Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The Netherlands has benefited greatly, and Prussia will naturally not remain indifferent in the east.

Prussia then proposed sending more instructors to support Ethiopian military training, and asked Ethiopia to also purchase arms from Prussia.

In order not to offend these two parties, Tewodros II placed an order for 500 cannons from Prussia, which made the whole Prussian country happy.

The military industry forces cheered and even called on William I to increase support for arms sales to Ethiopia.

A ridiculous scene occurred. Prussia actually offered to sell a level 3 sailing battleship to Ethiopia, which now has no access to the sea, at a discounted price of half price, and named it Tewodros II, making Ethiopia own it for the first time. One’s own country’s maritime battleships.

Unexpectedly, Ethiopia actually agreed, and generously stated that the warship would first be stored at the Mogadishu Port in Prussian Somalia.

This makes Italy in southern Europe feel very uncomfortable.

Co-author, are these two countries fighting Ethiopia at the expense of Italy's life to make war profits?

So Italy wanted to gain more understanding from European countries.

So with the consent of Emmanuel II, Prime Minister Luigi asked Britain and France to provide arms support.

When France hesitated to enter into an alliance with Prussia and the Netherlands, Britain agreed to the Italian government's request and provided them with the same 50,000 firearms and millions of supporting ammunition as the Netherlands.

France finally agreed to Italy's request. These days, politics is politics, and rice bowls are rice bowls.

France cannot watch its allies, the Netherlands and Prussia, eat meat. They must at least drink soup, otherwise France's domestic arms dealers would have overthrown them long ago.

So Napoleon III signed and signed it, and France provided Italy with 50,000 guns and more than 2 million rounds of ammunition.

These orders were published in newspapers across Europe and caused a huge sensation in Europe.

Everyone knows these days that people need to die in wars. This is commonplace in Europe. However, wars cost money. If it is a naval battle, the money needed for the construction of warships is too clear. Each ship has a price list. , so when the maritime war broke out, the number of warships that sank into the sea could be calculated. Even elementary school graduates knew that they could count them clearly.

However, the army has always relied on the human sea tactic to fight. Whoever has more soldiers and generals, and which country's army is well-trained, will favor which side on the battlefield on the balance of victory.

Although in recent years, with the development of thermal weapons, human sea tactics have declined slightly, they are still the most important indicator of land warfare. Tsarist Russia has the largest army. Even if its firearms are not as good as those of other European powers, it has always been the army. A big country?

"It is a pity that the United States has strong industrial strength. In the current Civil War, the North made almost all its own weapons. Although the infrastructure in the South is weak, the British actually gave the production lines to the South in order to balance the North. This actually made the United States During the war, for the first time, it did not purchase weapons and equipment from abroad, which can be called a miracle in the history of thermal weapons warfare."

William IV saw that the eyes of various European countries were attracted by Ethiopia's orders for war weapons.

He couldn't help but look at the simple world map. With the slow deployment of the Dutch army, Australia has stabilized, various immigration work has begun, and industries have begun to move there rapidly. As long as you give me 20 years, no matter how hard it is, , 10 years is OK, I guarantee that the world will be shocked by Australia's development.

"Population is a piece of hardware and a weakness of the Netherlands. However, the dominance of Australia is definitely the Dutch. There is no room for compromise. With it as the center, the rest can be relaxed a little."

As he spoke, William IV took a pen and began to draw circles on the map.

With Australia as the center, New Guinea, East India, Madagascar, and New Zealand follow, the South Pacific islands headed by the Alaska Peninsula and Fiji rank third, and all parts of Africa rank fourth.

As for the homeland, William IV hesitated and finally wrote the four words "indispensable" in Chinese characters.

It shows that this European continent cannot afford to lose anything.

After putting down his pen, he turned his eyes to Southern Europe and Portugal.

Thinking about the intelligence that the Dutch International Intelligence Service and the Royal Dutch Intelligence Service have recently returned from Portugal.

"Louis I danced the most happily, but my Netherlands still lacks a lot of pieces in the Indian Ocean. If you don't overestimate your capabilities and think you can challenge the Netherlands, we in the Netherlands have been low-key for too long, but we can beat you Portugal." It is used to commemorate the loss of the Netherlands' status as one of the naval hegemons, and to enable the Netherlands to once again rise to the ranks of European powers."

The arms replenishment of the two countries was quickly reached, and the repairs during this period also gave both sides a chance to breathe and redeploy.

But just like the calm before the storm, this means that the war behind will be more intense.

On March 25, 1863, Italy's eastern front suddenly split into half. 60,000 troops quickly and secretly marched eastward, from Jijiga to the south, conquering Fike, Kololo, and Idabo, and then followed the example of Ethiopia. Taking a circuitous route to the west, 40,000 people attacked Goba, the largest city in southern and southeastern Ethiopia.

After suffering less than 5,000 casualties, the Ethiopian army of 10,000 people was defeated, leaving 10,000 people including the wounded to garrison Goba. 40,000 people continued northward and successfully attacked Asela.

At the same time, Giuseppe on the main line of the Eastern Front also used artillery as the lead, bombing all the way back to the outside of Nazret. For a time, the Italian army from the north to the south formed a triangle with the Ethiopian army of Nazret.

After one round, Ethiopia only had 170,000 people left and lost 20,000, while Italy had 110,000 people left;

At this time, due to the replenishment of ammunition, these local troops in Ethiopia also came from various forces, and their hearts were not unified. In the end, under the difficult command of Minister of War De Boser, the Italian army on the Western Front seized the opportunity, and the Western Front was finally captured. In this battle, Desai's Ethiopian army dropped sharply from 60,000 to 40,000, while the Italian army only lost less than 5,000 from 60,000.

After being captured, the Ethiopian army began to retreat all the way to the southwest due to insufficient food and grass and the inability to effectively replenish weapons and ammunition.

When they returned to Addis Abel, the remaining 40,000 troops were even more pitiful, with only 20,000 left, and Italy had 50,000 left.

When April 1, 1863, April Fool's Day in the West, came, Ethiopia had only 190,000 troops left, of which 170,000 were directly under Tewodros II. It takes 110,000 people to give birth to 20,000 people.

Italy has 160,000. It seems that Ethiopia has more troops, but in terms of equipment, Italy has the advantage.