Wild North America 1846

Chapter 650 Closing
after a few hours
Black smoke curled up on the vast sea, countless corpses, wooden barrels, charred canvas, and broken sailboat wrecks, large and small, floated on the waves of the sea, a scene after a bloody battle.

This is a tough dialogue between the sail navy of the old era and the navy of the new era of steam iron armor. The ending is particularly tragic, and it is a one-sided massacre.

The steam ironclad battleships of the Tang Empire scattered around the vast sea area patrolled the territory like lions that had just hunted on the African grasslands, escorting a large number of iron-clad freighters on their way home.

It was the Spanish sailing fleet that resisted fiercely. 26 of the 17 sailing warships were sunk, 6 were severely damaged, and [-] were captured. After World War I, the entire army was wiped out.

General Juan Espartero, commander of the Spanish Royal Navy, and 2176 officers and soldiers were killed, more than a thousand were captured, and more than 310 were missing.

The armored fleet of the Tang Empire only paid a slight price for one ship with minor injuries and 7 casualties. Among them, only one officer and soldier was killed and 6 others were slightly or seriously injured.

From the mouth of the captive;

The Spanish Grand Fleet was divided into three waves, sending out waves every two days.

Guangnan Wang Tang-His Royal Highness Li Xin immediately decided that some warships would escort the captured cargo ships and troop carriers back first, while he personally led the main force of the fleet to wait and wait.

the next few days

The 2nd and 3rd waves of Spaniards arrived successively, and as expected, they were all captured. During this period, basically no one resisted, and any resistance was tantamount to suicide.

When nearly 150 captured freighters and troop carriers arrived at the port of Colon, it caused a huge sensation in Panama and sounded the death knell of Spanish colonial rule.

after three days of rest

His Royal Highness Guangnan once again led the Atlantic task force and the troop carrier transporting the imperial landing officers and soldiers, and set off in a mighty way. The troops landed in Santiago de Cuba and Puerto Rico respectively in two groups, launching a large-scale offensive.

The Atlantic Task Force carried out a devastating blow to the remaining Cuban Spanish fleet and bombarded the port of Santiago, showing a tyrannical posture.

From mid-May to mid-June 1878

After dozens of battles, the officers and soldiers of the Royal Guards who landed in Cuba and Puerto Rico killed more than 6300 Spanish colonial troops and captured more than 2.3 people. They successively occupied important cities such as Santiago, Havana, and San Juan, sweeping up the Spanish colonial troops like a storm. Army forces.

By June 6, the Kingdom of Spain admitted defeat and requested post-war negotiations. At the same time, it ordered the Spanish army that was still fighting to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Tang Empire army.

The Spaniards have already seen it clearly, and there is no point in continuing to resist.

And as early as more than a month ago
The eleventh prince, His Royal Highness Tang-Li Xin, King of Pingxi, has led an army to successfully occupy the Luzon Islands. The process is also lackluster, and the decadent Spanish army is almost on the verge of collapse.

The end of March
Imperial Capital Chang'an
It was early summer, and the backyard of the palace was in full bloom, and the scene of lakes and mountains was too beautiful to behold.

In the cool pavilion by the Taiye Pool
Wearing a loose silk and linen Tang coat, Emperor Li Cha was leisurely clutching the hairy head of the second generation of Baipi (note; the first generation had already died and turned into a white tiger skin mattress), while chatting with Zheng Yuan, the head of the Royal Secretariat. Major events at home and abroad.

Director Zheng Yuan is an important minister of the inner court without much ambition. He is acting for many affairs of the Royal Household Office. He is already too busy to run for the new Prime Minister without any ambition.

Now that the two major political parties in the empire have taken turns to govern, Emperor Richard simply let them go and let them compete on their own.

Whoever wins the election becomes prime minister.

"Show Your Majesty;
The Kingdom of Spain concedes defeat, and after our opposition to negotiations in London and Paris, agrees to negotiate a post-war treaty with the Reich in Berlin, and the two sides have entered into substantive negotiations.

The main demand of the Spanish negotiators was to release the captives, ships and supplies, and allow the Spaniards to leave the country legally and decently.

Give fair treatment to Hispanic businessmen and plantation owners who continue to stay in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Luzon Islands to ensure their personal safety and property are not violated.

There are still some reasonable demands. In addition, the Spaniards also hope to get a certain amount of economic compensation. The number they proposed is 5 million Tang yuan. "

"Well, we need to be a little more tolerant when negotiating with the Spaniards. After all, they are Europeans and veteran colonists. They can't be treated like conquered countries in the Americas."

Emperor Li Cha slowly stroked the second-generation Baipi's head, and the second-generation Baipi squinted his eyes in enjoyment. He completely lacked the prestige of the overlord of the mountains and forests, and instead looked like a cat that was several sizes older.

paused
He went on to command;

"Let them talk, these officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are quite familiar with war treaty negotiations, and give a relatively loose policy, and the specifics are in their hands.

