James Bruce, the Governor-General of British India, frowned and stared at the white paper in his hand. He did not speak for a long time. In the office, Financial Secretary Canning, Chief Secretary Charles and others were all present. It's a frown.
At this moment, everyone's breathing became heavy.
The reason is precisely the piece of information in the hands of James Bruce.
After a long time, James Bruce raised his head and looked at everyone and said: "Everyone, in order to retaliate against us, Li Zhen killed ten captured British soldiers every other day. His methods were ruthless and cruel. I think I cannot forgive such a person. A severe counterattack is necessary to prevent Li Zhen from shooting soldiers at will."
After Li Zhen found out that it was the British who did it, he immediately launched a counterattack.
On the day Abagong died, he directly ordered ten British soldiers to be shot. At the same time, Li Zhen conveyed to the British soldiers the reason why the soldiers were shot because James Bruce was the first to disobey the rules and sent people to assassinate cities everywhere. At the same time, Li Zhen also spread the news that James Bruce sent people to assassinate him, diverting the people's attention to the British led by James Bruce.
A very simple method caused a lot of trouble for James Bruce.
Because of this, James Bruce had a hard time making a choice.
It's just that after James Bruce made a decision, he still planned to continue the assassination. This was the time to compete to see who was more ruthless. As long as he refused to admit the assassination and continued the assassination, Li Zhen's area would definitely be panicked, and Li Zhen would also panic. Will be overwhelmed.
"Cannot forgive."
Canning frowned and said: "Your Majesty the Governor, although Li Zhen was cruel and inhumane, when he killed people, he promoted propaganda among the soldiers and the people of India, saying that we assassinated Indian officials to fight back."
James Bruce said: "I know."
Canning rolled his eyes and continued: "You know, why do we continue? Li Zhen's simple words have already aroused the people's anger towards us and the captured soldiers' resentment against us. If we If Li Zhen continues to assassinate government officials, we will be the ones who suffer when the time comes. We can't win if we try hard."
Chief Secretary for Administration Charles frowned and said: "We cannot give up on this matter. Li Zhen openly threatened that if we do not stop the assassination, he will shoot ten soldiers every day. This is an extremely vicious threat. In this case, we will let Li Zhen The threat is over, let’s do our own thing.”
"Where are the captured soldiers?"
The official in the office asked immediately.
The UK is not a dictatorship, it is composed of interest groups from all walks of life. Once the public sentiment in the country boils, and the British people in power cannot stop the boiling public sentiment, they will adopt a compromise method. If the news of the killing of British soldiers is reported back to the country, , James Bruce will be under tremendous pressure, and even officials serving in India will also be under tremendous pressure.
In more serious cases, you may be prosecuted.
Charles is an iron-blooded faction and said coldly: "At this point, the captured soldiers have no choice but to sacrifice their lives for the country. As long as we can completely disrupt Li Zhen's plan and completely make Li Zhen lose control of India, it will be worth it." Yes, Li Zhen is coming so fiercely that we can’t stop him at all, and if we can’t stop him, should we retreat?”
"The answer is obviously impossible."
"It is impossible for domestic politicians to agree to give up a place in Nuoda, but what if we don't give up? We can't stop Li Zhen, so we can only create trouble for Li Zhen, making it difficult for Li Zhen to deal with it. Come on, as the Chinese saying goes, it is the lesser of two evils, and we can only choose the one that is most beneficial to us now, which is to continue with the assassination plan regardless of the lives of the soldiers."
Charles looked at Governor James Bruce and said seriously: "Your Excellency, as long as you are ruthless, even if Li Zhen knows that it was us who did it, it will be in vain if he can't solve it."
"I firmly oppose it. No, we cannot ignore the names of the soldiers."
Canning shook his head and did not support Charles' decision.
Charles became angry and said: "Your Excellency Canning does not support it, then please ask Your Excellency Canning to propose a solution."
"There's nothing I can do about it," Canning said.
"There is no other way, then just shut up and don't talk."
Charles snorted, looked at James Bruce, and persuaded him again: "Your Majesty the Governor, we have reached the most dangerous time. Should you lead your troops to surrender to Li Zhen and then withdraw from India? Or should you persist? It all depends on you. between."
James Bruce clenched his fists and was faced with a dilemma.
It is difficult to choose between the lives of thousands of soldiers and the interests of the British Empire.
What should I do.
James Bruce realized so clearly that the power in his hands was a hot potato that he felt physically and mentally exhausted. After pondering for a long time, he made a decision, looked at Charles, and said: "I have decided..."
Just as he opened his mouth, there was a knock on the door outside the room.
James Bruce said: "Come in."
The door opened, and James Bruce's secretary walked in and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, the Governor, I have just received a telegram from Calcutta. It is a telegram from Li Zhen."
As he spoke, he handed over the telegram in his hand.
After reading it, the corners of James Bruce's mouth twitched slightly, and his face became even more ugly.
When Canning, Char and others saw this, they could guess that it was definitely not good news.
James Bruce was silent for a long time and said slowly: "Li Zhen sent a message asking us to immediately stop assassinating officials. At the same time, he ordered us to give up resistance and withdraw from India. Otherwise, Li Zhen will change his attitude towards the soldiers and shoot 10 people today." People, 20 people will be shot tomorrow, 40 people the day after tomorrow, and so on until all the soldiers are shot. In addition, Li Zhen also mentioned that after the soldiers are shot, they will take action against the British who stayed in India, whether they are British citizens and merchants were all arrested and imprisoned in military camps, treated in the same manner as soldiers, and all were executed."
brush,.
The expressions of everyone present changed drastically.
Li Zhen's move was too cruel.
So cruel.
Charles looked ferocious and gritted his teeth and said: "If Li Zhen can do it, we can do it too. We can arrest the local Chinese and shoot them in the same way to see who is afraid of whom."
Canning snorted and retorted: "Except for Chinese soldiers, are there any Chinese in India? Even if there are, they are a very small minority, almost negligible. What can we use to threaten Li Zhen?"
James Bruce sighed softly, he seemed to have aged dozens of years.
He waved his hand and said helplessly: "Even if there are Chinese people, we don't dare to fight with Li Zhen. Once we continue to fight, even if we win, we will have to be tried when we return to the country. In the end, we will definitely be convicted, and then we will be executed by the people." Vent your anger, Li Zhen’s move is cruel, let’s not fight him any longer. As the Chinese saying goes, when a scholar meets a soldier, there is a reason that cannot be explained clearly. It seems to be reasonable.”
Canning nodded and said: "I agree with your Excellency the Governor. Now that the matter is over, we will send a message back to Li Zhen and ask him to release all the captured soldiers and we will withdraw from India."
Charles opened his mouth, but finally said nothing.
The matter was too big for him to handle alone.
James looked at the secretary standing next to him and ordered: "Immediately ask the telegraph operator to send a message to Li Zhen, saying that we agree to withdraw from India, completely withdraw, and ask him to stop shooting British soldiers and release everyone."
"yes."
The secretary bowed and exited.
Everyone in the office looked extremely lonely.
ps: Three updates, call it a day, updates have been a little slow lately, I’m working on a new book, sorry for that.