Chapter 58 Good soldiers are used on the edge of the blade
"Instructor Liao, we would like to ask you to lead a Gurkha army into Gorakhpur to assist the Northern Alliance in fighting. As a mercenary, your employer is the Northern Alliance."
The speaker was a middle-aged Han man with a strong build, a Chinese character face, long hair, and a golden headscarf. He looked quite mature and steady.
He was wearing a bright yellow thin cotton robe with a four-clawed dragon embroidered on it.
Liao Xiangdong recognized that it was a prince from the Holy Army.
I think of His Royal Highness the King of England who commanded tens of thousands of troops in the northeastern region of India.
Liao Xiangdong understood clearly in his heart.
"Yes, Instructor Liao, I have decided to help the friends of the Northern Alliance and the Holy Kingdom fight against the invasion of British bandits." King Surendra continued what Chen Yucheng said.
Of course, Surendra did not say that he received Queen Bhai's military expenses equivalent to more than one million Chinese dollars as commission for hiring his soldiers to fight.
You know, this money covers Gorkha's annual fiscal revenue.
Not only that, the Kingdom of Gorkha will also be able to get a piece of land on the north bank of the Ganges in the future. This is the condition that King Surendra is most interested in.
Money is spent quickly, but the land produces year after year.
Liao Xiangdong didn't want to care about these interests. He just wanted to know how many troops he could lead and what his combat purpose was.
This is not the first time he has commanded the Gurkha army in combat. I remember when they entered the military academy, Dong Shuheng told each of them: "Soldiers should keep their eyes on the battlefield and do what they should do.
"
Liao Xiangdong didn't ask any unnecessary questions. He asked straightforwardly the few questions he wanted to know and then sat there without asking any more questions.
The recent counterattack by the British and Indian troops forced the Northern Allied Forces westward to the line from Prayagraj to Lucknow.
Prior to this, the coalition forces had advanced to Patna City. This retreat was more than 300 kilometers.
On the eastern front, the British-Indian army blocked Chen Yucheng at the front lines of Burnia, English Bazar, and Rajshahi.
The British army backed up its strongholds along the Ganges, and transport ships and gunboats linked these strongholds along the river.
In order to break through the defense line of the British and Indian troops, Chen Yucheng used various methods, including running attacks, sneak attacks, pointing east and west...
But none of this could shake the defense line of the British and Indian troops.
Brown, an old man, has so many troops at his disposal, so he can fight with ease.
Chen Yucheng gritted his teeth fiercely.
The intention of the British and Indian troops was obvious, which was to defend the Holy Army in the east and then first deal with the rebels in the west.
Brown understood the character of these Indian rebels very clearly.
In the past, local uprisings in India were loud and insignificant. During the uprising, many princely states followed suit, making the uprisings huge.
Once they are frustrated, they will collapse. Moreover, these insurgents have their own agendas, so it is easy to defeat them one by one.
Naturally, Brown picked up the slack and destroyed the so-called Northern Alliance Army first. Then he went back to deal with the Holy Army entrenched in the northeast.
"You general understand what you mean, but I have a different opinion here." Liao Xiangdong said. As the chief instructor of the Gorkha New Army, Liao Xiangdong has a detached status in Gorkha and he always speaks so directly.
The intention of these big shots just now was to let him penetrate directly into the rear of the British and Indian troops, capture Gorakhpur, an important town on the western front of the British and Indian troops, and then help Queen Bai's northern coalition repel the British army's encirclement and suppression of the rebels.
This can be considered a rescue battle!
There seems to be no problem with this idea. After all, the terms of employment are fulfilled by the Northern Alliance. Reinforcements should be sent to support them.
Liao Xiangdong did not participate in the previous exchange of interests.
He considered the issue purely from a military perspective.
Liao Xiangdong felt that even if he took the Gurkha mercenaries to break the siege on the Western Front,
At most, it can bring the battle situation back to its original stalemate.
As a general, since you are going to fight, you must rush to win the battle.
As the leader of the mission's military attaché, Liao Xiangdong usually has access to a lot of information.
The intelligence department of the Baath Army in Gorkha focuses on intelligence in the northern region of India.
Therefore, Liao Xiangdong and his companions had conducted detailed deductions on the current war.
At this time, the war situation in the north showed a triangular trend.
The British and Indian troops were powerful and fought against each other one against two.
The core of the British army seems to be on the western front, because they adopt a strategy of defending from the east and attacking from the west.
But Liao Xiangdong felt that the core of the British-Indian army was on the eastern front.
Because Calcutta, the center of British rule, was behind the eastern defense line.
Once the British defense line on the eastern front is breached, it will cause a series of problems for the British and Indian troops.
