Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 547 New Prime Minister, New Strategy

Although the British government did not anticipate that the situation in Ireland would collapse so quickly, Ireland, Spain, and France will not give Britain a chance to catch its breath.

After learning that the Spanish army had completely occupied County Antrim, the Irish and French forces abandoned their pursuit of the British troops who had fled to County Donegal and began a full-scale purge of the British troops still lingering in counties such as Coven, Furmana, and Tyrone.

At this point, abandoning the pursuit of the British troops who had fled to County Donegal was quite wise. Even if the British government was not prepared for the collapse of the situation in Ireland, in this critical moment, it would certainly organize a defensive force in County Donegal to protect the remaining 100,000-plus troops.

The British troops who had already fled to Donegalshire should have known that the Donegalshire defenses were their last hope for survival.

Once County Donegal is also captured by the Irish army, the fate of the more than 100,000 British troops who have fled there will be entirely in the hands of the Irish.

On the contrary, the British troops still stationed south of Donegalshire, although larger in number, were not in a strong fighting spirit at this time.

Most British soldiers were only thinking about escaping to Donegalshire as quickly as possible to find a way to survive, and had no intention of fighting to the death with the Irish and French troops pursuing them.

More importantly, although nearly 20 British troops remain in counties such as Calvin, the high command of these British troops has all fled to Donegal.

The desertion of the commanding officers dealt another blow to the morale of the British army. Furthermore, the dispersal of the British troops during the rout, with virtually no communication between them, further weakened their resistance.

The Irish and French forces found it quite easy to mop up these British troops who offered virtually no resistance.

In just a few days, Irish and French troops met with Spanish troops in County Tyrone and subsequently declared that they had essentially recovered all of Ireland.

Today, of the dozens of counties in Ireland, the United Kingdom controls most of County Donegal, while the rest of Ireland is under the control of the Republic of Ireland.

Because the situation in Ireland had collapsed, and the remaining county was completely indefensible, the British army had to withdraw from County Donegal, a consensus reached almost between Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, and other countries.

If Britain insists on holding Donegal, it will only harm the more than 100,000 British troops that have been evacuated there. But evacuation is not so easy, at least not in Ireland. Ireland, Spain, and France are unwilling to let Britain so easily protect these more than 100,000 troops.

After the Spanish, Irish, and French armies joined forces, the three-nation allied forces immediately headed north to launch a final offensive against the remaining British troops in Donegalshire.

Faced with the overwhelming force of the three-nation alliance, the British army had no choice but to abandon a portion of its troops to resist the alliance's attack and ensure the safe withdrawal of the majority of its forces.

Spain and Ireland naturally saw through the British army's intentions. In addition to launching a fierce attack on Donegal on land, Spain and France also dispatched fleets to patrol the coast of Donegal, trying to capture all the British troops.

Faced with a combined land and sea blockade by Spain and France, Britain really had no good solutions.

If Britain had won the last naval battle, it would not have allowed the Spanish and French fleets to run rampant off the coast of Ireland.

Unfortunately, the Allied powers emerged victorious in the naval battle. Although the main force of the British Royal Fleet remained intact, the Allied navies had lost their advantage, and Britain was determined not to allow its navy to be defeated again.

The previous naval defeat only caused the Allied navies to lose their advantage. But if the Allied navies were to be defeated again, they would not only completely lose their voice on the seas, but it could also affect Britain's influence in the world after the war.

Therefore, regardless of the outcome of this world war, the remaining capital ships of the Royal Navy must be preserved.

Unless there is a naval battle in which the British Royal Fleet has a very high chance of winning, it is unlikely that the main force of the Royal Fleet will be easily deployed, even if it concerns Ireland.

Despite the extensive harassment by Spain and France, even though more than 100,000 British troops successfully evacuated to Donegal, only tens of thousands were ultimately able to return to the British mainland.

The remaining troops had not been able to evacuate by the time the allied forces of the three countries breached the defenses, and were ultimately forced to become prisoners of Ireland, Spain, and other countries.

After completely eliminating or capturing British troops in Ireland, the Irish Republican Government had gained complete control of the situation in Ireland.

The Irish War of Independence had a tremendous impact on Ireland, with a large number of Irish people paying the ultimate price for their lives.

The results were remarkable. Despite the military intervention of the powerful British Empire, Ireland still gained independence and even defeated the British Empire, something the Irish Republicans could never have imagined before launching the War of Independence.

After the capital was moved to Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood officially changed its name to the Irish Republican Party, becoming Ireland's largest party and the ruling party.

