The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 114 "The Way Will Help You"

September 1725, 9, France, Palace of Fontainebleau.

In the past month, the ongoing Qi-British war has begun to develop in an increasingly expanding direction.Following March 3, Qi declared war on England, and on July 15, Qi declared war on the Kingdom of Portugal on the grounds that it was assisting the English navy.Subsequently, on August 7, Qi declared war on the Republic of Venice on the grounds that the Republic of Venice arbitrarily intercepted and attacked Qi's merchant ships in the Mediterranean.

Because coastal towns were raided by the English navy, Qi's most important ally in North Africa, the Allawi dynasty of Morocco, also declared war on England. Not long after, it joined Qi in declaring war on Portugal, thus officially joining Qi's side.

The Balkans, which had been dormant for several years, are at war again. On August 8, the Habsburg dynasty mobilized more than 10 troops and set out from Belgrade to attack the Wallachia region of the Ottoman Empire. Immediately, the two countries fell into an arduous border tug-of-war.

Russia, which had just changed its tsar, launched an invasion from the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus in mid-August against the Safavid Empire of Persia, which had just expelled the Afghans.The Qi army in Persia immediately responded with force and cooperated with the Persian army to launch a counterattack against the incoming Russian army.

Perhaps because they heard that England was attacked by Qi and suffered heavy losses, the Kingdom of Spain saw an opportunity and sent a tough note to England on August 8, asking it to immediately return the stolen Gibraltar and Minorca to Spain. and withdraw all troops and warships.This move was naturally rejected by England.

On August 8, the Spanish army, which had been preparing for a long time, launched an attack on the British army stationed in Gibraltar, preparing to take back the place by force.But unfortunately, more than 30 Spanish troops faced the strong defense line built by the English. They suffered severe injuries and more than [-] casualties, and had to retreat to their starting position.

In Germany, in view of the presence of Prussian troops on the border, Hanover immediately responded tit-for-tat, mobilized and assembled more than [-] troops, and marched to Windburg to prepare for the attack.In order to ensure that his Longxing Land would not be ravaged by Prussia, King George I of England asked the Prime Minister, Earl Robert Walpole, to send naval and army troops to defend Hanover.

However, this request was rejected by the Cabinet Council, which made King George I very angry and clamored to return to Hanover to defend his territory.

Yes, the King of Great Britain's interests were not at home in England at all, but in European foreign affairs and his Hanoverian territory.Moreover, he himself could not even speak English, and could only speak German and French. He had never been able to communicate normally with the ministers of England.He also spent most of his time in Hannover, which was his true hometown and where his heart belonged.

Not knowing what benefits the British had promised to Saxony, August II, who was also the King of Poland, began to gather troops and marched towards the Prussian border, warning William I not to provoke a war in North Germany and to stop posing military threats to Hanover.For a time, the two countries entered a tense confrontation, causing the entire German region to be shrouded in the shadow of war.

Compared with the treacherous European continent, France has maintained a rare calmness, always watching the further development and evolution of the situation in Europe with a cold eye.Of course, the focus of the French court ministers at this time may not be on those insignificant "little things". They are all devoted to the preparations for the grand wedding of King Louis XV.

On September 9th, the Palace of Fontainebleau on the left bank of the Seine has turned into a grand wedding hall, with main tower, palace, courtyard, garden, ballroom, conference hall, Francois I Corridor... everything is paved. It was filled with flowers, ribbons and woolen silk cloth inlaid with royal irises. Even the roads in the forest were decorated with colorful silk satins and gauze scarves, making it dreamlike.

Representatives of royal guests or ministers to France from dozens of countries were all dressed in costumes, accompanied by their well-dressed female companions, riding in luxury carriages to this magnificent palace to witness King Louis X of France. Five grand weddings.

Of course, this wedding also provides an excellent diplomatic stage for European politicians to mediate and negotiate with each other on the current complicated European situation.

"Dear Duke, on behalf of His Majesty the King of Great Britain, I would like to extend my most sincere blessings to the King of your country!" The British envoy Count Dalton Ferrin walked to the French Prime Minister Louis IV, Duke of Bourbon, Henri de Bourbon. Beside him, he bowed slightly and said, "We wish His Majesty the King a long and happy marriage, and that he can continue to lead the Kingdom of France to prosperity and prosperity."

"On behalf of His Majesty the King, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to your country for your blessings!" The Duke of Bourbon smiled slightly and responded politely.

"Your Majesty the Duke, our two countries are traditional friendly neighbors separated by a strip of water. We should always develop relations between the two countries based on the principles of peace, friendship, and mutual benefit." Earl Philling said: "Currently, our Kingdom of Great Britain and Qi are in a state of war. , in view of the principle of neutrality and friendship, I hope that your country can prohibit Qi naval ships from entering French ports to obtain necessary supplies."

"Oh?..." Duke Bourbon raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "We, the Kingdom of France, are deeply sorry and concerned about the war between your country and Qi. In this war, we France will strictly maintain neutrality and will not It is biased towards any party, and will not provide war support to any party. However, our country has always maintained an open attitude towards ordinary merchant ships coming to our ports to conduct normal commercial and trade activities, and will not set any restrictive measures. As for what Earl Felin mentioned There is no such thing as a Qi naval warship sailing into our country’s coastal ports to supply supplies. At least, I have not received any reports or feedback on this matter.”

