One has to admit the Japanese are quite skilled at acting. On one hand, they made solemn promises to Britain and France to join the war against Austria. On the other hand, they assured Austria that they would never infringe upon Austrian possessions in Southeast Asia. As for the rumors spreading around, those were all part of a French conspiracy aimed at sowing discord between Japan and Austria through such despicable tactics. Whether those rumors were true or not didn’t matter. The point was that after a series of diplomatic maneuvers, the Japanese government managed to secure real benefits. Thanks to their powers of persuasion, on April 11, 1891, Itō Hirobumi signed the “Franco-Japanese Far East Treaty” with French Minister Gletteras, agreeing to join the war against Austria in exchange for France relinquishing its privileges in Japan. This marked the beginning of Japan’s efforts to abolish the unequal treaties. Then, on April 18, Itō pulled the same trick again and signed the “Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Tokyo” with the British, reclaiming the privileges Britain had in Japan. Using the same approach once more, on April 26, Itō signed the “Austro-Japanese Security Treaty” with the Austrian envoy. In exchange for not allying with France, Japan persuaded Austria to give up its privileges in Japan. With the three major powers taken care of, the rest were no longer a concern. Through a combination of threats and incentives, the Japanese government miraculously abolished the unequal treaties imposed by various countries, becoming the first Asian nation to regain full sovereignty. When the news reached Europe, well, Japan’s presence on the global stage was still minimal at the time. No one really paid much attention. The media were too busy covering the war in Europe to care about what was happening in Japan. It wasn’t just the public who ignored it. Even other governments didn’t take it seriously. Sure, it was good to have privileges in Japan, but losing them wasn’t a big deal either. After Britain and France had already taken the lion’s share of the Japanese market, there wasn’t much left. In fact, Franz only realized Austria had privileges in Japan after reading the treaty report submitted by the Foreign Ministry. And that was that. At the time, Japan was simply too poor. Only a handful of goods sold well there, and the most profitable was, naturally, arms trade. Unfortunately, Japan’s navy was modeled after Britain’s and the army after France’s, leaving no space for Austrian weapons in the market. On top of that, the Austrian government had implemented a mineral export control law, cutting off the resource trade. Apart from selling some rubber and grain from Austrian Southeast Asia, Austria only exported a small number of industrial goods to Japan. With so little being exported, imports were even rarer. Compared to Japan’s utter poverty, Austria barely needed anything at all. Even Japan’s signature product, raw silk, lost its market after Lombardy and Venice switched from rice to mulberry cultivation. The total annual trade volume between Japan and Austria was less than 300,000 guilders and could be completely ignored. There was simply no reason to treat it as important. After so many years as emperor, Franz had long become a competent politician. Aside from causing the Japanese government a bit of trouble in the beginning, he rarely stirred up problems later on. In fact, Austria ended up paying the price for the emperor’s willfulness. The Austrian government’s mineral export approval law was originally aimed at competitors, with the French as the main target. Austrian Southeast Asia was too far from Europe. Importing ore from that far away would already drive costs up due to freight alone, so restrictions weren’t even necessary. But when the boundaries were being drawn, Franz accidentally made too large a circle on the map and unintentionally included Austrian Southeast Asia. As a result, if the Japanese government wanted to import minerals from Austria, they had to go through layer upon layer of approval. It would take at least a year or two just to get through the process. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made many efforts to change this, but to the Austrian government, it was a trivial matter. No one was willing to change a law just for the sake of the Japanese. Simply put, the benefits weren’t worth it. Changing a law in Austria was a huge hassle and required reconvening the legislative assembly. Even if the restriction was lifted, it would only increase the annual trade volume by a few hundred thousand guilders at most, and the government’s share of that in tax revenue would only be a few thousand guilders. For that little money, the Austrian government wasn’t about to bother revising the law. Even if they knew it was wrong, they would just keep going with it anyway. Because of this, Japan-Austria relations remained lukewarm. To be fair, the Japanese did have a knack for this sort of situation. When it was time to play the underdog, they never hesitated. Putting down the treaty in his hand, Franz said slowly, “The Anglo-Russian negotiations have already begun. It seems our actions on the African continent have triggered British alarm. Based on John Bull’s usual behavior, they certainly won’t want to see us link Europe, Asia, and Africa into one chain. If nothing unexpected happens, Britain and France are already drawing closer together. The main force of the British Army is still in Afghanistan, so they are currently unable to intervene in a continental war. The danger will only come from overseas. Order the