The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 816 Franco-Russian Alliance
As Mogölze had predicted, there was strong opposition within Tsarist Russia to making peace with France, but a significant portion of the population supported withdrawing troops to attack the Seres Empire.

Therefore, Paul I's situation was somewhat better than in history.

Historically, he was deserted by many, and everyone wished for his death. But now, at least before hitting a wall on the Ural River and the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, Paul I still had some supporters.

So, just as the Crown Prince of the Great Yu Dynasty, Da Lao Sen, returned to Anxi with a large amount of supplies.

The Great Yu once again conscripted more than 250,000 people from the southern and northern deserts, the northeast, Guanzhong, northern Shaanxi, northern Dai, Hexi and Longyou to strengthen the border.

Paul I began to exert his influence when he mobilized 20,000 troops from the Northwest Garrison, 10,000 Imperial Guards, and 10,000 troops from the capital to Anxi.

After making contact with the French envoy, this guy brought together the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kingdom of Prussia to form the Second Neutral Alliance, or the Northern Alliance.

The reason it's called the Second Neutral League is because they formed the First Neutral League when New England, which is the United States, was fighting for independence and the whole world was attacking England.

The role of a neutral alliance is to protect its own merchant ships from attacks by Britain and France, while imposing embargoes on both sides of the conflict, presenting a neutral facade, and then waiting for the warring parties to offer benefits to win it over.

Paul I miscalculated. The reason the first neutral alliance was so effective was because England was so formidable at that time.

In order to prevent England from becoming the world's dominant power, the whole world spontaneously banded together to beat up England.

The thirteen North American colonies tied down a large number of the English army on land, allowing France to focus its efforts on the navy to challenge England. Even the Great Yu, which had not yet fully unified the country, sent troops to defeat the British Indian government.

This time, however, it's the whole world ganging up on France. England has no worries about its rear, and even India's security is guaranteed, so it can use its navy to deal with France with all its might.

How could we possibly allow a few of you naval personnel to form some kind of neutral alliance?

Moreover, the word "neutrality" inherently carries a bias. For example, if Guo Jingming were to fight Tyson, and you say you remain neutral, wouldn't that mean you'd be happy to see Guo Jingming get beaten to death?
That's how it is now. France is clearly going to win big, and their shipping is being heavily blockaded by England. If you go and declare neutrality now, who will be the one blockaded and isolated?

It certainly wouldn't be France, which was already under blockade, but rather England, which controlled maritime transport. The Neutral Alliance could even use neutrality as a cover to sell critical supplies to France at high prices.

As soon as this alliance was formed, England immediately became anxious and demanded that Tsarist Rus', Denmark-Norway and other countries immediately cancel their neutrality and withdraw from the Neutral Alliance. However, this was rejected by all parties, so a war to attack the Neutral Alliance was planned.

In February 1801, French representative Joseph Bonaparte and Holy Roman Empire Foreign Minister Ludwig von Cobenzel signed the Treaty of Lunéville.

In the treaty, the Holy Roman Empire lost all its non-traditional territories except for a portion of its territory east of the Rhine and the bishoprics of Venice and Trent in Italy.

In other words, after the Treaty of Lunéville was signed, the Habsburg family, which held the title of Holy Roman Emperor, was left with only the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, a portion of the Crown Territory of Bohemia, plus Venice and Trent in Italy.

This was a disastrous and humiliating treaty. Since the Habsburg family could not even control the other small states within the Holy Roman Empire, it can be said that they had lost most of the practical benefits that came with the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

In March, after witnessing the capitulation of the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Franz II's uncle and Mo Zirong's brother-in-law, King Ferdinand IV of Naples, also chose to submit, and France and Naples signed the Treaty of Florence.

Napoleon originally intended to demand the abdication of Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and son-in-law of the Habsburg family.

However, in order to appease Tsar Paul I and bring the Tsarist Russian Empire to the side of France, Napoleon was extremely lenient with Ferdinand IV.

