Just after New Year's Day 1658, the English mission, returning from a trip to Manchester City, finally came up with a new negotiating proposal, offering to exchange the port of Durban in South Africa for Bengal.

The Chinese negotiators scoffed at Durban, and did not look down on this small place at all, and when Gao Huanghe came to report the British plan to Gao Junshan, Gao Junshan said categorically:

"Change!"

"Change?" Gao Huanghe was confused, such a small place in Durban, changing to a Bangladesh, this is obviously a loss-making business.

Durban is located on the east coast of South Africa, if Huaxia gets the port of Durban, it is a wedge in South Africa, and the next step is to occupy the whole of South Africa, which is a breeze for Huaxia.

South Africa is located in the southern hemisphere, located in the southernmost part of the African continent, its east, south and west are surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, the east is separated by the Indian Ocean and Australia, the west is separated by the Atlantic Ocean and the southern part of the American continent, the Cape of Good Hope route at the southwest end of South Africa has always been the busiest sea passage in the world, and it is the maritime lifeline of the West.

South Africa is very rich in mineral resources, South African diamonds, South African gold is well-known in the world, gold mineral reserves account for 12% of the world, vermiculite, zirconium, titanium, fluorite reserves account for the world's second.

Such a treasure land is at your fingertips, how can Gao Junshan give up?

However, it was impossible for Gao Junshan to cede the whole of Bengal to the British, and he decided to divide Bengal into two parts, north and south, with the north to China and North Bengal, and the south to the British.

South Bengal had an outlet to the sea, and the British agreed to the plan of the high mountains.

Britain and the Netherlands were at war, and they always wanted to draw China into the war, although China and Britain jointly declared war on the Netherlands, but China did not really invest in the navy to participate in the Anglo-Dutch war, but only to provide moral and material assistance to Britain.

South Africa was a Dutch-occupied colony, and Britain had only a small area in South Africa, Durban, which was currently under siege by the Dutch, and Britain was planning to abandon Durban.

Britain's wishful thinking was that to exchange Durban, which they knew they could not hold, to exchange with China for Bangladesh would not only allow them to gain access to the sea in Southeast Asia, but also promote China's war against the Netherlands, because the Dutch had long had the intention of annexing Durban, and ceding Durban to China would inevitably ignite the War-Netherlands War.

Of course, Gao Junshan can see the tricks of the British, he has eaten the fat meat of South Africa, and then he will take over the place of Durban, Gao Junshan decided to send a marine division to Durban to take over this place, there is a marine division there, I believe that the Dutch will not dare to come and send them to death.

Gao Junshan did not plan to engage in a large-scale war with the Netherlands at the moment, and with Britain and the Netherlands consuming, China could vigorously develop its economy.

More importantly, in order to develop the economy in China a few years ago, dozens of shipyards all transformed into commercial steam engine ships, Gao Junshan stopped the manufacture of all steam engine battleships, and at present there are only 32 steam engine battleships, 14 Zheng He-class, and 18 Wuchang-class, if there is a full-scale war with the Netherlands, these steam engine battleships are obviously not enough, because Huaxia's territorial waters are too vast, although the East Asian Navy uses sail warships as capital ships, 32 steam engine battleships are still not enough to allocate.

At present, there are 10 steam engine battleships cruising in the South Seas, and the other 22 are assigned to the Persian fleet, the Chinese fleet to the British, and the American fleet. These battleships were all escort missions.

Therefore, China could not currently organize a fleet for a naval battle with the Netherlands.

Gao Junshan was not worried, because the shipyard would soon have ten Wuchang-class battleships launched, but these battleships were ordered by the British, and if Huaxia urgently needed them, they could be taken down for their own use.

……

The agreement with the British was soon signed, and China and Britain divided Bangladesh in two, North Bengal and South Bengal, North Bengal belonged to China, accounting for three-quarters of the whole Bangladesh, and South Bengal belonged to the United Kingdom, accounting for only a quarter of the whole Bangladesh.

On this day, Gao Junshan invited Li Dingguo to his villa, Li Dingguo was the commander of the Seventh Army Corps, and the Seventh Army Corps was the Marine Corps, which had seven marine divisions under its jurisdiction.

Gao Junshan sat on the Taishi chair in the living room, and Li Dingguo sat opposite him.

"Dingguo, is it still smooth to take over the Seventh Legion?"

The former commander of the Seventh Army was Sun Dahai, who was implicated in the "Wuchang No. 9" incident and was transferred from the Seventh Army by Gao Junshan.

Li Dingguo said: "Everything is going well. ”

Gao Junshan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good, I will give you a task now." ”

Li Dingguo hurriedly got up and said, "The former father and the emperor ordered!" ”

Gao Junshan waved his hand and motioned for Li Dingguo to sit down: "I want to send you to Africa, do you dare to go?" ”

Li Dingguo sat back on the chair and said, "As long as the father gives an order, the children will not hesitate to go to the soup!" ”

Gao Junshan said: "We have signed an agreement with the British, they will transfer the port of Durban in South Africa to us for management, I will send you over, are you willing?" ”

Li Dingguo stood up again: "The child is willing!" ”

Gao Junshan didn't let Li Dingguo sit down this time, he himself stood up, he beckoned to Li Dingguo, "Come with me and look at the map." ”

Gao Junshan took Li Dingguo to a table, on which was covered with nautical charts, he pointed to South Africa and said to Li Dingguo: "Look, the place you are going to is here, this is the port of Durban, and now Durban is still in the hands of the British, but the port of Durban has been occupied by the Dutch, and they are eyeing to eat Durban." ”

"So, the British gave us this place?" Li Dingguo asked.

Gao Junshan said: "What the British want to see most is that we fight with the Dutch in Durban, as long as we confront the Dutch head-on, it means that we will enter a full-scale war with the Dutch, which is what the British hope for the most." ”

Li Dingguo asked inexplicably: "Why are we afraid of the Netherlands?" ”

Gao Junshan said: "We are not afraid of the Netherlands, at present, our sea transportation lines in the world are very long, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, until the Americas, we need battleships to escort, our battleships are limited, once a full-scale war with the Netherlands, we can't draw too many warships." ”

"The children understand, we don't bother with the Netherlands for the time being, and when we are strong enough, we will give them a heavy blow." Li Ding National Road.

Gao Junshan returned to the Taishi chair and sat down, and said to Li Dingguo: "Dingguo, you sit down first, I will hand over the task to you now, you must listen carefully!" ”

After Li Dingguo sat down, he said: "Please ask my father to give an order, and the children will definitely follow it seriously!" ”

Gao Junshan ordered: "I ordered you to personally lead a marine division to Durban to garrison, and I will transfer another Zheng He-class and a Wuchang-class battleship to your command, after you take over the port of Durban, just hold on and don't take the initiative to attack the Dutch army, understand?" ”