Chapter 464: Gallipoli accident

Lord Cowley was innocent.

Knowing nothing about military common sense, he was called over by the French emperor with a confused look, and then he accepted the French emperor's reprimand with a confused look.

What is even more frustrating is that even Jerome Bonaparte has explained to him in great detail why Garibaldi cannot be a landing site, but he himself is like a military insulator and does not understand heat at all. Some proprietary military terms in the mouth of Rom Bonaparte.

The only thing Lord Cowley knew, however, was that the Emperor of France objected to Britain's use of Gallipoli as an outpost.

"Lord Cowley, do you understand?" Jerome Bonaparte, whose lips were slightly dry, pursed his lips and asked.

"Your Majesty, do you mean to say that Gallipoli is not a suitable place for the army to be stationed! We need to find another suitable place for the army to be stationed!" Lord Cowley responded to Jerome Bonaparte one sentence.

"You can understand that too!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded to Lord Cowley.

"Your Majesty, this question is no longer within my competence!" Lord Cowley spread his hands and replied in a loud voice: "For the specific deployment of the army, you need to ask the cabinet, and then after consultation with Prime Minister Palmerston, I will ask Commander Raglan gives the order!"

When Jerome Bonaparte heard about Lord Cowley's complete military transfer process, he couldn't help complaining inwardly.

The bureaucratic system of the Kingdom of Britain is really in the middle of nothing, and it never knows how to streamline administration.

Only after this group of Britons suffered in Gallipoli, this barren strip of land, would they understand the goodness of the Varna region.

However, nothing is absolute. The reason why Gallipoli has faced logistical difficulties in history is not only because of the terrain factors of Gallipoli itself, but also the problem of military strength.

In the OTl world line, Britain and France declared war on the Russian Empire only in March of this year. In April of the same year, Britain and France had nearly 34,000 people (20,000 in Britain and 14,000 in France. However, France’s The 14,000 people are all elite soldiers in the Algeria region. The combat power completely overwhelmed the 20,000 British native army. The coalition troops landed in Gallipoli with their eyes blurred and unprepared.

At that time, not to mention the ships responsible for supplying supplies, the British and French allied forces and even the troop transport ships were only assembled by patchwork.

What's more, the entire army is not only 34,000 combat personnel, but also occupied a large number of transport ships, such as horses, artillery, and accompanying personnel who move with the army (named here to criticize the British military wife system).

If it is said that in the vicinity of the most populated towns, the military personnel can exchange materials with the residents of the nearby towns, thereby becoming a help for the entire army. However, on the inaccessible Gallipoli Peninsula, it is obvious to want to carry out this exchange. It's an impossible thing.

The military system that was supposed to be a boost became a nightmare for the British and French troops.

And now, in the absence of the French army, Britain's logistics at Gallipoli may be a lot better. At least it shouldn't leave as dingy as OTL is the world line.

[PS: In fact, Jerome Bonaparte still overestimated the level of the Kingdom of Great Britain. On Day+1 day after the Wallevsky telegram was sent, the Gallipoli Peninsula also ushered in a new round of snowfall. , the British army stationed on the Gallipoli peninsula is suffering from frost because of the insufficiency of logistical supplies. 】

But Jerome Bonaparte believed that as long as Palmerston was a staunch anti-Russian statesman, he would not let his army retreat on the peninsula, and the British army would join forces with the French in Varna To fight, but it may take a little while in time.

"Lord Cowley, I can wait!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Lord Cowley: "However, I hope the Kingdom of Britain will not make me wait too long!"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured! I will definitely inform London of your thoughts as soon as possible! Please believe that the Kingdom of Great Britain really wants to stand together with the French Empire to maintain peace in Europe!" Lord Cowley said once again.

In this way Lord Cowley left the Tuileries Palace and delivered a message to Britain that afternoon.

One more thing to mention here, because Britain and France have been in a state of hostility before they formally established a military alliance, so France and Britain have never erected a telegraph line. This also means that if the British ambassador wants to transmit the message to London, he can only rely on messengers or carrier pigeons to transmit the message to London.

Fortunately, the Paris-Calais area has been connected by rail, and the courier only needs to take the train to Calais, and then take the freighter to London in Calais.

However, due to the impact of blizzard weather in Paris, the railway lines around Paris are in a semi-paralyzed state. If you want to go to Calais, you can only go to the neighboring provinces to take the train?

