The British landing force was led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, one of the two main commanders in the Congressional Army's victory at the Battle of Marston's Moor. One of them was Oliver K., then the cavalry commander of the Eastern Confederate Army. Renwell.
After defeating the royal army led by Charles I, Fairfax was not satisfied with Cromwell's plan to execute the king. It might be more appropriate to imprison him instead and elect someone else to the throne.
Cromwell, who controlled the elite force of the New Model Army, believed that Fairfax, who supported the restoration of the monarchy, was a threat to himself and Parliament, but he could not directly eliminate him due to his prestigious reputation.
As a nobleman, Fairfax supported the royal power, but he did not support Charles I, who liked to be arbitrary.
Continuing to keep Fairfax on the mainland will affect or even threaten its future plans.
At this time, Philip IV timely issued an invitation to join forces to fight against the Ming Empire. Considering many factors, including military pay, Cromwell agreed to the invitation.
The protracted domestic war had great side effects on both Congress and the Congressional Army. Congress could only maintain military expenditures through constant taxation, which was actually no different from what Charles I did.
The only way Cromwell could think of to increase revenue and reduce expenditure was to develop overseas colonies, seize the markets of other countries, or, as before, send warships to attack Spanish merchant ships traveling on both sides of the Atlantic.
Philip IV's invitation was good news for the financially strapped Congress and Cromwell. Five hundred armed merchant ships were dispatched. According to preliminary estimates, at least 10 million silver coins worth of goods could be snatched from the Ming Dynasty.
Even if half of it is divided by the ship owners, there will still be at least four to five million silver coins in profit. It would be perfect to use this money to raise troops.
Under such circumstances, it was logical for Sir Fairfax to be appointed by Congress to go to the Ming Dynasty.
The strength is a cavalry regiment of 600 men, plus eight infantry regiments of 1,200 men each, for a total of 10,200 men.
The officers and soldiers were all from the New Model Army, which was considered the most elite force in the UK. Fairfax had nothing to say.
Since the Spanish troops were jointly sent for the first time, the latter was the main force. The British army was only a auxiliary force, and the territory they could allocate to the war zone was very limited.
Fairfax wisely did not go his own way with the Spanish fleet, because Robert Blake, commander of the British expeditionary fleet, said that Zheng Yiguan's fleet had not yet been eliminated and could launch a counterattack at any time.
If the Ming fleet attacks the Spanish fleet, the British army may be able to ignore it.
But on the contrary, the British fleet must move closer to its allies in order to successfully protect itself.
Blake learned from the Dutch about a terrifying weapon called the "Eastern Dragon" that could fly across the sea, hit a battleship, explode and set fire to fire.
Even if it is a large Dutch ship returning home, it will be severely damaged if it is hit by one. If it is hit by three, there is no doubt that it is not even worth saving. The captain can take the sailors and abandon the ship directly. Escaped.
Although the expedition's fleet was unprecedentedly large, Blake was worried about this weapon.
After all, a weapon that can make the Dutch, who are good at naval warfare, very fearful is definitely not a made-up story.
Now that he is here, there is still the threat of Zheng Yiguan behind him, but he still has to grab it, otherwise it will be in vain.
Almost ten years ago, a British warship also came here, but in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty.
It is said that after a long day of robbing, some livestock and fruits and vegetables were snatched, including a boatload of watermelons...
After Fairfax learned about the Spanish's battle plan, he decided that as long as the other party implemented Plan A, he would win over Hangzhou and Songjiang.
The seaside here is very suitable for landing operations, and it also facilitates the army's rapid retreat from the sea in case of trouble.
The number one goal of the British army is to sail the ship directly to Qiantang under the city. It is said that this is a wealthy city after Nandu, with wealth comparable to Venice on the Binh Nin Peninsula.
Since the Qiantang garrison had received the order and had already retreated, the officials and most of the rich gentry in the city had no choice but to follow them even if they were unwilling, otherwise they would be the meat on the Xiyi chopping board.
Most of those left behind were those who did not believe in Emperor Chongzhen's imperial edict and those who deliberately opposed the imperial court.
Only when the dog officers and soldiers are gone can they turn over and live a good life.
With the city head undefended, the British army easily occupied this large city after the shelling.
There were nearly 300,000 people in the city, and it was the first time in their lives that they saw the red-haired and blue-eyed Xiyi.
You are tall and powerful, with an angry face, holding a blunderbuss, and swarm around to snatch property.
