European Financial Emperor

081 The Rise of Portugal (2)

Around June 1826.

The Portuguese Expeditionary Fleet captured all of Florida and then advanced to Alabama and Mississippi.

Although this was an explicit invasion of the United States, Portugal declared war on the grounds that the United States had preemptively bombarded its fleet.

An 8,000-strong Portuguese expeditionary force set up batteries on the Alabama-Mississippi border and prepared to strike the American heartland.

US President John Quincy Adams asked to speak with the commander of the Portuguese Expeditionary Force.

The expeditionary commander, Mario Fernandez, placed a white flag in the barracks near the battery and faced the new Confederate commander, Robert Theodore.

The US position was that the Portuguese expeditionary force had illegally invaded and occupied two territories belonging to the United States, which was a clear border invasion.

The US insisted that such a case of violating international law would certainly cause a big wave in European society.

“Thousands of our Confederate troops you have slaughtered alone. Nevertheless, they illegally invaded the border and installed artillery, which can only be interpreted as meaning that Portugal will wage an all-out war with the United States.”

“I wouldn’t have landed in Florida in the first place if I hadn’t thought of an all-out war.”

“… … Does that mean that Portugal was secretly sharpening its sword to take over us America in the first place?”

“We are only here to reclaim the lost colonies of North America. You and the United States didn’t actually kill and persecute a lot of Indians for the sake of foreign land expansion. Isn’t that also a violation of international law?”

Currently, there is virtually no basis for international law in Europe.

This is because the International Court of Justice does not exist, and the United Nations, a union of nations, has not been established.

Nevertheless, international law is mentioned because, in a conventional sense, the agreements concluded between countries are intertwined and form a single legal mass.

However, such legal masses were always to be scattered.

This is because the current agreements were, in fact, so loose that they could be broken with a single bullet.

In the end, unless the power with greater power intervened, the agreement was virtually useless.

Robert Theodore decided that further dialogue was impossible.

“… … So, are you saying that you are going to occupy our territory in the end?”

“exactly. If you want to defend your territory, you must mobilize troops quickly. In the next month we will annex these two states into Florida and name it an official colony of Portugal.”

Portugal has been incredibly aggressive since the last time.

Perhaps this could be considered as the last effort for Portugal, who has lost the huge colony of Brazil and is wandering.

Robert Theodore, who was vaguely aware of this, decided to step back at this point.

“Okay, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Did you say you were the commander of the Confederate Army?”

“It is.”

Taken from readwn.com

Mario Fernandes smiled brightly.

“Fufu, I’ll see you on the battlefield then.”

“… … .”

“If we meet on the battlefield, one of the two will surely become a ghost and wander this territory.”

The scary thing about the Portuguese expedition was that they were blindly clinging to war, like those who had no future.

This was not simply to overcome the national economic crisis, but also to prove that the soldiers were crazy about war itself.

Portugal’s anger, which had been suppressed by neighboring countries, was being expressed without regret.

***

News of the Portuguese occupation of southern North America also reached Eaststellar.

Lee Hwan never thought that the Portuguese might have marched toward North America.

The fact that Portugal appeared in North America, which is still in the spring and autumn warring States era due to the strife of Spain and France, was like Europe’s over-the-counter continental war.

At that moment, Lee Hwan seemed to understand the reason for the fundamental blockade of the fleet’s approach in Mexico.

They didn’t know what this fleet was until they declared war on the United States, so they locked the door first.

“The response from Mexico has been quite quick.”

“It sounds like you thought those 20 ships were a pirate coalition. That’s why I locked the door so tightly.”

“Hmm, where the hell did that information come from?”

It was quite surprising that Mexico, rather than the United States, noticed the existence of a fleet approaching Florida earlier.

It was clear that they had something like a secret weapon.

“By the way, organizing an expeditionary force in Portugal. Spain and France are not going to like it.”

“However, Spain is surprisingly calm. They even sent a memorandum of waiver to surrender Florida, so there must have been some kind of deal.”

“Hmm… … . Spain, who had been trying so hard to suppress Portugal, has now come and made some kind of deal?”

Until now, Portugal had been oppressed by neighboring powers, and, like the Netherlands in the past, was in a position to effectively control its military power.

Spain was also playing a role in the Portuguese oppression, but it was not easy to understand that the two suddenly became close.

But looking at the weapons that Portugal was armed with, it was not a very understandable situation.

“How strong is the enemy’s armed force?”

“It appears to have been fitted with our Eaststellar early diesel engine on a traditional wooden boat. According to the American testimonies, the speed of 15 knots for combat maneuvers makes it clear that they are equipped with the earlier models we made.”

“Hmm… … .”

“It is confirmed that the main gun there is not a gun made by us, but a bullet-type steel wire gun with a range of about 1.5 km.”

