(The first chapter is here! There will be a second chapter later)
On February 11, France and Iberia each sent representatives to form a conflict investigation team to conduct the most detailed investigation into the cause of the conflict. But everyone knows that this is just a show. With no one to tell, no one wants to take primary responsibility for this conflict.
The French side sent a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Compenny and the head of the 12th Army Corps Hilaire, while the Iberian side was led by Foreign Minister Grigio and Deputy Chief of Staff Misend.
On February 13, the two sides held their first negotiation in the coastal city of Nice in southern France, but the entire negotiation was basically spent in quarrels without reaching any substantive things. Both sides insisted that the conflict was caused by the other party, and they were only passively fighting, so the other party should bear the main responsibility for this conflict.
As the negotiations did not achieve the expected progress, the French side requested a field visit to the place where the conflict occurred, and the Iberian side did not object. So the two delegations rushed to the border between France and Iberia.
On the way, Misend and Grigio discussed several times, but because they didn't know what measures France would take next, they couldn't think of a way to deal with it. But when they set off, Xiao Jie specially summoned the two of them and explained to them some aspects that must be paid attention to.
"Your mission this time is actually not heavy, it's mainly just for show. There is only one thing you need to pay attention to. You must not let the other party place the main responsibility for causing this conflict on us. If it is not possible, we will If we drag it on, the people who caused the conflict at that time have all died in battle anyway. Even if we know that Murat caused this incident, we can't produce evidence. Anyway, we didn't suffer this time, and this incident is just like that Go ahead. I believe Napoleon must have thought the same way." Xiao Jie said.
"What if we can find evidence that France should bear the main responsibility for sparking the conflict?" Gregor asked.
"Even if that's the case, the other party will definitely not admit it. Also, we don't want to start a full-scale war with France at this time. I believe Napoleon also thinks the same way. That's why he proposed to form a delegation to negotiate. It’s deceptive. After all, we are still Napoleon’s subjects in name, and Iberia is still a vassal state of France. Napoleon’s enemy should not be us, but other European countries.” Xiao Jie explained. He knows that if he wants to take over Paris in the future, he can't have a large-scale war with France now, otherwise the strength of Iberia and France will be greatly weakened, and other European countries will definitely not let it go this time. At that time, even if he ascended the throne, he would not be able to contend with the new anti-French alliance, and in the end he would only end up in failure. On the contrary, if he can enter Paris after Napoleon and the anti-French alliance have lost both sides, then he will face much less difficulty.
Having said that, Gregory and Misend also understood Xiao Jie's true meaning, and said that they would definitely do things well according to his wishes.
On February 18, the delegation came to Perpignan, a city in southern France. At the strong request of the French representative, they visited Murat's headquarters, which was destroyed by the Iberian Navy. "Look, this is what your navy did that day. There were more than a hundred people in the entire command, and only a dozen escaped. Fortunately, Prince Murat and General Savary were not here that day, otherwise The consequences are unimaginable." Campbell stood in front of the ruins and said eloquently. The rest of the French delegation looked at the Iberian delegation with red eyes, as if they wanted to tear them apart.
The Iberian delegation did not refute, but watched Compini's performance coldly. Finally, Misend said: "Then the next stop should be Aldous and Figueres."
On February 20, the delegation came to Aldos, and this time the "orator" was replaced by Grigio: "Gentlemen, please look. That day, it was here on the 3-kilometer border. A platoon of soldiers from the French army prevented more than two hundred French troops from forcibly entering our country, and finally a conflict broke out between the two sides. Subsequently, a cavalry regiment and an infantry regiment of the French army were involved in the "conflict" one after another. In the end, there were less than 100 people left in our battalion. In addition, on the same day, a cavalry regiment of the French army went south to attack Figueres, and encountered an infantry battalion that was reinforced by our army in Aldos. Our infantry battalion Gua was outnumbered and had to retreat in the end. When they returned to Figueres, there were only 200 people left in the entire battalion. In this conflict, the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division of the 88th Army lost 50% of their troops. Forces. Because of this, we believe that the cause of this conflict is entirely because you want to forcibly enter our country. Therefore, you should bear the main responsibility for this conflict."