The people's curiosity soon turned into wailing, begging for mercy, and even dying.
The British army also carried translators, but the number was very small, only one per regiment.
Under such circumstances, even if Fairfax had previously asked the regimental commanders to strictly instruct their subordinates not to burn or kill, it would be difficult to maintain military discipline.
As long as there was a little resistance, the British soldiers would be beaten violently, and it was not uncommon to be beaten to death in the street.
The people's resistance finally angered the invaders, and they began to massacre without mercy.
It only took less than two hours for Qiantang to turn from a beautiful city to a smoky hell on earth.
Fairfax initially did not order an open robbery and wanted to negotiate with local officials to resolve the related costs.
He just wanted local officials to come forward and get the businessmen to collect five million Spanish silver dollars, so that he could withdraw his troops directly.
This can be considered a more civilized way of communication, but the officials could not be found, and the locals said that both the officials and the defenders had run away.
Later, he also got the exact information from the newspaper, which made Fairfax helpless.
It was definitely not possible to work on a ship for more than half a year before arriving in the Ming Dynasty. But when you arrived, you couldn't get the money and you had to leave empty-handed.
After much thought and weighing the pros and cons, the knight could only make a difficult decision...
The New Model Army has strict discipline, but only at home. When they go overseas, especially to a wealthy place, the officers and soldiers are completely different.
Fairfax's principle was to use companies as a unit to find merchants in the city in the hope that these people would provide money.
But this is just an expectation. In the absence of an interpreter, the company commander can only "communicate" with passers-by in the way he is better at!
None of the British officers at all levels had a map of Qiantang. The one Fairfax finally obtained was given by a wealthy gentleman to save his life.
Even with the map, the British army had no idea which parts of the city were wealthy areas.
Later, with the help of an interpreter, some wealthy gentry were willing to lead the way, and this was when they finally got to the edge of silver coins.
However, the plan to collect money at the door was not implemented satisfactorily. By nightfall, only less than 50,000 silver coins had been collected.
There were a lot of souvenirs from the Ming Dynasty, and Fairfax was still asking the translator to find someone to calculate the value of these trophies.
From the current point of view, this battle is not insufficiently prepared, but completely unprepared.
Relevant information was basically missing, and the combat troops were groping around the city like blind men.
But Fairfax was somewhat relieved that he was not attacked by the Ming army.
As long as he can escape unscathed and grab goods worth millions of silver coins from here, he will be content.
After re-planning based on the current situation, Fairfax decided that even if he didn't grab much in Hangzhou and Songjiang, it would still be considered a success as long as there were no major casualties in the troops.
As for the difference, the worst case scenario would be for Black's fleet to turn around and head south to capture Guangzhou and Xiamen.
Zheng Yiguan's fleet was scared away, and the coastal defense in the south was empty, which should be similar to the situation here.
Five days later, the merchants and mayors in the city collected half a million silver coins worth of silver, and together with the collected goods, the total amount exceeded two million silver coins, which finally made Fairfax satisfied.
So the British army quickly moved to the second place - Huating!
At the same time, the Spanish expeditionary force that occupied the southern capital also found silver and merchandise worth about four million silver coins from the corners of the city.
Marshal Mero immediately ordered his subordinates to load all the loot except food onto the ship. Although the food obtained was not wheat, it was still much better than what was eaten on the ship.
The total amount of loot obtained so far is still far from the goal set by His Majesty King Philip IV, less than one-tenth, which means that the army must continue to fight elsewhere.
Next, seeing that there was no money to be squeezed here in Nandu, Marshal Mello faced a question, whether to divide his troops and take action.
Along the canal, go north to attack Jiangdu (Yangzhou), and go all the way down the river to attack Dantu (Zhenjiang) on the riverside.
If you choose to continue to swim upstream, the fleet can also attack Ma'anshan, the location of Ming Dynasty's steel smelting!
Grab some steel? ? ?
Marshal Mero really didn't have much interest in this thing. The main reason was that it was worthless and quite heavy, so it could be used as ballast.
But before leaving, Marshal Melo thought of one person - Qian Qianyi, the head of the Hanlin Academy!
According to the translator, this was a very talented scholar in the Ming Dynasty, and he was also an important official before.
Just because he disagreed with the emperor on some matters, he was dismissed by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
There were many people who had similar experiences to him. Marshal Mello decided to use these people to help him control Nandu and the surrounding areas.
