The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1851 Gambling
However, this situation would not last forever. In fact, in order to shift the economic crisis, the British had been frantically dumping goods in the occupied territories of North America, and even doing business with the American army.

However, the Americans' capacity to bear such losses was ultimately limited, especially since the British in the British-occupied North America wanted both raw material sources and dumping grounds, which did not align with the interests of the Americans in the British-occupied areas.

As dumping intensified, the compradors' lies crumbled on their own.

Logically speaking, the compradors had already seized power and had money and troops, so even if the Americans in the British-occupied areas wanted to resist, they wouldn't have much of a chance; at most, they could only spit a few words.

However, even those compradors underestimated the extent of the British Empire's inhumanity.

The British directly copied the East India Company's system, forcibly levying land and mineral taxes at rates exceeding 50%, just like in India.

At the same time, all mineral resources were transferred to the British Mining Association, and local residents were forced to mine them.

The UK imposes zero tariffs on domestic goods and high tariffs on US goods.

Abolish the dollar and force its conversion into pounds sterling.

In fact, the idea of ​​a unified currency is usually considered a great thing that benefits the country and its people and will benefit future generations.

But in reality, there is a lot of room for maneuver. For example, if the original ratio of 1:5 is changed to 1:6, then you will make a net profit of 20% on the spot.

Don't underestimate 20%. The British colonial system was a complex combination of tactics, designed to achieve a spiral ascent by stepping on one foot while stepping on the other.

So, is it possible to refuse to exchange for old currency? The answer is absolutely not; exchange is mandatory. There are a thousand charges against those who refuse to exchange.

In just over a year, Britain recovered a significant amount of money, while American workers' wages successfully aligned with those in Britain, resulting in an average decrease of 70%.

Famine has already occurred in some areas, something that was completely unimaginable for Americans before, given that they are one of the world's largest food exporters.

Nothing can stir up people's fighting spirit more than famine. Under the threat of hunger, poverty, and death, some Americans in British-occupied areas finally began to resist.

However, their initial resistance was unsuccessful because the number of American collaborators was too large, and they were also exploited by this system.

However, the relative power of those American traitors has expanded; they can not only decide life and death, but also make life worse than death.

Such power is more satisfying than wealth, but as the number of people resisting increased and the methods of resistance became more intense, they finally felt fear.

It must be said that the American people were still very militant at this time, and they immediately began armed struggle after the initial demonstrations failed.

At this point, the advantages of having a large population and a vast territory became apparent. The fact that the gunmen had attacked British officials and American collaborators and then moved directly to rural areas was enough to give the British a headache.

It wasn't that the criminal investigation methods at the time couldn't find the person, but rather that the administrative costs were too high and the British side lacked the resources.

Faced with this unprofitable situation, the British, as always, chose the most cost-effective approach: if the deceased were British citizens or important figures, they would investigate thoroughly; if the deceased were insignificant individuals, they would pretend nothing had happened.

Under the British's manipulation, the scattered resistance fighters quickly developed into an organization, and the gunmen who randomly carried out acts of justice became guerrillas.

On the other hand, William Codlington, the highest-ranking officer parachuted into the British Army, had a major conflict with William Rodden, and Codlington could not accept Rodden's rashness.

Rodden, on the other hand, could not accept Codrington's conservative style of play at all. He felt that Codrington's confrontation with the Americans over building a wall was like building a prison for himself.

However, Codrington believed that the best offense was defense, since the US military lacked experience in siege warfare and had never won against Britain in a siege battle.

A large-scale offensive would expose the weaknesses of the British army to the American forces, but as long as it was a "fair" confrontation, the Americans would have no chance of winning.

Codrington's approach clearly contradicted the ideas of the British government at the time, but he was not only a military strategist but also a very capable politician.

Upon arriving in North America, Codrington skillfully won over the generals of the expeditionary force, especially the navy.

The Earl of Derby was also quite helpless about this, because they could not find a more suitable candidate, since almost all the capable generals were in India.

The most suitable candidate would be Hugh Gough, however, the Hugh Gough in the book had already died on Kalimantan.

