After Zhao Xin returned to Beihai Town, he held a meeting with Wang Zhong and the others the next night. The meeting was attended by not only members of the negotiating team, but also relevant personnel from the staff department, civil affairs and surveying and mapping departments.
Negotiating with the Li Dynasty is not just about winning or losing at the negotiation table, but also involves many issues such as the subsequent re-demarcation of the border between the two sides, garrisoning troops, the Tumen River waterway, and how to deal with the people of the Li Dynasty who are reclaiming wasteland across the border. The actual operation is extremely complicated. , it would be impossible to complete within a year and a half.
The 29-member committee of Beihai Town had previously made a resolution that the Li Dynasty people from Hunchun who were crossing the border to reclaim wasteland would be either forcibly repatriated or sent to Siberia according to Zhao Xin's plan. Anyway, the north bank of the Tumen River must not be left, otherwise one day they will say that this is theirs and that is theirs.
The reason why everyone made this decision is based on historical lessons. The so-called toad smashes your feet, but it won't kill you and disgust you to death.
In the mid-to-late 19th century in another time and space, the Li Dynasty encountered extremely serious natural disasters. A large number of refugees crossed the Tumen River and sneaked into the rich and empty Hunchun area in the north of the Yangtze River to cultivate crops and settle down. Gradually, a large number of people were formed in the north of the Yangtze River. Settlement area.
In November of the seventh year of Guangxu's reign (1881), the Manchu Qing ordered the Li Dynasty to "return" the illegal settlers within one year, but most of the settlers in the Li Dynasty refused to return. Unexpectedly, in the ninth year of Guangxu's reign, the cross-border settlers from Zhongcheng Prefecture suddenly wrote to the envoy of Zhongcheng Prefecture, saying that the north bank of the Tumen River was not Chinese territory, but the land of the Li Dynasty.
In the subsequent "Yiyou" border negotiations, the Li Dynasty envoys even said that the dividing line between the two countries was the "Tumen" farther north and not the Tumen River; in fact, even they themselves knew how absurd this statement was.
After the border negotiations ended, negotiator Li Chongxia reported his true understanding of the "Liangjiang Theory" to King Gojong of North Korea in the form of a "separate note". Due to Li Chongxia's explanation and the fact that no strong evidence could be found, North Korea had to abandon the "Liangjiang theory" on its own.
However, after 1897, the "Korean Empire" created with the support of the Japanese ignored the results of the border negotiations between the two countries and once again threw out the "Tumen" instead of the Tumen River, which triggered the so-called "interval". "Island Issue" has been agitated into the 21st century.
Regarding the future boundary demarcation with the Li Dynasty, Zhao Xin's attitude is to adhere to the principle that the western section of the border remains unchanged and the middle and eastern sections are pushed southward.
To put it simply, the western section still uses the center line of the main stream of the Yalu River as the boundary; in the middle section, the source of the Tumen River and the Yalu River is no longer used as the watershed between the two countries, but should be pushed southward to the tributaries of the Yalu River to build Chuangou and the Tumen River. A line on the south bank of the tributary Hongdan River. This means that in the future, neither Changbai Mountain nor Xiaobai Mountain, nor even Sanchiyuan, will have anything to do with the Li Dynasty; in the eastern section, the Maoshan area will be fully recovered, while in the north, the main peak of Luoduan Mountain will be used as the watershed, and Yongshan in the north will be separated. Dacheng, Wencheng, Meijianzhen and Xunzhen were recovered.
As a result, the Tumen River was divided into several sections in the middle and lower reaches, and Maoshan and the four northern cities became the enclaves of Beihai Town on the south bank of the Tumen River.
Wang Zhong, Liu Taigong and others raised their concerns. They felt that if they did this, Li Chao might be driven crazy, and the two sides would definitely have constant friction on the border in the future. Even Shen Jingdan also pointed out that doing so will inevitably affect the future border trade between the two sides.
Zhao Xin explained to everyone present nonchalantly: "The iron ore reserves in Maoshan are extremely high and must be controlled in our hands. This is a goal that has been determined many years ago. As for taking back the four northern cities, it is to teach them a lesson and at the same time let them They have no time to covet the territory on the north bank. The Li Dynasty spent fifty years appropriating the south bank of the lower reaches of the Tumen River, and we can use twenty years to create an established fact. As long as we ourselves are not corrupt, they will never dare to launch military provocations.