Well, Tsarist Russia actually had its own legal basis for Italy, being the Third Rome. Paul I even granted Suvorov the title of Duke of Italy.

Therefore, in the treaty, Naples only ceded a small portion of its territory and allowed France to station troops in a few limited ports, thus escaping a major disaster.

Historically, at this point in history, Tsar Paul I was assassinated when the Treaty of Florence was signed, but this did not happen in this timeline.

Paul I's policy of focusing his efforts on fighting the Seres Empire earned him a number of supporters.

Most importantly, the Kingdom of England needs Paul I to take the initiative and drag the Seres Empire into this brawl.

After seeing that the European continent had been largely subdued by France, a somewhat fearful England, in order to amplify its naval superiority and to send a warning to the half-hearted European nations, launched the Battle of Copenhagen.

George III, with Sir Hyde Parker as commander-in-chief and Horatio Nelson as deputy commander, led a massive fleet of twenty battleships, twelve light cruisers, and six supply ships to attack the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway.

The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway amassed seven battleships and more than thirty other warships, which, under the protection of coastal artillery, responded to the attack.

As a result, England sank all of Denmark-Norway's battleships and ten other warships at the cost of more than two hundred lives. The Danish-Norwegian navy suffered more than two thousand casualties, and its naval forces were essentially wiped out.

This battle made England fully realize that their strength lay in their navy.

This also made Napoleon realize that he could use this opportunity to impose a blockade on England, effectively isolating the Kingdom of England from the European continent.

Thus began the plan to seize the English fortress complex at Gibraltar, allowing the French and Spanish navies, which were already deeply intertwined with France, to enter and exit the Mediterranean, preserve the French expeditionary force in Egypt, and ultimately completely paralyze the Ottoman Empire.

In June 1801, Mo Gongze led 6 soldiers from Shandong to the Gibraltar fortress. After inspecting the surrounding area, he was quite certain that the Franco-Spanish allied forces could not attack Gibraltar by road.

Because at that time, the area of ​​Gibraltar occupied by England was not large. Rather than occupying the Gibraltar peninsula, it was more accurate to say that they occupied a salient of coastline that was about the size of a small city.

This place is connected to mainland Spain only by the Isthmus of Gibraltar, which is about 1.2 kilometers wide. The British built fortresses and battery complexes on the Rock of Gibraltar at the end of the mountain.

The Rock of Gibraltar is about 500 meters high, and the terrain facing the Spanish mainland is arranged in a trapezoidal pattern, which allows cannons built on the top of the rock to bombard the Isthmus of Gibraltar from all 360 degrees.

Even without artillery, flintlock muskets and bombs, it would be impossible for the Franco-Spanish forces to attack from here, at least until the defenders ran out of ammunition.

"His Majesty the King sent me here, it seems he really wants me to be a mascot!" Mo Gongze said with a smile to Liu Guoqing, the Right Guard Commander beside him.

“The King of England was terrified by the last Franco-Spanish blockade and was afraid that the people in the city would not be able to hold out and would really lose Gibraltar. So he sent the Crown Prince here, probably to tell everyone that England will never give up here.” Liu Guoqing agreed with Mo Gongze’s judgment.

During the American War of Independence, France and Spain, by land and sea, besieged Gibraltar for about three years, starving the British troops and their families inside the city to the point of near death, and they almost abandoned the fortress and surrendered.

It seems they have learned their lesson, sending such an important figure as Mo Gongze to demonstrate their determination to resist.

“Hunger is unbearable, I don’t want that. Liu Guoqing, you select a thousand elite soldiers, and the rest will go back with the fleet.”

After observing the terrain, Mo Gongze immediately decided to reduce the number of troops. There were already two or three thousand garrison troops in this area, so there was no need for all three thousand of the Lu army to remain here.

