shadow of britain

Chapter 620 Diplomatic Intelligence in the Caucasus
After the snowstorm stopped, Druidsk, which had always been gray and white, did not become much brighter.

The clay of the houses on the street was peeled off by the melting snow, and the white walls became mottled and ugly. Most of the roofs were covered with reeds, which became more cumbersome after absorbing enough water. As for the orchards, the mayor had ordered them to be cut down one by one for the sake of the town's appearance.

There was no one in the street, except for a few roosters crossing the road occasionally. The road surface was covered with dust more than an inch thick, as soft as a pillow. Once it got wet, it turned into mud. If you stepped on it, you would be splashed with mud. But when the mud was rampant and people were afraid to go on the road, it was time for the animals to have fun.

Piglets rolled around in the mud, swishing their tails, foxes ran from one end of the street to the other, and wolves with sly eyes liked to stroll here under the cover of night. They all stretched out their serious faces from this natural 'bathtub', whining and making a fuss. Passers-by had to spur their horses to get out of the way as quickly as possible, and occasionally uttered a few low curses, but dared not let anyone hear them.

Only when you get close can you understand what the pedestrians are saying, such as "That pig is Bakaldin", "That fox looks like Hastingov", "Don't compete for the road with the wolf Barkov" and so on.

However, in this weather where the snow has just melted, it is very difficult to see pedestrians passing by in the small town.

You had to squat in front of the inn at the city gate for a long time before you could occasionally see a landlord with 11 serfs, wearing a formal dress made of homespun cloth, driving a cart that was used both as a carriage and for transporting goods slowly across the road. The fat landlord leaned out from among a pile of flour bags, and his red nose looked like a red cherry on a cake.

When they arrived at the city gate, the fat landlord jumped off the carriage and moved with earth-shaking steps. He rubbed his hands and asked the innkeeper: "Is there an important person in the city? The mayor suddenly sent someone to my house today to order a few large sacks of mountain products. I have never seen him pay so quickly in my life."

Perhaps after reading this, some people will ask: Why order mountain products instead of buying them at the market?

Then we have to turn our attention to the market square not far away, which can be described as desolate.

The tailor's door in front of the square is not facing the square from the front, but from the corner. Opposite it is a brick house with two windows. This house has been built for about 15 years and is still unfinished. A little further away, there is a fashionable wooden wall painted in a mud-like color. It was built as a model house by the mayor when he was young and had not yet developed the habit of taking a nap after dinner and drinking herbal juice made from dried currants at night.

Elsewhere, it was almost all fences, with a few small shops in the middle of the square, with a chain of bread doughnuts, an old woman with a red kerchief, a load of soap, a few pounds of bitter almonds, lead shot for hunting, half a roll of damask, and two shop assistants who always played the ring-tossing game in front of the door.

However, the arrival of the Cossack cavalry obviously made this square, which was sparsely populated in the past, much more lively.

The warrant officer with a hat tassel bent down respectfully to light the major's pipe and asked in a humbly manner about the promotion.

The garrison soldiers gathered around a few Cossacks, listening to them brag about the best West Indian tobacco they had bought in Kiev, how heroic they had been in the Caucasus War, and how beautiful the Chechen slave girls were that were given to them as spoils of war after the war.

The young soldiers were fooled by the Cossacks. They were envious and jealous of the good treatment the Cossacks received.

They say: "Oh, you are so lucky!"

But in his heart he cursed secretly: "Sleeping in the same bed with a pagan woman, I am not afraid of waking up in the middle of the night to find that she has wiped my neck."

As for the unshaven old-timers of the garrison, they did not envy the Cossacks' speeches at all.

The old-timers thought that these Cossacks were just bragging. Even if they were rewarded with female slaves, they might not be that pretty.

Because the old hands had discovered that whenever housewives gathered at the market with their ladles, the Cossacks would peer over their shoulders, just as they did with the local garrison in Druisk.

On a high platform not far away, a Cossack was scolding an honest countryman. The countryman did not dare to contradict the soldier. He could only stare with his eyes wide open, lower his head and hum in agreement.

The Cossack reprimanded the countryman majestically, looking like an emperor, but he seemed to have rheumatism in an instant, his straight back hunched down, and he forced a smile brighter than a flower on his face: "General! Colonel! Good morning!"

