The population structure of Assam is actually similar to that of southern Yunnan in China. The main population here is Dai.
Therefore, in later generations, this place was called Little China, because the people here obviously looked more similar to Chinese people.
When talking about Assam, we have to talk about the First Anglo-Burmese War.
In 1823, King Mengji of Myanmar asked Lord Amherst, the then Governor-General of India who had just taken office, to exchange for the entire territory of East Bengal in order to control Chittagong.
However, Amherst refused. He declared war on Burma on February 24, 1824, and the first Anglo-Burmese War broke out.
This is only an obvious reason. The most important reason is that Myanmar is close to India and is a natural expansion target for the British.
In the mid-18th century, after Britain gained control of India, it began to covet Burma. It sent people to Burma many times to negotiate in an attempt to force Burma to sign unequal treaties. In this name, it conducted reconnaissance activities and actively colonized Burma.
Prepare for expansion.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Britain gradually gained a foothold in India. In order to open up the connection between India and the British colonies on the Malay Peninsula, open the door to invade the Manchu Qing Dynasty from the southwest, and further expand its colonial aggression against Asian countries, it used the term "invasion and expansion" as the
The finger is pointed at Myanmar.
Afterwards, the British colonists took the opportunity to continuously provoke troubles in Arakan, Manipur, Cachar and Assam, worsening the border situation and creating pretext for launching aggressive wars.
After a series of armed conflicts, Amherst used the excuse that Burma sent troops to Cachar to attack the disputed Neff River mouth and brush against the British defenders of Puli Island, thus threatening the security of British India. On February 24, 1824, Amherst
Declared war on Burma and the first Anglo-Burmese War broke out.
In the end, Britain won the war and forced Burmese-British trade through the unequal Treaty of Yangtakpo. It received a war indemnity of 1 million pounds, and acquired Tenasalin, Arakan and Assam from Burma, thus establishing a bridgehead for further invasion of Burma.
However, the number of British killed in the war reached 15,000 (including Indian soldiers), and the war expenditure reached 13 million pounds, which plunged Britain into an economic crisis in India.
The Governor-General of India, Amesh, was almost replaced. The war also brought serious disasters to the people of all ethnic groups in Myanmar.
After the war, the ambassador sent to Burma by the British and Indian Governor-General took advantage of his privilege to participate in the early dynasty of the Burmese king, secretly understood and mastered a large number of situations within the Burmese ruling group, and took the opportunity to organize espionage activities to further expand the British authorities in Burma.
Provided important information.
Three years ago, the British launched the second Anglo-Burmese War after adequate preparations. This time the British occupied the entire Lower Burma.
This caused Myanmar to completely lose its access to the sea.
After the British occupied Assam, they migrated many Bengalis to the area.
These Bengalis felt that they were slaves of the British colonists and had a higher status than the Assamese, so they oppressed the local Assamese and appropriated their property.
Riots and revolts have never stopped in Assam.
"Everyone, the slogan of our attack on Assam this time is - Liberate Assam, expel the British and Bengalis. When we attack, we should be friendly to the Assamese who look similar to us. These
People are the ones we need to unite with.”
"Each battalion has assigned you translators who understand Dai to facilitate communication with these people."
…
Mya Mya La, this is the last Chinese village before entering the Naga Hills. It is surrounded by dense forests all year round.
Living in such an environment surrounded by greenery always makes people feel isolated from the world.
The village and the road next to it are the only open spaces here.
Only here can you see the traces of human development that are divorced from the original.
After the Second Division occupied the Mengyang area, it built it into a border town.
On the hillside beside the road, someone was already cutting down trees and preparing to build a fortress based on the mountain.
Now the Taiping Army's camp is also built on the edge of this town.
There is no communication or hostility between the two parties, which looks very strange.
In the camp, Chen Yucheng had just sent away representatives of the Renaissance Army and received the last batch of supplies.
Now he has 30,000 men equipped with rifled guns, all of whom are elites selected from hundreds of thousands of people. At the same time, he also received 108 steel cannons of two calibers, large and small.
