Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 739 Fight Again
With the Great Lakes region so close at hand, Jazhi's ambitions grew rapidly. He used to think that each side guarding one side was acceptable, but after a few battles, he realized that the Americans were no match for him.

Nowhere is acceptable! This is where things get interesting. Why did you take over this land? Just because you arrived first? If that's the case, then the original inhabitants are the rightful owners.

For the United States, Washington has put forward the slogan, "God bless America, we must fight for our survival."

Indeed, despite the deep-seated contradictions between the two parties in the United States, they also believe that they have reached a critical juncture of life and death.

Compared to the industrial capital in the north, the sense of crisis in the south is more severe.

Capitalists can at most take the money and run away; they can't move the plantations in the south.

Therefore, the South actually appeared more united under these circumstances. The states contributed money and manpower, providing substantial funding to the U.S. military and spending considerable sums on building up their militias.

In short, they simply cannot afford to lose. Everyone knows that a war between the two sides is inevitable, it's only a matter of time.

In this critical moment, the United States also unleashed astonishing potential. The U.S. Navy in the North directly boosted its production capacity, building fifty sailing battleships in a single year. They were all equipped with new-style naval guns, the kind with six guns each.

Putting everything else aside, this thing has increased its range, unlike before when you could be shot from a distance of a thousand meters.

The Great Lakes region also invested heavily in building fortresses at key points, determined to stop the advance of the East China Army at all costs; otherwise, without the Great Lakes, American industry would be impossible.

A considerable number of capitalists still chose to flee, returning to Europe with their families, with England and France being their first choices.

This wave of capital repatriation brought a new wave of development to British and French industries, but there was one problem: the market.

Britain and France still had colonies, while other countries could only focus on tapping into their domestic demand first. Prussia, on the other hand, chose the military route, aiming to unify Germany first.

Britain was in a better position, but it was also the most hesitant to act rashly. The reason was simple: the British had India, but they were also wary of losing it, fearing that the Central Empire might attack at any time.

Tsarist Russia still harbored ambitions towards Türkiye, and this time they set their sights on the Crimean Peninsula.

Before the war, Tsarist Russia attempted diplomatic maneuvering with Britain and France, but was met with staunch opposition. "We all united against Turkey last time," they said, "you've already given up. If you're so capable, try pushing eastward." Lacking British and French support, and driven by its obsession with Constantinople, Tsarist Russia decided to try again.

In the Crimean War, Britain and France personally intervened and dealt a heavy blow to Tsarist Russia, forcing the Russian army to turn eastward. The story of the Lady with the Lamp also emerged during this period.

This time, both Britain and France decided to wait and see. After all, Turkey had also purchased a huge amount of military equipment from the Central Empire and equipped itself with a batch of new weapons. If they couldn't win, they couldn't defend either.

Even if Britain and France wanted to intervene directly, Türkiye wouldn't allow it this time. Last time, their entire new fleet was burned due to espionage; are you going to try again this time?
Britain and France had completely lost their credit with Turkey. However, France made a suggestion that Türkiye accepted: to issue war bonds in London and Paris.

We can help you get financing!
Both Britain and France tipped off Turkey in advance and even helped issue bonds. These bonds were redeemable, and the interest rates were quite high.

There's no way around it. After losing Southern Europe, Turkey's female slave trade has plummeted. They used to sell plenty of Southern European female slaves to China and Southeast Asia, but now they can only suffer for their Arab brothers.

Türkiye, leveraging its strong purchasing power, proactively packaged the entire Persian Gulf region and sold it for five million to a private company in the Central Empire.

That's right. Because of the failure of the last cooperation, Türkiye can now only do business with private individuals. The government is no longer accepting orders, and the previous preferential prices are gone.

Türkiye regrets its actions too late, but there's nothing it can do. What can they do when they're worried about this and that?

The Persian Gulf region has now become a major entrepot trade area, and its population has grown from tens of thousands to half a million. The origins of the population are also clearer: half are of Chinese descent, and a quarter are of Japanese or Korean descent. The official name for this region is now the Central Empire's Persian Gulf Special Province. Just how big is it? It includes all the small countries in that area, and also occupies a significant portion of the vast territory of the "dog-like" (a derogatory term for a powerful nation).

The main issue is the local indigenous people; they were all expelled. They're not allowed to wear a cloth over their heads. The "not allowed" here refers specifically to the men.

