Make France Great Again-Chapter 890 - 881: Turmoil in Central Asia

Jerome Bonaparte, sitting by the fireplace, received a document from De Luyis with a solemn expression on his face. As Jerome Bonaparte perused its contents, De Luyis reported to him.

"Your Majesty, this is a telegram from our embassy in the Ottoman Empire!" De Luyis said to Jerome Bonaparte.

As Jerome Bonaparte flipped through the telegram, he murmured softly, "Interesting! The Persian envoy Farokh Khan Amin met with the American ambassador Carol Spencer in Constantinople!"

After saying this, Jerome Bonaparte looked up with a serious expression and asked De Luyis, "Can you tell me what exactly is going on with the Persian envoy? I recall they are at war with Britain! How do they have the leisure to engage with the United States of America?"

"It’s like this!" De Luyis quickly explained to Jerome Bonaparte the events that had recently occurred.

Since the ambitious Kaijia Dynasty declared war on Herat this October and swiftly occupied the Herat Government in less than two weeks, the Duke of Cambridge, stationed near the Persian Gulf, immediately declared war on the Kaijia Dynasty on behalf of the British Government.

The rapid declaration of war caught the Kaijia Dynasty completely off guard.

The Kaijia Dynasty had originally thought it would take at least two to three months for the Kingdom of Britain to react, yet the Kingdom of Britain declared war on the Kaijia Dynasty in less than a month.

This rendered all the Kaijia Dynasty’s plans to defend against a British invasion useless.

(Although the Kaijia Dynasty’s plans to defend against Britain were essentially worthless from the start, had Britain followed them, they might at least have been slightly useful.)

The Kaijia Dynasty had to hastily dispatch a portion of its soldiers to the southern front to resist the Kingdom of Britain’s advance.

However, the Kaijia Dynasty overestimated its own strength and underestimated that of the Kingdom of Britain while assessing the balance of power. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Under the command of the Duke of Cambridge, the British fleet stationed in the Persian Gulf swiftly took action. They launched a bombardment on Helk Island in Persia with astonishing speed, continuing it for nearly three to four hours, bringing the defenders on the island to the brink of collapse. The "Lobster Soldiers" in charge of landing then conducted a rapid assault.

Fortunately, among the Kaijia Dynasty’s defending forces on Helk Island was a Russian Military Officer, whose encouragement inspired the beleaguered morale of the Kaijia Dynasty’s guard to attack the invading Kingdom of Britain. However, under the sparse firepower of the Kaijia Dynasty, the British Lobster Soldiers employed tactics reminiscent of the Crimean War, advancing in line toward the Kaijia Dynasty’s positions. Whenever a soldier in the front row fell, those behind promptly closed ranks, maintaining the unit’s advance speed.

Thus, after Britain lost dozens of soldiers, they quickly approached the Helk Island’s defenders. Witnessing the fierce tactics of the Lobster Soldiers, the island’s defenders fell into despair, abandoning their weapons and surrendering to Britain.

Including the Russian Military Officer, nearly a thousand were taken prisoner by the Kingdom of Britain, who took less than six hours to capture Helk Island.

After the Battle of Helk Island concluded, the Duke of Cambridge wasted no time, promptly commanding his forces to regroup and launch an attack on their second target, the Bulish Port, located west of Helk Island.

Arriving near Bulish Port, the Duke of Cambridge replicated his strategy, initiating a bombardment against the port and then following up with an infantry landing operation post-bombardment.

The entire Bulish Port could withstand the formidable British firepower for barely two days before it fell. (Historically, Bulish Port held out for five days because the British declared war on the Kaijia Dynasty on November 1st, and the Kaijia Dynasty had more than half a month to deploy at Bulish Port.)

By capturing Bulish Port, the Duke of Cambridge finally secured a foothold in Persia.

From the start of the war until now, fewer than 200 British soldiers had been killed or wounded, a record that significantly boosted the morale and aggressive spirit of the Kingdom of Britain.

Many commanders started urging the British forces to continue advancing inland, and the Duke of Cambridge, acquiescing to the soldiers’ wishes, pressed on with the campaign.

After a day of rest, the troops moved upstream along the Karen River, and by late November, they captured Ahvaz.