Although they are all muzzle-loading cannons, they are much lighter than their original old-fashioned bronze cannons.
Moreover, these steel cannons made of new steel materials are stronger and have a larger charge, so they have a longer range than the original artillery.
The density of steel is lower than that of copper, and its strength is higher than that of copper, so the barrel does not need to be so thick, which again reduces the weight of the gun. For artillery of the same caliber, the weight of this steel cannon is only one-third of the original copper cannon.
one.
In the past, it was difficult to transport bronze cannons on elephants. Today's steel cannons are fixed on cannon carts and can be pulled using buffaloes and pack horses. They are more maneuverable and easier to deploy than before.
The current organization of the Taiping Army is more like the Hunan Army in the past, with battalions as the basic unit, and a battalion has about 500 people.
There are ten battalions of five thousand people per brigade, and the brigade is the main combat unit of the Taiping Army. Chen Yucheng gave his own brigades exclusive names, such as Qinglong, Zhuque, Xuanwu... He felt that this could enhance the soldiers' sense of honor.
.
Now Chen Yucheng's men can be said to have many soldiers and generals, but the core battalion is the 30,000 rifle infantry battalion and an artillery brigade.
Over the years of fighting in the east and west, the Taiping Army also accumulated a number of artillerymen. These people were the foundation of Chen Yucheng's artillery.
Of course, when the Renaissance Army handed over the artillery, in order to let the Taiping Army master the parameters of these artillery as soon as possible, it sent a small team of artillery instructors to the Taiping Army.
In addition to these instructors, there is also a small military observation group composed of young officers who will also follow the Taiping Army.
They all wear the uniforms of the Tianping Army, but they will not participate in the battle. They will only observe the battle, and at most they will give Chen Yucheng some suggestions.
Chen Yucheng didn't pay much attention to these people at all. He felt that these people were too bookish and had no blood. They were just guys who could only talk on paper.
"Li Yupu, after you take your White Tiger Brigade into the hilly highlands, move south along the highlands and occupy the Manipur area. The terrain here is difficult. The British have built a mountaintop fortress here, where 100 British troops and soldiers are stationed.
Two thousand Indian soldiers. This fortress is very important. If we capture it, it will threaten India's Chittagong in East Bengal. It will even affect the Arakan region of Myanmar occupied by the British." Chen Yucheng pointed at the map and said.
.
The map in Chen Yucheng's hand was provided by the Renaissance Army. It was very detailed and even had the British military deployment on it.
This is the map that the Chinese Intelligence Department spent a lot of money to obtain.
Because it is impossible for the Chinese to appear openly in the Indian colonies.
The Chinese can't do it, but some people can, such as the Portuguese.
As an old colonial country, Portugal has completely declined, and they are now migrant workers on the sea.
When the Chinese army appeared on the edge of Ou Island, the Portuguese were already preparing to return the leased island to China.
But the Fuxing Army stopped. Dong Shuheng continued to rent the place to the Portuguese, but the rent was set again, which was much higher than before.
At the same time, the management rights of the island are still returned to China. The Portuguese can only do business on it. It can be regarded as an exclusive free trade zone for the Portuguese.
When the Portuguese made an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, they did not say that sovereignty would be transferred to Portugal. They just gave him a place to rest.
Through this negotiation, China and Portugal signed a secret agreement.
The content of this secret agreement is highly confidential.
In short, there are many inconvenient things that China can accomplish through Portugal.
There were even several Chinese ships flying the Portuguese flag. And some Portuguese people entered the Chinese intelligence department.
These people should also be part of the secret covenant.
This map was obtained by these Portuguese who took advantage of the opportunity of doing business in India.
Because the Portuguese are weak, few European countries are now afraid of the Portuguese. This allows them to operate unimpeded in various countries and colonies around the world.
Portuguese merchant ships can be seen everywhere on the sea.
Chen Yucheng just felt that the Renaissance Army's preparations for the war were too detailed.
Every time a war is fought, there are dedicated people in charge of everything from supplies to intelligence. The generals only need to be responsible for fighting the war well. This greatly reduces the pressure on the commanders.
To be honest, Chen Yucheng was a little envious.