The key point is that the original inhabitants of this area left voluntarily. After selling their homes, they took the weapons they had purchased and rode camels to raid other people's territories. Moreover, these people had a penchant for selling female slaves; they would sell the women they plundered to exchange for weapons to continue their raids. If they hadn't been so afraid of the French, they might have even invaded Syria.

Turkey has purchased 100,000 breech-loading needle guns with paper cartridges, along with a batch of 75mm recoil-propelled guns. Having lost out in Southern Europe last time, Turkey is eager to get revenge.

Tsarist Russia brought this upon itself. Ever since it defeated Napoleon, it looked down on everyone else and acted like a barbarian invading Europe.

In 1836, after years of preparation, Tsarist Russia launched an offensive, again from two directions: one was to enlist the help of the Southern European countries to attack Constantinople, and the other was to advance into the Caucasus region and Persia.

The Persian king, realizing the situation was dire, quickly wrote a letter seeking help, after all, the old king and Li Yuan were still considered "brothers." The two countries were indeed brotherly nations.

Because the telegraph line had been laid to Central Asia, the news quickly reached the capital. Li Wan urgently convened a meeting to discuss how to respond.

Jia Lian, unusually, broke his silence and spoke up: "Persia has abundant oil reserves, and our research lab has already built a rudimentary internal combustion engine. The future of this world belongs to the internal combustion engine, and we absolutely cannot lose our influence over Persia. Therefore, we must send troops to help Persia. Considering that Tsarist Russia's main force is still in Europe, sending an advisory group and providing a batch of weapons will suffice. How much old equipment is still waiting to be replaced in the military?"

Sanfu, a member of the Li family and the sole representative of the military, stepped forward and said, "They were already sold off in bulk; Turkey bought them all at once. There's definitely no time to produce them now!"

"Hiss!" Jia Lian was also taken aback; Türkiye was going to risk everything.

"In that case, let the Anxi Military Region free up a batch of single-unit rifles, and then supply them with a batch of new bolt-action rifles from within the country. Make it clear first, they'll have to pay. It won't be free!"

Jia Lian's stingy manner made everyone present laugh. At times like these, no one ever objected to what Jia Lian said.

The Single-Shot Rifle was a transitional product, a single-shot metal cartridge rifle. Due to rapid technological advancements, only a little over 10,000 of these rifles were produced before production ceased, with most being supplied to the Anxi Army.

She used to be a sweetheart, but now she's a haggard old woman.

The plan to aid Persia was thus decided, and Anxi Army was also asked to send a small force to support the Persian king.

Jia Lian didn't intend to take over that place, mainly because it had a dominant ethnic group and a large population, making it difficult to manage. It was better to let the locals take charge.

In short, both Persia and India were difficult places to deal with in Jia Lian's mind.

With the telegram in hand, Jia Shi acted swiftly. Before supplies from home arrived, he immediately dispatched a batch of equipment to Persia, and also assigned about 500 men as military advisors. At the same time, Jia Shi ordered the three infantry divisions under his command to assemble on the shores of the Caspian Sea, appearing ready to launch a major offensive at any moment. Whether or not to fight would depend on the opportunity.

Turkey initially adopted a defensive posture, using its strong fortifications to hold off the Russian offensive.

The Russian cavalry, like grey cattle, fell in droves before the new artillery, suffering enormous losses.

The offensive lasted for a month, but the Russian army made no progress in any direction and suffered heavy losses.

But how to put it? You can start a war, but ending it isn't so easy.

Speaking of Türkiye's tactics, they are actually quite simple. The Central Empire's military advisory group had prepared many plans for them, based on defense and counterattack.

It's just that they didn't want to listen at first, but now that they've been driven to the gates of Istanbul, they've picked it up again.

According to the plan, troops should not be dispersed. Therefore, a small number of troops should be deployed in the Caucasus direction to hold a few key points. They cannot remain there unless the Russian army captures them.

Turkey's main force should concentrate in the European direction and not rush into battle. Instead, it should use its strong fortifications to wear down the Russian army for a period of time. Once the Russian army is exhausted, it should launch a sudden counterattack.

This battle plan was originally tailor-made for Türkiye, because it was believed that they couldn't handle a direct confrontation, so a defensive counter-offensive strategy was adopted.

Unable to break through the enemy lines after a prolonged siege, the Russian army decided to negotiate peace. When the British and French ministers mediated, Turkey stated that a ceasefire was possible, but Tsarist Russia would have to pay reparations, including interest on its bonds.

Tsarist Russia wasn't buying it, so they continued fighting.