When Arthur heard the Cossack's cordial greeting, he habitually prepared to take off his hat in return, but then he thought that this did not seem to be in line with his personality, so he followed Barkov's example, put his hands behind his back, with no expression on his face, and just nodded slightly.

But even when he nodded, his chin never rose below 90 degrees.

General Barkov had the same plan as Arthur. Arthur wanted to find out the bottom line of this Cossack general, while Barkov also wanted to talk things over with Colonel Hastingov to avoid offending someone he shouldn't offend.

The general did hate the dog spies of the Third Bureau, but he never looked down on them.

This was because since the establishment of the Third Bureau, more than a dozen local governors had fallen into their hands, and most of the gendarmes who had overthrown the local governors were not as high-ranking as Hastingoff.

Arthur took the lead in asking based on the information he got from Gogol: "Sir, it is a waste of talent to have someone like you as an imperial envoy. Investigating the history of Pugachev's rebellion is something that a small clerk in the Ministry of Internal Affairs can handle. Why bother sending you out?"

Barkov glanced at Arthur, took off his gloves and said, "I am a soldier, and soldiers must obey orders. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued an order directly to me through the Zaporizhia Inspector, Prince Korsakov, to investigate the history of Pugachev's rebellion. The transfer order is in my suitcase. Do you want me to show it to you?"

Barkov's tone was very cold, because given his status, he couldn't even use the Russian word "you" when dealing with Arthur.

Although Arthur had only learned a little Russian, he knew that in Russian, "you" not only expressed respect but also represented a distant and cold relationship.

Arthur is usually too lazy to try to please such people.

But ever since he learned the unit number of Barkov, the British spies' eagerness to gather information had tortured him so much that he tossed and turned in bed and could not fall asleep.

2nd Ukrainian Cossack Regiment, participant in the Caucasian War.

Generally speaking, the British have little interest in the Caucasus, where there is not much to note except the mountains and forests.

But the problem is that the Persians don’t think so. Several small countries in the Caucasus region had long been subject to the Persian Qajar dynasty, but since the 19th century, Russia’s sphere of influence has begun to enter the Caucasus region. In 1801, Russia annexed Georgia, and in 1804, the Russian army occupied Gonza.

In order to defend their sovereignty over the Caucasus region, the Persians naturally declared war on Russia.

In the early stages of the war, the Persians fought relatively smoothly due to the difficulty of supplying the Russian army and the slow progress. But soon after, Russian reinforcements arrived and the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Before long, the Russians occupied a large area of ​​the South Caucasus. In 1812, the Russian army finally won a decisive victory at Aslanduz on the Aras River, defeating the main force of the Persian army.

Persia was unable to fight back, so it had to cede Derbent, Baku, Gonza, Kubin, Shirvan, Shaki, Karabag and northern Talish, gave up all claims to Georgia and Dagestan, and promised not to station troops in the Caspian Sea region.

In theory, the war between the Russians and the Persians was none of the British's business.

But the problem was that Persia was in a rather critical position.

If the Russians controlled Persia, they would be able to enter the Afghan plateau and thus threaten India, Britain's largest and most important overseas colony.

Therefore, in order to protect the most shining jewel in the crown of the British Empire, the British Foreign Office also chose to set up operations in Persia early on.

Persia's defeat in the Russo-Persian War was a heavy blow to Britain, which was trying to conquer Iran and control the Caspian Sea region militarily.

In order to prevent Persia from completely succumbing to Russia and thus damaging Britain's strategic interests, Britain "forgave" the Persians for their previous alliance with Napoleon and the expulsion of the British agent.

In 1809, Britain and Persia signed a new alliance, which required Persia to sever all relations with France and other countries hostile to Britain, and promised that during Persia's war with Russia, Britain would provide Iran with cash, weapons support, etc.

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After Napoleon stepped down for the first time, the treaty signed again in 1814 was also updated, which stipulated that Persia would not allow any European power's army to attack India through Iran, and that Persia's vassal states such as Khwarezm would not allow any European power's army to attack India through their own country, etc.

At the same time, the treaty also reiterated that when Persia went to war with any European country, Britain would provide financial support or send troops directly from India to support Persia.

With the support of Britain, calls for revenge against Russia became increasingly popular in Persia.

Finally, in July 1826, the Persian Shah 'Fateh-Ali Shah Qajar' issued an edict to the whole country, launching a jihad (holy war) in the Caucasus region and formally declaring war on Russia.