First of all, the troops attacking on the western front will definitely switch from offense to defense, or even shrink back. Because their rear route will be cut off by the Holy Army at any time, leaving them in a state of being surrounded.
Secondly, Calcutta in the rear will no longer be safe, and the British and Indian troops have to consider scaling back the defense of Calcutta. In that case, the British and Indian troops may have to abandon the entire northern area along the Ganges River.
Liao Xiangdong had a bold idea, which was to launch a large-scale attack by the Holy Army against the British and Indian troops on the eastern front.
Attracting all the attention of the British and Indian troops, he then led the Gurkha mercenaries like a sharp knife into the back of the defending British and Indian troops on the eastern front.
Such tactics can only be used once. Liao Xiangdong believes that since it can only be used once, it should be used on the edge.
He believed that the mercenaries he led should go south from Telang, the eastern region of the Kingdom of Gorkha.
Then it went straight into Burnia, the center of the British-Indian army's eastern defense line. It directly cut the British-Indian army's eastern defense line into two sections, the north and the south.
In this way, the Holy Army would have a chance to completely defeat the British army defending in the east.
Hit Calcutta!
Hit Calcutta!
This is indeed a very tempting thing for Chen Yucheng.
Liao Xiangdong usually seems very introverted, but he is very methodical when introducing the battle plan.
After listening to Liao Xiangdong's introduction, Chen Yucheng's eyes suddenly lit up.
He looked at the young Renaissance Army officer in front of him in surprise. He didn't expect that an ordinary Renaissance Army officer could have such knowledge.
All of them are blinded by politics.
From the perspective of maximizing interests, Liao Xiangdong’s plan is the most appropriate.
Although Chen Yucheng is not too old, he is still considered a veteran, and he still has some sharp eyesight.
He turned to look at Queen Bayi, who was disguising herself as a man.
She wore a large brown scarf on her head. She didn't know what she applied on her face, which made her look a little dark, and her eyebrows were thickened.
At first glance, he looks like a rich man from a wealthy country with thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Apart from Queen Bayi's cronies, only Chen Yucheng knows her true identity.
The queen was still listening to the translator translate Liao Xiangdong's words.
Her first feeling was that people like herself were left behind.
The young generals were thinking about how to defeat the British. But their plan was just to eliminate the British threat to the Western Front.
I have to say that the feasibility of this plan is very high.
Seeing Chen Yucheng looking at her, Queen Bayi's little black face turned red. Fortunately, there was an extra layer of blackened fuel on top, so no change in the background color could be seen.
Queen Bayi admired this mature and steady Holy Army King very much.
Only such a man has the temperament of a king and can bring a happy life to his people.
She thought again of Zhang Deshuai, who was always glib. It had been a long time since she had seen that annoying man named Khristenko, and she didn't know what he was up to.
Although that man behaved a bit frivolously, he always appeared in front of her like a timely rain at critical moments.
Queen Bayi nodded slightly to Chen Yucheng.
That is Queen Bai. If it were anyone else, she would definitely not agree to such a request.
After all, your own life is the most important.
But Queen Bai only valued the long-term benefits brought by this suggestion.
She knew that even if all the 100,000 British Indian troops were wiped out, they would not be able to completely drive them away from the Indian region.
But if these 100,000 British Indian troops can be defeated, first of all, the coercion established by the British in the Indian region for hundreds of years will be weakened.
Secondly, more princely states will join the fight against the British.
If you want these people to join in resisting the British, let them see the weakness of the British.
Otherwise, many kingdoms will shrink back.
Under this situation, the number of servant troops that the British can use will become smaller and smaller.
In this way, the states in the Northern Alliance can get a chance to breathe.
With Queen Bai's nod.
Chen Yucheng turned to Liao Xiangdong and said: "General Liao, we agree in principle with your plan, but this war involves the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and is very involved, so I need a detailed written report."
"Yes, no problem. In addition, I also hope that the king can agree to some additional small conditions for me." Liao Xiangdong responded to Chen Yucheng, and then turned to King Surendra.
"Well, General Liao, please tell me." The king thought that General Liao, who was insatiable in food and salt, had finally changed his temper and was ready to ask for some benefits from him, so he agreed casually.
"Your Majesty, I hope that all the soldiers on this expedition can be beheaded in exchange for monetary rewards."
Upon hearing Liao Xiangdong's words, King Surendra was stunned for a moment, and then realized that he had misunderstood General Liao.
It turns out that they were just seeking some benefits for the soldiers.
Liao Xiangdong really likes these Gurkha soldiers under his command, especially those hard-working grassroots soldiers.
Most of them join the army just to provide enough food for their families.
Just as Liao Xiangdong originally thought.
Serving as a soldier and eating food is the simplest plot. The most valuable thing is that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for this food.
