Chapter 796 Tough Attitude
As the monarch of Portugal, Carlos I was bound to have bad days, but having East Africa to stir up hatred could solve many problems. However, Portugal's future is unlikely to be easy. In its previous life, under the leadership of Carlos I, Portugal experienced two government bankruptcies.
Now that Portugal has lost two important sources of revenue, Mozambique and Angola, and owes Britain a large sum of money in order to expand its military to deal with East Africa, its finances will only become more difficult.
Carlos I's confidant, Prime Minister Frank, was not good at economics, and even his political skills were very average, otherwise Carlos I and his son would not have been assassinated in the street in their previous life.
The only consolation is Frank's loyalty to the royal family, which is more important than anything else to the monarch.
"Your Majesty, after this war, I'm afraid that East Africa will not choose to return Angola and Mozambique to us. We must be prepared to lose two of the most important colonies! But this may not be a bad thing for us. It is also like getting rid of two burdens." Frank expressed his views to Carlos I.
To be honest, the importance of Angola and Mozambique to the Portuguese government is to maintain the face of Portugal as a old colonial country. In fact, they cannot bring Portugal too many tangible benefits. Moreover, in order to guard against East Africa over the years, the two colonies have actually been in a state of deficit.
For Portugal, stationing troops in Angola and Mozambique all year round is an unsustainable burden in itself. If the British did not need "cannon fodder" and the need for united front work, it would not have been East Africa's turn to bully Portugal.
These are not important to Carlos I. The biggest problem now is to deal with possible political problems in the country.
King Carlos I had just ascended the throne and did not have much control over the country. Moreover, the democratic movement within Portugal, a European country, was very serious.
A large number of Republicans were ready to overthrow the rule of Carlos I. Of course, this was not a problem of Carlos I himself.
After all, Carlos I had just come to power and had not yet demonstrated his "political iron fist". The blame cannot be shifted to Carlos I, but rather to the long-standing political struggle in Portugal.
As Portugal continued to weaken, the people naturally did not look favorably upon the Portuguese royal family. Of course, even without the Portuguese royal family, Portugal's performance in the previous life would not have changed.
"Prime Minister Frank, we are powerless to change the outcome of this war. Portugal will not be able to organize more troops to recover lost territory against such a powerful enemy in East Africa. Therefore, we must guard against the villains in the country and strictly monitor them from now on to not let them succeed." said Carlos I.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have been prepared for a long time. This is the most difficult time for Portugal in a hundred years. Anyone who wants to undermine Portugal's unity is my enemy." Prime Minister Frank said firmly.
Frank then turned the question back to the South African War and asked, "But Your Majesty, we must also resolve the issues in Angola and Mozambique. If we don't handle them well, it will still cause new waves."
Carlos I said with difficulty: "At this time, the only people we can rely on are the British. You send people to negotiate with the British government. The British must give us some explanation for the deteriorating situation in South Africa."
This was intended to put pressure on Britain. Although Portugal performed poorly in the South African War, it was ultimately responding to the call of the British government.
Carlos I himself had originally intended to rely on Britain in foreign policy, so as a younger brother, now that his interests have been damaged, he naturally hopes that Britain can step in to settle the matter.
Of course, the British government was no pushover, but it certainly would not be possible for the British government to persuade the East Africans to give up Portugal's two colonies. After all, Ernst was not a tyrant. He had won the war, and it was impossible for him to allow Britain and Portugal to take back the spoils of East Africa at the negotiating table.
The French "diplomatic" victory in Vietnam could not be replicated by the British in East Africa.
…
First town city.
"Your Highness, this is the news from the British government in London. They are ready to negotiate with us to end the Four-Power War in South Africa." Foreign Minister Hermann reported to Ernst.
"What price did the British offer?" asked Ernst.
Ernst was not at all surprised that the British wanted to negotiate at this time. After all, if the fighting continued, the East African Defense Force would soon advance to the south of Cape Town.
"The British advocated the restoration of the pre-war territories of the four countries, and the signing of an armistice agreement to maintain stability in South Africa."
"That's all!" Ernst asked when he saw Hermann didn't continue talking.
"Well, that's it," said Hermann.
"It seems that they still lack sincerity. Britain and Portugal are no longer able to change the situation in this war. There are less than 200,000 troops left in Cape Town, most of whom are Indians and Boers. Does the British government expect Indians to help them?" Ernst sneered.
To say that the four countries would restore their pre-war territories was simply to show that they did not take East Africa seriously. Of course, Ernst knew that this was just a test by the British government.
For Britain, it would be best to use force to overwhelm others. After all, this is not without precedent in the world. If Britain can make East Africa make concessions just by talking, it will naturally be a "great" victory for Britain.
Ernst said: "The diplomatic department replied to the British government that East Africa would not fight a meaningless war. If they did not sit down for serious negotiations, then we would take our own spoils on the battlefield."
At this time, Ernst certainly would not reveal his price in advance, but would wait until Britain was ready to bleed heavily before East Africa put forward conditions.
According to Ernst's psychological expectations, Angola and Mozambique must be included in the East African territory, and the Orange Free State should be the focus of the negotiations.
However, East Africa would certainly not take the Orange Free State too seriously. Instead, it would take the overall situation into consideration and use British colonies such as Cape Town as a threat to break the British fantasy and make the British give up the Orange Free State as a matter of course.
As for Angola and Mozambique, they are the bottom line of East Africa. The British do not want to give these two places to East Africa, so there is no need for peace talks at all. It is nothing more than continuing the war.
"Of course, the wording should not be too harsh, just keep it within the rules. Otherwise, it may be used by those with ulterior motives to make a fuss, and the situation may develop in a direction that is not favorable to us," Ernst emphasized.
Dignity is also extremely important for the world's major powers, especially hegemonic countries. Although East Africa is the winner of the war, it cannot be too arrogant and domineering.
In an era of nationalism, this could easily arouse public outrage in Britain, allowing British hawks to use this as an excuse to continue the war.
This was obviously not what Ernst wanted to see. Up to now in the war, East Africa had actually suffered considerable losses. The military and civilian casualties alone exceeded 28,000, with the port city of New Hamburg being the worst hit. During the several months of siege, the British repeatedly bombarded the city, causing heavy losses to the port city of New Hamburg.
Of course, East Africa did not suffer, but it was well within its tolerable range. The losses of countries such as Britain and Portugal were several times greater than that of East Africa. In the entire Battle of Maputo alone, more than 60,000 Allied forces were captured or killed in East Africa. Although most of them were Indians and blacks, this was also the price Britain and Portugal had to pay for using colonial residents as soldiers.
(End of this chapter)
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