Even though things are different now than during the American Revolutionary War, and we're not so afraid of blockades, there's no need to keep so many people here.

"Your Highness, if we want to completely avoid being besieged by the Franco-Spanish allied forces, we should take the initiative and launch an attack," Liu Guoqing suggested.

"Take the initiative?" Mo Gongze stroked his chin and pondered for a while.

"You mean to say that we should just take the initiative to attack Spain to show our strength and deter France and Spain from forming an army to besiege them?"

"Yes, we should achieve immediate results and put an end to their hopes."

As they were talking, James Somaliz, the commander of the Gibraltar Squadron, approached. The 44-year-old vice admiral appeared somewhat nervous.

Since Mo Gongze had never commanded a navy or had any naval combat experience, it would be troublesome if the Duke of Cambridge insisted on interfering in naval affairs and giving unqualified advice to experts.

However, his doubts were quickly dispelled, because after Mo Gongze met with him, he only asked him to gather all the officers and some of the soldiers for a speech.

Amidst the crashing waves of the Mediterranean, in front of all the naval officers and some soldiers, Mo Gongze dumped £20,000 worth of banknotes, gold and silver coins, into a huge box.

"I don't need to know how you operate or how you fight, because I don't understand the navy."

But I tell you, after you thwart the French plot, everyone will receive a substantial reward, and many will even become wealthy.

As soon as Mo Gongze finished speaking, cheers erupted.

Especially the soldiers below them, whose biggest gain from fighting was actually looting spoils of war, with rewards rarely reaching them, and they were even less likely to receive the annuities that officers could enjoy for life.

Many English naval soldiers looked at Moggalljee with eager eyes, remembering that the Belgian prince and Duke of Cambridge was the most generous, and his soldiers were paid more than three times their salary.

After showing off his wealth, Mo Gongze generously treated thousands of people to a lavish meal.

Ingredients imported from England were used to make roast chicken, stewed lamb, and Queen's bread, and even a small amount of fine wine was served. The people who ate were very happy, which further solidified Mo Gongze's image as a generous and magnanimous person in their minds.

On the third day, before Spain could react, Mo Gongze ordered Liu Guoqing to lead 600 Lu soldiers and 800 Gibraltar British soldiers to suddenly land on the Spanish mainland in small boats.

In just half an hour, they defeated a Spanish infantry regiment defending the front line in Gibraltar and captured Lalinea, the Spanish city closest to Gibraltar.

Five days later, the Kingdom of Spain mobilized 4,000 troops to recapture Lalinea.

Because of the long-standing standoff with the English in Gibraltar, the Kingdom of Spain had a considerable number of troops stationed there, so they immediately redeployed them.

But it was completely useless. The Spanish advanced towards La Linea at dawn, but they did not expect that Liu Guoqing had moved his troops to the outskirts of the city and laid an ambush during the night.

When they arrived at dawn, the Spanish were still setting up camp as usual, preparing to give their soldiers a hearty breakfast before starting the battle.

Before the water in the pot had even heated up, the sentries were released, and the Lu army, which had been waiting for a long time, attacked from behind.

Caught off guard, the Spanish were routed before they could mount any effective defense.

Only a little over a thousand of the four thousand elite soldiers organized a decent resistance, but due to the suddenness of the event, they did not know how many Lu troops had come, and dared not put up too much resistance. In less than half an hour, the commander decided to retreat.

In just over an hour, the Spanish army abandoned more than 300 corpses and most of their supplies, and fled back in disarray.

After winning the battle, Liu Guoqing did not pursue the enemy. He selected some spoils of war and calmly retreated back to Gibraltar.

From then on, the Spanish army north of Gibraltar was on high alert. They frantically began to reinforce their fortifications and monitor Gibraltar's movements, and sure enough, they no longer had the courage to launch a pincer attack from the land.

In July, French Admiral Charles-Alexis Linovo led a fleet consisting of four battleships and some transport ships to the port of Algeciras, which is only eighteen kilometers away from Gibraltar across the sea.

