New Shun 1730

The mission that Mi Ziming accepted was just to fight the Netherlands. It was a simple war, which was not difficult. The Dutch did not have many troops in Ceylon, and they were at both ends of the island. If the Dutch could not control the sea, Dashun could defeat them one by one.

But beyond the simple war, the difficulty was to be wary of being used as a gun by allies and to kill allies as much as possible.

France did not have a strong fleet in India. The nearest fleet was in Mauritius, which was the island where the legendary "Dodo" lived. At that time, it was called the French Island, near Madagascar.

The reason for sending a fleet to India, or the reason told to the French, was that the British were plundering by nature, and now France had opened up a ginseng and mink route, and each ship was worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Dashun was willing to send warships to deter Britain out of its ally obligations, forcing Britain not to rob ships, thereby ensuring peace.

Britain and France have not yet declared war. Although the two sides are fighting fiercely, Britain has never declared war on France. The reason why Britain sent troops was that the Elector of Hanover signed the edict of the successor of the former Holy Roman Emperor, fulfilling the obligations of the Holy Roman princes. The army sent by Britain to the European continent was not called the British Army, but the "State Edict Army".

The East India Company itself has the right to declare war and diplomacy. Britain and France are still at peace in India. But the possibility of British hijacking ships is very high, especially when the value of French ginseng and sable fur trade is extremely high.

Privately, Liu Yu also made it clear to Dupleix that the Dashun fleet would not participate in the war against Britain. The Dashun official would never issue a declaration to defend free trade on the Indian route and to go to war with anyone who dared to hijack ships.

If the British were really brave enough to hijack French ships, the Dashun fleet would choose to withdraw directly and refuse to go to war.

Dupleix was very brave and had a lot of ideas. He could come up with a way to systematically train Indian soldiers. If France did not have sea control, India would probably belong to France. This man is capable, and his failure is really not due to his ability.

If he is just pretending to be powerful, it would be fine. What I am afraid of is that he will use some tricks to drag the Dashun fleet into the Anglo-French war. That would really be Dashun making wedding clothes for France.

At any time, guarding against allies and using allies is more troublesome than dealing with enemies.

Mi Ziming stayed in Ceylon for a meeting, one to convey the real purpose to senior officers, and the other to make it clear: Be sure to guard against being used by the French.

In a word, during the docking in India, always maintain a high level of vigilance, always keep the ships patrolling outside the port, and avoid conflicts as much as possible.

As for how Dupleix will use the visit of the Dashun fleet, as long as he does not let the Dashun famous sword openly fight with the British, how much he can use is his ability.

The fleet did not stay in Ceylon for too long, and maps, topography, port hydrology, etc. have long been drawn and compiled into books. February is the dry season, with drought and little rain, which is suitable for warfare in the gunpowder era. Those spies hidden among the immigrants continued to lurk, and they were not needed to do anything for the time being.

In early December, the squadron arrived in Pondicherry as scheduled. During the voyage, they also encountered several ships of the British East India Company. Seeing the scale of the Dashun fleet, the British side also rationally chose to avoid it, and even took the initiative to lower the sails to show goodwill.

The French held a grand welcome ceremony in Pondicherry, and Dupleix's speech was also quite meaningful, and he vigorously promoted the friendly relations between China and France. These speeches were neither for the French nor for the people of Dashun, but for the British. These words will definitely be passed on to the British East India Company through the mouths of some people.

The earliest warships of the Dashun Navy were all French goods, and the new battleships were also French drawings. Most of the instructors were French. The only difference was that Dashun did not choose to bury the bodies in the sand and bury them in peace, but threw them into the sea in the British style. The senior officers of the fleet basically knew French, and there was no obstacle to communication. They were basically satisfied with the welcome ceremony.

After the welcoming ceremony, Mantou reiterated Dashun's intentions to Dupleix, who also expressed his absolute support and understanding.

But in his heart, he had different ideas.

It would be best if Dashun was involved in the war between Britain and France. This was the best result, but also the most difficult.

The second point was to use the opportunity of the visit of the Dashun fleet to scare the British ships from going out, because the British fleet in India was not large and was not a match for the Dashun fleet.

As long as the British did not control the sea, Dupleix was sure that he would be able to capture Madras.

Pondicherry was the territory of the French, and one or two hundred miles to the north was the British Madras. Further north was the French territory. Madras was like a nail stuck in the French center of southern India, and Dupleix had long wanted to pull it out.

But Madras was close to the sea.

As long as the British fleet was dispatched and supported at sea, it would be a delusion to want to capture Madras.

Even if Dashun did not participate in the battle between Britain and France, as long as it could scare the British and prevent the British fleet from dispatching, it would be a great help.

With Dashun's fleet watching from the side, the British would definitely not dare to concentrate all their fleets to defend Madras. They were afraid that if Dashun did not declare war, the British fleet in India would be piled up near Madras and be wiped out in one wave, and then the war would be impossible to fight.

Therefore, even if Dashun did not participate in the war and just stood by, it would be a great help.

Duplaix's strategy was simple. He believed that even if the soldiers of the princes, governors, and princely states of India were armed with muskets and cannons, they would be useless.

