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Chapter 471 The new legion of the Holy Army

Originally, Shi Dakai was preparing to prepare his army, accumulate strength, and wait for the British army to attack.

He has been making preparations.

The terrain around Assam is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are only one or two pitiful roads in the high mountains and hilly areas in the south.

As long as one or two passes are built, hundreds of thousands of enemy troops can be blocked.

The river channel in the west was also blocked by the riverside fortresses established by the Taiping Holy Army.

Although the British have a powerful fleet, they cannot spread out in the river.

If you break in by force, you will inevitably be violently bombarded by artillery fire from the Taiping Holy Army.

The most important thing is that in a month or two, the rainy season in India will arrive.

By the way, it’s the particularly severe rainy season.

The whole of India is hot, and most of it has a tropical monsoon climate. Only the Thar Desert in western India has a tropical desert climate.

There is a more obvious monsoon in summer, but less obvious in winter.

India's climate is divided into rainy season (June-October), dry season (March-May) and cool season (November-February).

In winter, affected by the barrier of the Himalayas, there is less cold current or cold high pressure moving southward to affect India.

It is now April, and in June, the continuous heavy rain and harsh road terrain conditions are excellent helpers for the defensive side.

As a defender, Shi Dakai was very confident that he would be able to defeat these British expeditionary troops.

The British should know the climate in India, but for some reason they still send troops to India at this time?

However, the Burmese attack on Bangladesh broke his planned plan.

Shi Dakai knew that the reason why these Burmese people launched an attack on the British had a lot to do with the Renaissance Army. Otherwise, the Renaissance Army would not be able to control every move of the Burmese people.

The Renaissance Army notified itself of every move of the Burmese people, and the meaning could not be more obvious, that is, it hoped that it could act together with the Burmese people.

Originally, when the Taiping Army was a family, it might have been stuck in a dilemma if it wanted to attack a big city like Dhaka.

But now the Burmese army of tens of thousands has come over, which is a very strong force.

The Burmese want the land of Bangladesh. Shi Dakai wants to loot the British wealth. Both sides get what they need. It seems to be a good cooperative relationship.

Outside the Holy Capital City, a large piece of flat land has been sorted out.

This is the horse racing field of the Taiping Holy Army.

"Li Wumao, how is the training of your Feilong Army going?" Shi Dakai asked.

Li Wumao is not tall, but he is very strong, has a simple and honest face, and is lovable. He is the newly promoted cavalry general of Shi Dakai.

The Taiping Army had a typical mountainous terrain in Guangxi and later in Beiqi, which was not suitable for cavalry operations.

Therefore, the Taiping Holy Army has never developed cavalry.

Assam is also a mountainous terrain except for the valley area along the Yajiang River.

Moreover, the mountains here are tropical mountains with dense jungles, which are also not suitable for cavalry.

So why did Shi Dakai develop cavalry?

This is because there is a large plain along the Ganges River in India.

When Chen Yucheng conquered the Ganges Plain before, it was because he did not have cavalry.

Therefore, they can only move within a radius of several hundred kilometers around Burnia.

As a result, the British and Indian troops were given time to react and set up blocking lines at Patna in the west and Baharanpur in the south.

If Chen Yucheng had a cavalry unit under his command at that time, they would have been able to turn the entire Ganges Plain upside down before the British could react.

Shi Dakai's cavalry was a cavalry team used for plunder.

They need to learn tactics as flexible as the Mongolian cavalry.

They are a pure light cavalry.

But there is another question, where did Shi Dakai's horse come from?

The Yunnan horses in Yunnan are very suitable for transporting goods in mountainous areas and are good draft horses.

However, they are short in stature and are not suitable for use as war horses.

Therefore, Shi Dakai must find a stable source of horses.

This place is too far away from the Mongolian grassland. The war horses produced by the Renaissance Army in Mongolia cannot be transported so far. Even if they are transported here, they may not be able to adapt to the environment here.

At this time, the Renaissance Army helped Shi Dakai contact the northern neighbors of the Taiping Holy Kingdom, Bulukba and Zhemengxiong. These two small countries on the plateau were both vassal states of China.

The Renaissance Army not only stationed troops locally but also helped them train an army.

Previously, the local kings of the British and Indian colonies were planning to annex these two places.

But with the help of the Renaissance Army, they defeated these Indian kings.

Now the south of these two small countries has become the territory of the Taiping Holy Army.

They are both countries supported by the Renaissance Army, so of course the two sides need to maintain good relations.

So with the help of the Renaissance Army, Shuangfang established a good relationship.

These two countries located at the southern foot of the plateau have large areas of plateau grassland.

