News of the siege of Richmond and Petersburg reached England before Nelson and Wellesley arrived.
British Prime Minister William Pitt and his cabinet knew it earlier than the generals on land and sea.
But what Pitt and the cabinet ministers did not expect was that Petersburg would just disappear.
Everyone originally thought that even if the army came to the city, as long as the trenches and barbed wire defense lines were raised, they could resist for several months. Little did they expect that the defense lines were stolen before they were even raised.
I also didn't expect that the two states of Kentucky and Tennessee, a total of 200,000 square kilometers, a piece of land similar to the entire island of Great Britain, would be swallowed up in just one month.
You can't even race so fast!
It is true that horse racing may not be that fast, because the ability of cavalry to march long distances continuously is not as good as that of infantry.
If horses don't have beans and eggs to supplement their energy, they won't be able to gain weight simply by eating grass.
The biggest advantage of humans over horses is that they can carry high-calorie supplies and hunt bison for food.
Napoleon used bicycle cavalry, which combined the flexibility of cavalry with the supply advantages of infantry.
Of course, they don't have the impact capability of cavalry, but skirmishers with bolt-action rifles don't need impact capabilities in the first place.
If Napoleon was still on the French mainland, and if the British mainland was adjacent to the French mainland instead of an independent island, this wave could level the entire British!
Peter looked at Wellesley's news, thinking about his and Nelson's previous judgments, and said with a particularly stunned expression:
"Is this really an old-style war? Is this how old-style wars are fought?
"This is still using bicycles to transport troops, and there is no way to transport heavy weapons.
"If we march with all cars and cannons, the consequences will be... hiss..."
As Peter considered this possibility in his mind, he couldn't help but take a breath. This possibility was too terrifying.
There was silence for a while, and someone asked Peter:
"Your Excellency Prime Minister, how should we make decisions based on Mr. Wellesley's suggestion? Do we really want to 'borrow teachers to help suppress'?"
"In the history of China, borrowing help from teachers to suppress this kind of thing has never had good results."
Peter stretched out his hand and said:
"It's different. The place where we want to 'borrow teachers and help suppress' is the colony, not the mainland.
"As long as Ming Dynasty can help us destroy the rebels, there is no problem in ceding some colonies.
“But we can’t just be ‘borrowing teachers’, we have to bring the French with us.
“We still have more than half of the United States in hand, and their entire Canada is occupied by rebels.
"So the cost of 'borrowing' this time will have to be borne by the French."
Peter's meaning is obvious, that is, he supports the use of teachers to assist in the suppression.
Because there is no other way now, the only one who can help immediately is Daming.
There was silence for a while, and the First Lord of the Admiralty couldn't help but said:
"When we first tried to seek help from Daming, after receiving Daming's response, we should have directly started discussing the plan and price of jointly fighting against the thieves.
"At that time, Daming's intention was very clear. It was okay to ask them for help, but we had to pay the price.
"Because it was a colonial rebellion between us and the French, not the Ming Dynasty's colonial rebellion."
The Minister of War also said:
“At first we thought that at least we had to fight it ourselves, and if we really couldn’t survive, we would consider asking Daming for help.
"As a result, even before our troops were organized, the United States was already blinded by Napoleon's fists.
“It’s really fortunate that Ming Dynasty had the foresight to start transporting the main troops to Yinzhou in advance.
"They warned us and the French at the time, but they didn't take it too seriously.
"If we had sent a large-scale main force to Yinzhou directly and let General Wellesley take command directly, there would not be the current chaos and crisis!"
The Secretary of Commerce directly criticized the two of them:
"What's the use of talking about this now? Why didn't you stand up and ask to directly borrow troops from the Ming Dynasty?"
Two military personnel took the lead, and other officials also complained.
A tendency to blame each other has also begun to emerge, and there are vague signs of a loss of control at the meeting.
Peter suddenly became annoyed and slapped the table hard to stop the quarrel that might break out and spread:
"Shut up, everyone, there is no time to argue about these meaningless things now, solving the problem is the most important thing.
"Contact the French immediately and forward the situation in the United States to the French along with Lord Wellesley's report."
Paris France.
Talleyrand and the Duke of Richelieu in France were also shocked after receiving the news from the British.
The last news from the British was that Petersburg was besieged. It sounded like it was just a major border town being besieged.
At that time, they had similar ideas to the British. Fighting in such places usually took a long time.
In more than ten years of world war, everyone has become accustomed to protracted positional warfare.
It is normal for a battle for a city and a military base to last for a year and a half.
This was enough for the British and French forces to send their main force to the New World and regain their lost territory.
Unexpectedly, the situation has now taken a turn for the worse.
Now the entire French colony is in rebellion. If the British can no longer defend the main port leading to Yinzhou, the French will have no chance of sending their main force to make a comeback.
At best, it blocked post-independence Canada and the United States.
