Chapter 588: The East India Company is under attack from both sides
During their first meeting, Deng Fei, on behalf of Beihai Town, presented to Tipu Sultan two beautifully crafted revolvers with matching flash caps and paper tube fixed ammunition, as well as ten pieces of python satin woven by Jiangning of the Qing Dynasty.
and a sable fur cloak.
After the signing ceremony, Deng Fei sent out the 12-pounder cannon and twenty percussion rifles used for demonstration. Tipu Sultan, who did not see rabbits and did not let go of hawks, then ordered the waiter to fetch his saber and give it to him.
Deng Fei responded as a gift.
Although Deng Fei was not good with knives, when he took out a section of the blade, he immediately knew that it was definitely a good knife!
This knife is not an Indian Tawa scimitar, but a long Kili knife with a strong Turkish style. The blade has a bow-shaped narrow blade, one meter long, is thick and heavy, and is made of Damascus pattern steel.
The golden handle and the gorgeous scabbard are inlaid with various gemstones. There is also a tiger engraved on the blade near the handle, which is the mark that represents the "Tiger of Mysore".
According to Tipu Sultan himself, this knife came from Ottoman Turkey and had been worn for many years. In previous battles with the British, he had used this knife to kill several British people.
By the way, in another time and space, Tipu Sultan's knife was seized by the British after his death in battle; in the 21st century, the auction price of this knife in the antique market was 2.1 billion rupees - equivalent to 180 million rupees.
Before Deng Fei could express his gratitude to Tipu Sultan, Sultan's Prime Minister Purnaya raised his hand and clapped his hands twice, and then he saw twenty strong male servants carrying several seemingly heavy boxes into the palace.
Behind these people, there were twenty women with veils on their faces and wearing light cotton saris. Each of them had a graceful figure, especially the deep eyes exposed, which looked extremely moving.
Are we going to start singing? Deng Fei couldn't help but think of the song and dance scenes of later Bollywood...
Unexpectedly, just when he took a sip of coffee and was about to start admiring it, he saw Tipu Sultan letting someone open the box. Everyone present, except Deng Fei, stopped breathing instantly and were all fascinated by the golden light in the box.
Shut up.
When Tipu Sultan saw Deng Fei's face calm and unmoved, he couldn't help but admire that he was really an extraordinary person! But he didn't know that this gold handicraft was nothing in Deng Fei's eyes. There was a hundred times more gold than this.
He has seen all the bricks.
"These, including forty slaves, are my gifts to the King of the North Sea."
Ahem! Deng Fei has seen the world at least, but this was his first time receiving someone as a gift, and he instinctively wanted to refuse.
"Your Majesty the Sultan, this..."
Major Duroy, who was full of envy, saw Deng Fei's hesitant expression and hurriedly told him in a low voice that the gift from the Sultan could not be refused, otherwise it would be considered an insult.
Well, look at what happened, even if you don't want it, he decided to settle these people on the land he just bought after he goes back. As for Zhao Xin, forget it, the waist is more important!
After handing over the gifts and forty living men, Deng Fei asked Tipu Sultan to take a look at Mysore's army. He explained that he had to rush back to the local area for governance as soon as possible in order to notify Beihai Town that the general needed supplies to be shipped out.
, and also hope to make a preliminary training plan before leaving.
Tipu Sultan immediately agreed and asked his ministers to immediately issue a summons order to recruit 2,000 people to the military camp outside the city as agreed by both parties.
Today, the Kingdom of Mysore only has 100,000 square kilometers of territory left, which is the size of Zhejiang Province in later generations. With such a small area, it cannot afford to support a large standing army. Except for a thousand Sultan Guards, most of them are in peacetime.
To serve the people, to serve as soldiers in wartime. The problem is that the Kingdom of Mysore is surrounded by enemies on all sides. Without the emergence of Beihai Town, Tipu Sultan’s strength will be useless. Some people in later generations always thought that the Indians would attack the British as soon as they came.
Adopting a "lay down policy", the truth is that all those who dared to resist were killed...
The appeal of the "Tiger of Mysore" is overwhelming! The day after the summons was issued, all two thousand soldiers who came on horseback from surrounding villages and towns were assembled, each wearing chainmail.