Along the way, all Kaijia Dynasty soldiers were defeated by the Kingdom of Britain. At this point in the war, the Kaijia Dynasty had no strength left to organize a Field Army to confront the Kingdom of Britain.

Except by redeploying their Field Army stationed in the Herat Government to clash head-on with Britain.

However, this only seemed to aid Britain, offering no other advantages.

Unable to endure further defeats, the Kaijia Dynasty swiftly sent soldiers to seek a nation capable of mediating the conflict.

Following the orders of King Nasiruddin of the Kaijia Dynasty, Farokh Khan Amin set off for Constantinople to seek the aid of consuls from various countries.

Farokh Khan Amin arrived in Constantinople at the beginning of December and then met with Carol Spencer, the American envoy to the Ottoman Empire.

...

After De Luyis finished speaking about the causes and effects of the current progress of the war, Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but ask De Luyis, "Minister Luyis, where exactly did your intelligence come from? Especially that part about Bulish Port and Helk Island, it’s as if you were right there!"

"Your Majesty, this part is actually a simulation conducted by the General Staff!" De Luyis replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "The General Staff believes that Britain is most likely to adopt this tactic!"

"What about the captured Russian officer?" Jerome Bonaparte questioned again.

"Your Majesty, these are actually contents reported by The Times!" De Luyis replied once more to Jerome Bonaparte.

"The Times! I see!" Jerome Bonaparte suddenly understood.

If there is any organization in the world that can first learn about the movements of the British Army, it would be The Times.

Especially after the invention of the telegraph, The Times’ grasp of military movements and war progress was even more accurate than that of the British War Department.

Britain’s distinctive bureaucratic system shows unprecedented inefficiency when not in a total war.

There is no major issue with De Luyis obtaining firsthand intelligence from Persia along with The Times.

"What’s the deal with the Persian envoy’s interaction with America?" Jerome Bonaparte gently tapped the documents with his hand and said incredulously, "Do they really think those cowboys, who only recognize money and not people, will stand up for them?"

De Luyis awkwardly replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, your guess is not wrong! Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reached the same conclusion!"

"Do those guys even understand international dynamics?" Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but continue to complain, "The envoy of the Kaijia Dynasty actually pinned their hopes on the most hopeless country!"

"Your Majesty! Perhaps what the envoy of the Kaijia Dynasty values is the reputation of the United States of America!" De Luyis said to Jerome Bonaparte.

"The United States of America has a reputation? Haven’t they always played the role of hyenas following behind us?" Jerome Bonaparte’s expression became more puzzled. He couldn’t understand why there was still a country that admired hyenas.

"Precisely because the United States of America seldom engages in war, their evaluation in certain countries is much better than ours and the Kingdom of Britain!" De Luyis explained to Jerome Bonaparte, "After all, we and Britain just fought side by side in Crimea recently.

In the eyes of others, our two countries are still close allies!"

Jerome Bonaparte also realized that not much has changed between the 19th and 21st centuries. In the eyes of some people, the 19th-century Kingdom of Britain and the 21st-century United States of America can suppress all forces on Earth with their power.

Therefore, on this planet, there are only two states that countries can be in: the first state is being directly controlled by the Kingdom of Britain—colonies, satellite states; the second state is being strongly resistant to the Kingdom of Britain—Russian Empire, United States of America.

Besides that, there are no other states a country can be in.

Therefore, in the minds of some countries that don’t understand diplomacy, the French Empire has transformed into the Kingdom of Britain’s lapdog, unworthy of trust.

"Since that’s the case, why should we bother with Persia?" Jerome Bonaparte casually said to De Luyis, "If the Persian envoy thinks the United States of America can save them, then let the United States of America play the savior!"

"Your Majesty, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes the United States of America is unlikely to turn against Britain for Persia!" De Luyis responded firmly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"So what?" Jerome Bonaparte asked in return.

"The Persian envoy will certainly seek us out! We should be prepared to mediate at any time!" De Luyis replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Why do we have to mediate? Wouldn’t it be better to let them fight it out?" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged his shoulders and said to De Luyis.

"The Persian Kingdom will certainly not be a match for the Kingdom of Britain! If we are unwilling to help, then Britain will definitely impose a harsh yoke on the Persian Kingdom!" De Luyis explained to Jerome Bonaparte, "At that time, Britain will have more energy to focus its attention on Europe!"