At that time, the British army could hardly find any generals with experience in large-scale operations, so they had no choice but to select Codrington.

However, this back-and-forth is not what the British government wants to see. As the Earl of Derby said before, he wants the result, not the process.

The main problem is that such attrition seems to have little effect on the United States. Instead of breaking the American will to resist, it has led to an increasingly exaggerated number of American troops.

Ultimately, the British couldn't afford to drag this out. The New England Auxiliary Army, composed of a large number of American collaborators, ensured stability in the rear, which was essential to maintaining the stalemate.

But we can't delay any longer; if we keep dragging it out, we'll kill ourselves.

The Earl of Derby discovered William Rhoden's plan, which was not particularly special, but its claim that the war could be ended within six months still attracted the desperate prime minister.

To put it nicely, the Earl of Derby was appointed to a critical position; to put it bluntly, he was just another scapegoat.

If he fails to achieve sufficient results, he will inevitably fade from the political stage, or even the historical stage, just like George Hamilton Gordon.

The only thing that can be called an achievement now is the current North American war. As for India, although there have been setbacks, the British army has generally entered the counter-offensive phase and has achieved a basic victory.

The Earl of Derby handed over William Roden’s plan to the Secretary of War, Henry Pelham.

"Please take a look at this battle plan."

Henry Pelham had actually read the battle plan countless times, but he still pretended to look at it.

"Yes, this is a very bold plan! General William Rhoden wants to bypass Philadelphia and attack Washington directly, thus avoiding a protracted war of attrition."

Moreover, once Washington falls, fortified cities like Philadelphia and Harrisburg will become isolated. At that point, the garrison in those cities will either have to leave their fortifications and fight our army to the death in the open, or they will have no choice but to surrender, because holding out will no longer be of any significance.

Even if our army cannot conquer Washington in a short time, as long as Washington is besieged, we will not have to worry about not having a battle to fight.

That would allow us to fully utilize our advantages in field battles and defeat the main forces of the US military one by one.

The Prime Minister, Earl Derby, nodded repeatedly as he listened, finding the plan perfect, given that Philadelphia seemed not far from Washington on the map.

Earl Derby couldn't help but wonder if those officers were all idiots, how could they not see such an obvious flaw?
However, Henry Pelham spoke up again at this moment.

"This plan is also quite risky. It is not easy to send a large army deep into the heart of the US military territory. It is hard to say that the US military will discover them along the way."

If the US military ambushes us along the way or reinforces Washington, it's hard to say whether the plan will succeed. Especially with such long supply lines, if the US forces in Philadelphia and Harrisburg don't choose to reinforce but instead cut off our supply lines, and we fail to capture Washington soon enough, we'll likely be the ones in trouble.

The Earl of Derby laughed and pointed to the map.

"You're exaggerating! At such close range, General William Roden could simply withdraw, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Henry Pelham shook his head and pointed to the map.

"Your Excellency, that short distance you mentioned is a full 220 kilometers. If fighting breaks out, it will be extremely difficult to evacuate in time."

Moreover, to attack a fortified and heavily guarded city like Washington, we would need at least 30,000 to 50,000 elite troops.

Failure would mean a complete collapse of our front lines.

Earl Derby's mood immediately soured. Although he would be labeled as incompetent for not being able to solve the problem, it was still better than being defeated and nailed to the pillar of shame.

At this point, the Earl of Derby was beginning to understand why his predecessors had been so hesitant and ultimately made some incomprehensible moves.

In fact, Henry Pelham himself hoped that the Earl of Derby would take William Roden's advice, since as Secretary of War he knew better than anyone that Britain was only one step away from defeat in the North American theater.

However, as Secretary of War, Henry Pelham had an obligation to clearly explain the advantages and disadvantages of the operational plan.

Moreover, he could not guarantee that William Rodden's plan would succeed, but based on his experience fighting the US military, the US military discipline was extremely poor, and once an emergency occurred, command chaos would easily occur, leading to a major defeat.

If William Rodden and his troops could appear undetected outside Washington, they would likely succeed in one fell swoop.

The fundamental problem is that the United States is too big and the British army is not strong enough. If the number of British troops could be doubled, then the problems we are facing now would not be problems at all.