The Spanish captives can be given to them. If the supplies are exhausted, there is no other way. In terms of financial compensation...

Let's make it clear in the treaty that we pay a little money for the Spaniards to transfer the Luzon Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico and their affiliated islands, which is a territorial transfer.

In this way, their faces will look good, and we will avoid territorial disputes and unnecessary troubles in the future.

Let the diplomatic envoys discuss the specific amount, it is a trivial matter. "

Emperor Li Cha waved his hand grandly. Now that the royal family of the Tang Empire is so rich, it cost 1.3 million Tang Yuan war funds just to instigate this large-scale Tang-Xi war.

There is no financial appropriation that requires a penny from the imperial government, and the Royal Household Office took it out without blinking an eye. Post-war governance and immigration still cost a lot of money, and they still don't feel the pressure.

Decades of accumulation is not a joke. The materials needed to launch a war are all allocated from the royal reserve, but less than 1/3 of the consumption is consumed, and there is still a deep foundation.

How much money does the Tang royal family have?

There are different opinions in this world, but no one can say for sure. Most guesses are between hundreds of millions and billions of property, and no one can guess right anyway.

this world
I am afraid that only the two people who talked in the Linshui Liangge knew clearly that perhaps this was the real reason why Director Zheng Yuan was willing to serve the royal family all his life or for countless generations.

Wouldn't it be nice for him to be the Prime Minister of Lao Shizi and serve His Majesty the Emperor for life?
Now that the emperor had spoken, Director Zheng Yuan carefully recorded it, and prepared to carry it out meticulously in accordance with the imperial edict.

This is also what Emperor Li Cha appreciates about him. He never makes his own decisions, and only executes his will without compromise. He is a very handy old man.

After finishing this story, I will turn the page. The Tang-Xi war that shocked the world was just a few words in the dialogue between the monarch and his ministers. Then Director Zheng Yuan mentioned the "Berlin Treaty" that is now the focus of the world.

After the 1878th Russo-Turkish War that ended in early 10, Tsarist Russia forced the Ottoman Empire to sign the "San Stefano Peace Treaty", which aroused the dissatisfaction of many powers, led by Britain and Tang, exerted strong pressure on Tsarist Russia , and even put on a posture that he would not hesitate to start a war for this.

Under pressure, Tsar Alexander II could only agree to reopen the negotiations, which is now the Berlin negotiations.

The German Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck stood up for international mediation in the Berlin negotiations. He claimed to be an "honest intermediary", but he really took Tsarist Russia seriously.

The "Berlin Treaty" agreed under the auspices of the great powers made major amendments to the "San Stefano Peace Treaty". The main contents include;
Big Bulgaria, which Tsarist Russia valued most, became Little Bulgaria, and the scope and territory were greatly reduced, from a big fat man weighing 200 catties to a small one weighing 80 catties.

The Bosporus Strait is still closed to Russian warships, and Tsarist Russia’s influence in the Balkans has been severely curbed, and its strategic attempt to develop naval power in the direction of the warm Mediterranean has once again failed.

This is the second time. The last time was after the Crimean War, Tsarist Russia vomited blood and paid for the fruits of victory in the previous wars against the Ottoman Empire, and returned to the pre-liberation overnight.

Tsarist Russia is not without gains. It can only be regarded as better than nothing when it takes back the territory ceded in the Crimean War.

The "Berlin Treaty" additionally mentioned the Eastern issue, requiring Tsarist Russia to abide by the existing western border with the Qing Dynasty, recognize the Qing Dynasty's territorial rights in Ili and the outer northeast, and not violate them without reason.

Other victories expected by Tsarist Russia were also taken away by the powers. The "Berlin Treaty" stipulated that the Ottoman Empire would cede Cyprus to the United Kingdom, while Bosnia and Herzegovina was transferred to the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Under the strong pressure of Britain, Tang, Germany, France, and Austria, Tsarist Russia had to swallow the bitter fruit of the British blackmail, and the hearts of monsters were already flying all over the sky.

The Treaty of Berlin essentially divided up parts of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, but it was far from resolving the all-important Balkan conflict.

It was the serious problems left over by it that eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War. This is a later story.

"Where are our soldiers?"

After listening to the briefing on the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, Emperor Richard just asked.

In order to continue to exert military pressure on Tsarist Russia and cooperate with Britain's diplomatic blackmail operations, the Datang Empire has successively sent three batches of expeditionary troops to Europe, totaling 11.2 people.

The subsequent mobilization order for the 5.5 expeditionary force is expected to be mostly demobilized and discharged this fall, and then a new batch of conscripts will be recruited to serve.

do the math

The 11.2 Tang Empire Expeditionary Forces have been in Europe for seven or eight months. After training, they basked in the sun and made love to white girls. They heard that they lived very chicly there.

