The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 59 Great Britain's Best Ally

On October 1779, 10, Lord John Byron stumbled into Buckingham Palace.

His clothes were wrinkled and torn in many places, his hair and beard were messy, and he exuded a bad smell.

Byron could have cleaned himself up before coming to see the king, but he felt the need to show the king how miserable he was.

So that the king can understand how bad the current situation is.

King George III of England and Prime Minister Lord Frederick North were stunned when they saw Byron's appearance.

Byron did not wait for the king to get angry about his image, nor did he wait for the prime minister to question what he had to say. He directly told the worst news:
"Your Majesty, on September 9, the Ming navy suddenly appeared on the east coast of America, set up an ambush off the coast of New York, and launched an unannounced attack on our fleet.

“They probably have a hundred Tier 3 and above battleships, and two hundred Tier 4 and 5 battleships, which is several times larger than our North American fleet.

"So much so that... our North American fleet suffered heavy losses after the surprise attack, and only 23 warships escaped back to the mainland in the end."

When the Battle of New York Bay ended, Byron still had more than 30 ships left, but several of them fell apart on the way back to London.

The Ming Navy did not have a hundred battleships and two hundred secondary warships, but Byron instinctively exaggerated the enemy's strength.

To make it seem that his failure was not due to stupidity, but because the gap in strength between the two sides was too big.

When George III first saw Byron's image, he did want to teach him a lesson and make him pay attention to his aristocratic image.

But the news brought by Byron made George III throw those unimportant things to the horizon:
The king and the prime minister shouted out some very similar words almost at the same time:

"The Ming Navy? Undeclared war?"

"How is this possible? Why?"

The king stood up and looked at Byron and North and repeated:
"Why? Why would the Ming Dynasty be our enemy?"

Prime Minister Lord North already has an idea:

"It must have been the French who wooed the Ming Dynasty and promised certain conditions to let the Ming Dynasty join their alliance."

The Prime Minister said this and then looked at Byron and asked:

"What's the situation in North America? How is the war going in New York and the South?"

Byron immediately said:
“When our fleet left the port, the situation in North America was relatively smooth, but it’s hard to say what will happen after we are defeated.

"Without our naval support, coupled with the cooperation of the Ming navy and army, New York may not be able to be defended."

George III shouted beside him:
"Then send the navy to North America immediately. The Ming mainland is 20,000 miles away in Shenzhou. It is impossible for them to send all their main forces here."

The Prime Minister was aware of another problem:

"Your Majesty, don't be impatient, the main forces of the French and Spanish have not yet appeared.

"It is very likely that they have joined forces with the Ming people to set up an ambush to lure our main fleet to North America.

"Then France and Spain will have the opportunity to combine their forces and attack our homeland directly."

George III was no fool and immediately realized the problem.

Although Qin Nanxing, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty's North American Fleet, replied to the French and Spanish envoys that they would not fight under the flags of France and Spain.

But France and Spain still tried to hide their main fleets.

The British were aware of the danger in North America but did not feel any pressure from home, so they might send their main fleet to North America.

Even if the British did not send their main fleet to North America, France and Spain would wait until the war situation in North America stabilized before launching a full-scale attack.

As a result, the British mainland is not under too much pressure now, and the largest-scale battle is the anti-blockade and supply operation against Gibraltar.

This strategy is very simple. It depends on whether the British can endure it and whether they can bear to wait for North America to be seized by the Ming Dynasty.

George III asked the Prime Minister directly:

"What if the main French and Spanish naval forces never show up? Are we just going to let the main fleets wait here?

"Are you waiting for the Ming Navy to bring the North American rebels to occupy all our colonies?"

The Prime Minister didn't know how to respond:

"This... requires discussion between the navy and the army, so that the staff can analyze how to fight..."

At this point Byron interrupted:

"We could bluff and pretend we were preparing to attack the French mainland, aiming at the coast of Calais.

"If the French fleet shows up, we'll have a naval showdown with them. If they don't show up, we'll really land!"

George III thought this approach was feasible:

"Then let the staff discuss this plan."

The Prime Minister has realized the severity of the situation and has little interest in attacking mainland France:
"Your Majesty, if we face France and Spain, we Great Britain still have a chance of winning.