But it's unclear when exactly, but these British politicians seem to have lost their courage and boldness. They appear to be bound by something, no longer possessing the same fearless spirit they had during the anti-French wars.

Lord Palmerston, an old-school politician, could no longer stand by and watch as the mighty British Empire hesitated to confront a group of American country bumpkins.

However, he really couldn't interrupt right now, as Palmerston's reputation was in tatters, and he was only in the cabinet by doing favors for Prince Albert.

Palmerston was actually quite disappointed in Prince Albert; he hadn't expected that the Prince wouldn't be willing to step forward and take responsibility for the pressure.

Palmerston's idea was that as long as the people suffered a little more, he could send two or three times the number of troops to North America without fear that the Americans would refuse to negotiate.

As for occupying the United States, he never even considered it, since that was unrealistic and would require at least two or three attempts to gradually achieve.

That's right, Palmerston just felt that it was unrealistic to achieve everything in one battle, not that it was unrealistic to launch a counterattack against the United States.

Other members of the British cabinet were also experiencing very mixed feelings; frankly, they were all finding it hard to believe that Britain was going to lose again.

After all, it seems that not long ago Britain was still an invincible superpower capable of facing the Holy Alliance alone.

But in the blink of an eye, it seems they're about to be defeated again by these American bumpkins.

Although the United States had Austria and France behind it, the Americans were, after all, a bunch of country bumpkins, and the valiant Red Shirts had no reason to lose to these country bumpkins.

The facts before them forced them to accept the truth, but the final decision was left to the Prime Minister; after all, it's better for one person to cry than for everyone to cry.

The Earl of Derby glanced around and found that few dared to meet his gaze; most looked like defeated roosters awaiting their verdict.

The Earl of Derby let out a heavy sigh; he knew everyone was waiting for him to make this final decision.

If he doesn't make a decision, the entire organism will slowly die, so he must make a decision.

However, after the explanation given by War Secretary Henry Pelham, the Earl of Derby understood how difficult the plan was to achieve and what the consequences of failure would be.

To be honest, he's already considering resigning, but the reality is that he can't easily resign from his position.

Logistics, supplies, and the unrest in the occupied territories were forcing the Earl of Derby to make a decision, and his intuition told him that perhaps adopting William Rhoden's plan was the only way out.

As long as Washington can be captured, it doesn't matter whether Franklin Pierce can be captured alive; both sides are open to negotiation.

At this point, Britain's strategic goal was no longer to occupy the entire United States or consolidate its existing territories, but to end this protracted war.

Of course, the premise for ending the war must be that it is in Britain's favor. That's why this war had to be fought. Only by defeating the Americans, or at least dampening their spirits, could they be persuaded to accept peace talks.

However, the Earl of Derby did not want to be forced into this situation, as it might be his only chance in his life, and he wanted to do his best.

"I request an additional 100,000 troops to North America, as well as more war funding."

"But Your Excellency, Parliament will not agree. They are still demanding cuts to military spending and the size of the expeditionary force."

The Earl of Derby was even angrier when he heard this. If those members of parliament really wanted to demand cuts to foreign military spending and the size of the army for domestic security, that would be one thing.

They simply felt that the taxes were too high.

“Tell them I want to end this protracted war! Or they can fight for a few more years, or they can bear the cost of defeat.”

The Earl of Derby then turned to look at Henry Pelham, who remained silent with his head down.

"I expect the Army to use all your talents to devise a winning plan. The future of the British Empire rests on your shoulders!"

The Earl of Derby spoke sincerely, and Henry Pelham also wanted to end the war, gambling on the fate of the British Empire.

"We will do everything in our power. If we fail in the war, I will resign immediately."

The Earl of Derby nodded and returned to his seat, where he needed to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary debate.

However, the Earl of Derby would not actually wait until the parliamentary debate was over before taking action, since a meeting could last anywhere from three to five days to a month.

Given the current situation of the US military in North America, every extra day increases the risk. If it drags on for a month, plus the time needed for troop transport, things will probably be too late.

(End of this chapter)