The key is that if Britain and France have no other strongholds in Yinzhou, if they want to arrange fleets to blockade Yinzhou, they have to set off from the mainland. How long this blockade can last has four questions.
After discussing with Talleyrand, Duke Richelieu went to French King Louis XVI and suggested accepting the British proposal.
"Why didn't you decide this earlier?"
Louis XVI was even more annoyed than the British ministers:
"Go, go now, without another moment's delay!"
The mainland of the Ming Dynasty, Shuntian Mansion, the old city of the capital.
Shen Fu, the Minister of Honglu Temple, received the joint request telegram from Britain and France, and immediately went to see the Ming Emperor Zhu Jianyan:
"Your Majesty, the British and French can't hold on any longer and have officially decided to enlist the help of their troops to suppress them.
“Napoleon had completely occupied the territories of Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as most of Virginia.
“Richmond, the heart of the American South, is under siege and could fall at any time.
“There are only five southern states left in the United States, and they are all undefensible Great Plains.
"There is also a river running through it from the inside out, and the upper reaches of the river have fallen into Napoleon's hands.
"If our Ming troops in Yinzhou don't help, they may not have the chance to go over and put down the rebellion."
Zhu Jianyan smiled after hearing this, took the telegram and read it:
"Jingyuan has requested more troops to be sent to Northern Yinzhou since last year. Did he anticipate this situation in advance?"
Shen Fu thought for a while and said:
“His Royal Highness Prince Dashi’s habit is always to be prepared and prepared.
"Your Highness may not be able to predict what will happen in Beiyinzhou, but he can analyze the situation in Beiyinzhou and conclude that Beiyinzhou will inevitably be in chaos.
"So it is recommended that the imperial court send enough elite troops there to protect the interests of the Ming Dynasty and act accordingly."
After Zhu Jianyan read the contents of the telegram, he thought about it for a while and said:
"Help is available. Napoleon's complete unification of the British and French Yinzhou colonies is not in the interests of the Ming Dynasty.
“But this gang cannot be in vain, Jingyuan has already responded to them before.
"So let Jingyuan continue to talk to them. We will help after the terms are negotiated."
Shen Fu smiled and bowed:
"I will contact His Highness Prince Dashi right now."
The news from the Beiyinzhou Front traveled around half of the world from Norfolk to London, from London to Paris, from Paris to Shuntianfu, and from Shuntianfu to Liusha City, and finally reached Zhu Jingyuan's hands. .
Delivered at about the same time, there were also other details collected by Daming West Factory about the situation in Beiyinzhou.
After Zhu Jingyuan finished flipping through the telegram, he couldn't help but said with emotion:
"Napoleon organized a Tour of America bicycle race!
"Using bicycle soldiers, we fought at the pace of a blitzkrieg on the Beiyinzhou Plain!
"If this momentum is not curbed, the entire British and French colony in Beiyinzhou will be destroyed.
"I can help, but what are the conditions?"
Zhu Jingyuan asked Niu Jian to find a map of Beiyinzhou and stare at the boundary lines of all parties in Beiyinzhou to consider.
Now that there is an opportunity to cut flesh from Britain and France, it is not a problem that can be solved with money.
What needs to be considered now is which land to ask for, how much land to ask for, and what principles to follow.
If you want to maximize profits, you should seek places with the most complete industry and infrastructure, as well as places with the richest strategic resources.
The main target should be the northeastern region of British America, that is, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and other places.
And the western part of French Canada, namely Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and other places.
The industrial foundation here is good, and it is the most important iron ore area in Beiyinzhou.
By capturing these places, even if the British and French Yinzhou colonies become independent again in the future, they will have no chance to independently complete the industrial chain.
If it is to serve the strategic goal of completely occupying Yinzhou, then it should ask for land from the west as much as possible.
Cut from the west along the latitude and longitude lines, drive the British and French colonial populations eastward, so as to completely occupy Beiyinzhou in the future, and then send the Taixi people in Beiyinzhou back to their hometown in Taixi.
If it is to continue to lay mines for Britain and France, then cut off the southern part of the United States and take South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama and other places.
Let the northern part of the United States remain within the United States while weakening the power of the southern part of the United States.
The South could not completely suppress the North, but it was still stronger than the North.
This allows the North to continue to confront the South without resorting to Canada's power, but it is unable to defeat the South.
At the same time, it was cut from northern French Canada and claimed the Wisconsin and Michigan areas.
It makes Canada more narrow and long, and fits the United States more closely, but it is easy to be penetrated directly.
If it is for the long-term peace and stability of Yinzhou, then we should lead the territorial exchange between the two parties.
Give the northern part of the United States to Canada, then carve out more territory from western Canada.
Let American industrial areas that originally share interests with Canada be incorporated into Canada.
At the same time, let the Canadian territory as a whole be concentrated to the east, instead of the current shape of a chicken with an extended neck.
Let the United States be left with only the southern region dominated by plantations, and eliminate internal conflicts and disputes.
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