At this time, Xinjing's decision had already reached Peng Yulin's hands.
Peng Yulin is based in Kunming, Yunnan. He has been busy building a Southwest Plateau Division in western Sichuan for some time.
He first transferred some officers to do adaptive training on the western Sichuan Plateau.
Replenish those who can survive to the plateau division. Then use these people as the main force to recruit soldiers from the local serfs and poor people to form this plateau division.
According to the recruitment regulations of the Renaissance Army, the families of soldiers were naturally relieved of their status as serfs and became military dependents protected by the Renaissance Army.
They could be allocated land and pastures. Driven by these conditions, the division was quickly recruited.
Although this violated the interests of some chieftains, no one in Xichuan dared to do anything wrong. The 19th Division adapted from the Hunan Army was stationed here.
Regarding the protection of the interests of military personnel, the attitude of the officials and the people of the Fuxing Army is consistent. They are all beneficiaries of this system, so they will defend this system.
If any chieftain dares to harm military relatives, these Chinese soldiers born in the Hunan Army will not be lenient at all in selling them.
After the 19th Division entered the Western Sichuan Plateau, it has successively killed many chieftains. Otherwise, where would the Renaissance Army get the land and pasture to distribute to the militiamen and their families?
Two garrison regiments were also formed at the same time. More than 10,000 people will enter the southwest plateau area to garrison.
Two garrison regiments will be placed in the Ladakh area and between Chemengxiong (now Sikkim) and Bulukba.
The former connects the Kashmir Valley and is an important passage from the southwest to northwest India. The latter controls the passage between the Himalayas and the Ganges Plain in northeastern India. The altitude here is lower, and to the north are the important plateau cities of Lhasa and Shigatse.
area, to the south is the Ganges Plain.
The Plateau Division will be mainly stationed in Shigatse and Lhasa. The configuration of this Plateau Division is also different. It has a total of two cavalry regiments, and the entire division has realized the use of mules and horses.
The herdsmen on the plateau also herd war horses, so there is no need to worry about the source of the troops' war horses.
On the plateau, horses have been the most important means of transportation for a long time.
Dong Shuheng has not touched the political ecology on the plateau for the time being, and the people there are still under the control of temples and tribal leaders.
After everything in the mainland is back on track, Dong Shuheng will first reform the serfdom system on the plateau.
The people on the plateau are also Chinese, and the Chinese will never be slaves.
The stationing of the army is the first step. The second step is to reach an alliance with the temple forces. Dong Shuheng will not touch the religion on the plateau.
Just like cooperating with the Yellow Sect in Mobei, Dong Shuheng was also prepared to cooperate with the Red Sect on the plateau.
In the future, if China wants to go south from the plateau and cause trouble in the rear areas of British India, religion will be an important support for China in the southwest region.
You must know that everything from Chemengxiong to the south is plain area, and 500 kilometers to the south is Calcutta, the largest British city in India. This is the capital of the British in India and the most important political and industrial and commercial center in India.
Calcutta is one of the largest cities in Asia at this time.
With the expansion of British power in the Indian subcontinent, the entire northern India gradually became the hinterland of Calcutta.
The abolition of domestic tariffs in India in 1835 created an open market.
Railway construction began in 1854, which further accelerated the development of industry and commerce. The highway from Calcutta to Peshawar was also built at this time.
The British apparently wanted to strengthen their colonial rule over northern India through a trans-northern highway.
British commerce, insurance and banking industries developed. The Indian Quarter of Calcutta also became a busy commercial center.
From the 1850s onwards, Calcutta experienced rapid industrial growth, particularly the textile and jute industries.
The British government also made massive investments in infrastructure such as railways and telegraph.
The fusion of British and Indian cultures also created a new Babu class in the cities - the earliest middle class in India and Asia, whose members were often professionals. These people read newspapers, were pro-British, and belonged to upper-caste Hindu groups.
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It was during this period that the British colonial rule in India matured, and this place gradually became the most dazzling jewel in the Queen of England's crown.
Can we also say that this is one of the weaknesses of the British Empire?
Dong Shuheng prepared two chess pieces for this weak spot of the British Empire.
One is the army placed on the plateau, and the other is Shi Dakai, but this Shi Gandang is still in Laos and refuses to move forward.
After uniting the religions, Dong Shuheng was going to attack the chieftains. These people were completely worms.
It will not help the rule of the Renaissance Army at all. It will also restrict the development of local productivity.
But not now. Now the Renaissance Army has no spare time to suppress the large-scale rebellion of these chieftains.
During the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, the number of Qing troops stationed in the southwest plateau was much smaller than what Dong Shuheng had arranged.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty's rule over the southwest plateau was still based on the policy of restraining Mi Mi.
There was a debate among the top brass of the military over why so many troops were stationed in the southwest region.