"Li Yupu, your mission is to occupy and hold this place. I will give you three times the supply, enough for you to hold on for several months. When the rainy season comes, the opponent's attack will stop."
"How about it, Li Yupu, can you do it?" Chen Yucheng pointed at a red triangle on the map and looked at Li Yupu and asked.
"Please rest assured, the King of England, that my subordinates will ensure that the mission is completed."
Chen Yucheng has been named "King of England" by Shi Dakai. This is the first royal title under the Holy King.
This title is very interesting, and it perfectly matches the Queen of England.
"Li Yupu, I asked you to go to Manipur because I saw how clever you were during the war. The British fortress is not so easy to attack by force. You have to use your brains." Chen Yucheng reminded.
"Yes, King Ying, Yu Pu knows what to do."
"Teng Renyu, you take the Suzaku Brigade to the Meghalaya Hills, which is the barrier to the south of Assam. You also want to occupy Shillong, the central stronghold of the British and Indian troops there."
"After you occupy the local area, you must pay attention to winning over the locals and punishing these British thugs among the Indian Bengalis. Winning the support of the locals is very important to you."
"I will lead the rest of the people. Our first target is Dinsukia. After occupying it, we quickly search for ships and make bamboo rafts. Then we go down the river and uproot the British and Indian army's strongholds one by one."
Chen Yucheng made unified arrangements for the combat deployment and prepared to end the meeting and let the soldiers go back to rest.
At this moment, an officer from the FAW Observation Corps asked aloud: "Is the King of England prepared to attack all the way along the narrow river?"
"That's right." Chen Yucheng simply replied, "I don't know what you have to say."
"Your Majesty, I believe that the British and Indian troops cannot station heavy troops in every place along the Assam river. Their troops must be unevenly distributed."
"Then why do we have to remove the enemy's fortresses one by one? Why don't we skip the small fortresses and go straight to the main goal?"
Seeing that Chen Yucheng did not express his position, the young Renaissance Army officer continued: "Our military academy calls this tactic the 'leaping frog tactic'. But when our strength is far stronger than the enemy, we need to reach a certain point quickly.
You can use this tactic when you have a target.”
"If the King of England is worried about the safety of his own retreat, he can allocate a certain amount of troops to guard his retreat." After the officer finished speaking, he saw that Chen Yucheng didn't seem to have any reaction. He thought that the other party looked down on him, so he simply stopped talking.
, he just has good intentions.
"Haha, okay, what this little general said is a great idea. I don't know your surname." Chen Yucheng suddenly laughed, frightening everyone.
"Oh, I am Liu Mingchuan, a lieutenant cadet in the infantry department of Jiangning Army Academy." The young general said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
Regardless of Chen Yucheng's high position, he is not very old. We are all young people, so communication with each other is actually not that restrictive.
"Lieutenant Liu, just follow me. I am very interested in your leapfrog tactic. Please tell me about it. There is still time on the way. No matter which tactic it is, we must use it.
Take the upper reaches of the river." Chen Yucheng seemed to be very interested in this man, because Chen Yucheng saw the bloody nature in him.
This Army cadet from the Renaissance Army actually killed someone before!
…
In the new capital, Dong Shuheng was receiving a young civil servant. This man was quite tall and handsome in appearance. His ancestral home was Hefei, Luzhou, Anhui. He was a Jinshi in the 27th year of Daoguang's reign, and his professional teacher was the famous Zeng Guofan.
"Jianfu, have you thought about what to do when I send you back with this Burmese prince this time?" Dong Shuheng asked, looking at this civil servant in his early thirties.
"Gradually I understand, but I don't know whether the president hopes that the Kingdom of Myanmar will be included in the future, or if he just wants the Kingdom of Myanmar to contain the British."
"Of course it's the former, but this goal is difficult. Myanmar has always regarded itself as a big country in Indochina, and it is difficult for them to completely surrender. At present, it is more realistic to let them help contain the British. You can combine the two things you mentioned
Think of problems as short-term goals and long-term goals.”
