The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 297 The war situation in America and the conflict between Britain and France.

The rainy season on the island of Cuba has ended, and the garrison in Havana is in better condition than that in Panama, but its vigilance is lower than that in Panama.

Havana is located in a bay with a small mouth and a large belly. The entrance is only three hundred to four hundred meters wide, like a big river.

On the southwest side of the entrance to the bay, there is a star-shaped fortress, the Fort of San Salvador de la Punta.

There is a garrison fortress on the northeast side, called Morro-Cabaña Fortress.

The two fortresses are only 400 meters apart, and the traditional artillery on the fortresses can cover the waterway at the exit of Havana Bay.

If it were a conventional navy and landing force, they would most likely be defeated if they tried to take over these two fortresses.

But now it is the Ming Navy that is attacking, with modern artillery with an effective range of more than three kilometers, and more importantly, with early carrier-based aircraft to cooperate in the operation.

On the walls of modern fortress castles, there are a large number of artillery batteries capable of forming cross-fire, which are difficult to shake on the ground.

But in the face of the sudden appearance of flying machines, they were like fish on the chopping board.

Because the opponent had no concept of air defense at all, an ordinary smoothbore rifle might not be able to hit the target within a hundred meters if fired upwards, and a muzzle-loading rifled rifle had an extremely slow firing rate.

The plane can drop bombs at an altitude of about one hundred meters, directly blowing up the artillery positions and the assembled soldiers.

It could fly low over the ground, machine gunning to drive out suppressive artillery and disperse gathering soldiers and officers.

The specific practical effects are even more exaggerated than the theoretical effects.

The Spanish soldiers in Havana looked at the attacks from the sky, at the huge metal birds that could fly, dropping horrible bombs and firing dense bullets.

Seeing the artillery position being overturned and many soldiers being blown into pieces, many people were so scared that they collapsed on the ground, and even more people fled in all directions.

Almost everyone shouted the name of God, including some middle and senior officers with rich combat experience, who had lost their will to fight.

In this era, hot air balloons had only been invented not long ago, and many people had no idea that such a thing that could fly existed.

Moreover, compared with hot air balloons, flying machines are not only extremely fast, but more importantly, they are extremely agile. They can fly with just a fuselage and a pair of wings, just like a bird.

This free attack from the sky, launched by flying knights, made it easy for the uncivilized Europeans to think of gods.

The flying attacks caused a great psychological shock, which in turn destroyed the soldiers' fighting will.

After Havana's fortresses, military camps and artillery batteries at the exit of the bay were suppressed, Nelson directly ordered the main naval fleet to rush into the bay with the transport fleet.

Use the main fleet's artillery and ship-borne firearms, with the cooperation of aircraft, to suppress the soldiers and artillery in the city, and cover the army's landing and seizing the docks.

There was basically no suspense in the entire process of the landing battle, and the Ming Dynasty's North American Army quickly took control of the Havana dock.

Subsequent transport ships delivered more soldiers to the shore, and some of them, along with a small number of wheeled machine gun armored vehicles, entered the city of Havana to control the situation.

Another part of the army returned to the entrance of the bay by land and captured two forts and a fortress under the cover of naval artillery.

It took the landing troops only three days to basically control the city of Havana.

Ten thousand militiamen were left behind to maintain order in Havana, while more troops advanced by land and sea under the cover of the navy to continue capturing other major cities and strongholds on the island of Cuba.

A total of 200,000 troops were prepared in North America for operations in New Spain (Mexico) and Cuba.

Fifty thousand came from the American Commanderies on the west coast, American Prefecture (near Seattle) and Cedar Valley (California), including ten thousand regular troops and forty thousand militia.

Fifty thousand came from the free states and dominions of the United States on the east coast, consisting of European immigrants and mixed-race Europeans, including ten thousand regular troops and forty thousand militia.

The current Ming Dynasty already has huge advantages in culture and is the true "civilized people" in this world.