"Due to the relationship between the two countries, our Crown Prince issued an order to temporarily block the border and prohibit anyone with weapons from entering Iberia in order to maintain peace between the two countries. Our soldiers are also completely obeying orders. If Your Excellency the General has any comments on this, I can help you pass it on to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Misend retorted.
"Your Excellency Gregor, only one of your regiments suffered a 50% loss, while we lost two whole regiments. At that time, your army mobilized 7 regiments to participate in the conflict. Shouldn't your Does the United States bear the primary responsibility for this conflict?" Compeney asked.
"Your Excellency Campini, that's just our self-defense." Gregory refused straight away. In any case, this conflict took place in Iberia, and the Iberian army never entered France. Therefore, in the negotiations, the Iberian side always had a little advantage.
"Then how do you explain your navy's bombardment of Perpignan? You must know that the conflict was over at that time." Eliel asked with a cold face.
"Whether the conflict is explained or not is not up to us. What's more, it was the afternoon of January 29 when our navy set sail. At that time, the conflict was still going on." Misend retorted.
Then, the two parties quarreled again. The subsequent negotiations still did not make any progress, and the people on all sides did nothing but grind the most leather. So, this matter was dragged on like this, until finally nothing happened.
But Napoleon finally figured out the cause of the conflict. It is said that both Murat and Savary were punished by him, and no one else knew what happened except the parties involved.
Since Napoleon implemented the continental blockade system, countries on the European continent have either voluntarily or forcedly joined it. In this way, a complete blockade of Britain was formed. As a traditional exporting country, Britain relied heavily on colonial products, cotton textiles, and steel exports to Europe, while Britain relied entirely on imports for grain and timber.
Napoleon's embargo against Britain became increasingly tough. The most effective way was to conquer the European continent first and control its ports and markets. He tightened his grip on France, Italy, and all of Central Europe. As a result, by 1808, the British export value dropped sharply from 40 million pounds two years ago to 35 million pounds. The fierce workers' strike movement and the sharp drop in product volume caused heavy damage to Britain. For example, imports of raw cotton into the Port of Liverpool dropped sharply from 143,000 bales in 1807 to 23,000 bales in 1808. Imports of maize also plummeted, although between 1805 and 1808 British exports to South America shot up from £8 million to £20 million, often including previous sales and shady deals. On the other hand, British exports to the Mediterranean region increased by 40% between 1805 and 1811, especially in Turkey and Persia. 1808 was the worst year, and only gradually improved after that.
If Tsarist Russia was an important ally of Napoleon's Continental System, it was also a major loophole in that system, as Tsarist Russia's Riga and Baltic ports continued to receive British goods ~www.mtlnovel.com~ despite In this way, France's ongoing trade war with Britain still caused huge economic losses to Russia.
The British retaliated against the continental blockade system by allowing only ships friendly to London to enter the deep sea, thereby creating a barrier to all French seaports and preventing French fishing boats from going to sea. The number of ships in the port of Marseille dropped from thousands in 1789 to more than 900 in 1811, and the population of Bordeaux also dropped from 120,000 to 70,000. Other cities and their industries suffered similarly.
But even so, Napoleon continued to implement his blockade policy without hesitation, because he firmly believed that France, which could receive "aid" from other European countries, would surely fall behind Britain. But this is based on the exploitation of other European countries, and any exploitation will inevitably lead to resistance.
Unlike other European countries, Russia was originally a large agricultural country, and a large number of industrial products needed to be imported from abroad, mainly from the United Kingdom. A large number of agricultural products also need to be exported to other countries, and the main target is also the United Kingdom. Napoleon's blockade policy caused heavy losses to Russia. At first, Alexander was able to bear it, but as the losses got bigger and bigger, he had other thoughts.
(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to .FU., more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)