Just when Shi Dakai was focusing on developing and building a base.
The news returned from the Indian colonies caused a sensation throughout the British Empire.
"The jewel in the Queen's crown is no longer shining brightly" The Times used such a striking headline.
According to the report, around last Christmas, a roving army suddenly arrived in the British Indian colony.
That army occupied the Assam region of the British Indian colony in a very short time.
All the troops stationed there were annihilated.
Immediately, the colonial authorities organized an army of 50,000 people to collect the goods.
But taking over still ended in failure.
The report emphasized the importance of Assam to India.
From there, you can easily reach the city of Calcutta by going down the river.
At the same time, reports pointed out that this was the biggest defeat the British Empire suffered in the colonies after the American-British War.
As soon as this report came out, many newspapers followed suit.
The Agence France-Presse report was even more exaggerated. They wrote in a very ironic tone that "the British Empire, which had a great victory in the Near East, suffered a defeat in the Far East." Such reports reached the United Kingdom, which aroused the British even more.
mood.
Anyone with a little bit of brains can see that such reports are driven by people with serious intentions behind them.
There is now a strong voice among the people for sending troops, especially since Britain has just defeated the arrogant Tsarist Russia in Crimea.
Now is the time when the morale of the British army is high.
It can be seen that the person who promoted the development of this matter must be the Colonial Office of the British Empire.
The person who most wants to start this war now is undoubtedly the Secretary of the Colonial Office.
Of course, there are also some people in China who are opposed to waging war in the distant Indian region.
Because they felt that so many soldiers died in the war in Crimea.
If we were to fight in the far east, we don't know how many people would die.
In the Prime Minister's Office in London, Prime Minister Henry John Temple was organizing an important cabinet meeting.
The first Opium War launched by Britain against the Qing Dynasty was planned by Henry John Temple, who was then the Foreign Secretary.
This is a hawk through and through. He came to power precisely because the previous prime minister, George Hamilton Gordon, behaved indecisively in the Crimean War.
After Gordon resigned last year, it was natural for Temple to become prime minister.
But recently he has still encountered a lot of trouble.
Because of the covert efforts of the Baath Army, Prussia, and France, Britain did not fully achieve its overdue goals in the armistice negotiations.
The agreement signed this time did not give Tsarist Russia the expected suppressive effect.
What made Temple even more angry was that the agreement had just been signed and the documents were not yet warmed up! That annoying Napoleon III sent a loan of 100 million francs to Tsarist Russia.
This is tantamount to providing timely help for Tsarist Russia, which is currently in a state of financial collapse.
Looking back, Tsarist Russia purchased two ironclad ships directly from France.
The remaining money was enough for them to suppress the serf uprising in the country.
The French were already known for their loan sharking practices, but this time they angered the British Empire.
Temple was very angry, and the consequences were serious!
Now France competes with Britain everywhere. The British built the ironclad HMS Valiant, and they built the ironclad HMS Glorious.
I heard that the French have launched the latest breech-loading rifle.
It seems that Napoleon III is going to imitate his uncle.
Maybe we should support Prussia and Austria. Temple thought in his mind.
It is reasonable for the Prussians to support Russia. Prussia and Tsarist Russia have always maintained a marriage relationship.
Moreover, Tsarist Russia originally brought Prussia into the negotiating team just to gain Prussia's support.
Therefore, Prussia did not make the British resentful.
If you want to contain France, you must support Prussia. When the anti-French alliance was first established, Prussia was the vanguard.
Another person whom Temple holds a grudge against is China.
Originally, China only participated in the war to make soy sauce. The British initially took a fancy to their ability to contain the Russians in the East.
There was no expectation that they would be able to contribute much in the Crimean battlefield.
But looking back now, it seems that the coalition forces contained the main force of Tsarist Russia in the west, allowing the Renaissance Army to occupy a large amount of land in the east.
Turning around, it was the Chinese who took advantage.
After a final reckoning of this war, everyone discovered that it was the Renaissance Army that took advantage the most.
Because the Renaissance Army occupied a large amount of land through this battle, although most of it was desolate ice fields.
