shadow of britain

Chapter 686: See the light in the dark, keep calm and be flexible

I am sure that sooner or later we will go to war with Russia over India. What I am worried about is that we will not know until the day when Khiva is occupied. Then, the Russian army will reach Kabul three or four months after it sets out from Khiva. In order to thwart the enemy's attempt, we must defeat them before they reach India, otherwise it will be too late when 20,000 Russian troops arrive in India. Britain has no way out. We must stop the Russians in Afghanistan at all costs and formulate a forward policy to defend Central Asia.

—Lord Ellenborough, Chairman of the Indian Administration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Wellington Cabinet
Blackwell has been feeling that his boss, Sir Arthur Hastings, has been behaving strangely lately.

If the previous Arthur was more like a policeman than a diplomat, the current Arthur obviously fits Blackwell's impression of the traditional diplomat image more.

He attended various balls and literary salons all day long, either having dinner with new friends in high-end restaurants or having drinks with various celebrities at the Royal Theater in St. Petersburg. Even on the way to the theater, he no longer read those boring diplomatic intelligence, but picked up Russian literary magazines and French fashion magazines, and commented on various articles and recommended outfits from time to time.

Even the lord's interest in ladies has been increasing dramatically recently. Perhaps it is because he has suddenly become enlightened in some aspect and tasted the sweetness, or perhaps he has learned the benefits of "lady diplomacy" from some senior.

All in all, the Jazz has been so abnormal lately, as if he has really become a serious person.

And all this happened after the Jazz met those young people from Moscow who survived the disaster.

Although Blackwell didn't know whether Arthur, nicknamed "Iron Heart", had been enlightened by bullets again, he was sure that Arthur had indeed asked him to do private work less frequently recently.

However, the sudden drop in workload did not make Blackwell happy, but instead made the private secretary secretly melancholy.

Did something happen in London?
The Sir's plan to return to London after his meritorious service has failed?

Blackwell was feeling uneasy, but fortunately a letter sent from London this morning gave him confidence.

Although these letters looked ordinary on the outside, the dazzling titles on them made Blackwell's heart rise to his throat.

Honorary President of Oxford University, Principal of Charterhouse School, Chief Sheriff of England, Lord Chancellor of the Tower of London, Director of the Five Ports, Duke of Victoria of Portugal, Duke Rodrigo of Spain, Prince of Waterloo of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium...

Although the owner of the letter did not sign his name as a joke, the "French gravedigger" that replaced it already revealed his identity - the Duke of Wellington, the first person under the King of Great Britain.

Although Blackwell had heard that Arthur had a good relationship with the Duke of Wellington, he was still shocked when he saw Arthur received a handwritten letter from the Duke of Wellington.

As Arthur's personal secretary, Blackwell even felt a sense of honor from the bottom of his heart just holding the letter.

"Sir..." Blackwell stood beside the desk, looking at Arthur sitting under the calligraphy of "Only My Virtue Is Fragrant", and asked cautiously: "May I ask you a question? Did His Excellency the Duke write to you because of something that happened in London?"

Arthur, smoking his pipe, read the letter without even glancing at Blackwell.

He muttered, "Is there always something going on in London? It's just that most of the things are not worth the Duke's concern. He is too lazy to pay attention to those trivial matters. Since he stopped being the Prime Minister, he has been free from worries."

"In that case..." Blackwell couldn't hide his curiosity and asked, "What was it all about? It can't be that Napoleon rose up from his coffin, right?"

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but think of Louis' arrest by French authorities for launching a coup in Strasbourg last month. It must be said that Louis's imitation of his uncle's offline reality show was quite a failure.

Louis's coup was almost comparable to Britain's Glorious Revolution, the only thing they had in common was that both were bloodless.

Yes, no one died in this coup, and even the number of injuries was not large, so even though it failed, it still had its bright spots.

I just wonder if Garibaldi, who is far away in South America, would feel relieved about the terrible Genoa uprising he organized after learning the details of Louis' coup.

Although they both failed the exam, there is still a difference between 30 points and 20 points.

Arthur was thinking about his group of unreliable friends, and he blurted out: "It's nothing more than some coup d'état..."

"Coup!" The secretary turned pale with fear when she heard this: "Has the situation in the country...has it gotten so bad? Is someone planning to launch a coup?"

