Chapter 295: Expansion of the Alliance

The full name of the Oman region is the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which was once a country spanning two continents.

During the reign of the previous Sultan, Said bin Sultan, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman occupied a large area of land, and its territory included not only the Oman of later generations but also parts of the UAE and Gwadar in Pakistan.

Of course, this also includes Oman's East African territories, which is why it is said that the Oman of the past was a country spanning two continents.

It was just that after the old Sultan passed away, his two sons inherited Oman's mainland and East African territories respectively, and broke up because of this.

The current Sultanate of Muscat and Oman only manages the Oman mainland of later generations; all other lands belong to other countries.

Spain's colonial target is only the Oman mainland; even if Oman still controls East African territories at this time, Gao Da will not have any extra thoughts.

After all, Oman's East African territories are located on the east coast of Africa, which happens to be in the north of Portugal's Mozambique colony.

This place is exactly on the vertical line of Britain's Cairo-Cape colony; any country that occupies a colony here will definitely be hated and retaliated against by the British.

Gao Da did not pay too much attention to Spain's colonial war; after all, for Spain, this is a war without any suspense.

Compared with most African indigenous people, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman has a higher level of civilization, but that is all.

Facing European colonizers, it is difficult for them to form a powerful resistance, and coupled with the reason that no other European country interfered, the colonial war launched by Spain is impossible to fail.

Facts have indeed proven this. After the Spanish army arrived on the Alabobandao, it immediately launched an attack on the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman.

This maritime power that once confronted European countries and even defeated the colonial aggression of Portugal has now weakened into an ordinary small country without any characteristics.

When the Sultanate still controlled the East African territories, the East African territories provided a large amount of financial income to the Oman mainland every year, which also allowed Oman to organize a navy of a relatively powerful scale.

When losing the East African territories, Oman not only lost a treasure land that could provide a large amount of financial income but also lost most of the navy stationed in the East African territories.

This also led to the fact that the current Sultanate of Muscat and Oman is a mess in terms of both military strength and economic strength. When facing the attack of the Spanish army, the current Sultan, Turki bin Said, tried every possible way to stop Spain's attack, but it had no effect in front of Spain's steel guns and cannons.

On April 22, 1883, only a month and a half had passed since the Spanish army set off, and the Spanish army had already occupied nearly one-third of Oman's land.

Spain's attack on Oman was launched from north to south, and the first target of the attack was Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Muscat.

The Middle East is a land covered with deserts, which also led to a common phenomenon in Middle Eastern countries, that is, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the population is generally concentrated in areas with less desert.

Do not look at the fact that Oman is a medium-sized country about 1,000 kilometers long from north to south; in fact, the vast majority of Oman's population is generally concentrated in the two regions in the north, especially the Muscat region where the capital is located, which has more than 60% of the population of the entire Sultanate.

This also led to the fact that although Spain only occupied one-third of Oman's territory, it actually already controlled the vast majority of Oman's population.

Of course, Oman's population is not large either. The population of the entire Alabobandao combined is only 3 to 4 million, and the population Oman possesses is only one-tenth of the population of the Alabobandao.

After occupying the northern territory of Oman, the next occupation of the central and southern regions of Oman does not need to be rushed.

Anyway, most of the regions to the south are deserts, and there are very few Omanis here, which will not have any impact on Spain's colonial rule at all.

Other European Great Powers will not be interested in this desert, and the British even wish that Spain would occupy the great desert in the south of Oman, so that they can occupy the most essential area of the Middle East, the Mesopotamian plain.

At the same time that Spain launched a colonial attack on Oman, the sales personnel of the Royal Military Factory were also contacting the dynasty behind Vietnam.

It is worth mentioning that when the Spanish sales personnel indicated their identity and expressed their willingness to sell weapons and equipment to them, the other side not only did not show an eager desire to buy weapons but instead hoped to mediate the war between France and them through Spain's relationship.

The sales personnel tried every possible way to learn that the country was divided into two factions regarding the war with France. One faction advocated fighting France to the end; if Vietnam was lost, it would make their southern border face the risk of being invaded by France.