According to the ethnic hierarchy rules formulated by Zhu Jianxuan, if other ethnic groups in this world marry people from the Ming Dynasty, their children can have their political status improved after passing the assessment.

Therefore, in recent years, many Ming-European mixed-race people have appeared on the east coast of North America, where the Ming people had the most contact with Europeans.

It has been exactly twenty years since Ming immigrants began to arrive in North America in large numbers in the spring of 1782, and the first batch of Ming-European mixed-race people have reached the age to join the army.

The last 100,000 troops were Ming immigrants from the East Coast and the Great Plains, including 20,000 regular troops and 80,000 militia.

A total of 40,000 regular troops and 160,000 militia.

Each family in the military farm would provide a militiaman, who would regularly participate in basic military training during the slack season and live in his own home during the busy season and at other times.

Then, a regular army will be selected from three to five militias to serve as the main force and receive full-time training.

However, both the main force and the militia can receive the standard rifles of the Ming soldiers, but there is a difference in the number of bullets used in daily training.

The official name of the standard rifle is "Type A rifle", commonly known as the Australian repeater, which is a bolt-action rifle with a basically mature design.

Currently, North America is able to produce most of the parts for rifles, and only barrels and bullets need to be imported from Ming Dynasty.

In this era, the armies of other countries were generally still using smoothbore muskets, and the Ming army with its bolt-action rifles could be said to have a "magic weapon" in hand per person.

At this time in Spain, the total army strength was only more than 80,000 people, and most of the troops were not fully staffed.

The Spanish didn't even have percussion caps yet, they still used flintlocks.

There were a total of three million European immigrants in Spain's colonies in America, and local militias were also allowed to be formed.

However, the colonial militia had not fought for a long time and had become a tool for the wealthy white people in the colonies to improve their status. There were more officers wearing gorgeous military uniforms all day long than soldiers.

Moreover, their weapons are even more crude, and the army will not be trained in a concentrated manner, so they basically just have an empty organization.

The 200,000 North American militiamen of the Ming Dynasty were selected from the first generation of pioneering peasant families. Not only were they wild, but they also received serious training in shooting.

In addition, the gap in weapons between the two sides was too large, and as long as the Ming Dynasty's supplies could reach the place, the battle was basically one-sided.

Therefore, the coastal areas advance faster than the inland areas, and the plains advance faster than the mountainous areas and plateaus.

North American militias soon occupied all of Texas.

More than a thousand immigrants and militiamen from San Antonio, a relatively "important" Spanish settlement in the area, were taken prisoners without firing a shot.

The Spanish immigrants in various strongholds were driven to the coastal areas, leaving behind a part of the militia to supervise and manage them.

Most of the army quickly crossed the Grand River, the originally agreed upon border, and continued south to occupy the plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

Another part of the troops followed the Grande River Valley westward through the Rocky Mountains to join the army on the west coast.

Leaving behind some militia to control the river valley, more troops moved south along the west coast.

The navy commanded by Nelson quickly sent North American troops to various port towns in Cuba and quickly took control of the entire island of Cuba.

At the same time, military operations on the island of Haiti have also begun.

Ten years ago, the Ming Dynasty controlled the western part of Haiti, which was the original French colony.

When suppressing the rebellion of black slaves on the island, the number of black slaves was greatly reduced, and at the same time, 300,000 immigrants were sent to the island.

According to the standards of the Ming Dynasty's military farms and garrisons, among the 300,000 immigrants there were at least 60,000 militiamen and 10,000 to 20,000 regular troops.

When the news of Ming's declaration of war on Spain reached Haiti, the local Ming army, which had been prepared, immediately took action, attacking eastward to seize the strongholds controlled by Spanish.

We fought with the idea of ​​destroying the enemy's effective forces...

At the southern end of the continent, in the southeast of the Spanish Viceroyalty of La Plata and on both sides of Buenos Aires, the number of Ming immigrants has now accumulated to three million.

That means there are at least 120,000 regular troops and nearly 600,000 militiamen, which is more than the population of the Spanish Viceroyalty of La Plata.

