Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 976: Chapter 239: The Style of Great Powers

The setting sun sank in the west as a massive fleet slowly made its way toward New Frankfurt Port, causing quite a stir among the dockworkers.

As one of the Holy Roman Empire’s most important military ports in Southeast Asia, the presence of fleets was nothing unusual. However, this time was different; the incoming fleet’s flags were wrong.

A young man pointed ahead, his hands trembling as he exclaimed, “What is going on here? Which son of a bitch was so careless as to get the military flags mixed up?”

New Frankfurt Port was one of the homes to Austria’s Southeast Asian Fleet and was a military stronghold. Even if foreign warships occasionally passed by needing supplies, they were sent over by a small boat, as docking was out of the question.

This was the unspoken agreement between the Colonial Empires. For the safety of the ports, unless invited or in cases where the warships encountered damage en route and needed repairs, it was generally not allowed for another nation’s warships to enter.

Especially after Japan successfully launched a sneak attack on the Philippines, all the great Colonial Empires heightened their vigilance. Such a massive fleet was not only barred from docking but even from obtaining supplies unless they stayed several miles away.

The middle-aged foreman next to him scoffed, “Don’t talk nonsense, who would hang the wrong military flag? Just look at the shape of the battleships, it’s obviously not ours.

That’s the Spaniards’ flag; they’re at war with the Japanese. I heard they had suffered a significant loss recently. It seems this fleet must be reinforcements they’ve sent.

The only thing is I don’t know why they have ended up here.”

After a pause, the middle-aged man seemed to think of something and, coming to a realization, he immediately scolded, “Get back to work, don’t even think about slacking off. Do you think you’re in a position to worry about the affairs of these important people?

Do you still want your wages or not? Let me tell you, if today’s work isn’t finished, no one’s going home.”

Suddenly, a short man clutched his stomach with both hands, showing an expression of pain which quickly caught the attention of the middle-aged foreman.

“Little Monkey, what the hell are you up to?”

It was clear that the foreman was genuinely concerned. But whether he was more worried about Little Monkey’s health or the completion of today’s work, that was known by no one.

“Boss, my stomach hurts. Can you advance me some money so I can go to the hospital to have it checked out?”

As he spoke, the young man who was Little Monkey crouched down, appearing to be in unbearable pain.

The middle-aged foreman’s brow furrowed. Illness strikes like a falling mountain, particularly among those who did heavy physical labor at the docks. Once someone fell ill, there were very few who could get back up again.

Not because they couldn’t be cured, but because they didn’t have the money for it. Although dockworkers’ earnings were relatively substantial, what was left after taking care of an entire family’s expenses was next to nothing.

If one didn’t seek medical treatment, it meant death; but actually being admitted to a hospital meant you might not know if you’d survive, but one thing was certain: your family would be ruined.

“Fine! But you don’t need to go to the hospital, that’s not a place for people like us. Just go to Old Liu and get some medicine; that will do.”

The poor had their own way of getting by. Aside from the expensive hospitals, there were barefoot doctors scattered about.

The quality of their medical skills was debatable, but they were undoubtedly cheaper.

Generally speaking, these barefoot doctors gathered their own herbs, only purchasing what they couldn’t find on the island, keeping the costs much lower than the hospital’s.

However, as they say, you get what you pay for. There weren’t many skilled barefoot doctors in Southeast Asia. If they had any abilities, they would have been recruited by hospitals long ago.

Hospitals were private enterprises, where money reigned supreme. As long as they could make money, capitalists didn’t care if it was traditional Chinese or Western medicine.

Driven by profits, the first hospitals combining Chinese and Western medicine quietly came into being.

Little Monkey nodded continuously to show he understood. After receiving money from the foreman, he staggered away.

Everyone for himself and God for us all. In these precarious times, unless it was family or friends, no one cared about other people’s business.

Little Monkey had joined later and had no relatives, not even fellow villagers among them. Aside from a few sighs, the rest went back to their work.

Once out of sight of the others, Little Monkey, who had seemed to be at death’s door, instantly recovered his energy and bolted towards the telegraph company with the greatest speed.

…

In the early hours of the morning, the Imperial Palace remained brightly lit. Emperor Meiji, who should have been resting, was woken up by an urgent telegram and hastily convened an imperial court meeting.

“The enemy is moving faster than we anticipated, and they have already arrived at Sulawesi. Right now, they are at New Frankfurt Port, only a step away from the Philippines.

The enemy is about to launch an attack, and we still haven’t received the warships that the British promised. We must come up with a plan to respond,”

Emperor Meiji declared, leaving no room for doubt.

The situation was far worse than he had expected. According to international convention, as a neutral country, the Holy Roman Empire was not supposed to provide assistance to Spain during wartime.