The other faction advocated seeking peace with France; after all, the country had never won in a war with European Great Powers, and there was no need to break out a war with a Great Power nation like France for Vietnam.

Because the representative figures of the peace faction controlled the power of diplomacy and military, this led to the fact that Spain's weapons and equipment could not be sold for a while.

Gao Da did not expect that the equipment delivered to the door would not be wanted by the other side; they would rather believe in that weak hope of peace than be willing to pick up weapons to resist.

There is no way, the plan to delay France's attack speed by selling weapons can only be shelved temporarily. When the parties involved choose the attitude of the peace faction, what can Spain do?

The perspective returns to Spain. After occupying more than one-third of Oman's territory, Gao Da officially announced the establishment of the Oman colony and built a larger-scale naval base in the colonial capital, Muscat, for the transit supply of the Spanish Navy and civilian ships.

The news of adding a new colony did indeed attract the attention of the Spanish on that day, but it quickly lost its heat.

After all, most of Oman's land is desert; although the entire land combined is half the size of Spain, the developable land is only the mountainous and coastal areas in the far north, and the economic value is quite pitiful.

There are a few other things worth mentioning in 1883.

First is the earthquake that occurred in Ischia, Italy, on July 28, which caused more than 2,000 deaths and nearly 10,000 injuries.

This can be counted as a rare major disaster. At the first moment of learning about the earthquake in Italy, Gao Da and the Spanish government each sent telegrams of condolence to the Italian side and donated some materials.

Gao Da is, after all, from the Italian royal family, and in terms of bloodline, he is naturally Italian. Gao Da certainly cannot sit idly by when a disaster occurs in Italy; donating 1 million Pesetas in funds can also narrow the relationship between Gao Da and the Italians.

The Spanish government also donated a batch of materials in a friendly manner to help the Italian government better restore post-disaster order and rebuild the disaster-stricken areas.

At the end of September 1883, German Emperor Wilhelm I encountered an unsuccessful assassination attempt.

It is worth mentioning that at that time, Wilhelm I was riding in a custom-made automobile produced by the Royal Benz Automobile Company, and steel plates were installed on the windows of the automobile.

This also led to the fact that the assassin's assassination was unsuccessful; except for being frightened to a certain extent, Wilhelm I did not suffer any injuries.

This prevention of a successful assassination also made the royal families of various European countries pay attention to the special custom-made automobiles launched by the Royal Benz Automobile Company.

The so-called special custom-made automobile is actually an automobile that has been modified after sacrificing a certain amount of speed. Steel plates are installed on the automobile doors, windows, and front and rear windshields, which can ensure the safety of the passengers to the greatest extent.

Of course, because these steel plates greatly increased the weight of the automobile, the final speed of such a modified automobile was only 25 kilometers per hour at the highest, and generally could only be maintained at about 18 to 20 kilometers per hour.

Although such a speed is not fast, for the sake of their own safety, the royal families of various European countries still purchased a large number of such custom-made automobiles.

What's more, compared with the speed of the original horses and horse-drawn carriages, even at a speed of only 20 kilometers per hour, the speed of the automobile is still faster than that of the horse-drawn carriage.

Under the leadership of the royal families of various countries, European nobles purchased a large number of automobiles, which also made the sales volume of automobiles usher in large-scale growth in the second half of 1883, and branch factories in various countries made a big profit.

At the end of October, another piece of news made Gao Da pay attention to the European situation again.

Since the formation of the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy last time, the European situation has not changed at all. The French focused their attention on external immigration expansion, while the British were busy developing colonies on one hand and suppressing colonial rebellions on the other, and Europe was therefore calm for a period of time.

But on October 30, 1883, Romania, which had just been renamed the Kingdom of Romania, secretly joined the military alliance formed by Germany, Austria, and Italy, which also made Gao Da see the future of the imminent collapse of the Three Emperors' Alliance.

The reason why Romania is willing to join the Triple Alliance is also very simple, and that is Romania's geographical location.

As the northernmost country among the Balkan states, Romania can be said to be the first line of the Balkan states to confront Russia.

But because Romania's own strength is insufficient, Romania also needs external factors to ensure its own safety.