Gu cheat

So the British courier, who was used to sending letters by train, had to relive the years of horseback riding. The brown-yellow stage horses walked all the way to the north on the thick snow that did not reach the roots of (person's) thighs, and finally arrived at around 8 o'clock that night. A town on the border between the Seine and neighboring provinces.

The messenger who entered the town for a night of repairs continued on horseback in the next morning, and finally arrived at Rouen, Normandy at noon, where he took a train to the port of Calais, and again transferred to a cargo ship at 9 a.m. on the third day. Arrived in London.

The messenger who disembarked from the port in London delivered the letter to the permanent secretary of the British Foreign Office. After the permanent secretary learned that it was a letter from France, he immediately pushed open the door of Clarendon, the foreign secretary.

At this moment, the Earl of Clarendon was looking at the crumpled note between his thumb and forefinger with a frown. Judging from Earl Clarendon's expression, the content recorded on that little note is definitely not a good thing.

The arrival of the permanent secretary made the sad-faced Earl of Clarendon look up again, and he pondered: "Is something wrong?"

"Your Excellency, this is a letter from the French embassy!" The permanent secretary strode up in front of Earl Clarendon, handed Lord Cowley's letter to Lord Clarendon, and responded clearly.

"A letter from Ambassador Cowley?" whispered Lord Clarendon.

Immediately, he put down the note in his hand and opened the envelope to check the contents.

After Lord Clarendon read all the contents of the letter, Lord Clarendon showed a wry smile and said to himself, "It should be just a coincidence!"

Then Lord Clarendon took the letter and the note from Lord Cowley, and the place he was going to was 10 Downing Street.

Lord Clarendon, who entered No. 10 Downing Street, was led by the Permanent Secretary to the door of the Prime Minister's Office in Palmerston.

"Your Excellency, you can't go in now!" The Prime Minister's secretary standing at the door stopped Lord Clarendon, and then explained: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister is talking to Baron Raglan!"

"That's right!" Lord Clarendon smiled and said to the Prime Minister's secretary: "Please come in and tell the Prime Minister that I have received a message from the Near East and need to speak to His Excellency the Prime Minister and Commander Raglan!"

"This..." The Prime Minister's secretary hesitantly glanced at the chief secretary standing next to Lord Clarendon, and entered after obtaining the support of the chief secretary.

In this prime minister's office, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, His Excellency Palmerston, was talking with Baron Raglan, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force sitting opposite him, with a smile on his face.

"Commander Raglan, now that the British Expeditionary Force has reached Gallipoli, it's time for you to set off!"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I need to postpone for two more days!" Raglan responded to Palmerston.

"Why?" Palmerston asked in confusion.

"Because the second batch of troops has not yet been on board! An army of 20,000 people is just a drop in the bucket for the entire Near East war situation!" Lord Raglan responded to Palmerston.

"Please don't worry about this! We still have the French Empire as an ally!" Prime Minister Palmerston responded.

"Prime Minister, I don't think the French Empire is our ally! Jerome Bonaparte and his subordinates are a group of unfamiliar wolf cubs As long as we let our guard down a little, they will Pounce on us without hesitation! The hatred between Britain and France has been going on for hundreds of years, and I can't trust my back to them! More willing to trust my soldiers than theirs!" Raglan The Lord spoke bluntly to Prime Minister Palmerston.

Palmerston knew that for a general who had experienced the Napoleonic Wars, it would be difficult for them to lower the back of the former enemy with confidence, not to mention that Baron Raglan's right hand was lost during the Battle of Waterloo, Raglan. Baron Ren and the Second Empire can be said to have a broken arm.

Thinking of this, Palmerston glanced at Baron Raglan's hollowed-out cuffs subconsciously, and couldn't help feeling a little pity in his heart. Right now, he could only patiently persuade Lord Raglan to put the overall situation first.

Baron Raglan, who heard Palmerston's persuasive dissuasion, also couldn't bear to continue stubbornly. He assured Palmerston that as long as the second batch of troops was on board, he would immediately rush to the Near East to command the battle.

Just when the two were deadlocked, the arrival of the chief secretary broke the deadlock.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is waiting outside the office! He said that he wants to talk to you again!" The chief secretary paused, glanced at Baron Raglan and continued: "And Baron Raglan to communicate!"