lovenovelstory Chapter 89 Marching or Attacking
Chapter 89 Marching or Attacking
Chapter 89 Marching or Attacking
Dong Sheng led his team to a stop a dozen meters away from Auckland. He picked up a megaphone made of rolled-up copper sheet and shouted in British English: "At the invitation of the King, Prime Minister, Cabinet and Parliament of Great Britain, the Emperor of Great Han has ordered ten thousand Great Han soldiers to come to India to destroy India's opium plantations."
"The Governor-General of India, Auckland, defies the orders of the King, the Prime Minister, and Parliament of Great Britain and will risk your lives against the orders of the Emperor of Great Han and the King of Great Britain."
"Auckland's current actions constitute a rebellion. Are you prepared to die as rebels?!"
The officers and soldiers on guard around and around the castle who heard these words were visibly stunned.
Then they immediately started discussing among themselves, and their vigilance towards the Han army noticeably decreased.
It turns out that the Han army's sudden arrival here was authorized by the British high command, who had already reached an agreement with the Han.
This is not a one-sided attack on India by the Han army, so what am I doing here?
Calcutta was a trading center in eastern India, and more importantly, a hub for trade between India and the Han Dynasty. Merchants would send back various important news from the Han Dynasty.
News of the Han emperor's ban on opium, arrest of opium smugglers, and expulsion of the British reached Calcutta last year.
News that Britain had sent envoys to Fuhan to negotiate the lifting of the trade embargo and the expulsion of British merchants had also spread among the merchants this year.
The British officers and soldiers in Calcutta, who frequented taverns and brothels, had all heard these things from the merchants.
But most people don't know what conditions the King of Britain offered to the Han Dynasty.
Now it's as if the Han Dynasty has taken the initiative to publicly announce it to them.
The idea was to have the Han Chinese send troops to destroy the plantations, thus demonstrating Britain's determination to ban the opium trade.
The Governor of Auckland disagrees, which does raise suspicions of rebellion. Could the Governor have a deep connection with smugglers?
Regardless of the governor's reasons for doing this, I can't possibly join the rebels.
An officer at the scene couldn't help but ask Oakland and Colvin, "Your Excellency, is what they're saying true? Did the King and Parliament allow them to come?"
Auckland said, somewhat annoyed, "I have said these things, and of course they are true."
"The King and Parliament did indeed allow the Great Han to send troops to destroy the opium plantations."
"But their fleet on the sea carries at least 30,000 people, not just 10,000."
After hearing the explanation, the officer immediately pressed, "Then why not just allow them to send 10,000 men ashore and drive the rest away?"
Auckland was momentarily speechless: "This—"
The secretary, Colvin, reacted even faster, quickly adding an explanation to the governor: "Because the Han emperor and his soldiers are very ruthless, they may kill without authorization."
"They might even launch a surprise attack, seize Calcutta, and loot all the city's wealth."
"Therefore, His Excellency the Governor did not allow them to send too many troops to Calcutta."
"With ten thousand foreign troops stationed not far from your base, how can you possibly sleep soundly?"
Auckland finally realized what was happening: "Mr. Colvin is right. We are stopping the Han army from entering Calcutta in order to protect the safety of the residents of Calcutta."
Oakland and Colvin offered a weak explanation for their logic.
They wouldn't let the Han soldiers into Calcutta because they might kill people without permission.
But the question is, wouldn't the British governor and soldiers kill without permission? Who doesn't know who?
Even if there is a risk of attack, the king and parliament have given it permission, so they must have considered it.
The Bengal region is the heart of India, with a total of nearly 100,000 troops, at least twice the number of troops that the Han fleet can transport.
The capital city of Calcutta had 20,000 troops stationed there, which was twice the number of troops that the Han Dynasty had requested to be sent to Calcutta.
Although three-quarters of the soldiers were Native American servants, less than a quarter were of European descent.
However, with a numerical advantage of twice that of their own, neither the officers nor the soldiers believed they would suffer a crushing defeat in the battle.
The governor, for a small risk, found a dubious reason to refuse to carry out the king's and parliament's decisions. Even if it wasn't a rebellion, there was still a potential risk.
Many officers and soldiers suspected that Oakland was involved in the opium smuggling trade.
The soldiers weren't receiving the governor's private pay, so why would they follow him and do things that risked rebellion?
Auckland quickly realized this logic, which amounted to negative pre-war mobilization, a situation in which the battle would be very disadvantageous.
Oakland quickly sent Colvin out to deliver a message to avoid conflict in this unfavorable situation: "Your Excellency General of the Great Han, our Governor has agreed."
"The Great Han can send three thousand troops to Calcutta to garrison."
Dong Sheng couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this: "You're still talking about three thousand people now? You're not kidding, are you?"
"Since I've publicly stated that there are 10,000 people, then I will definitely arrange for 10,000 people to go."
Colvin said in great surprise, "Didn't you already send three thousand men ashore?"
"Didn't we say before that the bottom line was 3,333 people?"
Dong Sheng chuckled coldly and said, "What's the connection between sending 3,000 men ashore first and sending 10,000 men to Calcutta?"
"These three thousand men are stationed here. They will be responsible for inspecting the boats entering and leaving the river and ensuring that you cooperate with the serious big man's actions."
"Those heading to Kolkata are still on the ship and will travel directly to Kolkata by boat."
Colvin said in astonishment, "It is impossible for His Excellency the Governor to allow ten thousand men to go to Calcutta."
