Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1233 Start of War ([-])

Just when the Dashun Mission was still flirting with France in Paris and bargaining.

On the other side of the world, the war has actually begun.

In Calcutta, British Vice Admiral Charles Watson, dragging his body afflicted by tropical diseases in India, frowned, and discussed with the officers of the East India Company, who were equally ugly, a very Shocking news.

The huge Chinese fleet blocked Madras, and sent people to submit a letter of persuasion to the garrison officers in Madras, advising them to surrender as soon as possible.

The news was so shocking that everyone who heard the news felt incredible.

Not so long ago all Englishmen in India were hailing a great British victory.

The French Mauritius Fleet tried to rescue the siege for the last time, and the naval battle failed. Although no capital ship was lost, the fleet's gunpowder and shells were seriously insufficient, and the ship was also scarred.The French fleet had to return to Mauritius again.

The local governing French army was completely desperate after knowing that the fleet had failed to rescue the siege.Because this kind of coastal fortress has no navy, it is waiting to die, so it surrendered.

So far, the last base of French aggression in India has fallen, and the weak Dutch have already cooperated with Dashun, and because of the unlimited supply of Chinese goods, the cities where the Dutch and Chinese cooperate in India are in decline.

No matter how you look at it, Dashun seems to have no interest in India.

It also seems that the British have become India's most powerful external force-the Afghans are old acquaintances of India, and they are basically India's traditional political and military forces with a long history-the biggest enemy, the French, was completely defeated.

So, after such ecstasy, they suddenly received such shocking news, which was really unacceptable to them.

Vice Admiral Charles Watson is a standard British noble officer.He was able to climb the ranks so quickly because his uncle, Charles Vigg, ​​was a former British Lord of the Admiralty.The most famous thing is that he commanded the American expedition of the Jenkins Ear War and George Anson's fleet sailed around the world, setting a new record that "the army was killed by scurvy before boarding the ship in the British port".

All in all, his family's background is relatively poor among the "Lieutenant Generals", not belonging to the old nobles, but to the new rich.Because his family made a fortune in the restoration of Charles II, it belongs to "dragon-coated clothes", which is still worse than the orthodox old aristocrats.

In terms of fighting skills, it is similar to John Bean who was executed because of the fall of Maun, that is, the kind of "a well-controlled army and an incompetent general" that Liu Yu said, according to the "Navy Perpetual Combat Regulations" players.

This is not to say that the British Navy is not strong. In fact, it proves that the British Navy is very strong. The upper class is full of relatives. The battle relies on the "Permanent Battle Regulations", and it can still dominate the Atlantic Ocean.

If he is really capable, the situation in Europe is still uncertain at this time. If he is very capable, he should stay on the front line against France and serve in the Straits or the Mediterranean.

His political skills are just that.After serving as the acting governor of Newfoundland for several years, he did a "comprehensive expulsion of Catholics", which made the Catholics in Canada unprecedentedly united and resisted the British sentiment very violently.

At this time, the top and bottom of the East India Company focused their attention on him, because he was the commander of the navy here.

When Madras was besieged, it could only rely on the navy to relieve the siege.If the navy can't break the siege, it will be trapped for three or two months, and even if it doesn't attack, Madras will surrender.

However, in the face of this situation, Charles Watson, even if he is not the kind of top-notch figure, still gave a very correct judgment.

"Gentlemen, if the Chinese really join the war, I don't think we can change anything by our own efforts. We can only rely on God's blessing. For example, the kamikaze that blew away the Spanish Armada."

"If there is no kamikaze, everything we do is meaningless."

"The 'Portsmouth' of the Chinese is in Malacca. Their fleet can continuously enter India."

"Obviously, we must abandon the Carnatic region and South India. All our forces will be used for the defense of Fort William in Calcutta. Any form of military adventure will give the Chinese a chance to crush our field forces." Chance."

"And once the fleet is wiped out and the army to rescue is wiped out by them, then we can only wait for them to pull down our forts one by one as they did with the Dutch."

"Gentlemen, you should know that the Chinese can organize a major campaign in Central Asia, thousands of miles from their capital. Apparently they have enough power to send 1 people to India."

"I have to say that the entire India plan of the company and the cabinet is based on the assumption that the Chinese will not participate in the war. Because neither the company nor the cabinet has the ability to specify a plan that assumes that China is also interested in India."

"Although it seems that the best time for the Chinese to join the war is before we captured Bengal, or before the French in Pondicherry surrendered, even if they allowed the French fleet to go to Malacca for repairs. But the reality is that they chose at this time Let's go to war."

"We should be in Bengal, preserve our strength. Abandon all of South India."

Watson's words are not unreasonable.

The port of Calcutta, similar to the port of Shanghai, is not a seaport, but a river port.

No matter how powerful Dashun's fleet is, they dare not enter the river port, because when the fleet enters the river port, the fire attack ship will teach these sailing ships without steam paddle wheels that the ancient tactics may not be ineffective.

The British fleet in India is hiding in the river port of Calcutta. As long as Fort William is not breached, Dashun will not be able to threaten the British fleet.