It was not suitable for growing crops here. They mainly made a living by grazing. So Shi Dakai exchanged grain, tea and other items with them for war horses, cattle and sheep.

Both sides get what they need, which is great.

Shi Dakai also took this opportunity to build his own cavalry team.

When asked by Shi Dakai, Li Wumao touched his head in embarrassment.

This cavalry general who was born as a thieves usually leads three to four hundred cavalrymen to rob the rich and give to the poor.

He is different from the others in the team. Li Wumao was originally a member of the Huaibei Nian Army.

Later he joined the Taiping Army and became a cavalry brigade commander.

However, the Taiping Army paid more attention to firearms.

The cavalry is mainly used as scouts and rarely engages in mounted combat with the enemy.

Li Wumao's ability to lead the cavalry in combat is not that good, so he can only be ranked higher among the dwarfs.

"Holy King, all of our men have good soles on their feet and are good at climbing mountains and wading in rivers. However, they get dizzy as soon as they get on a horse." Li Wumao said helplessly.

"Then train more. If that doesn't work, move in and sleep with the horses. I heard that our ancestors trained cavalry and ate and slept with the horses. You need to understand your horses and develop a relationship with them."

"Pass my order. From now on, whoever owns the war horse will serve it himself, and he must treat the war horse the same way he treats his own mother-in-law." Shi Dakai said with a straight face.

He couldn't believe that his soldiers could no longer ride horses.

In order to allow the cavalry under his command to better take advantage of its speed.

When Shi Dakai ordered his people to select cavalry, they specifically selected those soldiers who were agile and relatively short in stature.

It's like choosing a rider in a horse race.

"Yes, Holy King, I will definitely train them well. I will give you two months, and I will teach them how to ride a horse." Li Wumao promised, patting his chest.

Next, Shi Dakai summoned all these cavalrymen and gave them a talk.

With half the army, Shi Dakai doesn't have to do these things.

This cavalry is the seed of the future Taiping Holy Army. Shi Dakai attaches great importance to it, so he takes care of it so much.

There is a huge shipyard in the west of Shengjing City near Yajiang River.

The shipyard is just upstream of the dock. The open space next to the shipyard is filled with huge logs.

Some chiefs with muskets guarded the Indian untouchables at work.

Some simple manual work in the shipyard was handed over to these captured Indian untouchables.

Craftsmen are only responsible for doing some technical things.

The shipyard is divided into several areas, and there is a wood processing area dedicated to processing wood into the required size and shape.

There is a hardware workshop that specializes in smelting and making various metal accessories.

Next is the slipway dedicated to assembling ships.

The construction of this shipyard was supported by the Renaissance Army, and the technical backbone of the shipyard were all sent by the Renaissance Army.

However, the wages of these people while working here will be paid by Shi Dakai.

Shi Dakai had seen the Taiping Army's shipyard in Jiangning before. Everyone there worked in one place, which was far different from the shipyard built with the aid of the Renaissance Army.

"Zhang Yide, how many warships have we built in total now?" Shi Dakai asked the shipyard manager on the side.

This steward was sent by Shi Dakai. However, Shi Dakai made it very clear to Zhang Yide that they could not interfere in matters related to shipbuilding technology.

"Going back to the Holy King, we have now built a total of fifteen wooden steam gunboats. According to their measurement method, they are all gunboats of more than 300 tons. And they are all equipped with steam engines shipped from the Renaissance Army. No sails are needed.

You can sail anywhere on the river." Zhang Yide replied.

"Well, that's right. You should treat the craftsmen sent by the Renaissance Army better and try to find ways to keep them. In addition, we should let our people learn skills well. Whoever learns well will be reused by me."

Shi Dakai warned.

Shi Dakai is now much more mature than before. He clearly understands what technology means to a country.

But what they lack most in the Taiping Army is technical talent.

Although there were some craftsmen in the army, in Beiqi, the Taiping Holy Army plundered almost all the local craftsmen.

But the technologies these people master are old-fashioned.

Normally, the repairs and tinkering are pretty much the same, let alone shipbuilding, and even a flintlock gun can't be built.

This time, the Renaissance Army not only assisted in the construction of shipyards, but also aided in the construction of arsenals and steel plants.

Along with the factory equipment came some craftsmen.

In Shi Dakai's eyes, these people are all treasures. But Shi Dakai can't force them to stay, wouldn't that mean he is falling out with the Renaissance Army?

He doesn't dare to offend the Renaissance Army now. There are only two options left. One is to let his people learn from him. Fortunately, he doesn't need to steal from his master.

The technical personnel sent by the Renaissance Army did not hide their secrets.

The other thing is to find a way to get those technical staff to stay on their own.