In the situation where both sides have a common enemy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania hit it off, and the two sides signed a mutual defense alliance treaty.

The treaty stipulates that once Romania's border is attacked, the Austro-Hungarian Empire should immediately join Romania's side to help Romania defend.

At the same time, if the eastern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also attacked, Romania should also dispatch at least 100,000 troops to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire defend.

Although it was not explicitly stated, the enemy that the two countries are guarding against together is already very obvious. Only Russia would make the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania so fearful; the Balkan countries do not have this qualification.

At this time, the Russians do not know that their allies, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have been guarding against themselves in secret, and it is almost to the point of taking the initiative to attack to solve this threat.

Under the leadership of the new Tsar Alexander III, Russia during this period has always shown a relatively low-key attitude, whether at the international level or in the Balkan situation.

It is just because of Russia's vast land area and large population that the guard of various European countries against Russia has never weakened.

Even the most powerful British Empire believes that the country that currently poses the greatest threat to Europe is Russia.

Just like the historical trend, the formation of the Allied Powers is faster than that of the Entente Powers.

The alliance treaty between Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy has already been concluded, and even a country like Romania has joined the Allied Powers.

But on the side of the Entente Powers, there is no sign of the Franco-Russian Alliance, and it is even more impossible for the British to join France and Russia under the European situation at this time.

In fact, it can also be seen from the current trend of the European situation that Germany's ambition is very large. They won over the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, which also means that Germany regards France and Russia as enemies at the same time.

Once Germany can defeat France again, Germany will become the undisputed European hegemon, and even challenging the British Empire will not be a problem.

After all, although the British are strong, they are drifting outside the European continent. The British Isles and the European continent are separated by the English Channel, which makes it difficult for the British to intervene in the situation on the European continent, unless it is a situation where the world war is quite chaotic.

After Romania joined the Triple Alliance, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also invited Italy to join the alliance one after another.

It is just that the two countries did not reveal the situation of the Triple Alliance, but tentatively invited Spain to join the defensive alliance against France.

In fact, for the current European situation, Spain joining the Triple Alliance may not be a bad choice.

First of all, the Triple Alliance with Spain will become more powerful. The German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and Spain are all Great Powers, and the union of the four Great Powers is something that no country can underestimate.

Secondly, the union of the four Great Powers can also attract more European small and medium-sized countries to join.

Countries like Romania also need to take sides; it is not that all countries can remain neutral and not be coveted by Great Power nations.

The Allied Powers with four Great Powers are the best objects to take sides with; after all, there are only eight Great Powers in the whole world, and the United States, a Great Power, is far across the Atlantic Ocean and cannot participate in the European situation.

But this does not mean that there are no disadvantages after Spain joins the Allied Powers.

The union of the four Great Powers will definitely attract the guard of France, Russia, and even the British, which leads to the rapid formation of the Anglo-Franco-Russian Entente.

The current German-Austro-Italian-Spanish alliance is obviously not yet the opponent of the three major Great Powers of Britain, France, and Russia; except for Germany, which can match the national strength of Britain, France, and Russia, the remaining three Great Powers are not on the same level as Britain, France, and Russia.

There is also the fact that Gao Da does not want to stand completely on the opposite side of France. At this time, even if there is a competitive relationship with France, Spain can still get some funds from France for its own development.

If it stands completely on the opposite side of France, French capital is something that should not be thought about again. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot provide enough funds for Spain to develop, which also means that after joining the Allied Powers, Spain's development can only rely on itself.

Out of such reasons, Gao Da rejected the invitation of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, stating that Spain does not intend to join the defensive alliance against France.

Of course, Gao Da also ordered the Spanish government to reiterate the attitude of jointly developing North Africa with Italy.

At least in the North African region, Spain and Italy will advance and retreat together, jointly guarding against France, the greatest strong enemy.

After obtaining the promise of the Spanish government, the Italian government no longer insisted on inviting Spain to join the defensive alliance; after all, Spain's attitude has already indicated that it will not join France's side, and will lean towards Italy as much as possible in a neutral situation.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 296 =====