After the war started, 30,000 main forces rushed into Buenos Aires, which had a population of only 80,000, and 20,000 main forces rushed into Montevideo, which had a population of 50,000.

After the battle ended without any suspense, the main force controlled two key cities on both sides of the Rio de la Plata, and then hundreds of thousands of militiamen began to pour in.

Each local Ming militiaman brought his own family and was responsible for managing a Spanish immigrant family after entering the city.

Regular troops and more militia, boarding prepared steamboats, sailed upstream along the La Plata River to attack and control other strongholds in the Viceroyalty of La Plata.

Similarly, the attack speed in coastal areas is faster, while the advance speed in inland areas is relatively slow, mainly because it takes time to transport personnel and supplies.

The operations in the La Plata region were basically carried out by local troops, without the need for special support from troops in other places. Only the Cape Town Fleet blocked the sea area and cut off Spain's supply and information transmission.

The army set out from Australia, landed on the southwestern coast of South America, and on the west side of the Andes Mountains, headed north along the coastline to capture Chile, Peru and other regions.

The army, which set out from West Africa, with the assistance of Nelson's fleet in the Caribbean, was responsible for capturing the Caribbean coastal strongholds of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
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After the war in the New World was fully launched and flames of war spread everywhere, the news of Ming Dynasty declaring war on Spain slowly spread in Europe.

Among all European countries, the first to receive the news and of course the first to start to worry was naturally Spain's ally France.

Godoy made a special trip to Paris and first met with French Foreign Minister Talleyrand.

Talleyrand was once an Enlightenment bishop, later a revolutionary bishop, and a diplomat during the Jacobin period.

He changed his attitude according to the situation and participated in Napoleon's coup at a critical moment. After Napoleon came to power, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After Talleyrand figured out what was going on, he did not take Godoy directly to see Napoleon.

With great sorrow, he went to see Napoleon alone, explained the situation of the Ming and Spanish camps, and finally solemnly reminded Napoleon:
"Consul, the Ming Dynasty attacked our ally Spain. France should now declare war on the Ming Dynasty."

Napoleon asked back with a straight face:
"Declare war on Ming? Don't you understand the changes on the battlefield in recent years?
"Our artillery and rifles are no match for the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that the gap is too huge.

"Our army cannot defeat the Ming people. Declaring war on the Ming is tantamount to suicide."

Talleyrand sighed and said:

“Sir, I am aware of these circumstances.

“But Spain is an ally of France, and if the attack on Ming is left unchecked, it would damage France’s reputation.

“It may cause other sister republics to waver, boost the morale of rebels everywhere, and lead to more fierce attacks.

"The point is that it will further damage your prestige..."

When Napoleon heard this reminder, he understood it instantly and his mood became worse.

The conquered areas around France, that is, the newly established republics, were actually vassal states of France, and most of them were not very stable.

The forces in many places were complicated and intertwined, and in most places there were royalists who refused to submit, and rebellions of all sizes continued to occur.

Now we are relying on France's powerful military force to suppress the opposition forces of the New Republic so that they dare not act rashly.

Relying on France's military protection, the ruling group of the new republic maintained its rule.

Once France's power shows signs of decline, the situation in these places will most likely change or even reverse.

Not daring to rescue an ally when he is attacked is a sign of declining power.

At the same time, Napoleon wanted to go a step further and crown himself emperor according to the traditional way of Shenzhou, and he had already begun preparations.

The plan is to complete the formulation of his own civil code, promulgate it and then prepare for the coronation ceremony.

But if you want to be an emperor, you have to try your best to appear invincible, but it is impossible for you to be invincible when facing the Ming Dynasty.

Napoleon frowned and asked Talleyrand:
"Is there a way to declare war on the Ming Dynasty in name only, but avoid actually fighting with it?"

Talleyrand had already thought about these things:
“We can try to send someone to contact the Ming people and tell them that we only have to declare war on them because of Spain, but we will not actually launch an attack.

