Time slipped by, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye. As expected, once the news of the successful landing at Grier spread, the media quickly blew it out of proportion. Hardly anyone even knew where Grier was. That did not matter. As long as it was on the island of England, it was enough. The Continental Allied Army had already set foot on English soil. Was there really any suspense left in the rest of the war? When almost everyone reached the same conclusion, it became the truth by default, even if it was not entirely accurate. Not even the most rational politicians were immune to this kind of atmosphere. Washington As one of the parties involved in the war, the government of the United States was now like ants on a hot pan, restless and frantic. Secretary of State Pete Neidermeyer complained bitterly, “The situation is absolutely terrible. Ever since this war broke out, I have not received a single piece of good news. The British are completely useless. They are still living off their former glory. Other than bragging, they cannot do anything. They let the enemy land successfully, and after all this time they still have not driven them back into the sea. And they even dare to claim it was just an accident...” This was not because Pete was narrow-minded. The problem was that the British ally was truly infuriating. Even though the United States itself was hardly blameless, that did not stop Pete from looking down on the British. For a typical American, hating the British was practically a basic skill. Of course, in this timeline, the American public had quite a few enemies to hate. France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire were all on the list. Even so, the British still firmly held the top spot. Even now that they were allies, it was impossible to overturn such deeply ingrained sentiments overnight. Pete’s ancestors had come from England, yet he was still a perfectly loyal American. With the British performing this poorly, there was no reason not to despise them. Roosevelt picked up his cigar and exhaled a cloud of smoke before waving his hand and saying, “The British performance is indeed clumsy. That said, the fall of Grier does not actually have much impact on the defense of the British Isles. For us, this might even be a good thing. After something like this, surely those people on Wall Street will stop insisting that we stay tied to the British, right?” Wall Street might dislike the Holy Roman Empire’s distinctive brand of nationalism, but that did not mean they were willing to fight it to the bitter end. The fall of Grier had limited military significance, yet its political impact was nothing short of explosive. Under its influence, previously neutral Peru and Bolivia announced their entry into the Continental Alliance and formally declared war on the Oceanic Alliance. Within the Oceanic Alliance itself, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay declared unilateral ceasefires under the banner of “accelerating the restoration of world peace.” Ceasefire negotiations were already underway between both sides. If nothing unexpected happened, these three token participants were clearly preparing to jump ship. As for Mexico and Colombia, which had been pinned down and beaten relentlessly, there was even less to say. Their original governments had long since collapsed, and the new regimes had effectively gone to their knees the moment they took power. Even the reinforcements sent by the United States to those two countries were disarmed by these rule-breaking governments, which openly cooperated with the enemy to do so. What the United States found most intolerable, however, was the restlessness of its neighbor, the Confederate States. The dramatic reversal of the situation made American farmers see opportunity. They wanted to seize the moment to expand their holdings. If that were all, it might still have been bearable. The real problem was that those farmers in the Confederate States had set their sights on the United States itself. There was no helping it. The best farmland in the world was either in the Confederate States or in the United States. Anyone looking to develop large-scale agriculture would naturally turn their eyes north toward American territory. Against this backdrop, anyone with even a little sense could see that continuing to be dragged along with the British would place the United States in real danger. Those who could survive on Wall Street were all sharp minds. With their instinctive judgment and profit-driven nature, Roosevelt did not believe they would stubbornly throw their lives away fighting the Holy Roman Empire. Secretary of State Pete replied with certainty, “Of course they will not. Right now, every one of them is struggling just to keep their own heads above water. They are tied too closely to the British. Once Britain loses, Wall Street will suffer massive losses as well. I hear they have already begun pulling capital out of Britain. Unfortunately, the British are not cooperating, so everything is still deadlocked.” British and American capitalists demonstrated through their actions what it truly meant to say that “capital knows no borders.” British capital was heavily invested in the United States, while those Wall Street financial tycoons had likewise allocated vast amounts of assets in London. London at this time was much like New York in the twenty-first century, a global financial hub drawing in capital from all over the world. Any financial institution of meaningful size held substantial assets there, whether in stocks, bonds, futures, or gold. The difference was that financial capital from other countries had not yet gained real political influence. When they invested, they preferred to spread their bets. Wall Street’s elites, however, found themselves in an awkward position. Because they disliked the various restrictions of the Holy Roman Empire’s financial markets, they often went all in on London. Especially after the outbreak of the world war, the British government issued government bonds