, holding a scimitar and a spear, looking murderous.
However, when Deng Fei, Major Duroy and several officers from the Northern Navy Special Operations Battalion were accompanied by the Sudanese Prime Minister and the Cavalry Commander, they realized that they had been busy for a long time and had actually ignored a very important issue, language communication.
!
You must know that these Mysore soldiers are Hindus and only speak Kannada. Therefore, even if the officers of the special operations battalion understand French, they still need a translator who is proficient in French and Kannada to pass on the passwords.
In the past, French military instructors had to have a translator during training, but the problem is that the officers in the special operations battalion still don’t understand French. Do they need to find another Chinese who understands French? Where can I find one?!
The language barrier cannot be circumvented no matter what. Deng Fei held a small meeting with Erlu and other officers on the spot. Everyone agreed that if the Mysore army is to be reborn, it must rely on thousands of people to resist the British encirclement.
, we have to win, so everything from training regulations to internal affairs must be copied from the North Navy and copied as a whole. This means that these soldiers must master Mandarin!
Deng Fei was convinced of this, which was the same as the "African Liberation Army" in another time and space. He immediately proposed to the accompanying Sudanese men that he should first take 300 Mysore soldiers back to Beihai Town in Pazayarai.
Territory, and learn the language while training. After these people have mastered a certain level of Chinese and can understand the training commands, let them come back and teach it to more people.
Three hundred people were not many, so Tipu Sultan agreed after thinking about it. However, he put forward a condition, which was that his eldest son, Prince Shayzada Haider Ali, should also go with him to experience it and learn the Chinese language.
Tipu Sultan has many wives and concubines, and naturally has many children, currently numbering 11. However, except for the 21-year-old Prince Ali, the oldest one is only 10 years old.
Since he already brought a group of people, one more prince was nothing. But when he set off two days later, Deng Fei found out that Prince Ali had dozens of men and women in his entourage, and he brought a lot of food, clothing, and supplies.
In addition, there are a hundred guards.
On the way back, Deng Fei asked Jiao Xun to communicate with Prince Ali and teach some simple Chinese conversations. Poor Jiao Xun started the difficult teaching task by making gestures and guessing, and relying on Deng Fei's occasional help in French...
...
August 12, 1792 was a rare day of good weather. The continuous heavy rain finally stopped. The Governor of the British East India Company, Earl Cornwallis, who was playing with his two dogs in the garden of the Government House in Calcutta, received a letter from
When he opened the urgent letter from the Governor's Palace in Madras, he was surprised by the contents!
Charles Cornwallis is remembered in history mainly because he served as deputy commander-in-chief of the British army in the American Revolutionary War and led the remaining British troops to surrender after the "Siege of Yorktown" and became
He became the highest-ranking British prisoner of war in the American Revolutionary War. It has been his sixth year since he took office as the Governor-General of India.
Although the British East India Company's headquarters in India is currently located in Calcutta, West Bengal, more than 150 years ago, they purchased a narrow strip of land in Madras in southeastern India and built Fort St. George.
, and then used it as a base to engage in trade and colonial activities, extending its tentacles to the Bengal region.
Starting from the seventeenth century, the British East India Company had three major governor-general offices in India, namely Bombay in the west, Madras in the east, and Calcutta in Bengal. Since the passage of the "EIC Act" in 1784, the Governor-General of Bengal
Becoming the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the British Royal Army in India, the Governors of Madras and Bombay became subordinate to the Governor of Bengal.
Madras is located in the northeast of the local area. The land road distance between the two places is less than 200 kilometers, and it is even more convenient to travel by boat. Since the Treaty of Paris in 1785, as Britain and France entered a state of peace, the commercial exchanges between the two sides have also increased.
Entering normalization; so if there is any unexpected situation in local governance, Madras will know about it within a week.
From the day Deng Fei and the others arrived for local governance, every move of the Beihai Town mission was followed by spies installed by the British for local governance. There was no way, who made the Thor so conspicuous? Moreover, due to the French Revolution, the
The people were in panic, and the royalists among the French also had private contacts with the British.
As a result, in just one month, Madras understood the cooperation between Beihai Town and the French, and they immediately reported it to Calcutta.
