Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 501 The Battle for the Strait
Although the French and Russian governments agreed to open a new front, opening a new front in Asia Minor was not so easy.

First, they had to occupy the Strait of Constantinople. Only by controlling the strait could they bring hundreds of thousands of Russian troops from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Only by severing the connection between the eastern and western parts of the Ottoman Empire could this once-glorious empire be forced to make a mistake in the midst of a tense situation.

While theoretically controlling the Strait of Constantinople would only require dealing with the navies of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, one thing that must be considered is whether the British Navy would intervene.

It wasn't just Russia that was quite concerned about the Strait of Constantinople; Britain was also very interested in Constantinople and its straits.

Without the British government's forceful intervention, Russia would have already occupied Constantinople in the previous war, opening up the route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Although Britain was a neutral country at this time, just like Spain, it also had its own allies.

Spain was more inclined to support the Franco-Russian Entente Powers, while the British were more inclined to support Germany.

Although Britain was still a neutral country at the time, no one could guarantee that the British would not intervene, or that they would take forceful action or even go to war because the Allied Powers controlled the Strait of Constantinople.

With this in mind, the foreign ministers of France and Russia both turned their attention to the foreign minister of Spain, hoping that Spain would make a statement.

If Britain were to intervene forcefully, Spain would certainly have to provide aid to France and Russia.

Currently, the only force capable of challenging the British Navy is the Spanish Navy, which defeated the Royal Navy in the Anglo-Spanish War.

When the Spanish Foreign Minister saw that the diplomatic representatives of both France and Russia were looking at him, he certainly understood what the French and Russian governments were thinking.

Spain had already prepared for this situation. The new Foreign Minister, Roberto Fernández, said with a smile: "Spain will strictly abide by the relevant provisions of the Neutrality Treaty and require the countries that have signed the Neutrality Treaty to remain neutral in this war."

If any country forcibly violates the Neutrality Treaty, it means that the treaty's binding force on Spain will cease to exist.

Although not explicitly stated, both the French and Russian foreign ministers understood Spain's meaning.

In short, if the British were sensible, Spain would remain neutral. However, if the British government was determined to support the Allied powers, Spain would naturally not abide by the Neutrality Treaty and would also express its support to the Entente.

The foreign ministers of France and Russia breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a positive response from Spain.

At this point, the war in Europe had reached a stalemate, which was acceptable to the French and Russian governments. Despite the overwhelming force of the German army, its losses were no less than those of France and Russia.

After all, Germany was fighting on two fronts, and the number of soldiers Germany mobilized in total was much greater than that of France or Russia.

France had vast African colonies, and Russia had a large mainland; both could withstand a short-term drain on resources.

Germany, lacking both a vast territory and fertile colonies, was certainly at a disadvantage in a war of attrition.

France and Russia's only concern was British intervention, after all, Britain was currently the largest colonial empire, with a highly developed industry and economy.

Once Britain intervened in the war, France and Germany would have had to rely on Spain's help to barely win the war.

This also means that Spain's importance to France and Russia will only increase, giving Spain more confidence to demand more benefits.

With Spain's support confirmed, France and Russia had no further concerns.

The Allied Powers immediately began preparations for opening a new front, while the Central Powers were also holding various meetings to discuss the matter.

Unlike the three-way power struggle among the Allied Powers, although several Central Powers were involved, the German government's opinion was generally the primary guideline.

Although Austria-Hungary was an important ally of Germany, its overall strength and current situation were far inferior to those of Germany.

Italy, needless to say, refused to join the fight despite repeated attempts by the Allies to win it over, clearly indicating a lack of trust in the Allies.

It is worth mentioning that British diplomatic representatives also participated in the Allied conference.

Spain and Britain were essentially betting against each other; Spain spent a lot of money on the Allied Powers, and Britain also spent a lot of money on the Central Powers.

At this point, Spain and Britain had no other choice. If the Allied Powers were defeated, all the loans and investments Spain had made would essentially be lost.

The same logic applies to Britain. If the Central Powers were defeated, Britain's various strategic moves in the war would essentially vanish.

For this reason, the British government was quite supportive of the Allies and sold a large amount of supplies and weapons to Allied countries, including Germany, thus achieving both support for the Allies and making money.

At the Allied conference, the main topics of discussion included the progress of the Battle of Verdun on the Western Front, the situation in the Balkans, and the issue of blocking the Strait of Constantinople.

Not only Germany hoped to win the Battle of Verdun, but Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire also hoped that Germany would emerge victorious in this fierce battle.

