Stockton quickly calculated in his mind.

A war involving thirty to forty thousand soldiers would last at least half a year, with half the supply lines running through the jungles of South America.

This means that the Association must invest not just tens of thousands of British Pounds, or even hundreds of thousands, but millions!

Although the likelihood of winning the war is very high, government grants will probably take seven to eight years to fully materialize. By then, New Granada will be Portuguese territory, and while the Association claims to have secured trade privileges, who knows if the Portuguese officials will make things difficult—they only need to let local gangs cause a few troubles, and the Association could face massive losses.

Stockton assumed a serious expression and said, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, this requires a vote by the core members of the Association. I will do my best to persuade them to accept..."

The West Indian Association is a rather loose organization; just gathering the core members takes two or three months, and by the time they travel back and forth between America and Europe, the war will most likely be over.

William Pitt Junior maintained a smile and leisurely said, "You might have heard that Mr. Wilberforce’s ’Slave Trade Abolition Bill’ will be voted on in Parliament next month. And before that, there are exactly 15 seats that need by-elections in Parliament."

He paused and continued, "If Mr. Stevens and Mr. Mackenzie receive the necessary support, they have a significant chance of becoming Members of Parliament."

He spoke in a roundabout way, but Stockton understood very clearly.

The West Indian Association is a group composed of British trade caravans doing business in America and British plantation owners in the area.

The black slave trade is their backbone industry—the plantation owners need a large number of black slaves for labor, and the caravans’ core income is partly from selling black slaves to North America.

Currently, the West Indian Association has over 30 representatives in the British Parliament, barely forming a counterbalance against members supporting abolition.

Among the 15 seats up for by-elections this time, 6 were vacated by members of the West Indian Association.

If the Prime Minister interferes, those seats might very well end up in the hands of the Abolitionists.

This give-and-take would leave the Association without enough strength to block the abolition bill in Parliament.

Stockton frowned deeply, but then he heard William Pitt Junior continue: "Oh, by the way, sugar smuggling has been rampant in the Caribbean Sea lately, which surely has been eating into the West Indian Association’s profits. The Royal Navy is preparing to thoroughly inspect all sorts of smuggling ships in the Caribbean Sea..."

Stockton’s face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly interrupted him: "I think perhaps a letter vote would suffice. Before that, the Association can provide partial supplies to the Portuguese army."

If the black slave trade is the legs of the West Indian Association, then the sugar trade is their heart.

After the independence of the Little Andros Islands and the Bahamas colonies, British trade caravans mainly relied on Americans to smuggle cane sugar to maintain business.

Instead of safeguarding the Association’s monopoly on the sugar trade, the Royal Navy wants to cut off their main artery.

"Very well," William Pitt Junior nodded and said, "I appreciate the selfless contribution of the West Indian Association to the Empire. Trust me, this ’transaction’ will bring vast profits to the Association."

It was not until Stockton signed the "Investment Memorandum" that William Pitt Junior finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Without the substantial funds from the West Indian Association, his American strategy had no foundation for implementation—British finances could not afford to spend millions of British Pounds to support Portugal and America in their military campaigns.

Yes, even if Portugal has a troop advantage, it will take at least 2 million British Pounds in military expenses for a war that sweeps across the whole New Granada and even Mexico.

The Portuguese simply can’t come up with that much money, so Britain has to provide more than half of it.

Fortunately, with the funding issue resolved, all that’s left is to wait for the war in America to shift the entire European situation, and then use that opportunity to bring down France!

...

August 3, 1801.

In Polotsk City, on the northeast border of Poland, Nikolai Novosilitsiev, the Governor’s Assistant of Russian Lithuania, glanced at the soldiers busy loading cannons onto carriages, and quickly caught up with Kutuzov, whispering:

"General, you can’t do this! Vilnius is just ahead, and the Poles are almost powerless to resist. How can you accept this damned ceasefire at this time?"

Kutuzov replied calmly, "You might not be aware, but the general commissariat started offering credit three months ago, including all the gunpowder and shells, as well as most of the food."

Novosilitsiev paused for a moment but still said aggressively, "Please wait for a few more days, I want to write to His Majesty the Emperor, he definitely will not agree to withdraw from Polotsk!"

Kutuzov sniffed the faint musty smell in the air—which was likely emanating from the recently transported potatoes, the kind that could be bought only without paying in cash—and nodded to Novosilitsiev:

"In fact, His Majesty the Emperor has already seen the ceasefire terms."

"Are you saying that His Majesty accepted them?"

"He hasn’t objected, at least."

"That’s impossible! This victory hasn’t won even a single city for His Majesty; how can it just end like this!"

Kutuzov stopped and patted him on the back, "We will gain spoils from the Austrians, quite substantial ones."

"But... what about His Highness Constantine?"

Novosilitsiev didn’t understand what the Austrians had to do with this, but if they didn’t ’recover’ Lithuania, he, as Governor’s Assistant, would be a laughingstock.

Likewise, Grand Duke Constantine had only been the Governor of Lithuania for two years before being driven back to Russia by the Poles.

Kutuzov thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps His Highness might serve as the Governor of Wallachia in the future; you never know.

"Alright, tomorrow we have to attend the ceasefire negotiations in Blaslav, so you better prepare yourself."

Two days later.

The square in front of Blaslav’s City Hall was crowded with Lithuanians, Poles, and journalists from various countries.

As Talleyrand walked down the main avenue in the city center, an elderly woman in the crowd suddenly reached out, seemingly trying to grab his coat while anxiously speaking in Lithuanian.

Talleyrand didn’t understand, but he saw pleading and hope in her eyes.

The King of Poland’s plenipotentiary representative, Count Pototsky, pointed towards the excited crowd and said to Talleyrand, "Your Excellency Archbishop, you also see, even women and children would unhesitatingly use their lives to defeat the Russian invaders!"

Talleyrand nodded, leaned towards him, and said, "Indeed, but if Warsaw cannot deliver enough food and ammunition to the front lines, no number of lives can stop Russian cannons.

"You may reclaim Polotsk; frankly speaking, that’s the best reward for your courage."

Count Pototsky sighed and whispered, "Your Excellency Archbishop, what I mean is that the public will never accept a ceasefire without war reparations. Look at these angry faces."