multiple times to raise funds from abroad. Due to early misjudgments and flawed assumptions, these high-yield British bonds were eagerly snapped up by Wall Street. By the time the risks became apparent and they wanted to unload their positions, there were no longer enough buyers willing to take them off their hands. It was not just bonds. Wall Street had also extended large amounts of commercial loans. Anyone paying attention would notice an ironic reality. British capital was the largest creditor of the U.S. government, while American capital was in turn a major creditor of the British government. At first glance, it looked like a triangular debt trap. In reality, British and American capital had already merged into one, truly achieving the state of “you in me, and me in you.” In the original timeline, this was exactly how the United States was dragged into the quagmire. This time, it was even more tragic. They boarded the pirate ship in a daze, and now they could not get off even if they wanted to. … The Americans were not the only ones in a panic. Chile and Japan were also stuck in the same dilemma, likewise unable to disembark. Chile’s anxiety stemmed from one simple fact. When the enemy was courting the Holy Roman Empire, Chile had chosen to side with the British. Now that Peru and Bolivia had suddenly transformed into members of the Continental Alliance, Chile’s position became painfully awkward overnight. The only consolation was that during the early stages of operations against Austrian South America, Chile had not gone all out. They had mostly circled around the periphery, avoiding deep strikes and causing limited casualties to the defenders. The less blood on their hands, the less hatred they incurred, and the more room there was for maneuver. Compared to offending the Holy Roman Empire, two small players like Peru and Bolivia were hardly worth mentioning at all. Japan was the one truly in a miserable position. Among all the members of the Oceanic Alliance, aside from the universally hated British, Japan had the most enemies and the most dangerous ones at that. Ten years earlier, during the Philippine War, Japan and Spain had forged a blood feud. Spain, having been badly beaten and stripped of its status as a great power, now hated Japan with a passion. Then there was the ongoing Russo-Japanese War. Just looking at that conflict made it obvious that if given the chance, the Russian Bear would never let Japan off the hook, especially with an incumbent ruler who harbored an extreme hatred toward the Japanese. Offending the second and third powers of the Continental Alliance was already bad enough. To make matters worse, the Japanese Navy had also participated in the earlier Battle of Malacca. Although Japan lost that naval battle and did not inflict serious damage on the Holy Roman Navy, it was still enough to earn special attention from the Holy Roman government. Having offended the number one, number two, and number three powers of the Continental Alliance all at once, the Japanese government now wanted to jump ship, yet could not find a single mediator willing to step in. The idea of intimidating the Continental Alliance through “sacrificial spirit” was nothing more than a joke. Fighting to the last man might be terrifying, but it did not change the fact that the Continental Alliance was made up of many countries. This was not a one-on-one confrontation. Losses would be shared across multiple states. No matter how heavy the total casualties were, once divided up, the burden on each country became far more tolerable. In a situation such as this, if a ‘death before dishonor(gyokusai)’ is forced upon forty million people, the only thing that can be guaranteed... is the ‘death’ part. Internationally, the situation was boiling over, and European media eagerly added fuel to the fire. Major outlets all had their own intelligence channels. With a bit of artistic embellishment, they published the stories openly and confidently. Following the principle of doing good deeds without leaving one’s name behind, Continental Alliance air forces, while bombing the British Isles, conveniently scattered freshly printed newspapers from the sky. In reality, the British-led Oceanic Alliance was only teetering on the brink and had not actually collapsed. But in the newspapers, the Alliance was already portrayed as completely disintegrated, with only Britain and its diehard partners still putting up a desperate resistance. In theory, this kind of exaggerated political reporting was prohibited within the Holy Roman Empire. Under the current circumstances, however, exceptions were made. With the goal of crushing British morale, the Bureau of News and Publications issued special approval. The long-established credibility of these newspapers was deliberately exploited to enhance the persuasiveness of the reports and strike directly at British resolve. As for any potential backlash down the line, that was a minor issue. It could always be addressed later. Compared to winning the war as quickly as possible, it was not worth worrying about. The group most shaken by all of this was, naturally, the Irish. At long last, after waiting and waiting, the moment everyone had been hoping for finally arrived. The British Empire was in decline. The opportunity for independence had appeared. If they did not seize this chance and stir things up now, it would be unforgivable. Starting in October, Ireland was thrown into turmoil. All kinds of revivalist forces, guerrilla units, and resistance organizations sprang up almost overnight. Local police forces, made up largely of natives, were clearly incapable of keeping the situation under control. In an effort to restore peace and stability on the island as quickly as possible, the British troops stationed there were run ragged, constantly rushing from one crisis to another. Even the previously stable region of Scotland began to show signs of unrest, with some people quietly growing restless and ready to make a move.
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