At the beginning of the war, the Persian new army trained by British instructors launched a surprise attack. The Russian army was caught off guard and retreated. Persia successfully recovered a large amount of lost territory.

But after coming to their senses, the reorganized Russian army quickly demonstrated its strength on the battlefield. The Cossack artillery that had been tempered in the Napoleonic Wars and came to reinforce from Crimea and other places taught the Persians a severe lesson on the Shamkar Heights near Gonza, making them understand "why artillery is the god of war". The Iranian new army that had been trained hard for several years was almost wiped out.

With the war situation already decided, Iran was forced to sign an armistice agreement with Russia in February 1828. In the new agreement, the Persians not only did not regain their territory, but also lost consular jurisdiction, military reparations, etc.

Are you talking about the agreement signed between Persia and Britain?
Yes, Britain did sign an agreement with Persia.

The agreement did stipulate that when Persia went to war with any European country, Britain would provide financial support or send troops directly from India to support Persia.

Funding was indeed provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the exact amount is uncertain.

As for sending troops directly from India to support Persia, didn't you see the 'or' in front of it?

The British government does cherish its long-standing relationship with Persia, but due to its traditional friendship and economic ties with Russia and the fact that the two countries have a common enemy, France, Britain must think carefully and make cautious decisions when it comes to joining forces with Iran to boycott Russia.

The Persians who didn't understand this lost their territory, while a former senior Scotland Yard police officer who didn't understand this opened people's eyes in Liverpool.

Of course, on the other hand, there is nothing wrong with the Russians ceding some land and paying some compensation from Persia.

However, if the Russians had bigger ambitions, such as completely annexing Persia or turning Persia into a Russian colony, the British government, which symbolizes freedom and progress and once liberated the people of the North American colonies, would not be able to tolerate it.

The British Foreign Office firmly opposes the long-term interference of certain countries in the internal affairs of other countries and the pursuit of hegemony, firmly opposes any country achieving its political goals through military threats, intimidation or armed intervention, and firmly opposes certain countries taking advantage of their international status and relying on their strong military and economic power to interfere in the affairs of other countries and impose their own will.

To prevent this from happening again, the Foreign Office has decided to:

First, we strongly condemn the perpetrators and express our sincere condolences to the victims. The British government expresses its deep sympathy to the people of all countries that have been violated by hegemonic acts and supports their efforts to safeguard their national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Second, strengthen the strategic partnership of mutual trust and mutual benefit between the UK and Poland. Specific measures include but are not limited to:
1. Open the export of British standard weapons and sign a new batch of export weapon orders. In order to enhance the defense capabilities of the Kingdom of Persia and ensure the long-term stability of the region, the British government decided to expand military cooperation with Persia. The new batch of weapon orders will involve advanced British light and heavy weapons and equipment, aiming to enhance the self-defense capabilities of the Kingdom of Persia. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs solemnly stated that the export of these weapons will follow strict international laws and arms trade agreements to ensure that they are only used for the defense needs of the Kingdom of Persia and are not targeted at any specific third country.

2. Increase the size of the British officer corps in Persia to help the Kingdom of Persia complete the transformation and innovation from a feudal army to a modern army. As an important part of the Anglo-Persian strategic partnership, the UK will increase the number of military advisers and instructors stationed in Persia to assist the Kingdom of Persia in military reform. This cooperation will cover military training, tactical guidance, modern equipment operation and optimization of the military organizational structure, helping the Kingdom of Persia to build a more efficient and modern military force and ensure that it has sufficient capabilities to deal with any external threats.

3. Promote the deepening of economic and trade interactions between the two countries. The UK and Poland will strengthen cooperation in the economic and trade fields and promote more unilateral investment and project cooperation, especially in raw materials, infrastructure construction and technology exchanges.

4. At the same time, the two sides will strengthen intelligence exchanges, strive to establish a normalized intelligence sharing mechanism before the 19s, and carry out comprehensive cooperation in counter-espionage, regional security and other aspects to ensure that the common interests of the two countries are effectively protected.

Third, the intelligence content on Russia in the Anglo-Polish intelligence exchange mechanism was supervised by Earl Daramore, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Russian Imperial Court, and implemented by Sir Arthur Hastings, Cultural Counselor of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Russian Imperial Court.

(End of this chapter)