Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 840 - 103: Assassination

After the secret treaty with Russia had been signed, King Amir only relaxed temporarily; in truth, he distrusted all Western countries and had formed an alliance with the Russians purely out of compulsion.

As the power struggle in Central Asia began between Britain and Russia, Afghanistan, being a small nation, simply lacked the strength to remain neutral and had to make a choice.

To speak frankly, neither Britain nor Russia was a good choice, as both were eyeing Afghanistan’s territory.

The Russians’ friendliness was merely because their reach did not extend so far yet; by aligning with Afghanistan, they could not only create problems for the British but most importantly, increase the success rate of their southern strategy.

It was precisely because they could not reach that King Amir could confidently and boldly ally with the Russians. If Russia were really his neighbor, King Amir would not dare to sign the treaty.

This wasn’t without basis; looking at the many neighbors of the Russian Empire, other than powerful Austria, which one hadn’t been invaded by the Russians?

This alone was sufficient to illustrate the issue. Therefore, while drawing closer to the Russians, King Amir also did not relinquish efforts to ease relations with the British.

Even though King Amir knew that the British were constantly eyeing Afghanistan, there was no alternative. To survive, small nations’ politicians cannot hold grudges.

...

Kingly and righteous, King Amir rejected the proposal, "Mr. Walters, your country’s demands are too excessive. We can defend our own security; we do not need your troops stationed here."

"There is no sovereign nation in the world that can tolerate foreign troops on its soil."

After days of probing, Walters had clearly understood that this was a red line for the Afghan Government, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Your Majesty, if your country does not agree to our troops’ stationing, then allow us a passage to move north to aid the Bulaha Khan State, which is being invaded by the Russians."

Passage was more acceptable than stationing troops, but King Amir doubted the British’s intentions, their credibility being no better than toilet paper.

After a moment’s hesitation, King Amir once again refused, "If your country wants to help the Bulaha Khan State, there are still two other routes available. Why must it pass through the Afghan region?

Keep in mind that our transportation is very poor and the local population is very hostile towards your country; it is very easy for accidents to occur if your troops pass through."

No matter if the British had any schemes, since alliance lines had been drawn, allowing British Army passage would definitely be unacceptable to the Russians.

Trying to stay neutral in such situations often leads to the quickest downfall, a simple truth that King Amir well understood, decisively choosing to divert the problem elsewhere.

As long as he could get rid of these British plague-bringers, King Amir did not care through which country the British ultimately sought passage.

Walters felt a sinking feeling in his heart; he knew this excuse was not perfect. There were three routes altogether to send reinforcements to the Bulaha Khan State.

Given the options, the British Government had no need to insist on passage through Afghanistan where anti-British sentiment was strong; it was merely asking for trouble.

Knowing was one thing, but it could certainly not be admitted aloud. Walters, with his strong mental resilience, responded without a change in expression, "It’s certainly due to the friendship between Britain and Afghanistan.

Although there have been some unpleasant incidents between our two countries in the past, that is all in the past. The London Government now wishes to mend the relationship anew.

Taking a route through your country could be an opportunity to break the ice between our countries. If this issue is resolved, there could even be the potential for our two countries to become true allies in the future."

Within a short span of time, Walters had invented a seemingly reasonable excuse, impressing even himself with his quick wit.

However, his final promise was a bit frightening; Britannia nominally had few allies, and one probably couldn’t find any true allies by looking through the history books.

Anyone who believed that must have water on the brain. King Amir was not so foolish; hearing this explanation, he completely despaired of the British.

He did not respond, merely staring at Walters up and down with undisguised disdain.

Failing to deceive King Amir did not surprise Walters at all. A king who had emerged from political strife wouldn’t be easily fooled by a few words; that would be laughable.

After locking eyes for two minutes, Walters slowly began to interrogate, "Has your country signed a secret treaty with the Russians?"

Caught off guard, King Amir’s face drastically changed, but then he quickly regained his composure.

The knowledge of the Russian-Austrian secret treaty was limited to very few, making the possibility of a leak almost none. Thus, Walters’s question was a probe.

King Amir hastily denied, "Of course not, how could we possibly have dealings with those wicked Russians?"

King Amir was no qualified actor, the panic evident in his expression divulged much.

