20demayo Chapter 86 Be prepared to take an inch and a mile at any time.
Chapter 86 Be prepared to take an inch and a mile at any time.
Chapter 86 Be prepared to take an inch and a mile at any time.
After all the arrangements were made, the fleets from the four countries set off separately.
Official members of the three-nation delegation, as well as those eager to return to their homelands, will continue their southward voyage by ship.
It passes through the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean, sails directly to the southernmost tip of Africa, and rounds the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean.
The fleet, preparing to trade with India, sailed through the Strait of Malacca with the Great Han Western Fleet, heading towards Bengal in northeastern India.
At this time, the center of British rule in India was not near Delhi, the modern capital of India, nor Mumbai, an important port on the western coast, but Calcutta in the northeastern Bengal region.
Kolkata itself is not located on the coast; it is situated on the Hughley River, a tributary of the Ganges Delta.
The Ganges River has a huge sediment load, second only to the Yellow River in the world. The middle and lower reaches of the river are severely silted up, and the delta coastal areas are full of shallows.
The lower Ganges River is now considered "unnavigable".
However, before the 19th century, when the displacement of conventional merchant ships was only a few hundred tons, Calcutta could barely be used as a river port connecting to the sea.
Calcutta was the first formal colonial foothold that Britain acquired in India, and it was from here that the British East India Company gradually gained control of the whole of India.
This historical inertia has resulted in Calcutta remaining the center of British rule in India to this day.
It was very difficult for ocean-going ships to enter Calcutta, but Admiral Zhu Guangrui of the Western Fleet and his staff still hoped to go in and take a look, mainly to find out the waterway conditions there.
However, the Governor-General of India did not want the Han fleet to do that.
The newly appointed Governor-General of India, Baron George Eden Auckland, departed from Britain last year (1835) along with the mission to China, and officially took office in Calcutta earlier this year.
Governor Burnham of the Straits Settlements had essentially given up resistance, but Governor Auckland of India was clearly not going to give up.
The size of India as a whole was not comparable to that of the Straits Settlements.
Britain had a total of 200,000 troops in India, with nearly 100,000 in the most important Bengal region, and more than 10,000 stationed in Calcutta itself.
Auckland is aware of the current situation of the Great Han, and also of the current relationship between Britain and the Great Han.
Auckland's immediate task upon assuming the post of Governor-General of India was to deal with and cooperate with the Han Chinese in destroying opium plantations, while in the process preventing any potential conflicts or even war.
Auckland spent six months making every effort to prepare for the arrival of the Han army.
The existing British army was reorganized and assembled, and the garrison in Calcutta was increased to more than 20,000 men, ensuring that it could deter the 10,000 men of the Great Han.
The Indian princely states that were to submit were required to provide more troops and laborers to cooperate in building and reinforcing more city defenses.
The Indian Navy has been instructed to maintain continuous patrols and vigilance in the Bay of Bengal, outside the Ganges Delta.
Two lead ships arranged by the East India Fleet, carrying the unusually large Han Dynasty Western Fleet, were quickly discovered by a coastal patrol fleet as they approached the Ganges Delta along the traditional route.
The sheer size of the Han fleet terrified the captain, lookout, and sailors of the patrol fleet.
They stared at the massive fleet through their binoculars, gasping in astonishment for a long time.
"Where did this fleet of ships come from!"
"The flags on those ships are the insignia of the Great Han Dynasty that the governor specifically displayed!"
"Fuck, that's the Han Dynasty's fleet!"
"Our God, how many ships have they sent!"
"What a generous gift! There could be hundreds of large ships; this is definitely not just a fleet transporting ten thousand men!"
"Stop standing there! Go and inform the governor immediately, and stop them!"
After the patrol captain finally realized what was happening, he sent someone back to inform Governor Oakland while simultaneously directing the patrol boat to make contact with the Great Han fleet.
The messenger, traveling by small fast boat, delivered news of the appearance of the Han fleet and its size to the Governor's Office in Calcutta, reporting it to Governor Baron Auckland.
Upon hearing the report, Auckland's eyes widened, his fists clenched, and he shouted, "What the hell! What did you say! The Han have sent over a hundred ships!"
"Did they launch a direct attack on the patrol fleet?!"
The patrol's communications officer immediately replied, "Yes, sir, they have over a hundred large ships, but they haven't launched a direct attack on us."
"Our captain has already contacted them and conveyed the arrangements you've made."
Auckland almost instinctively ordered: "Go back immediately and keep an eye on them to see if they have accepted my arrangements."
"Report back immediately if you find anything unusual!"
The communications officer immediately took his orders and left. Auckland then issued another order, instructing all troops to prepare for battle.
Auckland dispatched a group of messengers to carry out all the preparations they could think of.
Then one person paced back and forth in the room, muttering curses at everyone and everything.
From the fleet of the Han Dynasty to the Foreign Secretary of Britain, to the Prime Minister and Parliament of Britain.
"One hundred ships! That's at least thirty thousand people, maybe even fifty thousand!"
"Wasn't it agreed that the limit would be 10,000 people?!"
"I might be able to handle 10,000 men, but how am I supposed to handle 30,000?! Even if we bring in troops from other regions, it's too late!"
"How could the diplomats have been allowed to come! All my preparations have been rendered useless!"
"What have they done?!"
"Useless, a bunch of useless trash, all of them are useless."
At this moment, Auckland's subordinates all lowered their heads and shrank backs, trying to minimize their presence and daring not to make a sound.
Meanwhile, India's patrol fleet in the Bay of Bengal approached the Great Han Western Fleet, and the patrol captain himself, accompanied by five guards, boarded the flagship of the Great Han Western Fleet.
