I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 739: Once you’re here, don’t even think about leaving.
Although George reached an agreement with American capital led by J.P. Morgan during the Washington Conference, he never placed his hopes on the Americans.

George knows the nature of Americans too well. These people will not show their strength until they see the rabbit. No matter how nice something they say to you in person, they will forget it completely the moment they turn around. As Kissinger said, it is dangerous to be an opponent of the United States, but it is deadly to be an ally of the United States.

You can only listen half of what Morgan Jr. says. Russia and the United States do have broad common interests on many issues, but after overthrowing the international order dominated by Britain and France, is the United States willing to share the right to speak on international affairs with Russia?
not necessarily!

George and Morgan Jr. did not sign the agreement.

The agreement has no effect on these two people.

In essence, the two are exploiting each other, just like the Anglo-French alliance before the World War. If you take it seriously, you will lose.

George has no time to bother with the Americans now. His main task is to deal with Britain with all his strength.

By 1922, the situation in Britain had not improved but had become worse.

Last November, Britain and Ireland reached an agreement to allow Ireland to become independent, ending the Irish War of Independence which lasted nearly two years.

Almost at the same time, Britain and Egypt reached an agreement to allow Egypt to become independent.

The successive independence of Ireland and Egypt set the best example for Britain's overseas dominions. At one time, India, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Straits Settlements in Singapore all demanded independence.

Faced with the overwhelming public opinion, the British government had no choice but to decide to continue convening the Imperial Conference next year.

In 1921, Britain's exports dropped sharply from 1920 billion pounds in 10.1 to only 5000 million.

In 1919, British exports amounted to £26 billion.

In just two years, the UK's exports fell from 26 billion to just 0.5, which made everyone sad and cry.

Compared with Britain, Russia's exports increased from 1919 billion rubles in 35 to 1921 billion rubles in 220.

George told himself not to be proud, 220 rubles was only equivalent to 23 billion pounds.

Witt can't control himself and has been walking with a gust of wind lately.

"Send a telegram to New York and have them act."

George fully mobilized every resource to make Britain's situation even worse.

George's next target is the British pound.

In 1922, the British pound was the only international currency in the world, and the franc was almost the only one.

The rise of the ruble and the US dollar has posed a strong challenge to the dominance of the pound. During the world war, Britain abolished the gold standard due to financial constraints, which had a serious impact on the credibility of the pound.

Currently, only the US dollar and the ruble are pegged to gold in the world.

On Monday, April 4, when the New York stock market opened, stocks of all British-related companies collapsed, falling by more than 3%, catching everyone off guard.

At the same time, canal company stocks began to fall, causing new panic.

To this day, there are still people who believe that the Suez grounding incident can be perfectly resolved.

44% of the canal company's shares are controlled by the British, 51% are controlled by the French, and the remaining 5% are raised through social financing, mainly sold in the UK.

The major shareholder is wealthy and can continue to hold on.

Small shareholders all rely on dividends to survive, and after the canal was blocked, rumors about the canal spread in London.

Some people say that the grounding of the Suez was a Russian conspiracy against Britain.

Others say that France is dissatisfied with the status quo and hopes to seize jurisdiction over the Suez Canal.

What's more, some people even linked the grounding of the Suez to Egypt's independence, saying it was Egypt's legitimate demand.

Regardless of whether George's behavior was legitimate or not, the canal company's losses amounted to millions of francs a day, and George's losses were not small.

Although France and Italy suffered losses due to the blockage of the Suez Canal, Russia was the biggest impact. More than 50% of the goods sent from Amur to St. Petersburg have to pass through the Suez Canal due to the insufficient transportation capacity of the Siberian Railway.

The Suez Canal is 195 kilometers long. If it goes around Africa, the voyage will increase by more than 10000 kilometers.

Therefore, the Suez Canal is not only a forbidden delicacy for the British, but also a major artery for Russia.

Dmitry represented Russia at the coronation ceremony of Fuad I.

At the subsequent thank-you banquet, Dmitry suggested to Fuad I: Why not take back the jurisdiction of the Suez Canal?

Fuad I suffered a great injustice. He also wanted to take back the jurisdiction of the canal, but the British disagreed.

"Your Highness is still young. You should do everything you can to create a more suitable external environment for Your Highness."

Dmitri focused on Fuad.

"Your Excellency the Grand Duke, the situation in Egypt is different from that in Russia."

Fuad was still quite sane.

"Compared to Russia? Are you worthy?"

Dmitri's words hurt Fuad deeply.

On the evening of the thank-you dinner, British troops stationed in the canal zone were attacked.

The attackers used mortars and light machine guns, inflicting heavy losses on the British forces.

Starting at six in the morning, several temporarily requisitioned merchant ships began to transport the wounded. According to statistics from local Egyptian media, more than 150 people were killed and nearly 600 were injured, which far exceeded the loss figures announced by the British government.

The British government claimed that only six officers were killed.

Lloyd George's first reaction was to send more troops.

The plan to increase troops was subsequently rejected by both the House of Representatives and the House of Commons and died in the cradle.

Russia and the United States have denied the allegations, saying they had no prior knowledge of the incident.

On April 4, a British shipping company issued a warning to Dolgorukov Shipping Company, saying that if the canal crisis could not be resolved in a short period of time, the shipping company would send frogmen to blow up the "Suez".

After the news was published, the Dolgorukov family increased the number of troops protecting the Suez to 1500.

Referring to Russia's current organization, 1500 people are almost a standard regiment.

The Dolgorukov family's plan to increase its troops was strongly opposed by the British army.

The location where the Suez ran aground was less than 3 kilometers away from the British military headquarters in the canal zone.

This distance is well within the killing range of the mortars equipped by the Russian military.

Unlike the Foreign Legion who lived in tents, the Cossacks hired by the Dolgorukov family had begun to build a formal camp next to the canal in the name of a security corps, which was absolutely unacceptable to the British army.

On April 4, McMahon arrived at the Cossack camp and demanded that the Cossacks dismantle fixed facilities and reduce the number of troops stationed in the canal area.

Lieutenant Colonel Phoenix, commander of the security corps, sternly rejected McMahon's unreasonable request.

The Dolgorukov family withdraws its troops. Can McMahon guarantee the safety of the Suez?

Phoenix publicly stated that he wanted the Cossacks to evacuate only with the order of the Empress Dowager.

This Empress Dowager does not refer to Anne, but to Catherine.

(End of this chapter)