But when Dong Shuheng pointed the baton to the south of the plateau, the entire conference room fell silent.
Only then did everyone understand Dong Shuheng's intentions. Sooner or later, there would be another battle between the rising China and the rising British Empire.
Perhaps there is no need to officially start a war. Dong Shuheng can foresee that the battle between the two sides will begin soon.
Then we have to see whether the British Empire will go into battle shirtless or send its underlings to test itself.
No matter what, China must be well prepared. The southwest plateau area is the closest place between China and the British Empire.
You must know that the Queen of England is also the emperor of India. In other words, China borders the British Empire in the southwest.
Of course, the British did not have that much ability to manage a place as large as India.
There are now hundreds of princely states throughout India, with kings everywhere and princes as numerous as dogs. The kings of these princely states helped the British rule their subjects and became a tool for the British Empire to rule India.
At the same time, several Chinese dependent states bordering the Indian region, such as Gorkha, Chemengxiong, Bulukba and the Kingdom of Burma, began to be invaded by British colonists.
The British usually assign some native kings to attack these kingdoms first. If the native kings cannot handle it, their own people will go into battle themselves.
If Dong Shuheng wants to compete with the British in the South Asian subcontinent in the future, he must firmly control these satellite countries.
It can be easily seen from the map that these satellite countries are connected to the southwest plateau by passages, and the entry into India from these satellite countries is from a condescending position. From high to low, it can be said that they have taken advantage of all the geographical advantages.
Advantage.
In other words, once this place is secured, the Chinese army can enter the Indian region at any time.
However, the Indian army has to face difficult terrain and harsh climate when attacking here.
As long as the Renaissance Army manages the area well, it won't be scary to see how many troops the British can mobilize from India to attack.
As long as China can build strong fortresses on dangerous transportation routes, it will be fine.
Of course, the terrain here also limits the amount of troops China can send here, because it is also difficult for China to send its supplies here.
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At this time, Dong Shuheng, who was inspecting Jiangning, also received a telegram from the Lifan Yuan.
It turned out that the mission from the Southwest had sent back the news.
According to the mission, the vassal states in the southwest are willing to continue to claim vassal status to China. They request the suzerain country to send troops to support them, and they are willing to annex China.
Bulukba and Zhemengxiong suffered the most serious invasion from the British, and they were almost unable to support themselves.
Of course, for these small countries on the plateau, the British did not end themselves, but sent the princely states in northern India to attack them.
Although the two vassal states were small, their terrain was difficult and they were able to withstand several attacks. Then they asked the plateau authorities in the north for help.
At that time, the Manchu ministers stationed in Tibet were still in charge of these places.
At this time, the minister stationed in Tibet did not have many troops, but he still sent two thousand people to support.
This was how we saved these two countries.
The mission's guards are now staying in these two countries. They control the two thousand troops under the orders of the minister in Tibet, and also help train the local troops.
The mission requested the central government to support a batch of weapons.
The reinforcements sent by the minister in Tibet are now under the management of the mission guards. The equipment of these people is so poor that they are not even as good as the green battalions of the Qing army in the interior.
However, no matter how powerful these people are, they have at least adapted to the plateau environment and can live on the plateau.
The report mentioned that Gorkha also requested the suzerain country to send troops to station in the country.
Because these dependent countries in the south of the plateau had close contacts with the Indian region, they knew very well how the Indian states in the south gradually became British colonies.
Don’t think that the British are all gentlemen. The British colonization of India was also full of blood. From 1757 to 1849, the British government conducted a series of wars of aggression against India through the East India Company.
Step by step, it is encroaching on various states in India.
It is full of conspiracy, killing and bloodshed.
Dong Shuheng appeared a little late, and now the British have basically conquered the Indian region. The good news is that several of China's dependent countries are still in China's hands.
Burma also asked China for help because they faced a greater threat from the British.
Dong Shuheng immediately ordered Peng Yulin to arrange for the Plateau Division to send an infantry regiment to Gorkha and recruit local soldiers in Gorkha to form a servant army.
Troops were sent to Zhemengxiong and Bulukba, checkpoints were set up at the borders between the local areas and the Indian region, and fortresses were built along traffic arteries.
Order the General Logistics Department to transport a batch of logistics supplies to the plateau area.
The first few items are easy to do, but mobilizing supplies is indeed a difficult task.
So Dong Shuheng ordered the Sichuan Province to start building a road to the southwest plateau. Dong Shuheng knew that this road would be difficult to build, so he did not set a time for Sichuan Governor Luo Bingzhang.
Because this was a war-ready road, Dong Shuheng also ordered the Training Department to organize two militia divisions to take charge of this project.
The soldiers of these two divisions are also mainly recruited from the plateau areas. Likewise, these people are mainly from local serf families. As with the previous recruitment policy, their families can receive preferential treatment.