Furthermore, when the Northern Navy advances to Shengjing, they will have to rely on us for trade. The abolition of the vassal system will also be a good thing for the Li Dynasty, as the heavy burden of tribute will be gone. Whether it is the border trade on the Yalu River or the border trade on the Tumen River, they are not even the tip of our little finger, but they are very important to them. As long as the output of weapons and steel products is controlled, they won't be able to make any money out of it! "
It is now the end of 1793, and the entire Northeast has once again entered a period of calm covered by thousands of miles of ice. In sharp contrast to the wars of words on the negotiating table, the North Korean Navy's wars in South Asia and Borneo are in full swing.
First of all, in India, the British siege and local governance war that started in June was originally just the prelude to the Eastern battlefield of the "French Revolutionary War" in another time and space in history. This war that spread to the East lasted for nine years. The warring parties fought in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the East Indies, and finally ended with the Treaty of Amiens.
As a result, the British gained Sri Lanka, and Tipu Sultan, who lost the support of the French, also died in street fighting in the "Fourth Anglo-Maik War". As for Europe, everyone on earth knows that Napoleon became the first ruler of the First Republic of France, taking a big step towards the throne of European hegemony.
However, in this time and space, due to the official end of Beihai Town, the war of local governance has not ended for four months, but the French have changed from the protagonist to the foil.
It was already mid-August when Ding Guofeng arrived in India. His arrival made Cornwallis, the governor of the British East India Company, extremely nervous.
As a rear admiral, Cornwallis knew very well that the British navy was very weak in the waters of the Bay of Bengal; in the fleet responsible for the blockade, the "Minerva" frigate was the only active warship, and the other four were all merchant ships. It was no problem for him to bully the French and Dutch, but facing the five menacing ships of the Northern Navy, Cornwallis really did not have the courage to challenge.
Fortunately, the previous naval blockade was very successful. After three of the French supply ships were captured, they no longer dared to come back. His only worry now is that the North Navy will provide support to local governance from land.
Cornwallis quickly sent an envoy to Pazayarai. After meeting Ding Guofeng, the other party stated that the British East India Company had no intention of entering a state of hostility with Beihai Town and hoped to maintain good relations. Even if they take over local governance, they will still respect and ensure Beihai Town's rights and interests in Pazayarai, and even give away 100 square kilometers of land.
Ding Guofeng said to himself, "Get the hell out of here, I'm just here to cause trouble for you guys!" In fact, based on his character and temper, if Zhao Xin hadn't handed over the truth in advance, he would have dared to directly destroy the British fleet and then bombard the Port of Calcutta.
Upon learning of the arrival of the Northern Fleet, French commander Colonel Prosperde Clement was overjoyed. He thought the fleet had also brought ground troops and personally brought people over to contact them. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at Pazayarai, they found that only 300 Northern Navy troops had arrived, and they were greatly disappointed.
Ding Guofeng's explanation for this is that the North Korean navy's war in West Java is currently at a critical juncture, and the outcome will be seen in another month. It is really impossible to dispatch troops at the moment, and he hopes the French will persist. This time I brought two thousand rounds of artillery shells and six 12-pound cannons, and I will assist you with thirty artillerymen. You can send people over at night to take them all away. In addition, all the weapons and ammunition this time are half-price, just as friendly support.
He finally said hypocritically, don't be anxious, don't be anxious, persistence is victory.
Colonel Clement, the commander of the French army, said to himself that what you said is really easy. He has less than 2,000 troops under his command, but there are 10,000 British troops outside the city!
What he didn't know was that Zhao Xin had already reached a secret agreement with Louis XVI's sister, Lady Elizabeth, and the former Governor-General Leclerc. In the future, local governance would belong to Louis Charles and be loyal to him. This time, he would take advantage of the British siege. Opportunity to kill all those die-hard republicans.
The problem is that Pazayarai is not a big place. If thousands of people come, both the British and the French will definitely find out. Therefore, the thousands of servants that Ding Guofeng took away from Bacheng were all hiding in the dense forest outside Malacca and waiting. As long as he called, they would immediately board the ship and set off, and they could arrive in less than a week.
Clement had no choice but to go back angrily. But for him, it would be great to have weapons and ammunition to support him now. In particular, the 12-pound artillery shells of the Northern Navy played a great role in the previous offensive and defensive battles, causing the British troops outside the city to suffer enough.