Dong Sheng sighed: "Our emperor specifically instructed that barbarians will only fear force, not be grateful for mercy."
"Now it seems that the emperor is truly wise and sagacious."
"Yesterday, in order to resolve the issue quickly, I made concessions to you and agreed to send only 3,000 men to Calcutta."
"But your governor flatly refused."
"Now that our troops have begun to land, your governor has immediately accepted the quota of three thousand men."
"It now seems that we should not tolerate you in any way."
"Your so-called governor missed the last act of mercy I unexpectedly offered you yesterday."
"Now, ten thousand people are ten thousand people, and not a single one can be missing."
"If you cooperate, we will march in; if you obstruct us, we will attack."
After listening, Colvin realized that yesterday's negotiations had completely failed.
Because the two sides did not understand each other, they misjudged each other's attitudes and missed the best opportunity for coordination.
However, upon hearing Dong Sheng's threat, Colvin couldn't help but remind and retort, "Are you aware that the British East India Company has 20,000 troops stationed in Calcutta?"
"We have 100,000 troops throughout the Bangladesh region."
"Even if all the men in your army come ashore, it will only be half the size of ours at most."
"Are you really that confident you can take Calcutta?"
Dong Sheng had long known that India had a large number of troops stationed there, but he still didn't take them seriously: "You Western barbarians and natives are all useless. No matter how many of you there are, it's no use."
"We need to send 10,000 people to Kolkata."
"This is a notification, not a discussion. We are about to begin our march, or rather, our attack."
"Whether we can break through or not, you'll find out for yourselves by trying."
After finishing his speech, Dong Sheng left immediately and returned to the camp of three thousand people.
These three thousand men no longer maintained their square formation and began to build defensive fortifications and set up camps separately.
The Wanshi sailboat continued forward in the river, going upstream.
After Dong Sheng left, Colvin, with mixed and heavy thoughts, ran back to Governor Oakland's side.
He roughly recounted the conversation between the two men and concluded with his analysis: "Your Excellency, the Han Chinese general seems to be angry."
"Three thousand people is indeed the bottom line. If we had accepted it yesterday, the negotiations would have ended."
"Today their troops landed, and we offered to send 3,000 men. They then made new demands."
"The three thousand people who came ashore were only there to control the river mouth."
"They wanted to send 10,000 soldiers by boat to Calcutta, indicating that they were going to march or advance to attack."
"I mentioned the number of troops in Kolkata and Bangladesh."
"But the other side immediately expressed extreme contempt, completely disregarding our army."
Auckland paused for a moment, then sighed in frustration, complaining, "Why did it turn out like this? Are all those Han Chinese out of their minds? How are we supposed to communicate smoothly with each other?"
Colvin quickly reminded him from the side, "Your Excellency, now is not the time to discuss the Han Chinese way of thinking."
"If the governor is not prepared to launch an offensive, he should return to Calcutta as soon as possible to take charge of the situation."
Auckland looked at the soldiers beside him.
These people clearly had no intention of fighting; they were currently discussing amongst themselves.
"That's more like it. With tens of thousands of them here, how could they possibly accept the rules we set?"
"The king and parliament have both agreed, how could they possibly give up?"
"Shouldn't we consider getting the Han army to complete their mission as soon as possible and then sending them away?"
"In any case, the King and Parliament have already made a decision. Your Excellency's obstruction now would only create additional trouble."
Listening to their complaints, Auckland, somewhat annoyed, gave the order: "I'm going back to Kolkata right now!"
"All troops kept a close watch on the Han army, and were ready to retaliate immediately if the enemy opened fire."
"If the other side does not fire, then you should never fire first."
"We cannot be the ones to provoke conflict."
After finishing his speech, Auckland left the scene with his secretary and returned to Kolkata on the same steamship he had come on.
As the medium-sized ships of the Great Han Navy sailed upstream along the Hughley River, everyone on both sides tensed up as they passed the riverbank fortress where the British garrison was located.
Neither side was prepared to fire first, but both were also worried about a surprise attack.
The two sides may be only a little over 100 meters apart at their closest point, and either side firing first would cause huge casualties to the other.
Everyone gripped their weapons, ready to fire in response to the attack.
However, since neither side is prepared to fire, unless there is an accidental discharge, it is impossible to engage in combat.
The fortress at the river mouth and the surrounding more than 5,000 British troops did not fire a single shot, watching the Han Chinese navy fleet sail towards Calcutta.
The 10,000 regular troops transported by the Great Han fleet arrived outside Calcutta without any attempt at concealment.
However, the Han officers did not order the troops transported by the fleet to enter the city.
Firstly, following the warning from the General Staff, there were concerns that the environment in these cities might be too dirty.
The key problem is the inability to control the people in the city and to keep them clean according to the standards of the Han Dynasty.
Prolonged contact with them could lead to infection with the plague.
Secondly, there was a concern that they would become isolated within the city, vulnerable to ambushes and attacks, and unable to exert their full combat effectiveness.
Calcutta had over 20,000 British troops stationed there, which was a rare occurrence for the Han Chinese army to be in a minority.
The staff officer requested that a suitable location be chosen outside the city to divide the 10,000 men into two groups and set up camp separately.
The goal is to build a camp that is completely under our control and where we can support each other.
The officer ordered the soldiers to go ashore, set up camp, and build fortifications to settle down before considering other matters.
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