Chapter 396: Southern Netherlands Initiative
Austria.
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Joseph II struggled to lift his withered right hand, only able to produce indistinct sounds from his throat: "Tal... Tally..."
Leopold II, at his side, quickly surmised, "Your Majesty, are you referring to Talleyrand?"
Seeing the Emperor nod, he continued, "Are you concerned about what he said regarding the British intention to export revolution?"
Talleyrand had just concluded his visit to Austria, having stayed for three full days, during which he denounced the British plot to overthrow monarchs across Europe in Vienna.
"It's... alarming," Joseph II managed, resting for ten seconds before laboriously continuing, "First, leverage..."
Leopold II completed his thought. "You mean we can leverage this to weaken British influence over the situation in the Southern Netherlands."
The Holy Roman Emperor nodded weakly. "Cooperate with France."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will handle it."
...
Western Mediterranean, Gulf of Almeria.
In the wardroom of HMS Colossus, a third-rate ship of the line in the Royal British Navy, Lord Tarmos, Special Envoy to the Maghreb States, was reporting to the Foreign Secretary:
"The Sultan of Morocco has agreed that, provided we make concessions on grain import tariffs and establish Morocco as a textile trade hub for North Africa, he will agree to launch an attack on Bizerte. Currently, 14,000 Moroccan Janissaries are awaiting orders in Annaba. Most of them have been re-equipped with Brown Bess Flintlock Muskets and are supported by 20 cannons."
Marquis Wellesley nodded almost without a thought.
"Inform the Moroccans that Parliament will consider their demands."
Compared to the situation in India, the Empire could easily cede some interests in North Africa. Furthermore, establishing Morocco as a trade hub wouldn't significantly impact British profits.
"I will depart for Morocco as soon as possible, my Lord Marquis." Lord Tarmos continued, "Algiers has also prepared an army of 12,000 men, though, as you know, their combat effectiveness isn't something to count on."
The Algiers Janissaries had been severely crippled by Joseph's previous campaigns and still hadn't recovered their strength after more than half a year.
"Very well, they can increase their navy's harassment of French merchant ships."
Marquis Wellesley gave the order, then asked, "What about Tripoli?"
"Benghiour currently commands 12,000 Ottoman Janissaries," Tarmos stated. "However... he has been secretly contacted as per your instructions, and he is only willing to dispatch a force of no more than 800 men for raiding. After all, Constantinople has consistently sought to avoid offending France."
Marquis Wellesley waved a dismissive hand. "No matter, I've come here specifically to resolve this."
He had secured a grant of 350,000 Pound Sterling from the British Parliament, equivalent to nearly 9 million Livres. Of this sum, 100,000 Pound Sterling was earmarked for bribing Benghiour.
Subsequently, he would travel to Constantinople, where he would exchange a certain degree of diplomatic support and trade concessions for Sultan Salem III's tacit approval of the Tripoli garrison's unauthorized actions.
Wellesley was absolutely confident that Benghiour, this Ottoman warlord, driven by immense personal gain and free from the Sultan's direct reprisal, would be audacious enough to provoke the French forces in Tunisia.
Furthermore, Tripoli possessed a fleet of nearly 300 vessels, though most were small and no match for the French navy. However, with British intelligence, artillery, and port supply support, they could still significantly disrupt French trade in the Mediterranean.
Wellesley knew that the East India Company's troubles in Mysore were extremely thorny—this time, Britain would certainly have to concede some interests to France to resolve the matter.
Therefore, he had to create as many bargaining chips as possible to minimize losses during negotiations.
He even planned that once the French forces in Tunisia were put on the defensive—caught in a pincer movement by nearly 40,000 troops, the French army of only 20,000 would inevitably find itself in a terrible fix—he would unleash pirates from Algiers and Tripoli to harass French southeastern coastal cities, thereby increasing domestic pressure on France.
Combined with his maneuvers in the Southern Netherlands, if luck was on his side, he might achieve France's withdrawal from the Mysore situation without any significant concessions.
However, just as the Colossus arrived at Mitidja Port for a quick resupply and was preparing to weigh anchor, HMS Gasp, a fast Royal Navy brig-sloop, arrived in hot pursuit from Gibraltar.
Marquis Wellesley was in his cabin discussing with Tarmos how to leverage British naval superiority to disrupt French trade in the Caribbean—though a series of treaties restricted Britain and France, there were certainly ways to circumvent them to target the French. After all, Saint-Domingue's sugar exports contributed over 40 million Livres annually to the French government's treasury!
Just as the two had begun to make some headway in their discussion, an officer from the HMS Gasp knocked and entered, delivering the latest European intelligence report to Wellesley.
The Foreign Secretary extracted several pages from the dispatch tube, waved them at Tarmos, and smiled faintly.
'I'm guessing there's good news from Vander Noot.' he said.
He unfolded the papers, and after reading just a few lines, his smile froze.
"My Lord Marquis, what's the situation in the Southern Netherlands?" Tarmos asked, oblivious to the shift in mood.
"Those damned Frenchmen!"
Wellesley, his face grim, folded the documents. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and called out from the cabin,
"Tommy, fetch Captain Taylor for me."
He then looked at Tarmos. "The matters concerning Tripoli and the Ottomans are now in your hands. I must return to Europe immediately."
The intelligence report stated that Austria, Spain, Bavaria, Mainz, and several other nations had submitted diplomatic notes to Britain, demanding clarification on Britain's stance regarding the rebellion in the Southern Netherlands, as well as Britain's connection to the previous Liberal riots in France.
The diplomatic notes from Austria and Spain, in particular, were harshly worded, criticizing Britain's actions of exporting revolution to the European continent.
Wellesley irritably turned his back to gaze out the porthole, realizing he had been careless. He never expected the shameless French to link the instigation of riots to the "export of revolution"!
He knew full well that mishandling this matter could easily trigger a diplomatic catastrophe...
Ten days later, just as Wellesley was leaving Cologne and heading for Prussia—yes, even William II had raised questions about Britain—he suddenly received news that Ludwig IX, the ruler of Hesse-Darmstadt, had put forward something called the "Southern Netherlands Initiative."
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