice brought a host of troubles.

Logistics was the biggest issue; at this moment, the main task of the Allied Forces was not combat but rather the repair of railroads destroyed by the enemy.

Ironically, most of the railroads inside Persia were built by the British, and now these same railroads became the greatest aid for the Allied Forces to attack India.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps a precaution against the Persian Empire; the railroads built by the British came in all shapes and sizes.

To repair these railroads, even the train carriages had to be specially ordered from home. Looking at the report in his hands, Friedrich doubted whether he was the commander of the Allied Forces or a chief engineer.

There was no option; the war with Persia might have ended, but unrest remained in the region. The railroad repairs had to be managed by the military itself.

No wonder that when Alexander the Great set out to conquer the east, he never managed to reach India—the state of transportation said it all.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

No matter how awful the conditions or how severe the difficulties, pushing the front lines to India was a strategic victory.

At this stage, as long as the Continental Alliance was willing to invest, taking India would only be a matter of time.

Every coin has two sides; while achieving strategic victory, the Continental Alliance also faced internal unrest.

Undoubtedly, the rich India was the most desirable “pie.” The Vienna Government made early promises not to meddle in India, leaving it for everyone to partition.

Most members of the Continental Alliance were small states, and apart from Shinra and Russia, none had the power to monopolize India. With the Vienna Government announcing its detachment early on, the remaining competitors were only England and Russia.

Driving out the British was not difficult; facing the siege of the entire European Continent, Britain’s chances of holding on to India were slim. The trouble was, what to do after driving out the British.

Without a common enemy, allies became competitors. Interests sway hearts; despite the strength of Russia, nothing could shake everyone’s determination to eye India.

One-on-one, no one could match the Russians; if they banded together, the situation would be entirely different.

Since Shinra was up above keeping watch, and everyone was officially allies, even if there were disputes, the Russians couldn’t resort to direct conflict.

There was no need for a direct conflict with the Russians; merely competing in the shadows was enough. Whoever flinched was the loser.

A war without gun smoke had thus commenced within the Continental Alliance—tripping each other up, underhanded tactics were the order of the day.

Soon enough, lawsuits landed on Franz’s desk, followed by a resumption of squabbling. In the face of interests, how could mediation occur so simply?

Moreover, stirring up conflict between the countries of Europe and the Russians was premeditated by the Vienna Government, which even threw India in the mix.

Had it not been considered that the hegemonic war had not yet concluded, and it was not the right time for disputes, Franz would have personally stirred the pot even more.

The Vienna Government stepped aside, and as the two sides intensified their fighting, British covert operations were launched.

Strikes, once again strikes, from Lisbon to St. Petersburg, labor strikes erupted across Europe.

Unlike previous support of the Revolutionaries that was restrained, this time the British let loose, playing every damaging card without considering the consequences.

Not only did they repatriate Revolutionaries, but they also sent professionals to help draft the revolutionary manifesto. Whether it could succeed or not, at least the painting of the pie was quite successful.

The Revolutionaries who were cheated by this became extremely enthusiastic, throwing themselves into this revolutionary tide without any regard for their own safety.

The Russian Empire, with the most accumulated contradictions and the most corrupt bureaucratic group, naturally became the hardest hit area in this disturbance.

In other countries, a strike was just that—a strike. The social environment did not allow for it; no matter how loud the Revolutionary Party’s slogans were, they could hardly stir up a revolution.

But the Russian Empire was different. As one of the first countries to join the war, Russia was also the country most deeply affected by the war.

Before and after, nearly three million troops were mobilized, while supporting a two-front war, the economy couldn’t help but be affected.

Despite the support from the Vienna Government, this support was limited. Most of the war funds and materials were still self-raised by the Tsarist Government.

If it were just this, with the size of the Russian Empire, it could still be supported, but the problem lay with the bureaucratic group.

Nicholas II was never a strong Monarch; naturally, he could not deter the demons and monsters within the country. When the opportunity to make money came, it was inevitable to “levy three to five more measures.”

Seemingly insignificant, but as it accumulated layer by layer and reached the common people, it became a heavy burden.

The people were already living in hardship, and the capitalists followed suit, kicking them while they were down. On the one hand, they hoarded goods to spike prices, and on the other hand, they cut wages and increased working hours.

With no money in their pockets, the people’s lives became unsustainable. No relationship? No problem—there was tailored high-interest lending available.

Experts and scholars, who should have raised the alarm, under the power of capital, continuously sang praises and madly promoted…

With wealth continuously concentrating, social conflicts also grew day by day, creating an opportunity for the revolution.

On June 1, 1905, the Polish masses on strike clashed with military police on Witters Avenue, and the Polish Independence Organization seized the opportunity to launch a rebellion.

After the “June 1st” revolution, it was like pouring water into a boiling oil pan, instantly splattering everywhere.

On June 4th, the Bulgarian region erupted in a national independence movement; on June 6th, the Finnish region erupted in an independence movement; on June 11th, the Lithuanian Region experienced an anti-Russian riot; on June 15th, the Ukraine Region…

Before this, in May, the Afghan National Revolutionary Party had launched an armed revolution, firing the first shot against Russia.

However, since uprisings against Russia often occurred in the Afghan Region and the guerrilla forces were never completely wiped out, it did not attract much attention.

On June 22nd, the French laborers in Siberia rioted, and the Siberian Railway was interrupted for a time.

On June 26th, the Osman immigrants exiled to Siberia also joined the rebellion.

This was still not the end; by early July, Grozny in the Caucasus Region also experienced a rebellion.

On July 11th, the Kazakhs in Central Asia also joined the anti-Russian movement, causing the Central Asia Railway to be interrupted.

…

All these cases of independence and rebellion clearly couldn’t have been planned by the British alone.

Putting everything else aside, just looking at how the Revolutionaries returned to Russia and where their arms came from reveals the truth of the matter.

European countries together conned the Russians, and the Tsarist Government would have a hard time not suffering misfortunes, especially since the Russian Empire was leaky everywhere, creating opportunities for everyone.

When the Russians were having misfortunes, the European countries couldn’t keep themselves out of harm’s way either. Revolution is contagious, especially when the British are going all out.

On June 18th, the Portuguese Republicans launched a coup, and Charles I fled in a hurry.

On June 24th, a religious conflict broke out in Madrid, the Spanish capital, resulting in 7 deaths and 16 injuries, escalating the conflict between the Reformists and Conservatives.

On June 27th, the Italian Area exploded in a Republican movement, and the Duke of Lucca fled in a hurry, while the Papal State teetered on the brink.

On the same day, Hanover experienced an anti-war movement, demanding that the Vienna Government end the war and restore peace.

On June 29th, Prussia saw anti-Russian protest demonstrations.

On July 1st, the Netherlands erupted in anti-war protests.

…

Things were in chaos, with the whole European Continent from east to west being a tangled mess.

The British just started it off; the rest was played out freely by each country, one conning another in a cycle where nobody could remain unscathed.

The Continental Alliance fell into disarray, and Britannia didn’t escape either; being the main protagonists of the war, how could there be no contradictions at home?

After the Battle of the English Channel, the peaceful days in the British Isles came to an end, with the public’s frustration with the war’s delays reaching a peak, and the voices against the war increasingly growing in society.

On June 16, 1905, Bradford saw an outbreak of anti-war strike activity, followed by big cities like Sheffield, Liverpool, London, and Dublin joining in response.

Especially in the Dublin region, the strength of the independence movement rose with the tide, and had it not been for the adequate number of troops stationed there, the locals might not only have protested the war but also sought independence.