Arthur realized that he seemed to have misunderstood Blackwell, and quickly corrected himself: "It's not Britain, it's India, and there is no coup."

"India?" Blackwell was stunned at first, then he couldn't help but smile: "Does that mean you are going to..."

Before Blackwell finished speaking, he immediately remembered Arthur's attitude towards his post in India, so he quickly suppressed the corners of his mouth, silently thinking of his deceased grandmother, and said with a sad attitude: "The Duke of Wellington has written to you personally. It seems that the development of the situation is not optimistic! I really don't understand. You just handled the Caucasus properly, but they actually plan to send you to India! That's India! Civilized people should not go to that barbaric subcontinent!"

Arthur frowned in agreement and shook his head gently: "It is difficult to disobey the orders of the Lord. Although this is indeed very troublesome, this is the Duke of Wellington's intention after all."

"What does the Duke of Wellington mean?" Blackwell exclaimed. "You... is it the province of Bombay, or Madras..."

At this point, he finally realized that he seemed to talk too much, and he quickly closed his mouth, even though his ecstatic expression had already betrayed him.

But before long, the desire to go to the spice country once again drove the private secretary to persuade his boss not to be ungrateful: "Sir, if you think about it carefully, this is not a bad decision. Although India is indeed far away from home, working for the East India Company does not mean that you will be tied to India for the rest of your life! After all, the East India Company still has many overseas positions, such as the East India Company's envoy to Tehran, etc. Although these positions are under the name of the East India Company, they still belong to the diplomatic system. As long as you do a good job, it is definitely a matter of time before you return to Europe."

Blackwell kept telling Arthur the benefits of going to India, and Arthur's thoughtful expression seemed as if he was convinced by him.

Arthur put the letter from the Duke of Wellington aside and leaned his chin on the desk with one hand. "It seems to be true. But it's a very tiring journey from Russia to India."

Blackwell saw that there was a good chance, so he struck while the iron was hot and said, "Whether you'll be tired or not depends on how you plan your travel. Didn't the Duke of Wellington serve in India for many years? Didn't he suggest you some comfortable routes?"

Arthur crossed his legs and took a puff of his cigarette. “His Excellency did mention that, from a military point of view, there are two land routes from Russia to India that are more reliable. The first route is to take Khiva first, then Balkh, and then cross the Hindu Kush Mountains to Kabul like Alexander the Great. From there, the army will pass through Jalalabad and the Khyber Pass to Peshawar, and finally cross the Indus River at Attock.

He analyzed that if they wanted to capture Khiva, it would be better to launch an attack from Orenburg rather than from the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Although this route was longer, the water supply was much better than that of the Karakum Desert, and the tribes along the way were easier to subdue than the dangerous Turkmen. After the Russian army reached the northern shore of the Aral Sea, they could take a ferry or raft to the mouth of the Amu Darya River and then go south to Khiva. The capture of Khiva and then the march to India was an extremely ambitious plan that would involve a series of continuous operations and would take at least two to three years to complete.

The more Blackwell listened, the more he felt something was wrong: "Planning a travel route in the same way as making a military plan, uh... I have to say, this is very much the style of a famous general..."

Arthur glanced at him and added, "The second possible route is to capture Herat first, and then use it as a transit point to assemble the army. From there, the troops can reach the Bolan Pass via Kandahar and Quetta. According to the expedition report of Lieutenant Connolly of the 6th Light Horse Regiment of Bengal, he reached India via the Bolan Pass. To reach Herat, one can choose to take the land route through Persia, which has surrendered to Russia, or cross the Caspian Sea to Astrabad. Therefore, once Herat in Afghanistan falls into the hands of Russia, or is annexed by Persia, which is friendly with Russia, the Russian army can easily garrison there for many years and obtain military supplies at any time. At this time, the Russians do not even need to advance to India, because the existence of the Russian garrison itself is enough to disrupt the local people in India. And when Britain faces possible civil unrest in India, it is the perfect time for the Russians to launch an attack."

"This……"

No matter how dumb Blackwell was, he now understood what riddle Arthur was asking.

How could this letter from the Duke of Wellington be an order to transfer Arthur?

It is clear that His Excellency the Duke is worried that once the Russians gain control of Central Asia, they will seek to expand their sphere of influence to the Indian colonies.

At this critical juncture, the Duke of Wellington suddenly wrote such a letter to Arthur, the British Cultural Counselor in Russia. The hidden meaning behind this is very intriguing.

