Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 266 033 This kind of mistake actually needs to be struck by lightning

Solovyov can be said to have killed the "zombie", but there was still a very troublesome thing for him, that is, he angered the small group behind Dessalines who instigated the purge of white people.

The person who was the leader of this group was naturally the one who was struck by lightning when he was an infant. This kind of thing is not surprising. In the environment of black Africa, people who have been struck by lightning and have not died are mostly considered to have some "divine power."

With "divine power", sometimes when thinking or doing something, he becomes crazy and cannot be guessed by common sense.

And Mr. Boiron is such a person.

He was the biggest advocate of the plan to cleanse the white people in Haiti. As a relatively cultured person among the Haitian black rebels, his move was more advanced than those who have always been racist.

Racist people are crazy to begin with, and those who are at the forefront of the field are even crazier.

As for what he was going to do, it was very clear. He came to see Dessalines and told him that no Russian could be allowed in, even though there were indeed a dozen Russian expatriates here.

But Dessalines and Petion knew that they could not afford to provoke their opponent, so they decided to negotiate inside the fort.

At this time, Petion's role can be reflected. After all, he is one of the most educated blacks or mixed-race people in Haiti, and he has indeed seen the world in Paris.

"We deeply regret what General Boiron did. We came to Port-au-Prince on the principle of alleviating the humanitarian crisis, and we may go to Cape Haitien, formerly Cape France, for the harmonious coexistence of all races in Saint-Domingue. Once the killing begins, it will be a bloody racial feud and various revenge actions. It will take decades to heal this pain."

"I can understand your point of view. You are now representing the Russian government and the expeditionary fleet, and I am representing the Governor of Haiti. We should reach a consensus instead of getting involved in this kind of vendetta."

"Regarding this point, General Petion, I think we should still reach a consensus on the following points based on the principle of mutual benefit between Russia and Haiti."

Anyway, unless Britain occupies most of the West Indies in the future and arbitrarily splits up a string of islands that used to belong to France, Russia is unlikely to have a chance to intervene.

Later, the British handed over some islands to Sweden, and finally Sweden gave them up and returned them to France. It was in this context.

Instead, the British used their absolute naval advantage to regain control of some Caribbean islands.

Speaking of which, the British maritime advantage could not be offset for the time being.

"I basically agree that both sides should hold further negotiations in a peaceful and friendly environment, but some of the troops stationed in Port-au-Prince, under the command of General Boiron, are bound to have some problems."

"Then please ask His Excellency the Governor to issue an order jointly issued in the name of the Russian Fleet Commander and the Governor of Haiti. The ceasefire principle cannot be violated and no one can open fire at this time."

"I agree with your idea. Let's just maintain a ceasefire for now."

Petion had indeed seen the world, and since the other party had no ill intentions, he thought there was no problem with this and the negotiations could continue.

"I even think that one day when France can no longer threaten Haiti's true independence, you can go to Paris and exchange a treaty with them."

"What you said is indeed a good idea, but the British will not agree. They have supported the weapons of the rebels before, and they certainly don't want Haiti and France to recognize each other."

Petion's words proved that he understood the interests at stake.

At the same time, Boiron was also educated, and even his uncle was a member of the House of Five Hundred representing the colony of Saint-Domingue, but their political acumen was very different. The same environment ultimately led to different behaviors and practices. It is difficult to explain what was going on.

"However, if General Boiron makes any unfriendly moves, it may lead to a fight."

The Russian naval infantry regiment on board the ship has more than a thousand people, plus sailors and some naval infantry on board. This force is actually not enough to fill the teeth of the Haitian army. The enemy's garrison in Port-au-Prince is far more than the ground forces that the Russian fleet can mobilize.

What's more, there are the black citizens of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding villagers, who are actually people that Seniaven's fleet cannot afford to offend.

But if an artillery battle broke out, the Russian artillery firepower far exceeded that of the Haitian army, and if they fired directly at the artillery positions, even the Haitian defenders would be unable to resist.

Petion passed the news back to Dessalines, and after considering it, the Governor of Haiti agreed to the ceasefire request and even found Boiron and told him not to cause trouble during the negotiations.

Bouillon was not satisfied with this. He went out of the city to mobilize nearly 3000 armed forces who were directly under his command and were ready to carry out his plan.

This made Petion a little worried.

"Governor, the current situation is that if we let those white people go, they can leave all their property that they can't take away. In addition, we can also get cash from the Russian fleet and checks that can be cashed in banks in the United States and Britain. This deal is not a loss. Moreover, our soldiers are also insurgents and revolutionary troops after all. They should not have the blood of civilians on their hands. You should also be very clear about this."

"Christopher wrote to me saying that he only planned to target celebrities in Cape Haitien and seize their property. Civilians have no power to resist us."

"Yes, there are no more than 10,000 white people left in our country."

Dessalines knew that Petion still considered the Poles as white people, and Boiron even wanted to consider all mixed-race people as white people. But then again, Dessalines himself considered the Poles and mixed-race people who came over as his black brothers. The three people had different perceptions in this regard.

"Well, write a letter to Christopher. Although I can read, I can't write much. You should write it. Keep it concise so that his adjutant can understand it and read it aloud."

Dessalines knew that if his hands were clean, there might be room for maneuver in making peace with the French if there was peace in Europe in the future.