“No, where are those cannons?”

“At the time our Eaststellar rear-mounted cannons appeared, Britain had developed such a new weapon. Perhaps it was brought to Portugal.”

The use of muzzle-loaded ammunition shells, which are now outdated amongst the outdated ones, which are not often used in warfare, has become out of the ordinary on the European continent.

But here in North America, the story is different.

This is because, with the exception of East Stellar, they have not yet had a long-range artillery that uses explosive shells equipped with a main retractor.

“Huh! So, are you saying that you were aiming for the Blue Ocean with a British cannon?”

“blue… … .”

“Europe is now a saturated market, so it means that we are targeting North America, which is relatively quiet for military technology.”

“iced coffee! That’s right! No, by the way, why the hell did they do this in England?”

Now, Britain was trying to seize the hegemony of Western Europe by planning an invasion of Prussia, but as its sphere of influence extended to Eastern Europe, it naturally touched the heart of the Russian Empire.

Now, it was said that the two great powers collided in an instant.

In the meantime, Lee Hwan thought that Britain’s sending Portugal to clear North America was not simply pushing Portugal away.

“It looks like they are trying to start a full-fledged territorial expansion by sending Portugal to North America while they devour Prussia.”

“Why go to Portugal? … .”

“Think. The reason France and Spain went on an expedition to North America was due to financial difficulties. That means there is enough pragmatic diplomacy between Russia and Britain. In particular, France is famous for nurturing military personnel, so you may want to hire mercenaries with the excess gold in Russia.”

“iced coffee! That is why they are trying to disperse the national power of those who could be dangerous and engage in a power confrontation with Russia in earnest!”

“Russia is not included in the arms we sell. So, if Britain and Russia are fighting a war of conflict, they are not actually competing.”

The difference in firepower between the matchlock and the ES-1 was so stark that even a 5x difference in firepower was enough to overcome it.

Of course, no matter how good the weapon was, it was impossible to break through the severe cold of Siberia, but there was no problem in seizing hegemony in Western or Eastern Europe.

“… … If you do it wrong, Britain could eat up Europe.”

“Then, does the whole of Europe fall into the hands of the British Empire?”

“It is very likely.”

“Huh!”

“I think we may have given the British too powerful weapons.”

For now, only the Netherlands and Austria can hold Britain in check.

In particular, the Netherlands was rapidly emerging as an emerging power based on East Stellar’s powerful munitions.

However, there could be nothing better for Britain than this, as the Netherlands is working with Austria and trying to wipe out the Confederation of North Germany.

“It was a very good thing to change the company.”

“That’s it.”

Now, Lee Hwan was planning to offer the UK a more aggressive negotiating card.

It was because if the UK was so busy, Lee Hwan could take advantage of much more.

‘If there are many holes for money, the financial power tends to be a little weak.’

He decided to send a negotiator to buy the whole of Suez, near Egypt, on the condition that he lowered the interest rate on the lease.

“Tell us to hand over the territories of northeastern Egypt to us, as we will send someone to London right now to cut the leasing rate for military supplies.”

“Are you talking about Suez in the northeast?”

“yes that’s right.”

“Hmm… … . It is a very noisy area due to the dispute over the interests of Suez Corporation.”

“I know. So now is the best time.”

Until now, Suez’s attempts to construct a canal began in ancient Egypt, but despite the many great powers passing through, no attempt was made at all.

In the meantime, he made a move in earnest by driving the Suez ruling power out of the Ottoman Turks and establishing a company there.

The problem was money, and to secure it, they issued shares to finance the construction.

A whopping 400,000 shares were issued, but the Ottoman Turks failed to raise funds.

It was because of obstruction of British construction.

“Even in France, we cannot openly support our ally the Ottomans. Because Britain is scary. However, we are listed as Britain’s allies and, in fact, considered the UK’s largest military company. In the current situation, I think it is worth negotiating.”

“Actually, the British cannot afford to pour money into Northeast Africa. Nevertheless, the construction had to be delayed, so he was using his power.”

“you’re right. What if we buy the company’s shares with our overwhelming financial power and take the company entirely from the Ottoman Turks?”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s impossible in the first place. But this is not the heyday of England.”

It is unclear how long Britain will be Eaststellar’s friend.

But for now, there is no friend as great and useful to England as Eaststellar.

Lee Hwan wrote a letter to the head office and handed it over to the secretary.

“Send this letter with us on our trip this month. And you are in a hurry to buy land around Suez.”

“all right.”

For now, it is impossible to predict who will win, Russia or Britain.

For that reason, it was not known in which direction Suez’s hegemony would be inclined, but one thing was certain: Yi Hwan would surely obtain this land as long as he had control of arms distribution in some way.