Governors of Southeast Asia and Central America to increase vigilance and remain alert to all surrounding neighbors. Do not give the enemy any chance to take advantage. As for the other regions, our strength is far too weak. If war breaks out, allow them to surrender directly.” Even though he didn’t believe the Japanese would be foolish enough to suddenly attack Austrian Southeast Asia, Franz still immediately gave the order to strengthen defenses, recalling how reckless Japanese strategy had been in the original timeline. The concerns about other regions were purely speculative. With the possibility of an Anglo-French alliance, inciting a few fools to charge forward would not be difficult at all. It could be the Japanese, or it could be any other country. Among Austria’s overseas colonies, only Southeast Asia and Central America were relatively well-developed and strong enough to engage in a “friendly match” with their neighbors. The rest were unimpressive. Austrian Alaska in particular had only one infantry battalion stationed there, with fewer than fifty thousand settlers in total, a third of whom were criminals. If the British decided to make a move, it could fall at any moment. Since there’s no way to win, it’s better to surrender outright. Maintaining control over these places wasn’t easy. If everything was lost, reinvestment would be needed to rebuild from scratch. Once the continental war ends, no matter who takes those territories, they will have to return them with interest. There’s no need for meaningless sacrifice. After so many years of living in this new timeline, Franz had been heavily influenced by European culture. His thinking was increasingly like that of a European politician. Foreign Minister Wessenberg said, “Your Majesty, perhaps we can spread news about occupying Egypt to shatter these people’s unrealistic fantasies.” Although the Austrian army had already torn through the Suez defenses and even advanced to the outskirts of Cairo, the Egyptian war was still ongoing. Not long ago, the French government sent reinforcements to the Egyptian front. While they could not reverse the overall situation, they still managed to slow the Austrian advance. However, that did not stop the Austrian government from spreading rumors to the outside world. After all, with their troops already at Cairo’s gates, it was only a matter of time before the city fell. Whether they were opportunists or power-hungry schemers, these people were like weather vanes, always swaying toward the stronger wind. The Anglo-French alliance could intimidate some, but Austria’s military strength was not to be underestimated either. Upon hearing such news, no one would easily take sides before confirming its authenticity. In these times, verifying information was no simple task. By the time all parties figured out what was really happening, the Austrian army would likely have already taken Egypt. Once the strategic balance shifted, those opportunists would naturally know which side to choose. The essence of politics was to gain more friends and reduce the number of enemies. In the face of self-interest, people were easily swayed, and this applied to politics as well. Franz was no warmonger. He had no interest in luring enemies out only to create more problems for himself. “Let’s give it a try, but don’t make it too obvious. Just release a few photos of our army’s movements in Egypt and leak some minor rumors. Let them fill in the blanks themselves.” Blending truth and fiction made it hardest to discern reality. If these had been troop movement photos from another front, one might judge progress by the landmarks shown. But Egypt was different. The Austrians were advancing along three separate lines, and the French could only defend key strategic points and major cities. The rest of the territory was left open for the Austrians to roam. Judging solely by troop routes, it would be easy to conclude that the French had already lost. As for the truth, it no longer mattered. ... Everything had two sides. Once news of the Austrian army’s occupation of Egypt broke out, it caused a global sensation. Not only were the opportunists and fence-sitters shocked, but even Austria’s staunch ally, Russia, was shaken. Perhaps it was the magnitude of the development, or perhaps it was to help the British counterbalance Austria. Either way, the Russian government abandoned its previous indifference during negotiations and swiftly reached a deal with Britain. The two sides concluded a ceasefire agreement and brought the Anglo-Russian War to an end. Meanwhile, the European nations that had been obstructing France’s access to critical materials began to shift their stance. They opened the floodgates on strategic exports to France, and overnight, their relations with the French seemed to enter a honeymoon phase. Still, that was the most their governments were willing to do. Just as they had refused to join the anti-French coalition before, they would not join any anti-Austrian coalition now without a reason. Easing restrictions on France was simply meant to balance the power between France and Austria, to intensify their conflict and let them bleed each other out. It did not mean these nations considered France a friend. In the eyes of most politicians, France remained the most destabilizing force on the European continent and a prime target to suppress.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH) Support the translation and read more chapters at https://ko-fi.com/dragonlegion
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backfire huh.
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