After being informed, the captain met with Dong Sheng, the staff officer and translator of the Western Fleet, and conveyed the arrangements made in advance by the Governor-General of India: "Your Excellency, the port conditions in Calcutta are not good, and the waterway conditions are also very complicated. Only small and medium-sized merchant ships can enter, and it is impossible to accommodate a large naval fleet to anchor."
"The British naval fleet stationed in India usually docks at Chittagong in eastern Bengal. Please have the Great Han fleet also dock at Chittagong and send the troops it carries to Chittagong for garrisoning."
"At the same time, please arrange for another representative to go to Calcutta to discuss follow-up cooperation matters directly with our governor."
Chittagong's port conditions were indeed much better than Calcutta's, but the British fleet stationed in India would not necessarily dock at Chittagong.
The Indian governor's half-hearted arrangement had a simple purpose: to prevent the main force of the Han Dynasty from going directly to Calcutta, and to prevent the Han fleet from directly threatening the waters off Calcutta.
We should try to send the Han fleet and army to more remote areas. Chittagong is located at the easternmost point of the Indian colony, close to the border region of Burma.
Even if the Han Dynasty were to launch an attack on India, the fighting should begin in the more peripheral areas, rather than in Calcutta, the capital of India.
That way, I'll at least have some time and space to organize a defense to salvage the situation.
Dong Sheng roughly understood the Governor-General of India's concerns.
With tens of thousands of foreign troops stationed next to his capital, the Governor-General of India would probably have sleepless nights.
At the same time, the Western Fleet of the Great Han Navy was not authorized to directly wage war.
The immediate mission of the Western Fleet, besides destroying opium plantations, was to establish a presence in northeastern India.
To maintain a sustained and long-term deterrent against the British Indian authorities, preventing them from engaging in activities that would harm the interests of the Han Dynasty.
Meanwhile, we await further orders to coordinate with combat operations in Myanmar.
Therefore, Zhu Guangrui and Dong Sheng will not insist that all troops be stationed near Calcutta.
However, Dong Sheng was not prepared to cooperate with the other party so directly.
Because, according to the Emperor’s direct reminder and instructions, no matter how reasonable the demands of the British and Indians may be, they should not be granted directly: “Our army can enter Calcutta in small and medium-sized boats, just like the merchants.”
"Calcutta is India's largest port for foreign trade, and the vast majority of opium smuggled abroad comes from Calcutta."
"The Han army must go to Calcutta to supervise the Governor-General of India in his efforts to eradicate opium."
The patrol captain looked troubled after hearing this: "Calcutta cannot accommodate such an army. The governor's order to us is to send the Han army to Chittagong."
Dong Sheng knew that the other party was just a messenger captain, with no decision-making power and no value in negotiation: "You don't need to waste your breath here, immediately send my message to your governor."
"Either we lead the army directly to Calcutta, or he comes to the sea to meet our commander."
"Our troops will not leave here until we have agreed on the specific details of cooperation."
The patrol captain breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although the other party was indeed very vicious, as long as he wasn't made the scapegoat, that was fine. He immediately arranged for two communications soldiers to go back and inform the governor.
When the Governor-General of India, Baron Auckland, received the patrol's new report, he was no longer as excited as before.
But his expression remained extremely grim, filled with worry and even panic: "Sending his army directly here is definitely not an option, and going to meet them at sea is equally dangerous—"
"What if they kidnap me if I go to meet them at sea?"
John Russell Colvin, Oakland's private secretary, overheard Oakland's murmurs and questioning, cautiously offered a suggestion: "Sir, how about we try to find a compromise, perhaps meeting and talking on the beach?"
Auckland didn't respond immediately after hearing this, and paced around the room several more times.
He ultimately accepted his secretary's suggestion and, along with the secretary and thirty elite guards from the governor's mansion, boarded a steam-powered sailboat and headed to the river mouth.
He landed at a small coastal bunker not far from the sea and instructed the accompanying communications soldier to go out to sea and relay a message: "Go back immediately and tell them that we can meet and talk on the beach."
"They can only bring a maximum of ten people."
The communications officer rushed back to sea with orders to convey Auckland's stance to Dong Sheng.
After listening, Dong Sheng chuckled dryly: "This is a suggestion that both sides should take a step back, but it's obviously impossible to bring ten people."
As instructed by the emperor, when dealing with these people, one must be prepared to push one's luck at any time in order to receive a normal response.
Dong Sheng first met with Zhu Guangrui, the admiral of the Western Fleet, to discuss and confirm the attitude and bottom line for the talks with Auckland.
Then Dong Sheng boarded a small steam-powered sailboat and sailed towards the mouth of the river where Calcutta is located.
After entering the river mouth, Dong Sheng led a hundred soldiers ashore by transport boat.
Auckland stood on a coastal fort not far from the shore, observing the movements of the Great Han fleet through binoculars.
Upon seeing Dong Sheng's steamship arrive, he immediately counted the number of soldiers who disembarked and then couldn't help but shout, "This is outrageous! I only requested ten men, but they brought a hundred!"
Governor's Secretary Colvin immediately reassured Auckland: "Your Excellency shouldn't be so angry. The Great Han is the overlord of the Eastern world; it should be domineering and fierce as it is."
"If they do exactly what we ask and only bring ten people ashore to talk with us, we should suspect a conspiracy."
"Although the other side has brought more than ten times the number of soldiers ashore, they have accepted the proposal to hold talks on the beach."
"This shows that the other party is at least willing to talk with us."
Auckland quickly realized this was indeed the case, and muttered with a hint of melancholy and resentment, "I hope everything goes well—"