French Admiral Linouis's strategy was clear: to lure the British navy into an attack so that he could use the shallow waters and harbor forts to severely damage the British navy in Gibraltar.

British Vice Admiral James Somalitz was aware of the French intentions, but this opportunity was indeed rare. If they could capture the fleet in one fell swoop, the French would completely lose the initiative.

Although only four French battleships arrived, this was actually the most warships France could muster without going all in. The rest were basically being watched by the English navy and were stuck in port.

On July 7th, British Vice Admiral James Somalitz led seven battleships, taking advantage of the high tide, into the port of Algeciras, successfully blocking the French navy. However, just as the battle was going very well, a strong gust of wind blew in, unexpectedly pushing the English fleet that had just entered the port to the bay side.

This was a real problem. The English navy, which had essentially lost its mobility, was caught in a pincer attack by French naval guns and shore artillery. After struggling for an hour, the tide went out, and James Somalitz had no choice but to risk his life to break out.

In the end, three ships of the French fleet suffered moderate damage, and more than one hundred officers and men were killed in action.

England lost over two hundred naval officers and men, and the 74-gun third-class battleship Hannibal was stranded on a shoal, becoming a sitting duck for the French. England was forced to surrender and was subsequently captured.

When the news reached Gibraltar, although Mo Gongze was also a little uneasy, he knew that Lieutenant General Somaliz's tactics were correct. If it weren't for a sudden gust of wind, Lieutenant General Somaliz would have succeeded.

Therefore, Mo Gongze not only did not blame him, but continued to encourage Lieutenant General Somaliz to learn from the lessons, prepare for the final battle, and expressed his willingness to share the responsibility for this defeat with him.

Meanwhile, having received reports of significant losses suffered by the British army, the Kingdom of Spain finally dared to take the gamble.

King Carlos IV of Spain dispatched Vice Admiral Juan de Mondragón with a fleet including six battleships to reinforce the French forces.

Furthermore, this fleet also included Santa Ana-class battleships such as HMS Royal Carlos and HMS San Eménesildo, both second-class battleships with 112 guns.

On July 12, the French and Spanish fleet, which had received reinforcements, became timid, or rather, they wanted to lure the English fleet out to sea to deal with it.

The commander of the Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Linovo, surprisingly decided to depart from the port of Algeciras and return to the Spanish naval port of Cádiz, located in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent to Portugal.

As a result, their plan was discovered by the British army, and the British fleet set sail to pursue them.

Both sides set sail between 9 and 10 a.m. and spent most of the day chasing each other at sea. At 8:40 p.m., the English Navy caught up with the Franco-Spanish fleet.

At this moment, the breeze in the Strait of Gibraltar turned into a strong westerly wind. The HMS Illustrious, a newly delivered, well-equipped and well-maintained battleship of the British Navy, was able to reach an extremely fast speed of nearly twelve knots.

At 11:20 p.m., the Illustrious caught up with the Royal Carlos, a second-class battleship in the Franco-Spanish fleet that had fallen behind due to its cumbersome weight.

At this moment, the brave, bold, and extremely experienced English Rear Admiral Richard Goodwin Kitts observed that HMS Royal Carlos and another second-class battleship, HMS Saint-Éminnel, were not far apart.

So he boldly ordered the British ship HMS Illustrious to turn off all its lights, and relying solely on the lights emitted by HMS Royal Carlos and the rich experience of the officers and men, he managed to steer this 1,500-ton behemoth close to HMS Royal Carlos.

Upon approaching HMS Royal Carlos, Rear Admiral Richard Kitts suddenly ordered fire, and three shells struck the western ship HMS Royal Carlos. He then immediately set sail at full speed and fled.

HMS Royal Carlos was under attack, but the enemy was nowhere to be seen. The confused captain, Vice Admiral Gabriel, mistook the distant Western ship Saint-Émilion-Childe for the British fleet attacking him.

