18th century total war

Chapter 341 Declaring War
"absurd!
The great Qing Dynasty was a kingdom of heaven, how could it allow the English and barbarians in the West to dictate.

The British barbarians from the West came to the Qing Dynasty to do business, and they dared to make such excessive demands. It was simply unreasonable! "

"Your Majesty, the English barbarians have dispatched 24 warships to station on islands across the sea from GD province on the southeast coast, carrying a large number of soldiers. They call this treaty an 'ultimatum'.

If you disagree, the British barbarian army will land on the coast of GD Province and invade the Qing Dynasty. "

"You're just an English barbarian kid. If you want to fight, we'll fight. I want to see what those red-haired ghosts are capable of!"

At the beginning of 1805, when countries on the European continent were immersed in the threat of the Roman Empire, Colonel Kentucky, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in the Far East, proposed to open five southeastern coastal treaty ports and lower tariffs, and conveyed it to China in an ultimatum. Manchu Qing court.

This made Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty furious and ordered to dispatch all Green Camp and Eight Banners soldiers in eastern Zhejiang to expel all British merchants and compradors!
On the other hand, Colonel KFC formally submitted a declaration of war to the Manchu Qing court under the pretext of unfair treatment of businessmen in his country. As a result, the "two comprador devils" who submitted the declaration of war were escorted to Caishikou by the angry Emperor Jiaqing to be executed.

In order to express the national prestige of the Qing Empire and its own determination.

Under the influence of his dead father, Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing had always had colored glasses on the barbarians in the West, thinking that they were nothing more than a small country and nothing to worry about.

How could Emperor Jiaqing not be angry when the British were riding on his neck to sign an unequal treaty this time?
And those Manchu courtiers who felt the anger of Emperor Jiaqing naturally did not dare to neglect in the slightest, except that the process of collecting money remained unchanged, and the efficiency of their work was obviously much faster than before.

Senior military and political officials in eastern Zhejiang, especially GD Province, issued orders overnight to recruit civilians from towns and villages to fill the vacancy of the Green Battalion!

However, Emperor Jiaqing was not aware of the fighting power of the English barbarians at this time. He did not even send an imperial envoy to oversee the army, but only asked the provincial governors and senior military and political officials in eastern Zhejiang to gather troops to defend against the enemy.

As for the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland, Colonel Kentucky is just an ordinary high-ranking officer in the Indian colonial government.

The London government was also full of contempt for the Manchu Empire, and not even a single general was dispatched from the mainland.

After the London government's order arrived in the Indian colony, the generals of the Indian government also felt that this was a hard job without oil and water, so they simply sent a colonel to organize the war.

Of course, Colonel KFC is only the commander of the army, and the nominal commander of the expeditionary force is a rear admiral and the commander of the entire fleet.

It's just that the rear admiral is only responsible for coordinating the fleet, and all battles after landing are under the command of Colonel KFC.

The reason is simple. The army component of this expeditionary force is too hip, and it is even said that they are not considered regular British troops at all.

Two-thirds of Colonel KFC's soldiers were Indian servant soldiers, and less than a thousand were white troops.

In this white army, only about half are of British descent, and the rest are 'mercenaries' from other European countries.

That's right, this white army is actually a mercenary recruited by Colonel KFC during the British conquest of India!
This is not uncommon in the Indian subcontinent.

In fact, due to the distance problem, the London government in this world has never sent a large number of regular troops to the Indian subcontinent. Once these regular troops arrive in the Indian subcontinent, they will become the veritable "Central Army". Even a small soldier will be an officer in the colonial army. In front of everyone, they will raise their heads high.

Such an uncle-like 'central army' would naturally not undertake long and arduous conquest battles. Their more combat missions were to garrison wealthy and stable coastal cities, or serve as supervisors and reserves in large-scale battles.

The real wars were the colonial troops and mercenaries who made their living in the Indian subcontinent.

When these miscellaneous troops faced the Central Army coming from the British Isles, they naturally bowed their heads, and all dangerous tasks naturally fell on them.

And the news that the Indian subcontinent is full of gold, under the spare no effort of the London government, has already swept the European continent and the British Isles.

