Chapter 870: Outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War
London
Having finally mustered the courage and made up its mind to fight the Russians, the British Government was left utterly baffled by Lieutenant General Patrick's telegram requesting reinforcements.
Setting down the telegram in his hand, Prime Minister Gladstone asked in confusion, "Didn't the front already have four hundred thousand troops? Why are reinforcements needed?"
It was not that Prime Minister Gladstone was making a fuss over nothing; Britain had simply never played a strategic game on such a scale in all its history.
Before the war had even broken out, more than four hundred thousand troops had already gathered at the front. If another twenty infantry divisions were sent as reinforcements, the total force would approach the seven-hundred-thousand mark.
Waging a local war on such a grand scale was completely beyond Prime Minister Gladstone's understanding.
War Minister Rosario said, "Prime Minister, the War Office has carefully studied Lieutenant General Patrick's telegram requesting reinforcements and can basically confirm that his demands are reasonable.
"The Russians are coming with great momentum. Intelligence shows that they have already deployed five hundred thousand troops in Central Asia, and we cannot rule out the possibility that they will continue reinforcing their forces.
"Because of the distance involved, the enemy will reinforce much faster than we can. We must ensure that the front has sufficient troops.
"Otherwise, should anything unexpected happen, we can only count on the Indian Viceroyalty to provide support. Forgive my bluntness, but the Indian Viceroyalty has no ability to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
"Once war with the Russians begins, India will also become unstable. Maintaining stability in India is the Indian Viceroy's most important task.
"If no preparations are made in advance, suddenly pulling too many troops from India to the front after the