Two days before Governor Cornwallis received the report to Madras, he had just received news from Bihar in the north. The regent of Gorkha, Basadul, had sent an envoy.
The East India Company sent military assistance to resist the Qing army that invaded the country.
So when he saw the Beihai Town Fleet arriving for local governance and signing a package agreement with the French, Cornwallis's first reaction was, what a coincidence, right? To the north was the Qing Empire attacking Gorkha, and to the south was the Beihai Town Fleet arriving.
The visit to French India was really like a pincer attack on the British from the north and the south.
So he hurriedly found Major William Kirkpatrick, who had previously participated in military cooperation with the Qing Empire, visited Guangzhou, Xiamen and Dagukou, and had a casual acquaintance with Beihai Town.
Cornwallis teased the two Great Danes casually, and after the secretary finished explaining the situation to his men, he asked: "Major, what do you think of this matter?"
William Kirkpatrick thought for a moment and said, "I think it's just a coincidence."
"Hmm...what's the reason?"
"The Gurkhas invaded the Qing Empire two years ago, and they invaded again last year, so the Qing Empire was probably well prepared for this war. As for the Seris people in Beihai Town... Your Excellency,
They have just driven the Dutch away from Batavia, and they are eager to intervene in India. I am afraid they will pose a huge challenge to us."
Cornwallis paced back and forth in the garden with his hands behind his back, and after thinking for a long time he said: "Major Kirkpatrick, I have decided to appoint you as the plenipotentiary envoy of the East India Company, leading a team of twenty officers and one hundred soldiers.
The mission was to go to Patna on my behalf to meet with the envoys of the Shah Kingdom, responsible for mediating between the Qing Empire and their wars."
"Thank you very much for your trust, Your Majesty the Governor!" William Kirkpatrick stood at attention and saluted, and then asked: "How do you respond to the other party's offer of military assistance?"
"We will only mediate, we will not send troops! Offending the huge Qing Empire will not do any good to the company at present. Guangzhou's trade is more important to us!" After Cornwallis finished speaking, he said to his secretary: "Draft a letter and send it to Hobart
Baron’s letter, ask him to personally send an invitation letter to the Saris people, and at the same time be sure to find out the content of the meeting between the Saris people and Tipu Sultan in Mysore.”
The Baron Hobart mentioned by Cornwallis was the new Governor of Madras. For him to extend the invitation was a great honor to Beihai Town.
Cornwallis was still very afraid of the sudden appearance of Beihai Town. During the Battle of Changxing Island, Major General John Jervis passed by Calcutta when he returned to China and gave him a detailed report. Cornwallis was horrified and shocked.
, it turns out that the sailing fleet and advanced carronade guns that they are proud of are just like paper in front of the Northern Navy. Such a powerful force suddenly appears in India. If it reaches an alliance with Mysore again, it will be a threat to the East.
The colonial hegemony of Indian companies would pose a serious threat.
The British must quickly eliminate the Kingdom of Mysore, which resolutely resists the British. As long as Mysore is eliminated, the Viceroyalty of Bombay and the Viceroyalty of Madras can be connected as one, running through the South Asian subcontinent.
The only thing needed is an excuse to start a war...
Cornwallis wanted to send someone to mediate the Qingkuo War, but it was actually too late. He didn't know that he was about to have an extra neighbor. After eight consecutive days and nights of the "Battle of Dongjue", the Qing army's
The army has already pushed into the Yangbu Valley.
It is said that after Fukang'an captured the Resuo Bridge, he ordered his troops to continue attacking southward. However, the terrain at the southern foot of the Himalayas was harsh, and all the places they passed were narrow mountain paths and clusters of rocks. The Qing army walked along the river, even at night.
They all slept on the narrow river bank and under the rocks. Fortunately, they walked for 150 to 60 miles without encountering the enemy. It was not until they arrived at Xiebulu, more than 200 miles away from the Resuo Bridge, that they discovered that there was a large army of troops on the other side of the river.
The bunker.
However, the terrain here is similar to that of the Resuo Bridge. It is also separated by a large river. Heavy rains for days caused flash floods and rapids. The Qing army tried their best to build a pontoon bridge more than a dozen times despite the dense rain of bullets on the other side, but they were all washed away by the water.
give up.