"..." Count Fehling looked deeply at the Duke of Bourbon. There was a hint of schadenfreude in the smile on his face, and he didn't seem to care at all about his reminder (warning).

According to reports from English merchant ships off the coast of France, two transport ships flying the Qi flag sailed into the port of Dunkirk more than ten days ago. After being loaded with coal, grain, livestock and poultry, they left again at night. After arriving at the port, we headed towards the North Sea.So sneaky, and the purchased materials included a large amount of coal, it was clearly a supply ship for the Qi Expedition Fleet!

Is it possible that Qi merchants still made a profit by transporting coal from France all the way back to Hanzhou?

More than half a month ago, the Qi expedition fleet made a false shot near Gibraltar, then turned around and headed straight to England, where it raided the port city of Liverpool.After lifting the defenses of the port, the frantic Qi people did not take any landing action. Instead, they bombarded the city for two days and fired a large number of rockets into the city, turning the entire city into a sea of ​​flames.

A week later, when the British navy and army rushed to Liverpool, what everyone saw was a ruins. Tens of thousands of city residents were crying and wailing. They dragged their tired bodies and continued to search and dig out their relatives among the ruins. , or pick up the remaining belongings in the ruins.

After a thorough cleanup, more than 800 bodies of victims were recovered, more than half of which were women and children.In addition, there were more than [-] people injured in varying degrees.Throughout Liverpool, very few buildings remained intact and almost all the sheds and cabins were destroyed.

It can be said that the people of Qi completely destroyed this emerging port city!

If the people of Qi had done such a tragic thing and only made England extremely sad and angry, then the subsequent actions of the Qi expedition fleet would have plunged the royal government and the Royal Navy into panic.

On August 8, the Qi fleet attacked Sligo, a small town on the northwest coast of Ireland, and occupied it for several days.Then, not long after, the local Irish resistance suddenly grew rapidly and began to attack the surrounding towns and villages controlled by the English, and continued to spread to other areas in the northwest.

On August 8, English fishermen operating in the North Sea were attacked by the Qi fleet. All captured fishing boats were destroyed, fishing gear was thrown into the sea, and all fishermen were brutally detained.

The Qi expedition fleet actually divided its forces!
They also contacted the Irish and encouraged them to rebel against England's colonial rule again!
At the beginning of the war, the royal government and the Royal Navy expected to launch a decisive naval battle with the Qi expedition fleet when they arrived in Europe.Even if they cannot all be annihilated, they must be severely damaged so that the Qi navy cannot threaten Britain's overseas trade.

What they are most worried about is that Qi's navy will be broken into pieces and appear in the waters surrounding England and the North Atlantic in a pack of wolves, intercepting and attacking English merchant ships, cutting off England's foreign trade, reducing all kinds of goods and The importation of supplies was to achieve the sinister purpose of continuously weakening the English mainland.

Now, the opponent has indeed avoided a decisive naval battle with the English navy. After attacking Liverpool, it was divided into two, and a fleet entered the North Sea area, disrupting England's trade in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and even with European countries; The other branch, most likely after finishing its mission in Ireland, plunged into the vast North Atlantic to intercept and kill English merchant ships traveling between North America and the Caribbean.

The sea is vast, with dozens of Qi warships scattered in it. If you want to find and annihilate them one by one, it is like finding a needle in a haystack, which is not easy.

After two small-scale sea battles, the Royal Navy sadly discovered that the Qi sail warships equipped with steam engines were far more maneuverable than the English ships.As long as they wanted to avoid fighting and wander away, it would be difficult for any Royal Navy ship to catch them at sea.

On the contrary, with the ship's speed advantage and flexibility, Qi naval warships could easily catch up with the fleeing English merchant ships at sea, capture them, or sink them.Under this situation, England's merchant ships would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and the overseas trade on which it relied would also suffer a heavy blow.

In order to prevent Qi from raiding English merchant ships at sea, it was necessary to limit their access to supplies to weaken their ability to continue fighting.France, which has a long coastline, is naturally the target that England needs to work hard to persuade to prevent its ports from providing supplies to the Qi expedition fleet.

But now it seems that the French are happy to see the jokes of the English, and even add insult to injury by allowing Qi's supply fleet to freely enter and exit French ports.

Then, the Kingdom of Spain, which broke out in an armed conflict with England in order to retake Gibraltar (the two countries have not yet declared war, England temporarily defined it as an armed conflict), will inevitably allow Qi warships to sail into their ports without any scruples for a short period of time. to rest and resupply, thus intensifying the attack on their English counterparts.

As for the United Provinces, it is even more impossible to stop them.Not to mention the traditional friendly relations between the two countries, the greedy character of the Dutch who dared to do business with their own enemies during the war will definitely secretly increase the support of the Qi people.

Oh, God, how come the Qi people, who have come all the way to play away from home, feel like they are back at their home court and can get so much help?
(End of this chapter)