At that very moment, two shells fired by the British ship HMS Illustrious passed over HMS Royal Carlos and struck HMS San Eménesildo.

This led HMS Emmensildo to believe that the shell that hit him was fired by HMS Royal Carlos, and he also mistook HMS Royal Carlos for a British ship.

On the pitch-black sea, where one could not see their own hand in front of their face, the Spanish navy, which had been neglected since the fall of its empire and whose entire crew was incompetent, was completely unable to distinguish friend from foe.

Knowing they were fighting the powerful English navy, the Spanish navy was already very nervous and found it difficult to make a calm judgment.

Thus, the two second-class warships of the Spanish Kingdom, equipped with 112 cannons each, inexplicably began to engage in combat at sea.

They fired more than five hundred shells at each other. Even when the Royal Carlos was hit and caught fire, it was already recognizable as the Royal Carlos by its sails, forecastle, and stern. However, the captain of the San Eménesildo still refused to acknowledge that it was the Royal Carlos and continued to fire at the unfortunate warship.

Fifteen minutes later, the strong wind turned into a small hurricane, and the two second-class battleships were miraculously blown together by the wind. They collided violently, and the fire, fueled by the wind, could not be extinguished, which then triggered a horrific secondary explosion.

A mushroom cloud rose from the sea, and the tremors were felt even in the port of Cádiz, dozens of kilometers away.

Two second-class battleships, each with a displacement of 2,450 tons, a crew of 961, and 112 guns, were destroyed at sea.

The hurricane brought them together, then burned them to ashes with a fierce fire, killing more than 1,700 Spanish naval personnel instantly.

This was the most brutal, farcical, and tragic battle in the history of the Battleship Windrunner.

It was also the pinnacle of life for the English Navy, Captain Richard Goodwin Kitts of HMS Illustrious, and all the officers and men on board, as two Spanish second-class battleships sank.

From then on, Spain's second-class battleships consisted only of the Santa Ana, the Queen Maria Luisa, the Prince of Asturias, and the old Trinity built in 1769.

Adding to the earlier capture of the San José, the Spanish Navy, which had recovered somewhat in recent years thanks to the demand for terrifying silver from the Great Yu, directly lost half of its combat power.

When a kingdom is in decline, it's terrifying; it's as if everyone is heading in the wrong direction.

After the Spanish fleet achieved a stunningly unexpected victory, the French warships were utterly devastated and lost all desire to fight. In the end, at the cost of the capture of the HMS Respect, a third-class battleship, the entire crew fled into the port of Cádiz.

The Battle of Algeciras Gulf came to an end. The Spanish fleet was almost completely annihilated, and the French fleet was in a state of panic. They dared not attempt to enter the Mediterranean again, and the French expeditionary force in Egypt was completely hopeless.

. . . .

Meanwhile, in a secret room in St. Petersburg.

Tsar Alexander Pavlovich, Crown Prince of Rus', is secretly discussing the impending war with the Seres Empire with his confidants, including Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky.

“This is terrible, I must say,” said Crown Prince Alexander, the future Alexander I, waving his hand.
"The Seris Empire has 630 million people, while we have less than 40 million. They are at least 15 times larger than us."

Moreover, this only considers population; if we compare food production, national quality, steel production, and weaponry, the disparity is even greater.

We don't even have enough flintlock muskets, while the Seris Empire's army is said to have already replaced half of its troops with rifles.

The gap is too big; I really don't know how this battle is going to continue!

Surprisingly, this Holy King in history, one of the most controversial emperors of the Tsarist Rus' Empire, was quite clear-headed, and one could even say that he harbored a hidden fear of the Seres Empire.

"You can't calculate it that way, Your Highness. The Seris Empire is fifteen times the size of ours, but the strength they can use on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea and the Ural River region is at most only one time ours."