Patrick Henry Pearce, the former leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also became the leader of the Irish Republican Party. As a national hero who single-handedly promoted Irish independence, Patrick Henry Pearce was supported by most of the Irish people. He not only successfully became the first president of the Republic of Ireland, but also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Army, thus holding both military and political power.

After completely annihilating and capturing the British troops sent to Ireland, President Patrick Henry Pearce of the Republic of Ireland gave an impassioned speech in Dublin, declaring that the Irish War of Independence had officially ended and that no one or any country could threaten Ireland's independence from then on.

This speech received widespread support from the Irish, who have long suffered under British rule and still cannot forget the actions of the British government during the Great Famine.

Although the Irish War of Independence was not officially over in theory, Ireland, Spain, France, and Britain all knew that Britain had no way to deal with Ireland, which had truly achieved independence.

Unless Britain is able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to land in Ireland again, Ireland's independence is quite secure.

With the Irish Republican government already in complete control of the situation in Ireland, Britain's decision to once again deploy troops to Ireland has become a blatant invasion.

Unless Britain is willing to pay a heavy price, defeating the popular Irish Republican government will not be easy.

If Britain is unable to resolve the Irish question during the World War, it will be virtually impossible for Britain to annex Ireland after the war ends and peace treaties are signed.

The current situation is practically unsolvable. With the British Navy lacking superiority, Ireland's separation from the United Kingdom is inevitable, unless the situation on the European front changes.

The question is, will the situation on the Western Front really change?
The answer is absolutely not.

The current situation on the Western Front can be summarized as an allied siege of Germany. The fronts have essentially advanced to the German border, and in some areas have even encroached on German territory.

To put it nicely, Germany is putting up a tenacious resistance; to put it bluntly, it's just stalling for time.

Even the British government gradually reduced the number of troops it sent to the Western Front. This was partly to defend important colonies such as Canada, and partly because the situation in the European theater had become clear: no matter how many troops Britain sent, it would not be able to change the outcome of the European war.

The defeat in the Irish War of Independence had a profound impact on the British government.

British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith was forced to resign due to immense public pressure.

The person who succeeded Asquith as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was the famous David Lloyd George.

Although the Prime Minister has a relatively good reputation in British history, he now faces a huge mess in Ireland right after taking office, not to mention the watchful eyes of the United States. This is a huge challenge for David Lloyd George.

Knowing that no matter how hard Britain tried, it could not save Ireland from independence, David Lloyd George, after becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, did not agree to the military's proposal to continue sending troops to Ireland, but instead shelved the Irish question.

Irish independence is now irreversible. It would be better to minimize losses and deploy valuable troops to other places where they are needed more, such as Canada or the European theater.

David Lloyd George served as Secretary of War and Secretary of Munitions in Prime Minister Asquith's cabinet, so he was fairly clear about the situation in the war.

Although reluctant to admit it, David Lloyd George did understand that Britain was unlikely to win the world war as an Allied power.

Since the Central Powers were destined to lose, Britain naturally couldn't continue down the same path as Germany. While betraying Germany midway was somewhat shameful, Britain wasn't the first major power to do so. Austria-Hungary surrendered earlier, and Italy directly abandoned its allies.

Britain did make a lot of effort in this world war, and even if it did not win the war, Britain was by no means the culprit for the defeat, nor should it bear any responsibility for the defeat.

After thinking things through, David Lloyd George immediately issued several orders.

The first step was to send more troops to the American colonies, such as Canada, to ensure that the British American colonies would not encounter any problems.

Secondly, the number of British troops sent to the Western Front should be minimized, while ensuring that the situation on the Western Front does not collapse.

Third, strictly control the situation in colonies such as India to ensure that these important colonies do not break out into a war of independence like Ireland.

The British government was well aware that the Irish War of Independence was instigated by Spain, and had to admit that Spain had indeed struck at Britain's Achilles' heel this time.

Although Ireland's population is only a few million, a fraction of the UK's, the British government found the Irish question very difficult to resolve, especially given its deep involvement in the World Wars.

If Britain had not been involved in this world war, let alone tiny Ireland, even if Ireland and India had simultaneously launched wars of independence, Britain could have easily resolved the situation.

However, Britain has now deployed nearly 200 million troops to the European theater, and is naturally unable to deal with the Irish War of Independence.

After all, in addition to the troops deployed to the European theater, Britain also had nearly 300 million troops stationed in its colonies. While these troops did not yet reach the limit of Britain's mobilization capacity, they were not far off.

Although Britain can still mobilize at least 200 million troops, it knows its own situation best. The fighting capacity of these remaining troops is indeed not very good.

Unless they undergo six months of training, they will only be slightly stronger cannon fodder on the battlefield.