But these lands combined are almost half the size of Europe.
The most disgusting thing is that these Chinese people actually occupied Alaska, and they even extended their tentacles to North America.
Canada is a British territory, and having the United States there is enough trouble for the British. Now there is an extra Renaissance Army.
How could Temple not be angry?
Temple had already vaguely felt that this Renaissance Army might be the greatest enemy of the British Empire in the future.
He has read the report sent from India several times.
Although this group of rebels is indeed a rebel army, not the Renaissance Army pretending to be one.
But Temple did not believe that these rebels were not supported by the Baath Army.
Their all-purpose front-loading rifled guns are definitely not something a group of rebels can possess.
Even if they went to buy with Western merchants in the Far East, they would not be able to buy so many rifled guns.
Because foreign merchants in the Far East could not assemble so many rifled guns.
Obviously, this is a conspiracy of the Renaissance Army. But now the Renaissance Army has grown bigger.
It is obviously unwise to start a war with such a big country, especially going to such a distant place.
They are no longer the Qing government before. They can conquer by sending a few warships and pulling some servants over.
"Everyone, I believe you already know what happened in India. What I want to say is that there must be no problems in India."
"It is the most mature colony operated by the British Empire. It not only has vast and fertile land, but also has a large labor force and consumer market. There is no other colony like this in the entire world," Temple said.
.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, we must send troops to support the Indian region. By sending our elite infantrymen from the British Empire from home, we will definitely be able to defeat those rebels. No matter who supports them, as long as we can defeat them, then the enemy's conspiracy will be eliminated.
The attack will defeat itself," Davide, the colonial minister, said.
"And the speed must be fast. According to the situation reported by the Governor of India, these people are still sweeping around the rear of the Indian colony. If we are slow, we will only be able to save a dilapidated and desolate Indian colony." David.
continued.
What David was talking about was Chen Yucheng's raids on the Ganges River Basin.
Now the British and Indian colonial authorities can only hold on to the surrounding areas of Calcutta and some coastal cities.
The feudal states in the interior could only defend themselves against the Taiping Holy Army's attack.
These larger kingdoms are better off and have strong castles.
For such a large castle, Chen Yucheng generally would not attack it considering the cost of combat.
But those small kingdoms suffered. The wealth in the royal palace was originally the focus of the Taiping Holy Army.
Moreover, the Taiping Holy Army treated these high-caste Indians very cruelly.
They usually kill these people in front of the low-caste people in the princely states, and then make the low-caste Indian untouchables surrender willingly.
This looting of India's rear has been going on for several months.
The once prosperous areas along the Ganges have now become desolate and desolate. The roads connecting Kolkata along the Ganges to western India have been interrupted.
It rained all night, and a large number of horse bandits suddenly appeared at the junction of Aiwuhan and Peshawar. These people were armed with flintlock guns they didn't know where they came from.
Groups of horses rode into the British-Indian colonial Peshawar area and wreaked havoc everywhere.
It was an important transportation hub for transactions between the British-Indian colonies and Central Asia.
Overnight, the British-Indian colony, which was once run smoothly, suddenly seemed to be riddled with holes.
"Sir David, I don't know how many troops we have to send over." The Army Minister came out and asked.
"You must know that nearly 60,000 to 70,000 infantrymen have been wiped out by the opponent in India. The opponent's strength is definitely stronger now than before." The Army Minister continued.
"I think it would be better to dispatch 50,000 troops from the mainland, and then recruit 100,000 local servants in the colonies and provide them with rifled rifles. With such an army of 150,000, they will definitely be able to destroy this group of enemies in one battle." Colonial
Minister David said.
"An army of fifty thousand? This would require at least fifty transport ships and a huge fleet to escort it. This is a huge expense. Most of our navy's funds this year will be used to build new ironclad ships."
"Everyone, what I'm talking about is just the cost of wiping them out in one fell swoop. If we have enough time, we can completely use the colonial servant army to slowly kill the opponent. It just takes time to replace the equipment of these servant armies.
Go and train." David added.