According to his observation, adopting a new training method and training a group of Indian soldiers according to the standards of European field troops would be enough to form a snowball effect. It was only necessary to conquer by force. As long as the British were driven away, conquering India, which seemed like a dream bubble to those in the Palace of Versailles, would not be difficult.

After conquering Madras and connecting the French sphere of influence, the soldiers could be trained.

He had his own ideas and wanted to borrow some of the power of Dashun.

However, Dashun also had his own ideas and wanted to pit a wave of French people.

In fact, this big pit had been dug many years ago.

The Jenkins Ear War broke out in the Anglo-Spanish War. Dashun provided ports and supplies to Britain, allowing Britain to capture Manila.

Now in Manila, the fleet led by George Anson has just captured a Manila galleon, with rich results and high morale.

This is the basis for Liu Yu to pit the French.

Although George Anson had a conflict with Liu Yu, and Liu Yu was quite disgusted with his insulting attitude towards China, to be honest, his ability to command at sea is not a problem for him to fight the French. After all, he is also the first person to sail around the world in a fleet.

Now the news that the Dashun fleet is heading to Pondicherry must have reached Luzon. Dupleix is ​​promoting Sino-French friendship here. When the Dashun fleet set sail, Dashun itself also promoted it. The British East India Company's trading house in Dashun can certainly get the news.

Once China and the Netherlands go to war, the British will suddenly realize: Oh, so you are going to fight the Netherlands, what are you afraid of? George Anson directly took the Luzon fleet to support India and took back the control of the sea.

As long as Britain gets the control of the sea, France will have a hard time.

How big is the difference?

Historically, Dupleix used his personal connections to find the Governor of Mauritius, requesting fleet support, gaining control of the sea, and capturing Madras... 6 dead, 14 wounded, and they captured Madras, which the British had worked hard to build for a hundred years.

Later, the French fleet encountered the "divine wind", and the British regained control of the sea. The same troops and the same commander attacked Fort St. David, but were defended by the British for 18 months, and the garrison commander was out wandering and was captured by the French cavalry before the siege.

Liu Yu did not want France to have an advantage in India. It would be better if the British had an advantage, so that France could choose a more intelligent diplomatic strategy in Europe, not be too aggressive in Europe, and appropriately give up some interests, so as to be able to get along with both sides, and be able to pull Austria and Russia into their allies at any time.

The strategy of Dashun was to occupy Ceylon, capture some Dutch strongholds in India, and be prepared to intervene in the internal struggles of the governors of various parts of India.

Re-enacting the old story of Yelu Deguang's foster son emperor.

In this day and age, once the military leaders and governors of various parts of India died, their subordinates or their children and grandchildren would definitely beat their brains out. If there were outsiders who could provide support, or even direct military help, they would not only give three or five cities, but would even go to Dashun to pay tribute.

The governors of the ruling class had no moral integrity. They would see who sold out the country well and who sold out the country poorly. Most of them would die and their families would be exterminated.

Dashun wanted to get ahead of France and interfere in the internal struggles between the governors of India. This required France to lose the upper hand in the confrontation with Britain. France had no power and could only watch Dashun gain an advantage south of Pondicherry.

And this was the basis for the future "Shangdang Returns to Zhao" plan.

Mantou had received the news from Liu Yu, and he was the only choice to uphold Liu Yu's strategic conception.

In August, Liu Yu had already arrived in Guangzhou and had a face-to-face meeting with Mantou, explaining his conception clearly.

In view of the problems of monsoon and rainy and dry seasons, the French must be allowed to launch an attack as soon as possible and take the initiative to launch an attack, so that after the British fleet in Luzon gets the news of Dashun's war against the Netherlands, they will tacitly understand Dashun's intentions, so that George Anson will lead the Centurion battleship as the flagship of the global voyage fleet to arrive in India during the dry season.

Before the rainy season arrives, let Britain gain sea control and maritime advantage in India to strike the French.

In general, the British have an advantage in the number of troops. Bombay, which was used as a dowry, is still in the hands of the British, and the British in the north have considerable power. As long as they get sea control, even if Dupleix has the ability, he can't create a fleet, and it will be useless.

In addition, in order to stimulate the British, use Sino-French cooperation to stimulate the British, so that the British will increase their investment in India, thereby completely suppressing France, and Dashun cannot cut off too cleanly from France.

Let the British see a kind of "close and distant", looking like allies, but not so close.

In order to achieve these two goals, Mantou proposed a "help" to Dupleix.

"Mr. Dupleix, there is no doubt that there is a personal friendship between you and the Whale Lord. He asked me to give you the right help."

"For this purpose, we can provide you with two cruisers. We also brought some French instructors from Weihai this time, who can directly become fleet commanders. Some of our gunners can be mercenaries, and it is best for you to provide the sailors yourself."

"We will also send observers to follow the ship. You can only fly the French flag and recognize that this is your ship."

"Of course, if it is used normally, you only need to reimburse the repair costs, wear and tear, and gunpowder. If it sinks, you will need to pay for the cost of the warship."

"As for our main fleet, it is absolutely impossible to participate in the war. We are just standing by as a friendly force. If a real fight breaks out, we will run away."

"These two cruisers must be publicly leased to your country in a grand ceremony to completely sever their ties with the Celestial Empire."