Britain's population was already small, and there was indeed no need for it to waste so much resources on a world war. After all, the world order after the war was the most important thing. The purpose of fighting this world war was not to win the war itself, but to give Britain a greater voice in the post-war world order.

In retrospect, it is clear that the British government chose the wrong side. Fortunately, the British government did not suffer too much damage, and by cutting its losses in time, Britain remained a superpower after the war, and even still had the hope of dominating Europe and securing its position as the world's hegemon.

To stop the losses in time, it is necessary to obtain the approval of the Allied Powers led by Spain and sign a peace agreement.

Although Britain knew that Spain and other Allied powers were bound to make exorbitant demands, it had no choice but to rely on them.

After spending several days clarifying Britain's current situation, newly appointed British Prime Minister David Lloyd George issued another order requiring the Foreign Office to contact Spain and other allied powers to explore the possibility of signing a peace agreement.

Compared to Germany, the Allied Powers, including France, had a better attitude towards Britain.

The reason is simple: Britain still has a powerful navy, and its homeland is not under any threat.

Apart from the unexpected Irish War of Independence, the British mainland has not been affected by war to this day, and British industry and economy continue to develop rapidly.

Furthermore, the world war had already lasted for three years, and both France and the other Allied countries were thoroughly weary of this protracted conflict.

The losses caused by the World War were incalculable. Leaving aside the economic and industrial losses, the loss of the world's population alone was enough to terrify the Allied powers.

The reason for demanding exorbitant sums from Germany is that Germany invaded several Allied countries and was the main culprit in instigating this world war.

Allied powers had excuses to demand more from Germany, and some neighboring countries were even able to carve up German territory.

But Britain is different. Because it is separated from the European continent by the English Channel, European countries cannot access the British mainland.

As for Britain's colonies, apart from those less important archipelagos and islands, most of the remaining colonies were very important and difficult to relinquish to the British government.

European countries also lacked the resources to send expeditionary forces to attack British colonies. Therefore, for some Allied countries, primarily France, it was indeed necessary to engage in peace negotiations with Britain.

Although Germany couldn't gain much from Britain, if it lost Britain as its only ally, it would become a sitting duck for the Allied powers, completely at their mercy.

One Germany was enough to feed the Allied Powers, which is why France and other Allied Powers were willing to engage in peace negotiations with Britain.

The only country that might not be keen on peace talks with Britain is probably the United States, which only recently joined the world war.

On the one hand, the United States had only just joined the world war and had not yet made a significant contribution to it.

On the other hand, the United States had just begun implementing its offensive plans against British colonies. If peace negotiations were to take place at this point, the only gains the United States would have been the already occupied Cuban colony and the Bahamas.

These two pieces of land were clearly not enough to satisfy the US government's appetite. Not to mention completely annexing all of Canada, it was necessary to at least carve out some territory from Canada to expand the scope of the continental United States.

The British Foreign Office contacted several major Allied powers and roughly ascertained their attitudes toward the British peace negotiations.

After reporting the attitudes of various countries to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the British government also discussed peace negotiations.

It is clear that Britain is in a much better position than Germany.

If Germany wanted to engage in peace negotiations, it would have to obtain the consent of most of the Allied Powers. None of the three major Allied powers—France, Spain, and Italy—would easily forgive Germany.

On the contrary, as long as Britain reaches an agreement with Spain, France and Italy are unlikely to hold a grudge against Britain.

Having figured this out, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George once again sent diplomatic representatives to Spain, hoping to reach an agreement with the Spanish government on peace negotiations and willing to pay a certain price to facilitate peace.

Carlo had anticipated the British government's desire to end the war through peace negotiations.

After all, even Germany was considering backing down, let alone the more astute British government.

Frankly, Carlo never thought that this world war would solve the great threat that was Britain.

The existence of a strong Britain is also very necessary, which is good for the future European landscape and can better counterbalance potentially rising countries like Russia.

Although Carlo did everything he could to weaken the United States, the United States was still able to easily become a superpower after World War I due to its large population and land area.

If Britain still had considerable strength, the mere fact that the United States declared war on Britain during the war would have been enough to cause Britain and the United States to fight each other like dogs.

If Britain had suffered too heavy a loss in the World War, the United States would have had no more scruples about its expansion, which could very well have led to the birth of an even more powerful United States.

With these thoughts in mind, Carlo no longer had any reservations about Britain's idea of ​​seeking peace negotiations. In any case, no matter how the negotiations went, Spain would always hold the power.

Even if Britain's losses in the war were not severe, it would be impossible for the war to end easily. Britain would have to pay a price to satisfy Spain and the Allied powers.

(End of this chapter)