Blackwell vaguely knew that during the reign of the Duke of Wellington, the cabinet was very worried that the Ottoman Empire and Persia would become Russian vassals, as they had been defeated by Russia and forced to sign surrender agreements. For this reason, the old Duke put his good friend and Tory hawk Lord Ellenborough as the chairman of the Indian Administration Committee.

Lord Ellenborough was a staunch anti-Russian, and he had always believed in Russia's expansionist intentions. As Persia was defeated by Russia, Russia's influence continued to expand in Central Asia, and several military expeditions of the East India Company even reported witnessing Russian Cossack activities in the Khanate of Khiva. Therefore, Lord Ellenborough was worried that the Russians might repeat their old tricks, first Russian merchants were active, and then Russian troops would follow the caravans, using the excuse of protecting the safety of merchants to expand.

In order to prevent this from happening, Lord Ellenborough believed there was reason to investigate in detail and draw up a map of Russia's expanding commercial ports in Central Asia and North India. Once these were mastered, it would be possible to monitor the Russian route into India.

In order to achieve this goal, he painstakingly devised a brilliant plan that was not too aboveboard.

At that time, Punjab King Ranjit Singh presented a batch of gorgeous Kashmir shawls to King William IV of England to congratulate him on his accession to the throne, and William IV was considering what to give in return.

According to the intelligence provided by the East India Company, the elderly Indian prince was fond of women, but this was obviously not a consideration because there were no female slaves to be found in Britain. Even if the government could buy a few ready-made ones from the Ottomans, if the reporters on Fleet Street knew about this, there would definitely be a big mess.

In addition to women, another hobby of this Indian prince was horses.

Then Lord Ellenborough came up with an idea.

He plans to give Ranjit Singh five English thoroughbred horses, including four mares and a stallion.

As a breed bred specifically for racing since the 17th century, the English Thoroughbred is the fastest horse in the world over short and medium distances. Lord Ellenborough hopes to impress the King of Punjab with a few English Thoroughbreds that are capable of winning the Derby, considering that the Asian monarch had recently sent an envoy to St. Petersburg.

At the same time, he also ordered the Governor of Bombay, Sir John Malcolm, to build a gilded ceremonial carriage, so that Ranjit Singh could then tour his kingdom comfortably and majestically in a luxurious carriage pulled by British horses.

Of course, this is certainly not the whole plan.

Due to the huge size of horses and carriages, and the fact that horses were not adapted to the local climate and terrain, they would probably not be able to reach Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Kingdom, by land. Therefore, it was natural for Britain to ask for a waterway to go upstream along the Indus River, and it was also reasonable to conduct a detailed survey of the river to ensure that water transportation could reach Lahore directly.

Unfortunately, Lord Ellenborough's brilliant plan was strongly opposed by Sir Charles Metcalfe, Secretary General of the East India Company's Confidential Political Department. He believed that the Indian princes had already wrongly accused the British government because of some similar tricks, and this reconnaissance plan was extremely easy to detect, which would only deepen the local monarchs' misunderstanding of Britain.

However, Sir John Malcolm, the Governor of Bombay, strongly supported Lord Ellenborough's ideas and believed that in order to prevent the Russian threat to India, an advance policy must be formulated because offense is the best defense.

However, just when the plan was about to be finalized, the Duke of Wellington was ousted because of the Catholic Emancipation Act, and Lord Ellenborough, who had been in the same boat with his old friend, also left the position of Chairman of the Indian Administrative Committee. Sir Malcolm, the Governor of Bombay, was worried that things would change over time, so he cut the Gordian knot and immediately urged the expedition to set off.

The expedition set out in January 1831 and returned to Bombay in March 1.

The reason why this expedition lasted so long was mainly because the leader of the expedition, Lieutenant Burns of the Indian Political Service Elite Regiment, not only presented horses and carriages to the King of Punjab, but also obtained the recognition of Sir Malcolm and volunteered to cross Punjab to survey other undiscovered roads into India.

Lieutenant Burns and his party took off their European clothes, put on Afghan clothes, shaved their heads, put on turbans, disguised themselves as British travelers, and headed north into Afghanistan. They met Dost Mohammed, the most powerful monarch in Afghanistan, in Kabul.