Starting from July 28, the British East India Company's troops arrived on the outskirts of the city and established a position on Red Hill overlooking the entire city. After the demand for surrender was rejected, a detachment of the 71st and 74th Infantry Regiments of the British Army launched a feint attack and occupied positions south of the town on July 30.
The plan of the British commander, Colonel Braithwaite, was to defend
Taking the northeastern corner, where the defense was weaker and the ground was drier, as the main direction of attack, the first thing he had to do was to build forts in the west and north of the city. However, his plan was hampered by a heavy rain. During this period, the French used their own 24-pounder guns and the 12-pounder guns provided by Beihai Town to bombard the British, causing heavy losses to the British construction workers.
On August 12, Colonel Clement concentrated all the twelve 12-pound guns sold to them by Beihai Town to the north of the city, and carried out continuous attacks on the British army's fortifications and trenches. Even the British General Engineer Lieutenant Colonel George Moore also died under gunfire.
In these years, the artillery shells used by artillery in various European countries were similar, mainly solid bullets, grapeshot, canned shotshells, and various projectiles. As for the "explosion bomb" that is most talked about by future generations, because the black powder of this era did not have high explosive power, its effect was only concussion rather than fragmentation effect, and its range was only a few hundred meters.
The shells used by the Beihai Town 12-pounder gun are different. The round shell of the entire artillery shell is made of steel. The purpose of this is to make the shell thinner so as to carry more shotshells and explosive powder. A manually adjusted time fuse is installed on the top, and the explosive charge is Located at the bottom of the shell. When fired, a time fuse located at the top of the shell is triggered, which is then transferred to the explosive at the bottom of the fuse, which detonates to break the steel shell and release the canister.
To put it bluntly, this thing is actually copied from the "shrapnel" improved by the British in 1852 in another time and space. The early model of this artillery shell had been invented nine years ago by a Royal Artillery lieutenant named "Shrapnel". Historically, the British army did not officially use it until the war in Suriname in 1804.
On the other side, although the British army suffered heavy losses, the commander, Colonel Raithwaite, had long been mentally prepared. The fort had to be built no matter what, because the lives of Indian mercenaries were not valuable anyway. On August 21, a large number of indigenous mercenaries withstood fierce French artillery fire and finally successfully built the main fort known as the "Royal Battery". The next morning, the British 24-pounder long gun fired back at the French army. .
In the history of another time and space, once the British army's two forts outside the city showed their strength, the French could not withstand it that day and simply surrendered the next day. In this time and space, as two thousand artillery shells from Beihai Town were transported into the local area for management, the tragic situation of the British army was far from over.
In the next ten days or so, eighteen artillery groups composed of the artillery of the French Army and the Northern Navy showed great power. They bombarded the two British forts and at the same time carried out intensive shelling on the outer positions of the British Army. The number of British casualties expanded from more than 400 to more than 1,000.
The British commander, Colonel Braithwaite, was already in a difficult position. He was very ambitious before setting off. It would be too embarrassing to go back in despair, so he could only grit his teeth and ask Madras for help. Support more artillery.
While Ding Guofeng was always paying attention to the progress of the war in local governance, he sent a message to Tipu Sultan through Prince Ali, who could already communicate in Mandarin, that he planned to ask the other party to send troops in a month.
Tipu Sultan wanted this very much. You must know that the "Third Anglo-Malaysian War" that ended last year made him feel humiliated and indignant. When he learned from his son that the North Sea Navy would send a large number of troops to attack the British, he immediately began mobilization. Among them, the 3,000 new army troops trained by Beihai Town for Mysore will be his main force against the British.
Through this battle, he intended to recover all the four regions of Malabar, Salem, Bellary and Anantapur that had been ceded to the British.
On the other side, the Governor's Office in Bombay, located northwest of the Kingdom of Mysore, learned of Tipu Sultan's movements. He immediately sent a ship to inform Madras, and then contacted the Marathas in the north to prepare for sending troops; while Madeira The Sri Lankan Governor's Office learned of the situation a few days later and also sent an envoy to contact Hyderabad and request the other party to send troops.
Cornwallis in Calcutta was shocked when he heard the news. He was keenly aware that Mysore's imminent move must be related to Beihai Town, and the long-term failure of local governance was also an important reason. He immediately took a ship to Madras to supervise the war, and at the same time ordered Colonel Braithwaite to take over the local governance before the end of September.
By this time, in addition to the warring British East India Company and French India, the three major Deccan regimes and Beihai Town were gearing up for a war that would affect the entire country.
The war in the South Asian subcontinent is imminent.