This difference could be bridged by the valiant fighting of the Third Roman soldiers. "Some disagree."

“But His Majesty Caesar’s recent actions have broken the hearts of the warriors of the Third Rome. How could he do this!” a man dressed as an officer said indignantly.

After the war of the anti-French coalition ended, Suvorov and others who had created a miracle returned to Sharo, but there was not even a welcoming ceremony. In fact, Paul I took the opportunity to punish dozens of generals, which made the Russian army extremely dissatisfied.

"It was Caesar! It was Caesar who murdered the Grand Marshal! He's the killer!" This topic immediately ignited a commotion, and another officer stood up and shouted in a low voice.

After returning to Russia, Suvorov faced comprehensive suppression from King Paul I and died in despair last year, in May 1800. It was practically Russia's version of self-destruction.

“This is not the time to discuss this,” Count Arakcheyev, a senior minister to the Crown Prince, interrupted the two generals.

"What we cannot avoid now is the Seris Empire's encroachment on the Ural River, which has already affected our fundamental interests."

Beyond the Ural River lies the Volga, and then the Don. If we continue to remain indifferent and ignore the threat from the East, then a Golden Horde will be re-established.

The count's words silenced everyone, because it wasn't that the Tsarist Rus Empire dared to oppose the Seris Empire, but rather that it had no choice but to do so.

The area west of the Ural River is the core of the Sharo region, and it is impossible to give it up. In fact, even the threat to the core region is intolerable.

"No, Earl, what's frightening isn't that, but how we'll end the war if it starts."

Although the Seres Empire has limited strength on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, what if they insist on taking this place and keep sending troops from the empire's homeland?
We also need to consider the situation in Europe; the final outcome is really hard to say!

There are still dissenting voices. The crux of the matter is that the Tsarist Rus' Empire is now facing enemies on two fronts. If it were only facing one front, it could be dealt with, but with the situation on both sides being complex, it becomes very troublesome.

"Therefore, if we are to go to war with the Seres Empire, we cannot ally with France, because that would lead to a blockade by the Kingdom of England, and the English fleet might even reach St. Petersburg."

However, if we continue to oppose France, this situation can be avoided. While the French army is powerful, can they really cross Prussia or Austria to attack us?

Crown Prince Alexander nodded in agreement after hearing this; these words resonated with him deeply.

"That's right, I want to go and persuade His Majesty Caesar immediately not to form an alliance with France."

“No, Your Highness, you shouldn’t go!” Just then, Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, Crown Prince Alexander’s most trusted advisor, stopped him.

"Your Highness, even if you go, you may not be able to dissuade His Majesty Caesar. He has never been very willing to listen to your opinions."

Most importantly, no matter what difficulties or reasons there may be, our war with the Seris Empire is inevitable.

They have penetrated deep into our territory, and we have no room to retreat. Therefore, many within the Empire also agree to fight against Seris.

If we don't prevent war now, it could very well break out when Your Highness is Caesar. If we lose, you will be a Slav and a sinner of the Third Rome.

Then it would be better to start now, so that at least at the most dangerous moment, Your Highness can step forward as a savior and end this war.

Even if it comes at a high price, you will gain immense prestige and be able to continue transforming the country.

This is the level of a trusted advisor: not focusing on the interests of the country, but directly on their lord.

Crown Prince Alexander Pavlovich remained silent, then finally nodded, choosing not to stop the inevitable war.

1801 October.

Unlike in history, Tsar Paul I, who had not yet been assassinated, secretly signed a treaty with Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul of France.

The French Consulate would provide assistance when the Tsar attacked the Seres Empire, and would mediate after the Tsarist Rus' Empire achieved victories.

At the same time, the alliance also made detailed arrangements on how the two sides would divide the Ottoman Empire, and France also made a lot of concessions on the Italian question.

An unprecedented continental alliance between the French Republic and the Tsarist Russian Empire was formed.

(End of this chapter)