The supplies required for a large-scale naval operation are staggering.If Dashun cannot resolve the battle in a short period of time, then the large-scale naval fleet can only return to Gaolang Port, Temasek and other ports in batches for repairs to avoid the storm in the Indian Ocean.

Once Dashun's main naval fleet withdraws in batches, the British navy will be able to survive, at least there will still be a chance to defeat them.

But now, if he took the initiative to make a rescue, he would obviously fall into Dashun's trap.

Now Dashun must be looking forward to their fleet decisive battle, which will allow Dashun's 64-gun battleship to perfectly play its advantages in firepower, protection and battle salvo.

As for the situation, it can only be said that it is quite unfavorable to Britain.

The French had just surrendered.

French cities require British troops to be stationed and occupied.

Fort St George, Madras, was the heart of the British presence in South India and the confidence of British defense.It was a regular "he"-shaped bastion built with huge sums of money, equipped with enough cannons, and it was also the most powerful British fortress in India.

Once it falls there, the entire South Indian coast can be declared to surrender.Because it directly cut off the connection between the various fortresses and the colonies, and the panic caused by the fall will bring the British army back to the psychological fear when it was dominated by Duplex-more than ten years ago, the French army was in Duplex. Under the leadership of Lex, Fort St. George was captured. If the kamikaze hadn't helped destroy the French fleet that time, Britain would have completely withdrawn from India that year.

The British believe in kamikaze.

The Spanish fleet that year was defeated by kamikaze; after that, kamikaze "appeared" again and again, and the last apparition was in the Indian Ocean in 1746.The eight battleships of Park Bourdonnay were blown away by the kamikaze and had to retreat to Mauritius, causing the French army that had captured Madras to fall short.

And now, it seemed, the only thing she could rely on was to beg for the kamikaze to blow again.

Otherwise, the current situation is unsolvable.

This is not a dilemma that can be solved by strategy, tactics, tricks, or art of war.

Shrunk troops back to Calcutta, the navy did not go out of the port and hid in the river port, and built more arson ships. In fact, this tactic was resignation to fate.

The rest of the people didn't have any good solution, even if they knew that this kind of shrinking tactic was betting on Kamikaze, but there was no other way.

In a moment of silence, Clive spoke the crux of the problem.

"The timing of the Chinese participation in the war shows their covetousness towards India. Because they chose to send troops after the surrender of France."

"The key now is what kind of war is the Chinese going to fight?"

"Is it just India?"

…………

The Indian problem cannot be solved in India, but must be solved in Europe.

This is the consensus of Dashun decision-makers.

In fact, Clive asked a very good question.

How big is the scale of Dashun's participation in this war?
In fact, this is a general mobilization of the emerging forces of Dashun.

Although the emerging forces in Dashun are only Songsu, Jiaoliao, Dongbei, and Nanyang, they have a population of about 4000 to [-] million.

However, its organizational form, company military obligations, combat engineer reinforcements, and rapid changes in battalion and company tactics, which have been specialized for this "battle of destiny" over the past 20 years, are still sufficiently scary to mobilize.

In this day and age, there is no radio.

Dashun didn't know what was going on in France.

But no matter what the talk is, as long as the French army in Pondicherry surrenders, Dashun will directly participate in the war. This is the strategic plan of the General Staff of the Privy Council.

If the French win the battle of Hannover, Dashun will send troops to India, so that France will stop the peace talks and continue to increase the stake.

If the French lost the bet in the Battle of Egg in Hanover, then Dashun would even send troops to India, so that the French would not continue to gamble, and even the last Mediterranean fleet would be wiped out by the British.

As for how the negotiations will be negotiated, Dashun's decision-making circle believes in Liu Yu's judgment, and the key things will definitely be negotiated.As long as France can't complete the fiscal reform—Dashun knows better than anyone else whether a reform of checking the land, a whip, and the gentry's payment of grain can be completed during the war.

That's pretty much crap, obviously can't.

Therefore, in July, after the last wave of merchant ships returning from Europe unloaded, Dashun's monopoly company received an order from the Privy Council: All registered ships, on the list, were concentrated in Tianjin and Weihai, and completed within a deadline .

Because of this monopoly and exclusive government supervision system, as well as the strict additional terms of military obligations, all company ships participating in long-distance trade, including those going to Japan, Ryukyu, and Southeast Asia, are on the registration list.

Therefore, according to the requirements on the list, a large number of ships went to Weihai and Tianjin for a wave of transformation.

Originally, the merchant ships were built according to the standard of heavy armed merchant ships. The cost is high, and they are all standardized hulls, all of which are made of high-quality wood. This is an "advantage" of Dashun not engaging in free trade. For trade, it is absolutely impossible for Dashun's merchant ships to be all of this kind of heavy merchant ships.

As for the modification, there is not much to change.On the basis of the original cannon, each merchant ship added eight to twelve cannons and equipped with gunners.

And it was reorganized, and the trade with Europe continued, with five ships in groups and two cruise ships to form a fleet of seven ships.

The merchant captains were originally naval officers, and they were all registered reserve officers. At this time, they all received retraining.