Having discerned the truth, Walters knew his mission to win over Afghanistan had failed. Without lingering, he exchanged a few more words and then took his leave.

As the carriage slowly left the Palace, the disgruntled Walters closed his eyes, deeply contemplating how to thwart the Russo-Afghan secret treaty.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Relying on his many experiences entering and leaving the Palace, Walters knew it wasn’t possible they had returned to his residence so soon, and immediately asked, "What happened?"

Before the guards could answer, a series of earth-shattering explosions erupted, flipping the carriage over; Walters lost his last thread of consciousness.

The guard who had narrowly survived the attack finally realized—it was another assassination.

Unlike the previous assassination attempts, this one was clearly well-prepared, seamlessly coordinated from the initial blocking to the subsequent suicide attack.

The assassin?

If the one who charged with a bomb counts, then he is now nothing more than scattered, mangled flesh.

Without advanced forensic technology, who knows who the real culprit is?

Even if by some fluke the assassin’s identity is deduced, it would be of no use, as the dead cannot speak.

Upon receiving the news, King Amir immediately fainted; he simply could not withstand the shock.

At this moment, Redmond was already on his way back, having facilitated the Russia-Afghan alliance. His official mission was completed, and the rest was no longer related to Austria.

...

Inside the government building in Calcutta, Governor Lytton had just walked into his office when he received this ambiguous news.

From the perspective of the Governor of India, this assassination came at a very opportune time, providing Britannia with a pretext to invade Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, Britannia was currently engaged in an arms race with France and Austria, making it an inopportune time to provoke a war.

With a bang, hot coffee splattered around. Although Walters was the one he had sent to stir up trouble, as an envoy, he also represented Britannia’s dignity.

Now that he had been slain, Lytton found it difficult to contain his emotions and immediately exclaimed angrily, "This is a provocation against Britannia. I demand that the Afghan Government hand over the murderer within a week, or face the consequences!"

As the Governor of India, Lytton’s powers were immense, including the authority to initiate wars.

In fact, the territory of British-India today was largely expanded by the colonial governors themselves. If everything had to wait for the decisions of the London Government, nothing would ever get done.

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The bigger picture?

One should not concern themselves with matters beyond their station. Thinking about the national agenda is the job of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; the Governor of India only needed to consider the "bigger picture of the Indian region."

After a pause, Governor Lytton ordered again, "Command all troops to prepare for battle. The humiliation inflicted upon Britannia can only be cleansed with blood!"

What the truth was no longer mattered; Governor Lytton was convinced the Afghan Government was responsible.

...

London, by the time news of the assassination arrived, it was already evening.

Receiving this unfavorable news, Prime Minister Gladstone could no longer think of rest. By all that is holy, he really had not intended to stir up trouble in Central Asia at this time.

He didn’t even know about the mission to Afghanistan, including sending the envoy.

It wasn’t that Prime Minister Gladstone neglected his duties; rather, such minor matters simply didn’t require his attention.

Sending an envoy was trivial; if it weren’t for Walters being assassinated, resulting in a slap to Britannia’s face, no one would even bother to report it to him now.

Prime Minister Gladstone asked, "Has the murderer been found?"

Who the murderer was, Prime Minister Gladstone had no interest in knowing. As a qualified politician, his primary concern was what Britannia could gain from this incident.

Asking about the assailant was more of a formality. Typically, whoever would maximize Britannia’s interests would eventually be blamed as the true perpetrator.

Foreign Minister George shook his head, "It’s suspected to involve a local religious extremist organization, but it’s hard to determine who exactly did it due to the scant clues left at the scene."

Non-answers which suffice, as only extremist groups, or similar, would send suicide bombers strapped with explosives.

Whether to seize the opportunity to invade Afghanistan presented Gladstone with his greatest dilemma presently.

The arms race had just begun, and moving against Afghanistan now would undoubtedly increase the financial strain on the government.

Yet to forego this opportunity was hard to swallow. After all, such a compelling justification for war was hard to find, and missing it would mean missing it forever.

The assassination of the envoy touched on a baseline jointly maintained by the powers, and using it as a pretext for exploitation left little room for international criticism.

Even if the Russians wanted to intervene, it would only be clandestinely; they could not overtly take the lead.