There was no other way; at this point, Germany was the biggest asset of the Central Powers and the greatest guarantee for all other Central Powers, including Austria-Hungary, to win the war.

If Germany had failed in the Battle of Verdun, not only would the situation on the Western Front have changed dramatically, but the Eastern Front and the Balkans would also have been inevitably affected.

In order to support Germany in winning the Battle of Verdun, after discussions within the Allied powers, it was finally decided that Austria-Hungary would send 30 troops to the Western Front to support the German army.

In any case, there was little activity on the Eastern Front during the winter, and the Russian army was unlikely to have the courage to launch a counterattack. Under these circumstances, Austria-Hungary only needed to focus on the Balkans, and could free up some troops to assist Germany in its operations.

Austria-Hungary had no objection to this, after all, they were well aware of Germany's importance to the entire Central Powers.

After discussing the Eastern Front, the Allied powers then discussed the situation in the Balkans.

Apart from Germany, the main battlefields for all the remaining Allied countries were basically in the Balkans.

Whether it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria, or the Ottoman Empire, they all attached great importance to the development of the situation on the Balkan battlefield.

Germany naturally hoped that its allies would win in the Balkans, opening up transport routes from Berlin to the Balkans and then to the Anatolian Peninsula, so that it could obtain more adequate logistical supplies.

This was when Britain came into play. The British government signed loan agreements with these Balkan countries, providing them with a loan and selling them sufficient military supplies to ensure they had enough weapons and equipment to launch a new offensive.

The Balkan countries were overjoyed to receive the loans and weapons, and they pledged to respond to Germany's offensive plan and launch a new offensive in the Balkans once the loans and weapons arrived.

Although the situation in the Balkans would not affect France, if the Allies gained the upper hand in the Balkans, it could still influence the overall course of the war.

Germany naturally hopes that these allies can lend a hand, because if Germany alone is carrying the team, problems are likely to arise.

Just as the Allied Powers were concerned about potential British intervention, the Central Powers were also worried about potential Spanish intervention.

However, Britain had already invested a lot of money in the Allied countries, and it was determined that the Allies would not be defeated in this war. Naturally, Britain also expressed its support to the Allied countries verbally.

It's worth noting that in the current war, Britain and Spain have essentially the same goal.

The main reason why neither country has intervened in the war so far is that they want to profit from their allies while minimizing the war's impact on their own economies.

On the other hand, both Britain and Spain hoped to weaken Germany and France so that they could become the ultimate winners.

For Spain, the Allies could achieve victory, but France and Russia would only suffer a Pyrrhic victory. The same was true for Britain. Britain certainly wanted the Central Powers to win, but it did not want post-war Germany to become the new world superpower.

Britain hoped that Germany and France would both be severely weakened, ideally Germany would be crippled and no country in Europe would be able to threaten its status as the world's hegemon.

It was precisely because of the remarkable consistency in the attitudes of Britain and Spain on this issue that the two governments made almost identical choices in the early stages of the war.

For the Central Powers and the Allied Powers, although Britain and Spain did not join the war, the material support they provided to the Central Powers and the Allied Powers was practically no different from their participation in the war.

At this time, the Allied Powers were unaware of Austria-Hungary's plan to send troops to support Germany, but even if they had, France and Russia would not have cared too much about it.

The Austro-Hungarian army had limited combat capabilities, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not have many troops to spare, so it could not have a significant impact on the situation on the Western Front.

If Austria-Hungary had withdrawn too many troops, it would have created a greater opportunity for Russia, as well as Romania and Serbia.

At this time, the Allied Powers were primarily concerned with opening new battlefields and the struggle for control of the Strait of Constantinople.

January 16, 1914, in a certain area of ​​the western Mediterranean Sea.

A fleet quietly sailed away from the French coast, heading south towards the Algerian colony.

Because the surrounding waters are almost entirely controlled by France and Spain, this fleet, which quietly left the French coast, did not attract the attention of any country.

Even most French government officials were unaware that many of the Mediterranean Fleet's warships had been mobilized.

Apart from the foreign minister and some high-ranking military officials who attended the meeting, only high-ranking officials such as the president and prime minister knew about the naval mobilization.

Thousands of kilometers away in the Black Sea, the Russian navy is also making mobilizations.

Further north in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are poised for action. The moment news arrives from the navy that they have control of the Strait of Constantinople, these soldiers will immediately board their ships and launch a landing operation on the Anatolian Peninsula.

The movements of the French and Russian navies were quite secretive. Although it was difficult to keep them completely secret, it was enough to ensure that by the time the enemy learned of them, the troops had already disappeared over the sea.