So it continued for another month, but during this time there were no large-scale offensives, and instead an offensive was launched against the Caucasus region.

The Persian army, caught in the crossfire, suffered a devastating defeat at the border, overwhelmed by the Cossacks. At this critical moment, the Anxi Military Region advisory group, leading the Persian king's elite troops—equipped with rifles for each soldier—launched a counterattack against the Russian army. This Persian army was primarily cavalry, each soldier armed with a long gun and a revolver. Furthermore, Jia Shi had secretly received bribes to transfer a machine gun regiment, equipped with forty-eight heavy machine guns.

The Persian king paid a huge price for this aid, spending not only five million silver dollars but also another two million to buy the machine gun regiment.

Under the cover of machine gun fire, the Cossack cavalry suffered heavy losses, and the Persian army launched a counterattack, recapturing the lost territory in one fell swoop.

The Russian army's elite Guards Cavalry corps suffered more than half its casualties in this battle.

The Russian offensive in the Caucasus region suffered another heavy blow. With the help of a Turkish artillery piece, which had been built up over many years, the Russian army inflicted heavy casualties.

Before the Russian army, which had suffered a setback, could react, the Turkish army in Europe launched an attack. The 200,000 Turkish troops, who had been patient for two months, broke out of Istanbul, defeated the Southern European army in front of them, and continued their advance for a month, even recapturing the Southern European countries.

Britain and France were taken aback by Türkiye's formidable fighting prowess and quickly intervened to side with Turkey!

Whether the Russian or Turkish forces win, it will not be good news for Britain and France.

The British fleet stationed in Greece launched a decisive attack, attempting to cut off the Turkish army's sea supply lines. At the same time, urgent diplomatic channels warned the Turkish army that a ceasefire was necessary.

A naval battle that shocked the world broke out in the waters near Greece, where a Turkish fleet of ten cruisers purchased from the Central Empire encountered twenty British warships.

The British sent messengers demanding that the Turkish army return immediately, or they would launch an attack.

The commander of the Turkish fleet was none other than Da Ha, who had been trained under Jia Quan. The Turkish navy, which had always been bullied by the British navy, rejected the British demands under Da Ha's command and decided to launch an offensive.

After the war began, both sides were vying for control of ships with the letter T in their names, but the Turkish warships had a significant advantage: the two 105mm main guns at the bow and stern.

During the turn, the Turkish ships used their longer-range main guns to launch a preemptive strike. Although the hit rate was extremely low, they still managed to hit an enemy ship with a single shot. The picric acid propellant was a disaster for the British ships, which were still made of wood.

A large fire broke out and was difficult to extinguish. The first hit inspired the Turkish soldiers, who continued to bombard the British warships with their new naval guns.

Despite being at a disadvantage in terms of range, the British forces had to fight desperately to get close before launching an attack.

After a day of fierce fighting, eight British naval warships were sunk and the rest were damaged. One Turkish warship was severely damaged and sank, while the remaining warships, though badly damaged, did not sink.

Surprisingly, the British Navy was the first to break down, signaling their intention to withdraw from the battlefield. The Turkish forces wanted to pursue but were powerless to do so, instead providing cover for the transport ships to continue their mission.

This battle once again proved that even the Turkish Navy, after being equipped with new naval guns, could still change the course of a battle with the power of exploding shells.

In other words, the existence of that particular British naval fleet was no longer of much significance. Downing Street convened an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.

The requirements for the new naval gun were very clear: rifled, breech-loading, and capable of firing exploding shells.

After a Pyrrhic victory at sea, the Turkish army was in high spirits and was about to press its advantage when France intervened, demanding a ceasefire from the Turkish forces.

This guy, France was doing business on both sides, helping Tsarist Russia sell bonds on one hand and helping Türkiye sell bonds on the other.

These two countries were not just talking; their troops were also being mobilized. Under pressure from Britain and France, Turkey quickly backed down, lost the courage to continue fighting, and ordered its entire army to halt its advance.

As a result of British and French mediation, Turkish troops partially withdrew from Romania, relinquishing half of the gains from this victory.

The Chinese minister firmly opposed this negotiation outcome, considering it a defeat without a fight, and nothing more than a laughingstock. However, the Turkish Pasha secretly ordered the signing of a ceasefire between the two countries.

This move has once again made the Chinese people see clearly what kind of country this is.

Almost simultaneously with the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War, the United States also launched an offensive, with the war being provoked not by the North, but by the South.

(End of this chapter)