After the two sides became familiar with each other, Muhammad even took the initiative to ask Burns to be his military training commander, and promised Burns: "You will be in charge of 12,000 horses and 20 cannons."

Even though Burns rejected the proposal, Muhammad still hoped that he could help recommend other officers of the East India Company to take up this position.

The reason why the Afghan monarch was so eager to have his army trained by foreigners was because of the Punjab King Ranjit Singh. In the past few hundred years, Afghans could pour into India through the Khyber Pass, plunder Delhi, and then return with a large amount of gold and silver treasures.

But ever since Indian princes began hiring European officers to train and reform their armies, the Afghans have never lived the good life they once did.

Burns rejected Muhammad not because he was unwilling to accept this opportunity to make a fortune, but because Britain had signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Ranjit Singh. If he dared to take such private work, he would basically have no hope of returning to Britain in his life.

Lieutenant Burns was only 26 years old and had just completed an expedition. He had a bright future ahead of him. How could he give up the opportunity to make a name for himself in Britain for the sake of a chance to dominate India?
Moreover, it was obviously more in Britain's interest to let the Afghans and Punjabis live in peace than to provoke a war between them, which would lead to the Russians taking advantage of the situation.

The first step is to make the Afghans live in peace with their neighbors. The second step is to reintegrate the divided Afghanistan and help them establish a unified regime to guard against the risk of Russian invasion that may occur at any time.

As for who will be the person in charge of Afghanistan, Lieutenant Burns certainly supports Dost Mohammad in Kabul.

But unfortunately, Muhammad is not the only candidate. Kamran, who controls Herat, is also a key target of attention.

This is because long before Lieutenant Burns, Lieutenant Connaught of the East India Company had visited the Afghan region, and he considered Herat to be a military stronghold.

Speaking of Lieutenant Connaught's experience, it can be called a legendary travelogue.

In 1831, Lieutenant Connaught had just finished his vacation in Moscow and planned to return to India to work.

Because of his status, the Russian government enthusiastically sent Cossack cavalry to protect Connaught when he crossed the dangerous Caucasus region.

After arriving in Persia, Connaught had a sudden idea and did not choose to return to India by sea, but chose to take a route that no one had ever traveled before, crossing the desert and the Afghan plateau.

Connaught encountered life-threatening situations several times along the way. He encountered bandits who blocked his way to rob him, and also encountered slave traders' slave hunting teams. He was almost suspected of being a spy for the hostile forces by the Afghan warlords who were at war with him. He almost died of a high fever a few days before arriving in India.

He finally realized why no one had ever walked the path he was taking before, because most of the people who had walked the path before him had died along the way.

Fortunately, he completed the 4,000-mile journey and spent three years writing this legendary experience into a booklet titled "Overland from Britain to the North of India, Via Russia, Persia and Afghanistan."

What is even more gratifying is that Lieutenant Connaught, who had been suffering from lack of funds for publishing, recently met an enthusiastic editor of "The Brit" magazine in London. The editor not only appreciated Connaught's work very much and agreed to publish his book, but also offered a considerable price.

Of course, giving so much money is definitely not unconditional.

However, this condition was not even a request in Connaught's view. The other party just hoped that: based on a detailed analysis of the invasion routes available to the Russian generals and the possibility of success of various invasion plans, appropriate exaggeration could be made.

For publishers, such a request is reasonable. After all, only by writing in this way can a book create a gimmick, and the gimmick is directly related to sales.

Connaught naturally accepted this with pleasure.

However, Connaught obviously did not expect that the book would be so successful after its publication. Even the Duke of Wellington carefully studied his analysis results at the recommendation of Benjamin Disraeli, a newcomer in the party.

The Duke of Wellington, who was already worried, could not sleep all night after reading the book, and he was reminded of the diplomatic report sent from St. Petersburg by Sir Arthur Hastings, the cultural counselor in Russia a few weeks ago, which implicitly accused Foreign Secretary Viscount Palmerston of being soft on Russia.

To this end, the restless old duke immediately sent someone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request a recent diplomatic report analyzing the situation in the Caucasus region.

As a result, more than half of these diplomatic reports were written by Arthur, and the views expressed in them almost always confirmed Lieutenant Connaught's observations and speculations.

So, the Duke of Wellington waved his hand and the handwritten letter traveled across the ocean to the desk of the British Embassy in St. Petersburg.

(End of this chapter)