Generally, countries would provide support to warring nations clandestinely for the sake of their reputations, but the kind of blatant backing provided by the Holy Roman Empire was a rarity in the European world.

The usual conventions suddenly became ineffective. It seemed as if the Holy Roman Empire no longer cared about its international standing, permitting Spanish warships to pass through the Suez Canal and even providing harbor services to the Spanish Navy.

Without any surprises, it wouldn’t be a shock if they were to offer repair and maintenance services for the Spanish warships next.

Such support might seem insignificant, yet these were the very factors that impacted naval combat effectiveness directly.

The Russian Pacific Fleet of the original timeline had their combat ability severely reduced due to the lack of logistical support—unable to even harness half of their strength and were decisively defeated by the Japanese. Otherwise, the outcome would remain uncertain.

Navy Admiral Ito Yohiro questioned angrily, “What is the Foreign Ministry doing? The Austrians claimed neutrality, didn’t they? Why are they suddenly supporting Spain now?

Why haven’t we received any information about this earlier? This is dereliction of duty. Do you realize how much this unexpected event could cost the Empire?”

“Ito-san, please calm down first. No one wanted this to happen. Also, our Foreign Ministry isn’t slacking off.

The Vienna Government announced their neutrality long ago, which is a well-known fact. The current incident primarily occurred because we overlooked a secret treaty from forty years ago.

Before Austria ventured into maritime affairs, it signed several port-sharing agreements with various colonial empires, including Spain.

It was thanks to this treaty that the Austrians were able to survive the supply difficulties in the early stage of colonization, establishing the second colonial empire in the world.

According to the treaty, in situations that threatened their own interests, the signatory nations were obligated to provide logistics support and port access within their means,” explained Kimochi Saionji with a sense of resignation.

It wasn’t really their fault, after all. Forty years ago was still the Bakufu/Shogunate era, and they were just children; who would care about a treaty that had nothing to do with them?

Especially since this treaty existed in the form of a secret agreement. If it weren’t for negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire Envoy, he wouldn’t even know about the existence of such a treaty.

Ito Yohiro, filled with anger, asked, “So what if there’s a secret treaty? Hasn’t the Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation for this action, which violates international conventions, from the Austrians?”

Saionji replied with bitterness, “We did ask for an explanation. As soon as we learned that the Spanish Navy had entered New Frankfurt Port, I met with the Holy Roman Empire Envoy immediately.

He provided a reasonable explanation, though I believe you won’t like it.”

After a brief exchange of glances and seeing that everyone firmly wanted to know, Saionji slowly said, “Ambassador Antonio expressed regret and on behalf of the Vienna Government, he made a promise to bear all the consequences this might bring.

He also indicated that if we insist on pursuing the matter, we could declare war on this basis, and the Holy Roman Empire would willingly assume the moral responsibility for such a war.”

It was better not to explain, as the explanation only upset everyone further. Even Emperor Meiji, who always valued the dignity of the monarch, was enraged to the point of fuming.

A seemingly responsible statement about bearing the consequences was really an exercise in frustration. @@novelbin@@

“Declare war”?

If Japan possessed that kind of strength, Emperor Meiji wouldn’t mind having a proper war with the Holy Roman Empire, letting them know that the Empire of Japan was not to be trifled with!

Unfortunately, reality was cruel. The incompletely established Holy Roman Empire was now a half-world hegemon, capable of crushing the Japanese Empire with a mere finger.

Weak nations have no diplomacy. The adage was exemplified here. Despite admitting to violating international conventions, the Japanese Government now lacked the courage to hold them accountable.

Moreover, by this incident, the Vienna Government had once again proved its credibility to the outside world. Just for a secret treaty from forty years ago, they would breach international norms and offend others…

Well, the influence of Japanese were still considered too light by the world’s standard. If this had been the British, perhaps the outcome would have been better.

Having been accustomed to facing stern challenges, Emperor Meiji, seeing the meeting spiraling out of control, immediately admonished, “Silence! Save your complaints for when you’re home and don’t make a scene here.

I know that the Holy Roman Empire has acted very indecently, but what can we do about it? They are the most powerful nation in the world and have the right to be domineering.

If you have the strength, then remember this grudge, and wait for a future opportunity to reclaim it, to wipe clean this humiliation.”

Towards the end of his words, even Emperor Meiji seemed to lose his confidence. Nothing could be done; the power disparity between the two sides was simply too great.

The strength that the Holy Roman Empire possessed in Southeast Asia alone was enough to annihilate the Japanese Empire. If one were to talk about the comprehensive national power of the two countries, the gap was at least a double-digit multiple difference.