Fukang'an had no choice but to repeat his old tricks. Let Helin lead the firearms battalion to bombard the hillside with 12-pound guns non-stop to attract the attention of the Kuo army. After the Kuo army returned to the camp to rest at night, he sent Tai Fei
Ying'a and others led his men who dared to swim across the river holding thick logs. After that, the soldiers divided into groups and either attacked along the mountain, or went around to attack from behind, or occupied the side ridge and carried out a pincer attack. On July 12,
At dawn, all the troops entered the attacking position, and Fukang'an immediately ordered a joint attack, and then Xiebulu was captured.
On July 19, the Qing army arrived at Dongjue, which was the most heavily defended area by the Kuo army. Since moving south, although the places the Qing army had passed were all dangerous, as long as there were places defended by the Kuo army, there would always be some on their side.
Po, he can always deploy one or two cannons. But Dong feels that there is absolutely no chance here.
The terrain here is extremely dangerous, with two mountains facing each other across the river, and thousands of walls standing tall. Standing on the top of the mountain and looking down, the "crossing the river" is like a line. The Kuo army built a large number of fortifications on the other side to take advantage of the danger, and camped on the top of the mountain, halfway down the mountain.
There are many wooden cities, stone blockhouses and stone cards. As long as you can cross the river, there are fortifications.
On July 21, Fukang'an made the following deployment: He Lin led the firearms troops to bombard the top of the mountain with artillery day and night; Taifei Ying'a led 2,000 people to bypass Yaersila and Bor
Dong pulled several mountain peaks to destroy the Kuo army stronghold behind Dongjue; he himself led more than a dozen generals including Erdenbao, Anlu, Zhang Zhiyuan, Delengtai, Ke Jie'e, Wu Shao, Ding Xiding and others.
More than two thousand soldiers, after two days of crossing the river from Kaduopu in the upper reaches, launched an attack from the top of the mountain on July 23.
Because of the narrow terrain, the Qing army and the Kuo army were mixed together, and the muskets had no time to fire, so they relied on bows and arrows and swords and guns to fight. In the sea of blood and corpses, countless people from both sides rolled down the cliff. Yang Yuchun from Sichuan Green Camp showed great power this time.
He used a 140-pound heavy bow to kill dozens of people one after another, and his bravery astonished even the Solendahur soldiers.
Dongjue's Kuo army was killed by the Qing army and suffered heavy casualties. The three Qing armies chased Yongya and then stopped. Fukang'an couldn't stop even if he didn't want to. He fought for eight consecutive days and nights as military rations.
The tsampa has been eaten up. Nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were hiking on the mountain. Most of the soldiers' clothes and shoes have been worn out. Now they are all barefoot and look like beggars. Without shoes, leeches, snakes and insects in the mountains and forests are all gone.
It also made the Qing army miserable.
In addition, the climate in the southern foothills of the Himalayas is changeable. It rains heavily every day at noon, and then turns to heavy snow at night. Many soldiers suffer from frostbite, and many are sick.
It was not until this time that He Lin discovered the wonderful effects of the cooling oil and wind oil essence provided by Beihai Town. This stuff had a miraculous effect on snakes, insects and leeches, and was very effective in reducing swelling and analgesic. After Fukang'an learned about it, he immediately sent an order to the rear to attack Beihai Town.
All the supplies were delivered.
As for Gorkha, the regent Bashadur had left Yangbu and fled to the Inkko border area. The uncle of the king, Badur Saye, who stayed in the capital, changed his previous arrogant attitude and released the detained lamas and
Qing army, let them go back to explain to Fukang'an, obtain understanding, and let the Qing army stop advancing.
But everything was too late! On June 19, the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, that is, August 23, 1792, after receiving the memorial of the "Battle of Resuo Bridge", Qianlong not only awarded rewards, promoted meritorious generals, and ordered military aircraft
The minister once again preached to Fukangan:
"...We should always wipe out the Gurkhas, thinking that it will be done once and for all...This time we must go straight to the bandit territory to dig holes, let alone leave the Gurkha leader alone. We must persist in the welfare of the people."