Chapter 467 Elizabeth

Unexpectedly, Queen Elizabeth also brought two daughters.

"Elizabeth, Margaret, it's been a long time no see." Yannick rubbed the sisters' hair affectionately. "How have you been recently?" After saying this, he felt that something was wrong. London was being bombarded by V3 cannons and V1 missiles day and night. Not to mention ordinary people, even members of the royal family could only hide in the How can you live well in a basement? Maybe because they haven't been in the sun for a long time, the skin of the two sisters is a little pale.

"Your Highness Yannick." Little Elizabeth and Margaret made a standard curtsey.

Yannick smiled. "Why are you shouting so wildly?"

"Brother Yannick." Little Elizabeth hesitated and whispered. "Brother Yannick, can we stop fighting this battle?"

"I don't want to fight either." Yannick had an innocent look on his face. "But your Prime Minister Churchill wants to continue the fight, and I can only accompany him to the end. How about you advise your father to depose and arrest Churchill." Although the British royal family has never used this power since the founding of the constitutional monarchy (because of the removal of Being the prime minister is a very important matter, and will generally not be considered unless the country is in critical juncture, otherwise it will shake the country's constitutional system). However, when the country is at an important moment of life and death, various special cases will appear.

Just like Italy in the original time and space, this was the case when King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, which was also a constitutional monarchy, arrested and dismissed Prime Minister Mussolini.

"Don't forget that you are also descendants of Germans. The ancestors of the British royal family are Germans, and we are our own people. Our own people should help our own people, right? Once the war is over, you and Margaret can live together every day Brother, let’s play, okay?”

"Okay!" Little Elizabeth bit her lip lightly with a complicated expression; while Margaret on the side responded loudly with a happy face.

"So good!" Yannick smiled and patted Margaret's face gently. He couldn't help but secretly laugh at what a heartless little girl he was; he asked little Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, do you want to see the unification of Europe?"

Little Elizabeth said very seriously. "No one has ever succeeded."

"That's true." The conquerors who tried to unify Europe in modern times, from Charles V to Louis XIV to Napoleon, all ended in failure. "Do you know why they failed?"

Seeing little Elizabeth shaking her head, Yannick chuckled. "The reason why they failed is actually that some people don't want to see European unity."

Thanks to its unique geographical location, the British mainland can easily protect itself from invasion by continental army powers. At the same time, the narrow English Channel cannot truly separate Britain from Europe. This allows Britain to easily project its power to the European continent, but the armies of powerful European countries cannot cross the sea in a bathtub.

Compared with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands is quite tragic. The national conditions of the two countries are very similar. Both countries were founded on commerce and both had strong navies. Even in the early days, the Netherlands' commerce and navy were stronger than those of the United Kingdom. However, because the Netherlands was on the mainland, it was The French Army stalled after doing it twice.

At the same time, the close distance between Britain and the European continent forces her to always pay attention to the situation on the European continent and be alert to the emergence of a European power that can truly threaten her.

Therefore, in modern Europe, the United Kingdom has always consciously played the role of a conscious offshore balancer, that is, uniting the rest of Europe to check and balance the strongest country on the continent.

The first two countries in modern European history that were expected to join Europe: the Spanish Empire under Charles V and France under Louis XIV were both suppressed by Britain and a group of brothers.

Of course, no matter how good the geographical location is and how strong the economy is, Britain's size is ultimately limited. In the long run, it will not be able to stop the growing mainland power with its own power. This situation was clearly reflected in the Napoleonic period. Even if Britain tried its best, it could not stop Napoleon and his army from crossing the continent.

Napoleon was an invincible hero on land, but he had nothing to do with the ocean. The French navy was no match for the British navy and was defeated several times and was almost completely destroyed. Napoleon's plan to cross the channel to conquer Britain was abandoned because he did not have control of the sea. After thinking hard, Napoleon decided to use economic blockade to strangle Britain, which relied on maritime trade to survive. He signed the famous Continental Blockade Act, which prohibited France and all its allies and vassals from trading with Britain.

In the following years serious difficulties arose in England. But Britain had many colonies, so at least it could get what it needed from other places. But continental European countries could no longer obtain many of their necessities from maritime trade, and serious dissatisfaction arose.

Among them, Russia is the most dissatisfied.

The Russian Tsar Alexander I was a young man with a strong temper and resented Napoleon for sitting on his head. He secretly allowed Russian merchants to trade with Britain, in order to put pressure on Napoleon and express his dissatisfaction.

Napoleon himself looked down upon Tsar Alexander I very much, thinking that he was arrogant but incompetent. In 1809, Napoleon proposed to marry the tsar's sister, but Alexander I responded coldly. He would never agree to marry a sister of noble blood to a Corsican upstart.

Napoleon responded by announcing his engagement to an Austrian princess while still negotiating with the Russian court, which greatly irritated Alexander I, who was very proud of his reputation, and the relationship between the two countries gradually became cold. Later, Napoleon announced the liberation of Poland, a Russian vassal, and annexed some territories that Russia was interested in, which further exacerbated the tension between the two countries.

By the end of 1811, Napoleon finally decided to teach the young tsar a lesson. More importantly, only by completely defeating Russia could other countries on the European continent truly bow their heads and finally free up Napoleon to deal with Britain. At this time, the Continental Blockade Act was full of loopholes. Not to mention the smugglers of various countries, even France occasionally traded with Britain. And Napoleon's rear was also unstable. A large number of French troops were trapped in guerrilla warfare on the Spanish Peninsula, and Britain was always ready to move and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

But Napoleon's ambition made him desperate. He used Russia's violation of the Continental Blockade Act as an excuse to launch a war of conquest against Russia.

Napoleon led an army of 600,000 and crossed the Neman River in two routes to invade Russia, attempting to annihilate the more than 200,000 Russian troops in front of them and decide the outcome in one battle. The Russian army took the initiative to evacuate Moscow and move to Kaluga, threatening the French army's transportation lines, and organized the military and civilians to "fortify the walls and clear the fields" to harass the French army. The French army was starving and cold. They had to withdraw from Moscow and retreat along the south. The Russian army turned to counterattack and pursued and annihilated a large number of French troops. The French army lost all its cavalry and almost all its artillery, and only 30,000 people withdrew from the country.