"The officers and soldiers of our expeditionary force have now become hot cakes. The British, French and Ottomans have all extended olive branches, wanting to recruit our officers and soldiers to serve them." Director Zheng Yuan replied without hesitation.

"Oh why?"

"The British naturally wanted to supplement the Foreign Legion, and the French also took a fancy to the strength of the imperial officers and soldiers. They also established the Foreign Legion system, following the example of the United Kingdom, and wanted to recruit our people." Director Zheng Yuan replied with pride on his face, Then the conversation changed, and it talked about the Ottoman Empire;
"Among these countries, the Ottoman Empire has the greatest appetite. They want to recruit imperial expeditionary soldiers with favorable treatment to form a large-scale division.

In the battle with Tsarist Russia, a large number of elite troops of the Ottoman Empire were wiped out, which made its rule shaky, and it is difficult to change a strong army in the short term.

So they focused on the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Expeditionary Army. First, they could curb the continued provocations of the Tsarist Russians. Second, they could strengthen the military authority of Constantinople and maintain the existing imperial centralized system. There are many benefits! "

"Beautiful idea!" Emperor Li Cha sneered, obviously looking down on the three melons and two dates of the Ottoman Empire.

He thought about it seriously, and then said;

"Britain and France are old colonial empires with strong family backgrounds and good treatment. They really didn't say anything to their own people.

The veterans of the British Foreign Legion in the early days are now scattered in British colonies around the world. Some work in government departments and some in the police force. They marry wives and have children.

As long as you join the Foreign Legion of Britain, France and other countries to serve for a few years, basically these old colonial empires have a good place to settle, after all, they have many colonies!
Let's do this, it depends on the personal wishes of the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force.

Those who are willing to accept recruitment will be retired according to the situation, and it is also a good place to let them accept recruitment freely.

As for the Ottoman Empire, forget it, it was a mess.

Even if you are not fighting against the Tsarist Russian army, you have to suppress the uprising army one after another in the country. Basically, there will be no time to stop, let alone convert to that broken religion?
There are no other tasks, so arrange to return to China as soon as possible!
After all, these are the officers and soldiers who opened their eyes in Europe. After returning, whether they are placed in the United States of America, returned to the empire for arrangement, or sent to New Columbia or the colonial area of ​​Cuba, they are all available talents.

I dare not say how high my ability is, but I have all the vision and knowledge, and the difference is not much worse. "

"My minister would like to obey the imperial edict." Director Zheng Yuan naturally did not say anything, and accepted the order with a respectful expression.

The Datang Empire advocates the concept of "Datang of the world, the world of Datang", and has always treated immigrants with an open attitude.

The retired officers and soldiers of the empire are the most loyal and fanatical group that worships the royal family. A large number of royalist parties have formed in the empire, with ranchers, farmers and planters as the mainstream, and retired officers and soldiers are the main force.

Regardless of whether the subjects of the empire emigrate to North and South North America, South America or European countries, the empire is open-minded, creates a better environment as much as possible, and pays attention to the protection of the interests of expatriates.

Because the Tang Empire is a country that recognizes dual nationality, coming and going is voluntary and there are no restrictions.

This has also contributed to a substantial increase in the population of Chinese descent in North and South America, promoted regional economic and cultural exchanges, and promoted the Tang Empire's dazzling array of goods to the world, which is a very favorable policy.

That's why Emperor Li Cha said that it is based on personal wishes, and the expedition officers and soldiers make their own choices.

But his purpose will definitely be implemented, at least the army will introduce relevant information to those retired officers and soldiers who apply, including the experience of some veterans who entered the British Foreign Legion in the 19s, for retired officers and soldiers to choose.

not surprisingly
Most of the retired officers and soldiers will choose to accept the recruitment of the British, and a small number will choose to accept the recruitment of the French.

As for the Ottomans, forget about that.

There are many foreign generals in the Ottoman Empire. The naval commander Hobart Pasha is a British who converted to Christianity. The commander-in-chief of the army, Mehmet Ali Pasha, is a German who converted to Christianity. Weisser Pasha of Fortress Levin was also a German.

German and Italian officers were overwhelmed in the Ottoman Empire Army. A large number of German officers led by General Moltke, the former German Chief of Staff, went to the Ottoman Empire to pan for gold after the war, which has formed a trend.

But Emperor Li Cha didn't want his own people to convert to the Rausch Sect, and to mix with the old colonists such as Britain and France, so that they could have a good future.

After retiring from the Foreign Legion, even in the colonies, he is a superior person with a position and power, and can start a new life with a good salary.

To be honest, the British and French powers are really kind to their own people, and he is relieved that these Chinese boys are recruited, and they basically can't suffer.

(End of this chapter)