If the butcher knife is really wielded, it will not end so easily.

However, he did not expect that Bouillon actually wanted to act alone and directly cleanse the white people in Port-au-Prince.

A courier could make the round trip from Cap-Haitien to Port-au-Prince in just one day.

Christopher did not take any action either. The two largest military groups in Haiti were Dessalines, who was the "Grand Governor", and Christopher, who was the "Little Governor".

Both sides have their own armies, but Dessalines has the foundation laid by Toussaint Louverture, so these people still know what is right and what is wrong.

As for Christopher, he was able to restrain his subordinates. Although they all behaved like bandits, he had the final say and his subordinates did not dare to act rashly. Even in this situation, Boiron found that the soldiers he had gathered were unwilling to take action.

Perhaps this was the last legacy left to them by the late leader, but it only existed during the founding stage of Haiti. After Pétion's death, when his successor was ousted by a military coup, it disappeared completely.

"Sir, if you ask us to kill French soldiers, we will do whatever we want, but we cannot do anything to civilians."

"But these white people used to let the supervisors whip you with whips. When they acted tyrannically, you were beaten. Is that true? If those white women could still give birth to white children, they would come to deal with you when there were enough people."

"Sir, you are wrong. My former master never used a whip."

"I have been beaten before, sir, and I have to say that it is wrong to kill defenseless people."

No matter how Bouillon instigated them, these black soldiers refused to fall for it. If they were asked to kill white men, they would only kill French soldiers who were in command.

What's more, among the white people who stayed, many still sympathized with the blacks, and some even helped them.

The royalists who had exploited them most cruelly were almost wiped out by the Spanish and Jacobin armies, and most of the remaining people fled to New Orleans.

Seeing that this was not working and that even his orders would not be carried out, Bouillon left in a huff.

You know, Haiti had just gained independence, and although voodoo came from West Africa along with the blacks, it is still important to emphasize that some of the ideas passed down from the French Revolution and the American War of Independence did indeed let the uneducated black soldiers know what is good and what is bad.

So they refused the order, and Dessalines laughed when he heard about it.

"Oh, this is a damn thing. If I don't give the order, he can't do anything. Petion, if you can avoid killing people, try not to kill people. You are right. We can set a price for every white person, except for those doctors and people with special skills, and the Germans on Christopher's side. The rest, those Russians, can be taken away."

He was very happy about it, as he could make a lot of money for free.

"But the Russians also have a theory that the ransom of every adult white person, male or female, is equivalent to a 'loan'."

"Don't make it so complicated. What is a 'loan'?"

When Petion said this, he remembered that Dessalines knew nothing about banking and would have to explain it to him again, so he changed his words.

"We will borrow money to redeem them. Of course, the debt of this money will be charged to them. If they go to Rossburg, Russia, the debt can be forgiven, and they will be given a resettlement allowance, housing and farmland. But if they go to New Orleans or somewhere else, then this money will be owed to the Russian government and must be repaid within a certain period of time. Americans will be invited to supervise and their personal property will be used to pay off the debt."

"Ah, I understand now. These Russians came to rescue the French, but they didn't come in vain."

Dessalines was clear-headed and knew that if this was the case, he would just send all these white people away.

As for what Bouillon said, that was none of his business. He just had to wait for the Russian money to arrive.

So in February 1804, the Governor of Haiti also issued an order that all French people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns and villages must bring their personal belongings to the dock in Port-au-Prince, where there would be ships to take them away from Haiti.

If someone refused to leave, he also thought of a way to scare them. That is, if anyone did not leave after the deadline, their property would be confiscated and they would be thrown into a dark prison.

This iron-fisted approach sent all the registered French people onto Russian transport ships.

As for Christopher, two Russian frigates will escort the transport ship, and the garrison in Cape Haitien has also received orders.

Christopher also knew that each of the people he evacuated was still worth some francs and pounds. Especially since they did not require banknotes to be exchanged, but were directly paid in gold coins and checks, which really made him very satisfied.

All the ransom paid by Cape Haitien went into Christopher's own pocket.

On Dessalines' side, the situation was much the same.

Because of this order, most of the white people in Haiti boarded the ship, and only the Germans who settled in the north and the Poles near Port-au-Prince remained here.

Once the French were on board, the Duke of Enghien could reveal his identity.

Since a Bourbon prince served as the Russian governor of the Rossberg Territory, their personal safety was more or less guaranteed.

But the next question is more troublesome.

There were a total of 4399 French people on board. Fortunately, the French birth rate has always been relatively low. If there were too many children, it would have been a big problem to place them.

If the fleet were to sail around Cape Horn, it would obviously not be in line with the original intention of this operation.

It would be even faster to pass through New Spain and rent Spanish ships on the west coast of Mexico.

It is safer to walk on land.

Solovyov also planned so. The Duke of Enghien still needed to deal with the Governor of New Spain. Although he was a French Bourbon, the Grand Prince of Condé had once been exiled in Spain. Regardless of the fact that the ruler of Spain was King Jellyfish, he could still get things done in Spain.

You know, if the French nobles made some small moves in the country, their first choice of escape destination would not be the nearest Britain, but Spain.

In this regard, in the story of the Three Musketeers, Aramis, who survived last, ran to Madrid.

We still need to explain the pros and cons to the Spanish Governor.

(End of this chapter)