Belgium had originally been a wedge driven into the European continent by the British Empire. But thanks to the activity of a tiny ant, that wedge had been pulled out, leaving the British Empire in an unprecedentedly passive position diplomatically.
The diplomatic environment that had favored the British Empire was gone for good. After that, almost every diplomatic crisis Britain became involved in ended in disaster.
The Anti-Imperial Alliance was one such case. Its supposedly invincible army, led by an undefeated general, had gotten off to a disastrous start, and its commander was still missing.
The French were certainly making an effort, but it was also an undeniable fact that their Grand Orient Fleet had stabbed Britain's New Mediterranean Fleet in the back.
As for Poland, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire, there had been no word from any of them. The British Foreign Office had already sent people to urge the three countries to join the war as soon as possible.
After Chubais Randall returned to Paris, he told Dan Gira what the British had said and how they had said it.
Dan Gira, the new leader of the Le National faction and the de facto head of the French Second Republic, immediately reached a conclusion: France had not shown enough sincerity to win the British over.
So he promptly used the National Assembly to issue orders to every theater, demanding a swift victory.
Naturally, he did not say that this was to show the British how valuable France was. Instead, he called on them to display the spirit of the French nation and demonstrate the superiority of the new system over the old.
Brussels, Belgium.
Henri Arsène slowly set down the exquisite porcelain cup, then crumpled the latest order from Paris and tossed it aside.
"General, that is an