Be it beauty or money, as long as these people are willing to stay, I will give them whatever they want.

Now that there are ships, it's easy to find naval personnel.

Guangxi is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and many people in the Holy Army used to make a living on the water.

Select some people who are familiar with water properties and train them, and they will soon develop combat effectiveness.

Qi Han originally followed Luo Gang to make a living on the water. Later, after joining the Taiping Army, he has been in charge of the water camp.

After that, he was transferred to the command of Yi Wang Shi Dakai.

But he originally sailed wooden boats captured by the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army never developed a specialized navy because of Yang Xiuqing's neglect.

This was also one of the reasons why the Taiping Army was defeated in the end.

There is no shortage of well-established naval generals in the Taiping Army.

"Qi Han, how are these warships?" Shi Dakai asked the commander of the navy's Canglang Dragon Army.

The Feilong Army and the Canglong Army are the newly established special units in the Holy Army. Although they are not large in number.

However, this means that the Taiping Holy Army is gradually becoming professional, and they are no longer a wandering peasant army.

"Holy King, these ships are really the best warships I have ever seen. Not only are they larger than the warships we have seen before, but they are also very energetic."

"The most important thing is that with this steam engine drive, this kind of warship can move very flexibly in the river."

"I also saw the British warships at the last stop. Their large warships have difficulty moving in the river, and we can completely avoid them. Their small gunboats are not as good as ours. Next time the British

If human warships come again, we must be allowed to fight." Qi Han became more and more excited as he talked. Perhaps these warships aided by the Renaissance Army gave him too many surprises.

"Qi Han, don't be too happy too soon. You must first learn how to operate these warships. There are no sails or oars on them now. You need your brothers to adapt as soon as possible, and there are people sent to guide you.

Boat masters, you must respect others and learn from them," Shi Dakai warned.

"Don't worry, Holy King, we know it. The power of this boat is different, but the Yajiang River here is the same as the river here. The rivers in Guangxi are more rapid than the currents here, so we will sail the boat as usual. This boat is the largest.

The problem is that the steam engine in the stomach must be well served, and the pressure cannot be too high, nor can it be fully transmitted for too long.”

"But this thing is indeed very powerful, and it can still move very fast against the current of the river."

"Yes, soldiers who learn to serve steam engines must choose those who are careful and clever. They must learn quickly. Not only must they be able to control them, but they must also know how to repair and deal with problems when they arise. When the war comes, there will be no one to help you get on the ship and troubleshoot them.

Malfunctioning."

Shi Dakai knew something about the navy. The Taiping Army spent a lot of time on ships when they fought thousands of miles away.

Even if he doesn't do it himself, he can understand a lot of things just by observing every day.

The Feilong and Canglong Legions were prepared by Shi Dakai for the next encirclement and suppression campaign against the British.

This time when we attack Dhaka with the Burmese, we will not bring these two armies with us.

To put it bluntly, Shi Dakai had a speculative mentality in cooperating with the Burmese military operations this time.

It is of course better to be able to attack Dhaka, as this can gain a lot of wealth, and can also advance to Calcutta to further weaken the British.

But if the war goes unfavorably, Shidakai will definitely evacuate as soon as possible. Siljar and Aizawl in the northeast are both under the control of the Holy Army. They are mountainous and jungle areas that are easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Shi Dakai happened to be in a state where he could advance and attack, and retreat and defend.

Naturally, dispatching a large army is not that easy. This time the Holy Army dispatched two legions plus some reserve legions to transport supplies, and the total strength reached more than 50,000 people.

On the Burma side, Garoya has continuously increased its troops, and its total strength has reached more than 50,000.

The two sides were sandwiched together and hundreds of thousands of troops marched toward Dhaka with overwhelming momentum.

Dhaka was founded in 1608 by Subedar Khan, the governor of Bengal in the Mughal Empire, and fell to the British in 1765.

This has always been the center of the East Bengal region. The Kingdom of Burma once captured this place. The King of Burma felt that this location was superior and could be used as the new royal capital of Burma.

The current city of Dhaka is not easy to fight. It has a wall made of earth and stone and is located at the mouth of a river.

The British fleet was able to provide direct support to the city.

If you want to attack here, you can only attack from the northeast direction of the city. Only here can you avoid the firing of naval guns.

Galloya naturally knew that this was a tough battle, otherwise he would not have recruited the Taiping Army.

Calcutta also realized the importance of Dhaka, and Governor Ramsay was actively deploying troops.

He even mobilized the troops who were suppressing the native uprising in southern India.

Compared with the natives hiding in the jungle in the south, the enemies in the north are obviously more difficult.

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