Li Jianfu has been working as an editor of the Hanlin Academy in Beijing. In fact, he is an official without a formal establishment. He can be said to be the most unknown one. There are countless such civil servants in the capital.
When Huaxia re-selected officials from among the Beijing officials, his performance was relatively good, and he was finally hired by the Lifan Yuan. Among the major government offices in Xinjing, the Lifan Yuan had the largest number of old officials.
But with so many officials in the Lifan Yuan, why did Dong Shuheng send Li Jianfu to such an important place in Myanmar?
Why did Dong Shuheng send people to Burma? What happened to this Burmese prince?
This begins with the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852.
The cause of the Second Anglo-Burmese War was the provocative activities of the British Squadron. On the pretext of protecting the interests of British merchants in Yangon, the British Squadron hijacked Burmese ships and shelled coastal defenses.
At the same time, it also issued an ultimatum to the Myanmar government, demanding new and greater concessions.
After being rejected by Myanmar, the British army began to bombard Madaban Port from the sea on April 5. The British army's artillery had an absolute advantage (the squadron was equipped with 159 heavy artillery pieces).
After the rainy season, the "Afsk" reinforced group army (3 Bengali infantry brigades and 12 Indian regiments, together with artillery and engineers, totaling 20,000 people) commanded by British General Godwin began to move up the Irrawaddy River.
On October 9, the British army captured Pyay, but then retreated to Yangon, because the battle plan stipulated that only Lower Burma would be occupied. This war actually ended not with a peace, but with a truce.
In this war, King Bagan of Burma was cowardly and did nothing. He just sat back and watched Burma lose the entire Lower Burma region.
This time, the princes and ministers of Myanmar were unwilling to do it, and they stood up to jointly oppose the rule of Bagan.
Therefore, in December 1852, King Bagan of Burma was forced to abdicate, and his younger brother Manthung took over as King of Burma.
But this Mantong is also a coward. After he took office, he did not mention the matter of recovering the territory. Now the ministers below are also dissatisfied with him.
However, it was also because of the cowardice of this king that China was not hindered in taking back the chieftains in northern Burma.
Of course, the chieftains in northern Burma are just a buffer between Burma and China. They did not pay taxes to Burma before when they submitted to Burma. Instead, the Burmese Kingdom gave them large rewards every year.
However, Lower Myanmar is different. Yangon is Myanmar's largest foreign trade port, and gemstones and precious timber produced in Myanmar are exported from here.
This is an important source of wealth for Myanmar, and many Burmese nobles have properties here. Therefore, the loss of Myanmar is something that the Burmese nobles cannot tolerate.
This time Burma came to perform Hajj, and it was led by the Burmese prince Kalaya. It is said that this prince took the initiative to lead the team to China.
From the very beginning, Dong Shuheng knew that there was something wrong with the Burmese prince Galoa. Burma was a country that the Ministry of Intelligence focused on, and Dong Shuheng had a wealth of information about Burma.
In Myanmar, Galloya could not openly oppose his father, but in fact he was a militant.
Many princes and ministers have secretly turned to him. This time he came to China just to gain the support of the suzerain country.
Dong Shuheng was very interested in this prince. He was an ambitious and capable young man.
If you don't maintain it well, you may suffer backlash in the future.
However, Dong Shuheng agreed to his request and signed a secret agreement with the prince.
China supported the prince's ascension to the throne and sent instructors to help Myanmar train the new army.
Myanmar declared itself a vassal to China, and Dong Shuheng even approved a loan to the prince, using Myanmar's tax revenue as collateral.
One of the most important conditions is that after China helps Myanmar recover its lost territory, Myanmar will hand over the Karen and Tanah Tusi in the east to China's jurisdiction.
This is Dong Shuheng’s Indian Ocean outlet strategy.
By then, the Shan Plateau currently controlled by China and the Salween River Basin to the south will be connected. China will completely separate Siam and Myanmar.
At the same time, you can rely on this to strengthen your control over the two countries.
ps: Yesterday it was rare to update once and for all, so today I will post a big chapter to compensate readers. It’s the end of the month again, please vote for me! I’ll try to get 1,000 votes this month, please.