So Liao Xiangdong wanted to get some benefits for these soldiers who went to war.
At the very least, in addition to military pay, you can get some rewards by beheading enemies.
"General Liao, this does not cost His Majesty the King. On behalf of the Holy Army and the Northern Allied Forces, I can promise you that the head of a servant army will cost you one Chinese yuan, and the head of a British army will cost five Chinese yuan." Chen Yucheng saw this.
King Surendra looked slightly embarrassed, so he spoke first.
He believed that Queen Bai would not care about this little money.
One Chinese dollar is not worth one tael of silver.
Even if these Gurkha soldiers killed all the British and Indian troops, there would not be much money.
"General Liao, tell the soldiers that they will be rewarded two silver coins for killing a servant, and ten silver coins for a British soldier." When King Surendra saw what Chen Yucheng said, he simply doubled the rewards for the soldiers.
After all, these soldiers are still his own subjects, and he cannot be stingier than an outsider.
Otherwise, no soldier would be willing to support him in the future.
Things were finally settled.
Liao Xiangdong is going to select 10,000 people from the two new military divisions.
This is not a difficult problem for Liao Xiangdong, because he and his brothers trained this army.
He was very familiar with the situation of these people.
Return to the Summer Palace, Dong Shuheng's study.
He used a pencil to draw an arrow in Gurkha, which drew an arc with the scissors and pointed to the city of Burnia, which is the corner of the Ganges River.
Here, the Ganges River, which originally flows from west to east, turns south and flows into the Bay of Bengal.
Originally, there were two lines overlapping here. This was the front line where the Holy Army and the British and Indian troops were in a stalemate.
This pointed tip exactly forms the pattern of an arrow and a shield.
In the tropical rainforest in southern India, Zhang Deshuai was under a shed made of banana leaves.
He was holding a book in his hand and explaining something to a group of Tamil people.
After retreating to the jungle, Pwikili's men turned into savages again.
They took off the clothes they had stolen in the seaside city. Wearing these clothes to move around in the jungle was too troublesome.
Moreover, their skin color is the best protective color in the dense jungle.
Fortunately, they still have a city like Bangalore on the plateau in their hands.
Zhang Deshuai came to the southern Tamil Kingdom this time partly to explore the situation here.
Fortunately, the situation here is not as bad as imagined.
Under the surprise attack led by General Robert, Puwili and his followers did suffer a lot.
But Puweili remembered Zhang Deshuai's original words. When he suffered a large-scale enemy attack, he retreated into the jungle.
It can be said that Puwili has been waiting for this day. He has already relocated the coastal properties and people to the inland areas.
"Mr. Zhang, your military book is really good. I actually understood it. If we follow the tactics in this military book, I dare say that it will be useless for the British to have twice as many people." Powkili repeated.
He chanted "When the enemy retreats, we advance; when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy is tired, we harass..." Afterwards, he did not forget to compliment Zhang Deshuai.
"Mr. Zhang, you really should stay in our Tamil Kingdom. I will let you be my Prime Minister." Puwekili still wanted to keep Zhang Deshuai.
"Uh... Your Majesty, in fact, I really don't know how to govern the country. I am just an international businessman. It would be great if Your Majesty could give me some business privileges in the country in the future."
With a snap, Zhang Deshuai swatted another mosquito to death. Even if you give him a king in this damn place, he won't do it.
He knew that the reason why the British General Robert stopped attacking was not because Pwikili and the others advanced into the jungle.
It was because a plague broke out in the army he led.
And his soldiers who came from Crimea have unforgettable memories of the plague.
Everyone unanimously resisted continuing the attack. General Robert then withdrew the troops to Chennai to rest.
And Zhang Deshuai came here this time to prevent Puweili from giving the British a chance to breathe.
Use this opportunity to weaken the British as much as possible.
Although this will also cause some damage to the Tamil people, it is worth it in Zhang Deshuai's opinion.
Dhaka city in the Bay of Bengal south of the Holy Kingdom.
After the main force of the British army withdrew, Galloya did not take the initiative to attack.
He now does not have the strength to take the initiative to attack the British and Indian troops.
Relying on the fortified city of Dhaka, the Burmese army under his command could hold on for a while. After leaving the city, they were no match for the British and Indian troops.
Fortunately, Galloya still has self-awareness.
Now, he will focus mainly on running Dhaka City and East Bengal.
The first step was to distribute the land in the occupied areas to the nobles who supported him.
These nobles will naturally find ways to transfer people from China.
The nobles of the Kingdom of Myanmar all have real power. They are similar to the chieftains, and most of them have their own fixed territory and people.
The relationship between these common people and them is somewhat similar to the dependence relationship between serfs and serf owners.
Jalaya hoped to completely occupy this area as more Burmese people migrated to East Bengal.