Coupled with frequent wars in Europe, many defeated soldiers did not want to work for the tyrant Li Wei, so they fled across the ocean to other places for profit.

There are only two main destinations for these defeated soldiers with combat experience—the United States of America on the North American continent and the Indian subcontinent.

Because these two overseas lands are a paradise for European mercenaries!
Since the United States of America purchased the Louisiana region at the price of cabbage, it has started the western development movement.

The big development here is, to put it bluntly, a big invasion!

Naturally, the defeated soldiers who knew how to kill would not worry about not being able to find a job here.

Every year thousands of teams of 'explorers' head west and south across the United States of America, and the goals of these teams of explorers are self-evident.

As for the Indian subcontinent, it became a paradise for those mercenaries because of the Indian conquest plan of the London government.

Mercenaries from Europe also became a major part of the colonial army of British India.

The white soldiers led by Colonel KFC today are of this nature.

Of course, it is not accurate to say that they are mercenaries. After all, these white soldiers have served the British colonial government for many years, and many of them even married wives in India and had families!
In addition to not being naturalized by the London government, these mercenaries look no different from the regular British red shirts in terms of military pay, military uniforms and weapons.

At least, outsiders can't tell the difference.

As for the Indian servant army, they were brought here by Colonel KFC in order to use their heads. After Colonel KFC received the task of preparing for the Far East Expeditionary Force, he learned that the backward Qing army there was still at the stage of swords, spears and bows, and felt that they were also equipped with swords and long swords. The Indian soldiers with spears should also be able to use them.

The most important thing is that Indian soldiers don't need money, and they don't have to take responsibility if they die!
Those colonial troops have their own missions and garrisons, and it is impossible to transfer them to the expeditionary force casually.

In fact, at this time, the London government’s invasion of the Far East Empire, the local troops were not too rich, and the expansion of the Indian colonies did not stop, and troops were needed everywhere.

If it weren't for the lack of money for the London government, it wouldn't be doing this.

Therefore, the expeditionary force that Colonel KFC put together was really poor except for his soldiers.

The British Far East Fleet dared to invade the Manchu Empire, and all its confidence came from the weakness of its opponent!
That's right, the Qing Empire, which considered itself to be the supreme kingdom of heaven, actually didn't have a good reputation in Europe.

During the Kangxi and Qianlong periods, the European forces headed by the United Kingdom began to have in-depth contact with the Far Eastern Empire. After such a long time, the Europeans naturally figured out the cards of the Far Eastern Empire.

Taking the order to defend against the enemy personally issued by Emperor Jiaqing this time, senior officials at all levels in GD province and eastern Zhejiang tried their best to recruit Xiangyong, but they only took out [-] to [-] troops.

Moreover, there are [-] to [-] troops and a large city that needs to be stationed. The troops that can really be used for mobile operations are only in the early [-]s.

This shows how poor the mobilization ability of the Qing Dynasty's local troops is!
As for those large cities with inner cities (that is, where the bannermen live), the bannermen inside cannot move for the time being, unless Emperor Jiaqing personally orders it.

Because the distance was too far, the commanders of the sea and land forces of the expeditionary force had great autonomy. After submitting the declaration of war, the fleet commander of the Far East Fleet sailed to Hong Kong Island with Colonel KFC's motley crew.

Then, in just three days, it occupied this big island where there were not many troops stationed, and laid a solid offensive stronghold for the invasion of England.

During the entire battle, Colonel KFC only killed one soldier, an Indian soldier, and he had hundreds of captured Qing soldiers alone.

The victory of this battle made Colonel KFC more sure that his choice was correct. Perhaps Colonel KFC will be able to give himself the rank of general for this expeditionary force's action!

Of course, this battle was just an appetizer for both the Qing court and the expeditionary force.

The Qing court in this era did not pay much attention to Hong Kong Island.

The next GD province is the focus of the expeditionary army's invasion. This is the only open trading port of the Qing court, and it is also the place that the English people know best.

The morning sun dispelled the mist on the sea. Zhang Zixing, who was patrolling the Humen Fort, suddenly widened his eyes, and quickly raised the shotgun in his hand and pulled the trigger.

Rows of western-style warships appeared in the distance on the sea, and the sailors of the warships belonging to the Qing court boarded Yang Fan at the fastest speed and rushed towards the western-style warships, which were far fewer than them.