Before His Majesty King Philip IV appointed the governor of the Ming Governorate, Marshal Melo planned to appoint Qian Qianyi as the chief official of this region.
Qian Qianyi was really shocked when he heard the news.
Is what is said in the heavenly book true?
I surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in my previous life, but now I have to work for the Western Yi?
Doesn't this mean that he will be infamy for all eternity?
Although Qian Qianyi was dismissed from office and was still confined at home. Apart from being unable to go out, other aspects were still the same as before.
It’s not an exaggeration to eat, drink, and play with my concubine when it’s time. You can also learn about what happened outside in the past few years from the newspapers.
In general, Qian Qianyi no longer wants to return to officialdom, and it is not a big deal if his career ends here. At least he will not lose his head or be sent to work as a miner.
The Spaniards threatened the lives of his family members, which made Qian Qianyi feel very disgusted. When his old friend Hou Xun came, Qian Qianyi could only accept his orders happily after the other party explained his intention.
Hou Xun was persuaded by his son Hou Fangyu. Since the dog emperor Chongzhen has abandoned the city and fled, and the people of the world have been suffering for a long time, why do they still maintain this bullshit court like this?
The King of Western Yi...
The name didn't sound good, so Hou Fangyu changed it to "Xitian Wangshi"!
The King of the West can save the people of the Ming Dynasty from fire and water, and the father and son can help him together, which is a deed of immeasurable merit.
Hou Xun didn't believe his son's words at all. He knew that the son wanted to be an official, but he couldn't bear to see the people being slaughtered.
In desperation, he agreed to come back, but the other party asked Hou Xun to persuade Qian Qianyi to also serve the Spanish Empire.
As long as an agreement can be reached, Qian Qianyi will be the chief officer of the region and Hou Xun will be the adjutant. Everything except military affairs can be managed.
Qian Qianyi's monthly salary was two hundred silver coins, Hou Xun had one hundred and fifty silver coins, and Hou Fangyu also earned one hundred silver coins.
Hou Fangyu also offered advice to Marshal Mero, saying that there were a large number of scholars who opposed the dog emperor Chongzhen imprisoned in the Ma'anshan mining area.
If the King of the West can rescue these people, he can immediately obtain thousands of talented people willing to serve the empire.
Marshal Mero was not interested in attacking the mining areas, and these miners may have been transferred away by the Ming army.
But Ma'anshan is close to Nandu, so it doesn't hurt to go there. Maybe you can also seize some Ming Dynasty steel smelting machinery.
A small fleet composed of two hundred warships quickly dispatched after nine thousand soldiers boarded the ship, and it did not take long to reach the mountain river near Ma'an.
The situation here is similar to that in Nandu. There is no trace of any Ming army soldier.
Hou Fangyu led a team to the mining area and searched for three or four days before finding Zhou Maoyuan, Song Zhengbi and others.
These people escaped capture by the men of mine supervisor Han Zanzhou. Now they were so hungry that stars appeared in their eyes. Seeing Hou Fangyu was like seeing their savior.
After having a full meal, he expressed his willingness to serve the Spanish Empire. It is an undoubted fact that the Spanish army is the Xitianwang division that rescues the suffering people.
When Marshal Mello, who was in charge of Nandu, saw these people and inquired about them, he was very satisfied with Hou Fangyu's performance and specially rewarded them with two hundred taels of silver as a reward.
Being able to obtain so many civilian officials at once is very important for the empire to control the Nandu area. Marshal Mello cannot expect his subordinates to do such an errand.
Judging from the current situation, it may be difficult to conquer the entire Ming Dynasty in a short period of time.
But it shouldn't be too difficult to conquer the area south of the Yangtze River, not to mention the British army's cooperation on this trip.
Looking at Zhou Maoyuan and others who were reborn, Qian Qianyi felt really mixed emotions.
On the one hand, they want to see the scholars who were forced to become miners be rescued, but on the other hand, they are worried about how long these Western barbarians can stay.
If they have to withdraw in just a few months, what should they do when Emperor Chongzhen leads his troops to counterattack?
Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi, as the head of a hundred officials, suddenly felt a little overwhelmed by his high position.
No matter how powerful the Western Yi forces are, it is not orthodox after all. This can be regarded as aiding the evil.
Although Qin Hui was cast aside by later generations, he still served Emperor Zhao and Song.
If you work hard for the barbarians, you may not even be qualified to compare...