"The key is to hope that the Ming people will not attack the French-controlled areas in Europe, will not attack the Spanish mainland, and will concentrate on seizing the Spanish colonies..."

Napoleon immediately asked:

"Will it succeed?"

Talleyrand could not guarantee:
"I can send someone to try, but this kind of thing is unpredictable. It is difficult for us to judge the choice of the Ming Dynasty."

Napoleon sighed helplessly and said:
"I understand. Let's arrange for someone to try as soon as possible."
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At the same time, Godoy sent people to London, England, hoping that the British would change their attitude and jointly fight against the Ming people from the East.

The British were in a similarly tangled situation at this time.

The Marquis of Rockingham, the longest-serving Prime Minister in recent years, finally found it difficult to maintain the political balance after serving as Prime Minister for fifteen years.

Amid the attacks of more and more political opponents, the already elderly and frail Marquis of Rockingham died of overwork in 1796, living more than ten years longer than the original historical record.

With the death of a key figure in maintaining factional balance, British politics immediately fell into chaos with open confrontation between radicals and conservatives.

It was not until William Pitt the Younger, with the support of King George III, reorganized the British cabinet and government.

He was called "William Pitt the Younger" because his father "William Pitt the Elder" was also the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The key was leading Britain to victory in the Seven Years' War.

A passage in his "On the Right of Individuals in Britain to Security in Their Homes" was summarized as "the wind can come in, the rain can come in, but the king cannot come in."

Pitt's uncle George Grenville also served as British Prime Minister, and later Pitt's cousin also became British Prime Minister.

The collaboration between the Pitt and Grenville families, and the other political forces associated with them, formed a powerful network of relationships in this era.

So in the original history, William Pitt the Younger became the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the age of only 24.

In this world, because the Marquis of Rockingham lived a long life, little Pitt did not come to prominence so early.

But after the death of the Marquis of Rockingham, his connections and abilities enabled him to seize the opportunity and become British Prime Minister at the end of 1797.

Although 38 is still very young to be prime minister, he will not be criticized as much as 24.

At the same time, Pete has accumulated more political experience and is no longer as radical in dealing with issues.

He has been in office since 1797 until the present day in 1802.

After listening to the Spanish envoy's words, Pitt said with deep emotion:
"If you think about the long-term interests, the UK should stand with Spain and join the rest of Europe...even France.

"Together we fight against the Ming Dynasty Empire, which belongs to another civilization.

"The Ming Dynasty has already seized Portugal's colonies and is now about to take action against Spain. In the future, it is very likely to ask Britain for Canada.

"The Ming Dynasty's greed for land is well known from Ireland to Japan.

“The key point is that the Ming Dynasty controlled all overseas colonies and controlled the entire New World and Africa.

“There is no unowned land in the world anymore.

"If Europeans want to continue to expand outward, they must unite and fight against the Ming Dynasty.

"But the current reality makes it impossible for Britain to stand on Spain's side.

“The UK cannot give up Gibraltar and other controlled areas. Giving it up would be a huge mistake of the current cabinet, and the attacks from political opponents are likely to bring down my cabinet.

“It would be difficult to win the support of the British nobles and the king if we cooperated with our old enemy France, even though the French had abandoned their monarch.

“British officials nowadays can only look at immediate interests and try to recover the losses that have already occurred.

“Therefore, Britain could only take advantage of the Ming Dynasty’s participation in the war to tear up the compromise agreement with France and formally refuse to hand over Gibraltar and Malta.

“Fight France and Spain again.

"Britain must once again fight alongside the powerful Ming Dynasty, so that my cabinet can be more stable, at least for now.

“As for what will happen decades later, no one knows, and no one cares.

"So please go back."

Although the Spanish envoys were well prepared, they were still very surprised and found it hard to believe after hearing Pitt's explanation.

Pitt actually supports uniting Europe to oppose the Ming Dynasty.

But his actual action on behalf of Britain was to declare war on Spain and France and stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)