The two fleets were traveling at different speeds toward the same destination.

The French fleet avoided Sicily, Italy, and Malta, which was under British control, in order to prevent the Italian government from tipping off Britain.

Although Italy did not join the war, it did not break the Central Powers treaty and remained a member of the Triple Alliance at that time.

No one could guarantee that Italy wouldn't leak the information to Britain at such a critical juncture, which led the French fleet to decide to secretly pass through Sicily and Malta along the coastline of the African colonies.

The French fleet's operation went quite smoothly, successfully bypassing the two islands and arriving in the eastern Mediterranean.

Once inside the Aegean Sea, it became much harder for the French fleet to conceal its movements.

Although the Aegean Sea is a sea, it is dotted with more than two thousand islands of varying sizes, all of which were controlled by the Ottoman Empire or Greece.

The Ottoman Empire was an enemy of France, while Greece was a loyal ally of Britain. Discovery by either of these parties could trigger British alarm.

For this reason, the French fleet remained quite cautious while sailing in the Aegean Sea.

But no matter how careful they were, they could not completely hide their whereabouts, and eventually the Greeks discovered the presence of the French fleet.

The fact that the French mainland is thousands of kilometers away from the Aegean Sea suggests that the French fleet had a relatively important mission.

The Greek government did not dare to be careless. They immediately reported the discovery of the French fleet in the Aegean Sea to Britain, leaving the British government to make its own decision.

If it were merely the discovery of the French fleet, the British government might not have paid much attention. After all, Britain was not involved in the war, and even if it discovered the French fleet, it would at most only alert the Allied nations.

However, it was discovered that the location of the French fleet was somewhat unusual. To the north of the Aegean Sea are the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus Straits, two vital waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Even if the British government had not joined the war, it would not have wanted the Allied powers to control the two straits.

After receiving a tip from the Greek government, the British Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Malta immediately took action, dispatching its main fleet to the Aegean Sea to prevent the Allied powers from launching a surprise attack on the Ottoman fleet and gaining control of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straits.

In addition to deploying the entire Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Malta, the British government also contacted Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.

In particular, the British government not only reminded the Ottoman Empire that the French fleet had arrived in the Aegean Sea, but also instructed the Ottoman navy to strengthen patrols to prevent being attacked by the French fleet.

The British Navy was terrified of being ambushed by the Spanish Navy during the last war with Spain.

At the time, the British Navy was several times larger than the Spanish Navy in total size, and had far more battleships.

Logically speaking, Spain had no chance of winning this war; in terms of the navy, they had absolutely no chance of victory.

What was unexpected was that Spain had already developed dreadnoughts at that time. With the possession of more powerful battleships, they still managed to launch a surprise attack and almost completely annihilate the British Mediterranean Fleet.

Although the British Mediterranean Fleet still had a few battleships left, the heavily damaged fleet posed no threat to Spain at the time.

It was after this battle that the British Navy increased patrols of ports and became more cautious about all kinds of naval attacks.

Several hours had passed by the time the Ottoman Empire learned that the French fleet had arrived in the Aegean Sea.

Although the British government alerted its allies as soon as it learned of the news, each step still required time.

The Ottoman government dared not take this lightly and could only order the navy to remain in port and increase patrols to prevent the navy stationed in the port from being attacked.

The French fleet, undeterred by its failed raid, smoothly joined up with the Russian Black Sea Fleet without any hindrance and brazenly anchored in the Bosphorus Strait.

This action can be seen as a blatant slap in the face to the Ottoman Empire and the Germany behind it.

After all, the Ottoman Empire's act of blocking the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits as a neutral country had annoyed France and Russia for a long time.

Now that they have a chance to retaliate, France and Russia will naturally not miss such a good opportunity.

The Ottoman Empire's almost overt intimidation of France and Russia left them with no means of countermeasures.

The fleets of France or Russia alone were already beyond the capabilities of the Ottoman Empire to contend with. Moreover, their fleets had joined forces, a combined force that only Germany and Great Britain could truly challenge; the other Allied nations were utterly incapable of confronting it.

The Ottoman Empire did not want its painstakingly built navy to sink, so it could only order its navy to remain holed up in port, allowing the French and Russian navies to humiliate it.

Fortunately, the British navy was already on its way. With the help of the British navy, it would be possible to ensure that the Allies continued to control the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits.

As for other issues, they were no longer of concern to the Ottoman Empire. Simply securing the straits was already a considerable achievement, as it was the only bridge connecting the European and Asian parts of the Ottoman Empire.

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(End of this chapter)