This is naturally the coastal defense fleet gathered by senior officials of the Qing court in GD Province.

It's just that they didn't expect that the Englishman, whom they regarded as a barbarian, would take the initiative to fight over.

Under the command of the British Rear Admiral, more than 20 battleships that could only be regarded as fourth- and fifth-tier battleships, frigates, and cruisers on the European continent lined up, skillfully seizing the T-shaped outlet!
Immediately afterwards, facing the Qing warships whose number was several times their own, these British warships aimed their sides at the enemy. The gun windows were opened one after another, and the black muzzles were pushed forward amidst the shouts of the British sailors. come out.

The rear admiral standing on the wooden command platform above the flagship deck, holding a monocular to estimate the distance between the two sides, suddenly issued an order to the herald beside him.

Immediately afterwards, the gunners of the commanding forts on each floor shouted loudly to the gunners under their command: "Fire!"

tong tong~
The well-trained British Far East Fleet fired their first salvo since joining the war. The black gunfire roared indiscriminately, and the huge recoil pushed the entire battleship laterally back, moving a full ten meters in the waves. So far!

The flying projectiles formed a firepower net that the Qing court's coastal defense admiral had never seen before. The fragile Chinese warship was shattered by solid iron bullets and pierced through holes one by one. However, half of his body turned into pieces of meat on the spot!
The few Chinese warships at the front that were being taken care of had their masts broken and turned into wooden coffins on the sea.

A round of volleys interrupted the charge of the Qing court fleet in GD province.

However, the English battleship on the opposite side would not be merciful, and the solid iron bullets came at them one after another as if they were free.

However, the artillery technology still remained at the Qing court fleet 200 years ago, and all the shells fired back fell into the sea, which could not hurt the enemy at all!

This kind of unilateral massacre lasted less than an hour, and the Qing court fleet was routed like a tide. The sea was full of Qing court sailors who abandoned their ships and jumped into the sea to escape. Looking around, they were all floating braids...

The green battalion soldiers on the Humen Fort in the distance could only watch this sad scene. The high-level bannermen and senior officials in the rear saw that their navy was defeated without even touching the enemy's side. They looked at each other, turned and left almost at the same time.

In an instant, these senior officials in charge mounted their horses or sat in their sedans and fled towards Guangdong City!

The task of command was delegated to the Han Chinese who served as middle and low-level officers.

Before leaving, those high-ranking officials of the Bannermen gave the Han officers who stayed behind with backbone an order to fight to the death and never retreat!
Anyway, all the people stationed here are Han Chinese green battalion soldiers.

It doesn't hurt to die...

However, those Han officers were not fools. After they sent away their bannermen masters, they immediately fled with their confidants one after another. In the end, only a group of big-headed soldiers and a few Green Camp Han officers were left behind.

The last remaining green battalion officer, the highest rank turned out to be only a thousand generals!
Qianzong Cao Xing never thought that he would have the opportunity to command thousands of soldiers.

Yes, at this time, the green battalion soldiers in the Humen Fort are all registered regular soldiers, and there are no messy township brave people to make up for it. After all, Humen is a crucial coastal defense pass, and the shortage of troops here is not serious.

Those high-ranking bannermen (senior officers in the green battalion are basically bannermen, and Han officers had a ceiling during their lifetime, which is also a restraint method used by the Qing government to control the Han people) took their cronies and subordinates to run away, and a large number of green battalions followed After the Han officers also led their people away, there were still nearly [-] soldiers left at the Humen Fort!
And all of them were handed over to Cao Xing, the highest-ranking chief executive.

Cao Xing is the highest rank at this time, and he should take over the command.

Although Cao Xing is just a mere general, he is also from a wealthy family in GD Province, otherwise he would not be able to be an official of this level.

"Sir, the bannerman master and other military officers have escaped, let's leave together.

We will certainly be able to protect adults well. "

Before Cao Xing could recover from the shock of suddenly having so many soldiers under his command, his relatives surnamed Cao came over to persuade him.

Under the rule of the Qing court, nepotism is very common. It is not uncommon for brothers to join the battle when father dies and sons follow suit!

(End of this chapter)