"But with the addition of the Ming Dynasty, the situation will soon get out of control, and we should consider how to end this war." If we continue to delay, the situation may become worse.

"If the defenders of New York can't hold on and surrender to the Ming and the French, the Ming navy may come to Europe to join the war..."

George III walked to the table in the middle of the room and hammered hard on the corner of the table:
"If France and Spain can find allies, why can't we?"

Byron reminded:
"In this world, apart from Great Britain, there is no country with a navy that can rival the Ming Dynasty."

George III immediately replied:
"Then find a country that can compete with France and Spain! If one is not enough, find a few more!"

George III was feeling very bad now.

During the Seven Years' War, it can be said that Britain achieved the ultimate victory through the cooperation of its allies.

But now Britain has no allies.

On the contrary, our enemies already include four countries, three of which have naval power among the top in the world.

George III was so angry that he asked his court attendant to bring a world map and looked for potential allies:
"What about Portugal, whom we have been assisting against Spain, and the Netherlands?"

The Prime Minister, Lord North, explained:

“The closeness of Portugal’s alliance with us depends on the badness of their relations with Spain.

"Portugal just completed its colonial exchange with Spain more than a year ago, and the relationship between the two sides is now very stable.

“So now it is impossible for Portugal to join the war with Spain again for us.

"As for the Dutch, they have been selling arms to the North American rebels since the beginning of the war.

“Many people in the Netherlands support the North American rebels.

"You have previously asked the cabinet to discuss whether to declare war on the Netherlands directly at the right time on the grounds of supporting the rebels."

George III's mood became even worse, and he continued to ask with his eyes wide open:
"Austria? Prussia? What about the Russians?"

The Prime Minister said in frustration:

“It was difficult to persuade these nations to come to North America and join us in our war with the French.

"They themselves have little navy, and how much land force they can send to North America depends on how many ships we can mobilize.

“The royal family used British taxes to hire German mercenaries such as Hessian to suppress British North American immigrants.

"This kind of thing has already angered the people. If it is not properly controlled, there may be problems..."

George III slammed the table:
"Then tell me, who else can we find to join us in fighting against the French, Spanish, and the Ming people in the East!"

The Prime Minister frowned and was speechless.

Lord North actually no longer wanted to be prime minister. He felt that he was incapable of continuing to deal with the rebellion in North America.

He asked the stubborn king many times to resign, but the king would not allow it.

Byron, who was standing next to him, had already thought about this question on his way back to his homeland.

At this time, looking at the map on the table, Byron tried to introduce it to the king:
"Your Majesty... Daming is an oriental people from Shenzhou. We can try to see the situation in Shenzhou and find Daming's enemies on the mainland to cooperate with us."

When George III heard these words, he seemed to suddenly become much more conscious and looked down at the map in front of him again.

The king's eyes swept to the other end of the European continent, and then hesitantly looked around the Ming mainland:

"The country of Shenzhou - the enemy of Ming - the Qing Dynasty!

"Yes, the Qing Empire. The Qing Empire seized half of the Ming Empire's territory and still occupies the capital that the Ming Empire had used for more than two hundred years.

"The key is that the Qing Empire and the Ming Empire share a land border, and we can let the Qing Empire attack the Ming Empire on land.

"Then the Ming people will have to turn their attention back to their homeland!
"We can then focus on dealing with those disgusting French and Spanish people.

“Now explorers from the Qing Dynasty are also active on the northwest coast of North America, and they may have come into contact with the Spanish.

“Both sides will certainly have conflicts over the ownership of the western coastline of North America, which can be exploited.

"So the Qing Dynasty is the best ally of Great Britain."

George III was very decisive:
"Arrange someone, immediately arrange for someone to go to the Qing Empire and invite the Qing Empire to form an alliance with us to jointly deal with the Ming, France, and Spain!

"Baron Byron, you know the situation in North America best, and I hope you can go on a diplomatic mission to the Qing Empire for me.

"If you can convince the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty to form an alliance with us, you will get the title of earl, the title of earl of England!"

Byron hesitated for a moment, but finally accepted the appointment:

"Your will."

(End of this chapter)