Temple looked at everyone. He preferred the first option. Delaying for more time would undoubtedly cause the British and Indian colonies to suffer greater losses.
"Everyone, Her Majesty the Queen is very concerned about the affairs in India. You should know what the newspapers outside are saying."
"We must come up with practical and effective ways to solve this problem quickly. Otherwise, those conservatives will be happy to make trouble with this matter." Temple said in a threatening tone.
He meant very clearly that if he, the Prime Minister, stepped down, none of the members of the cabinet would be able to benefit from it.
After hearing this, these people stopped trying to blame each other.
A solution was quickly discussed and the Navy dispatched a fleet to the Indian region.
This fleet will send 30,000 British land troops along with it. At the same time, Lord Robert, who performed outstandingly in the Crimean War, will be sent to command this army.
Along with these troops, there were also equipment capable of preparing 100,000 Indian servants.
Temple felt that with the cooperation of the 130,000 army and the navy, this rebel army should be able to be eliminated.
In order to allow this army to move out smoothly, Temple decided to personally persuade Congress to agree to send troops.
Of course, with all the previous propaganda to pave the way, people in the parliament will support sending troops. After all, they still have to take public opinion into consideration.
Moreover, sending troops to fight is profitable for the capitalists who control the parliament, because it means a large number of orders.
For the Crimean War, the British now have slightly excess production capacity in weapons and war logistics supplies.
It just so happens that this war in India can absorb some of it.
According to Temple's plan, the fleet will sail directly to the Nanyang region and China after completing the escort mission.
Yes, Temple is preparing to send warships to Nanyang and China to demonstrate.
The actions of the Renaissance Army have touched Temple's bottom line. He was able to plan the first Opium War more than ten years ago.
Now he is still able to deal with this new Renaissance Army.
Temple thought he knew this Eastern country very well.
"Mr. Clarendon, regarding the war between the Renaissance Army and the Spanish, how are the Spanish prepared to respond?" Temple asked.
News of Spain's defeat at Manila quickly spread to Europe.
This caused a great stir in Europe, even surpassing the news coverage of the Crimean War.
"Haha, are you talking about that Isabel II? How can she respond? More than half of the Spanish fleet, including most of the battleships, have been destroyed in Manila."
"Now Spain has started to riot again because of this war, and their cabinet that just came to power is about to collapse again. Now no one has the mind to care about the response after the defeat. They are all eyeing the position of the Spanish government." Foreign Minister
Clarendon said.
Spain is really a loser. It was once even more glorious than the British Empire, but now it has fallen to this level.
"Huh, what a bunch of useless things. I'm afraid the East India Company will suffer heavy losses this time. They paid a lot of money, but now it's all in vain."
Temple naturally knew who was behind the war between Spain and the Renaissance Army.
The East India Company seems to be old. This company can no longer lead the British expansion in the Far East.
"David, go and make arrangements to take back the remaining management rights of the East India Company in India and the Malay colonies. It's time for these businessmen to put themselves in their rightful place," Temple said.
David knew that Temple was ready to abandon the East India Company. The East India Company had always been controlled by the Conservative Party, and they claimed to be the Conservative Party's purse.
Temple's Whig Party represented the emerging capitalists.
So at this time, it was only natural that he would add insult to injury and clean up the East India Company.
"Okay, I understand, Prime Minister."
"Prime Minister, what about the situation between Spain and China?" David asked.
"Send someone to ask the Spaniards what to do? Should we fight or negotiate? If we want to fight, we can sell some equipment to them. It just so happens that the Army is currently replacing breech-loading rifles. We can sell the previous rifled guns to them.
them."
"If they want to talk, we must join the negotiation. The Spanish still have many interests in the Pacific, which cannot be easily taken away by the Renaissance Army," Temple said.
When he spoke, Temple's eyes were as sharp as an eagle, and the ministers he glanced at were a little embarrassed.
"Mr. Clarendon, go make an appointment with the Foreign Minister of the Baath Army who is visiting Europe, have a good talk with him, and state our position. Especially in the Assam region, let them stop interacting with the rebels in the Assam region.
, and also expressed concern about their war with Spain."
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