Dong Shuheng hoped to use this method to continuously draw blood from the hands of those chieftains, so that when the serfdom system would be abolished later, these people who were liberated first were a good example.
When the serfs saw the way they followed the Renaissance Army, they might rise up against the chieftains themselves without the need for the Renaissance Army to take action. At that time, the Renaissance Army would only need to step aside and the problem would be solved.
The plateau militia division of more than 20,000 people will be China's first plateau road construction unit. Many of them are buried on this road. The casualties of these two road construction divisions even exceeded that of China's combat troops.
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But until the road was built, no one from the two divisions retreated.
The mission reported that King Bulukba and Zhe Mengxiong simply took advantage of the congratulations and rushed to Xinjing with their families.
The great affairs of the country were handed over to the envoys sent by China. This journey of congratulations took a long time.
Maybe they will settle down in Xinjing by then. Xinjing may soon have a King Street.
These two small countries rely on religion to govern, and they don't even have many ministers. The temple is the center of governance.
Now it is normal for them to hand over the country to the envoy, since they themselves have no power anyway.
In fact, these two small countries are very small, but they are both located on the important north-south passage of the Himalayas, so both the Chinese and the British in the south have seen this place.
After the mission took over the two small countries, they quickly sent spies to the south to check the situation.
While reorganizing the army, we actively carried out defense work.
Gurkha in the west is the strongest of the several affiliated states in the southwest. At the same time, the combat effectiveness of Gurkha soldiers is also the strongest.
They used the Gurkha scimitar in their hands to defeat many invasions by Indian princes.
Sometimes they would even attack those princely states south to retaliate.
The Gurkhas are brave and good at fighting. If their weapons were not inferior to those of the Indian princes in the south, they would not have to worry about attacks from those Indian gangs.
The arrival of the Chinese mission was warmly welcomed by the Gorkha people. Historically, Gorkha was known as the last vassal state of China.
They are loyal to their mother country.
When the Taiping Rebellion broke out in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, Gorkha even approached the Qing Dynasty and asked if they wanted to send troops to help suppress it. However, the Qing government refused.
After seeing the equipment of the mission guard, Gurkha immediately decided to purchase a batch of weapons from China.
At the same time, they hoped that the sovereign country, China, would send troops to garrison Gorkha and help Gorkha train its army.
Gurkha was even willing to provide military salaries and logistical support to the garrison.
Logistics is indeed a problem when garrisoning troops in such a far place. Therefore, the garrison in the southwest must solve the supply problem nearby.
In order to solve this problem, reaching out to the vassal states is one way. However, the vassal states in the southwest are relatively poor.
Another way is to establish a farm locally.
The mission reported that the altitude of these vassal states is lower than that of the Southwest Plateau.
Because most of them are located on the slopes of the southern Himalayas, where the Himalayas transition to the southern Ganges plain.
The warm and moist air blowing from the Indian Ocean reaches here and is blocked by the mountains, so there is abundant precipitation and a warm climate.
This place is very suitable for growing crops. However, the local people’s farming technology is lagging behind.
Therefore, the mission suggested that China could transfer immigrants there and establish farms there.
Dong Shuheng did not plan to recruit all immigrants from the mainland. Just crossing the plateau, he did not know how many people would fall.
Dong Shuheng decided to continue recruiting farm workers from serfs. What they lacked was just skills. China only needed to send managers and technicians.
Dong Shuheng ordered the training department to continue recruiting militiamen on the plateau and go to the Three Kingdoms component farms in the southwest to provide logistical supplies for the local garrison and also provide reserve forces.
Regarding Myanmar, Dong Shuheng asked Peng Yulin to negotiate with the king of Myanmar. China sent troops to garrison the capital of Myanmar. However, China must take over the four major chieftain areas in northern Myanmar in accordance with the agreement when Myanmar claimed vassal status over the Qing Dynasty.
If these places are not taken back, they will be the source of unrest in the southwest in the future.
In fact, the Kingdom of Myanmar itself has no control over these places. Almost all of these chieftains are in a state of autonomy.
Of course, if the British invade here in the future, they will probably turn to the British.
So Dong Shuheng simply took it back into his own hands.
At the same time, these places were taken back to cooperate with Shi Da's westward march. Peng Yulin would provide a safe westward passage for the Taiping Army.
By then, these chieftain areas will be bordering the Taiping Holy Kingdom, making it easier for China to provide blood transfusions to Shi Dakai.
This was Dong Shuheng's plan to let the Taiping Holy Kingdom fight a proxy war with the British in northwest India.
In this way, we can avoid the risk of full-scale development of China and the British Empire. You must know that in that case, it will not be beneficial to both parties.
ps: At that time, Calcutta had become the second largest city in the British Empire after London. Therefore, it was the most important place for the Indian and British authorities.