A large number of registered sailors who have been retired are recruited again.

mid-October.

The Songsu garrison seized the British East India Company's shop in Songsu and seized all the goods.All British businessmen and business members, including Chinese chefs, were detained in Songsu and placed under house arrest.

At the end of October, Songsu Capital Market officially reported that Dashun would issue war bonds with an annual interest rate of 7.5%. There were many buyers, and everyone was enthusiastic.

In early November, shipyards in Tianjin, Weihai and other places received a batch of new orders for a total of 16 battleships and other cruise ships.

At the same time, the strategic guidance issued by the emperor and the Privy Council in advance to the level of the commander-in-chief and the admiral of the squadron also officially came into effect.

On the Nanyang side, the Nanyang Guard is required to be fully responsible for the war situation in Nanyang and India.

After confirming that the French surrendered in Pondicherry, Nanyang and Ceylon should do the following things.

Be sure to capture Fort Marlboro in Bengkulu before the first month of this year, and clear the last British stronghold in Nanyang.

In the direction of India, the army of Ceylon carried out a full-scale mobilization and recruitment, drawing one out of three, and mobilizing 8000 people to dig trenches in Madras.

Artillery and combat engineers, with the help of the navy, must capture Madras before the middle of the twelfth lunar month of this year.

If during this period, the British army chooses the navy to relieve the siege.

Then it will be decisively defeated at sea.

If during this period, the British army gave up the rescue, the fleet retreated in Calcutta.

Once Madras is captured, the Indian squadron will immediately go north and block the mouth of the Calcutta River.

The Combat Engineer Battalion should take Fort William in Calcutta by storm.Using Army Artillery, destroy the British Indian Squadron.

At the same time, a large number of government soldiers were conscripted and organized into a line company to occupy Calcutta before the rainy season in India and rely on Fort William for defense.

In the direction of Southeast Asia and India, as a whole, the occupation of Madras, Calcutta, and Bengkulu must be completed before the end of February next year and before the Indian Ocean storm hits.

If not completed, military law is engaged.

The rest of the fortresses are considered to be overfulfilled, and the military exploits will be described separately.It can be slow or urgent.

Naval side.

At the same time as the war in Nanyang, the navy's main fleet, led by the seventh son of the emperor, assembled in Temasek in advance.

A total of 35 standard battleships, 20 cruisers and a huge fleet of transport ships, when the monsoon blows, immediately head to the Cape Colony.

The senior staff officer of the Privy Council went to Cape to be responsible for logistics coordination and dispatch.

After replenishing supplies at the Cape of Good Hope, the fleet proceeded to Port Saint-Louis, Senegal.If the fleet is blown apart by a storm, it will rendezvous at Port Saint-Louis for final replenishment and formation.

After the whole team is completed, enter the Mediterranean Sea and join the Toulon Fleet of France.

If there is a chance, look for an opportunity to annihilate the British Gibraltar fleet; if there is no chance, you can repair it in the port of Toulon. A port like Toulon is a moon-holding military port similar to Lushun and Weihai. It is absolutely safe in it, unless the French The army was beaten to Toulon, but this is obviously unrealistic.

After finishing repairs, they will cooperate with the French army to attack the fortress of Gibraltar.

Once the fortress of Gibraltar was captured, the main force of the navy was transferred to the naval port of Brest, forcing the main force of the British navy to stay in the strait and dare not attack in all directions.

Don't bet on this, that's for sure.As soon as Dashun's fleet arrived, the British navy would never dare to spread out to rob the ships. They could only hide in the straits to prevent France from landing in Scotland and stealing their homes.

During the war, a formation of seven ships, two frigates and five armed merchant ships, temporarily moved the trade center to Nantes.All oriental trade goods in continental Europe were transferred in Nantes.

Cruisers and merchant ships, supplementing the destroyed French trading ships, cooperated with France to trade in the Caribbean and North America.

And intercepted and attacked British merchant ships——In Aachen, Dashun proposed a convention prohibiting privateers and piracy, but Britain and France did not participate.Those who participated were all countries such as Austria and Russia - ridiculed by the old European nautical powers as "a group of eunuchs discussing the prohibition of pleasure between men and women".

Of course, Dashun will abide by the international laws it has formulated, and will never attack merchant ships of "eunuch" countries that have joined the convention.

During this period, the distribution centers of North American and Caribbean smuggling activities that Sweden, the Netherlands and other countries participated in on a large scale were transferred to the French Cap-Haitien colony and Nantes.

During the war, trade went on as normal.

At this time, there is no efficient and convenient means of communication, and the overall strategic guidelines naturally cannot be considered in everything, but the overall strategic thinking remains unchanged—relying on the naval port of Brest, forcing the main force of the British navy to dare not divide its forces Going to the colonies, Dashun relied on its advantages in heavy merchant ships and cruise ships to cut off British trade, completely disrupt the British colonial market, and actually disintegrate the "Navigation Regulations".

And in the British colonies, a group of professional North American smuggling teams were cultivated to destroy the monopoly sales model of British industrial products and honey in North America.

(End of this chapter)