The secret letter received by Cornwall was sent by Colin from Zuoying to Guangzhou in June, and was urgently sent back to India by the Guangzhou East India Company's Taipan looking for a clipper.

At that time, Colin had just occupied the left battalion, and found that the terrain of the left battalion was very suitable as a military base, and at the same time thought that the combat effectiveness of the Qing army was vulnerable, so he wrote this secret letter, or investigation report, hoping that Kang Huali could provide support and build a military base in the left battalion.

In his report, Colin argued that only 3,000 armed forces would be enough to make it a solid military base to support British merchant ships heading north to China.

So he asked Cornwallis for a batch of aid and permission to build a military base. Colin did not ask for the army directly, but for three thousand rifles, as well as a hundred cannons, as well as a group of technicians. At the time, Colin was confident that he would be able to form a local armed force in China.

Cornwally carefully studied the map of the left camp that Colin had sent back, as well as the map of the directions, and he also thought that the place had great commercial value. But he had some concerns, and at this time, the results of Magalny's activities in Beijing had not yet arrived, and Cornwalli did not dare to take risks.

However, not daring to take risks does not mean that it cannot be operated, using the banner of the China (East India) Company and using Zhou Lang as a puppet to operate this matter, the risk of not directly clashing with the Chinese government is much smaller.

More than ten days later, Xie Qinggao's fleet also came to India, and asked Henry Pitt to expand his shares again, intending to increase the financing by one million pounds.

With funds of this magnitude, British businessmen in India did not dare to sell easily, and they all wanted to wait for the news of Magalny to come out before making a decision.

But ordinary businessmen did not dare to invest easily, but the East India Company could afford it, and Cornwally knew more about the investment, knowing that the investment was profitable, but most importantly, Cornwalli believed that the East India Company could reap far more value from the investment than the commercial benefits.

So he approached Henry Pitt and told Henry Pitt that the East India Company was willing to increase the investment, and Henry Pitt only brought in 300,000 pounds, and Cornwally took the remaining 700,000 pounds of capital investment.

But like last time, Cornwalli did not give cash directly, but invested in materials. It was not difficult to convince Henry Pitt, after all, Henry Pitt was also an English nobleman, and it was impossible for him to oppose a cause that was in the interests of England. Especially without affecting Pitt's own career, he is happy to be such a patriot. Cornwally promised to report Henry Pitt's help to the British government, and Henry Pitt agreed and accepted the East India Company's second investment.

The East India Company had just won the Mysore War, not only had a battle-hardened army, but also had a large amount of surplus ammunition in the arsenal, which in the absence of war, would have to pay for storage costs, and be handed over directly to Henry Pitt as an investment, and finally into the hands of the Chinese (East India) Company, which could not only be exchanged for shares of the other party, but also eventually become the military power controlled by Colin.

At this time, Kanghuali didn't know that soon Zhou Lang had created a new military force outside of Colin, and had begun to compete with Colin for control of the armed forces, and he thought that Colin had been firmly in control of the armed forces of the Chinese (East Indias) Company in accordance with his requirements, so Convarli thought that increasing the armed forces of the Chinese Company was to increase the power in Colin's hands.

So he generously allocated more weapons from the arsenal than Colin had requested, five thousand Hebes rifles, three hundred cannons, two hundred of which were infantry guns of various calibers, and one hundred of which were large-caliber heavy artillery that could be used for the defense of the fortress.

In addition to these weapons and equipment, Cornwalli was more cautious than Colin because he knew more about the Chinese, and after Magalny's visit to China began, he began to read a lot about the Chinese situation sorted out by the East India Company, and he was not sure that Colin could replicate the experience in India and successfully form an army composed of local Chinese, so he also sent an active force to provide support, 1,500 men, including 100 European officers, 200 European professional artillerymen, and 1,200 Indian native soldiers.

The other five armed merchant ships were also transferred directly from the East India Company's fleet, and the captains and sailors were all skilled veteran seafarers with long experience in fighting pirates, and qualified military experience.

Kang Huali didn't know that his caution brought a huge threat to Zhou Lang, because the sea force composed of 1,500 Indian native troops and five armed merchant ships were directly under Colin's orders, and after a few months of development, Zhou Lang and Colin had already competed in terms of military strength, and the addition of this new force would directly break the balance between the two sides.

At this time, Zhou Lang was still waiting for Harald's assistance, but he didn't know how hot this aid was.

In November, Chen Zhouquan's smooth sailing of the Northern Expedition suddenly took a turn for the worse, he was greatly hindered in the Liudou area, and the rear was not stable.

Although Chen Zhouquan once took Chiayi County in one fell swoop with a huge military advantage, the rural forces in Chiayi County resisted him very resolutely.

As the Northern Expeditionary Army confronted the Qing army in Fucheng, too much time was wasted for local officials to begin to form local forces.

Chiayi County is located in the north of Fucheng, south of Changhua, formerly known as Zhuluo County, it was a few years ago when Lin Shuangwen rebelled, the local squires of Chiayi County stood on the side of the Qing army, organized volunteers and the Qing army to encircle and suppress the Tiandi Hui armed forces, afterwards, Qianlong in order to commend the loyalty of the local people, changed Zhuluo County to Chiayi County. After Lin Shuangwen's uprising was suppressed, there were a large number of squires in Chiayi County, who were named officials of the Qing court, although they were all small officials with troops, such as the general manager and the general manager, but this time they still stood on the side of the Qing army, organized regimental exercises, and began to assemble under the organization of the escaped officials in the case of the loss of the county seat, and began to harass the Tiandihui armed forces.

As a result, as soon as the Tiandihui army left the county seat and left the official road, they might be ambushed, so that they did not dare to go to the countryside to collect grain with confidence, and could only control the vicinity along the official road, which was extremely passive.

With the gradual growth of the squire regiment in Chiayi County, there are even forces operating near the county seat, and the official roads are no longer safe, and Chen Zhouquan's troops may even be interrupted by Chiayi, so they will be divided between Changhua and Fucheng.

This is the case in Chinese society, where the common people lack the concept of nationality and state, but the concept of clan and local is extremely strong. Lin Shuangwen is a native of Zhangzhou, Fujian, and there are many Guangdong immigrants in Chiayi County, so when he rebelled, the landlords and gentry of Chiayi County opposed it, and even the Quanzhou immigrants from Fujian rebelled against him.

Now that Chen Zhouquan is in rebellion, not only the Cantonese ethnic groups in Guangdong continue to oppose him, but even the Zhangzhou people who supported Lin Shuangwen before also oppose him, but it is the Quanzhou ethnic group that supports him.

This special relationship between the local community is unique to Taiwanese society. Taiwan is a society of immigrants, of which seven or eight out of ten immigrants are from Fujian, and Zhangzhou and Quanzhou have the largest number of immigrants. Cantonese immigrants account for only 12 out of 10, and they are in absolute disadvantage, so they tend to rely more on the government, so they always stand on the side of the government.

These circumstances are destined that Chen Zhouquan will not be able to get the common support of the rural society, no matter what he does, there will always be one side to oppose, which can be used by the Qing court.

However, the Qing court did not completely pin its hopes on the local squire, and Fujian Province had already sent heavy troops, and even jointly sent 40,000 troops with Guangdong, including 8,000 soldiers from the Eight Banners, and completed the landing at Anping Port in less than a month after the rebel army besieged Taiwan.

Finally, in November, they launched a counterattack, and under the attack of the powerful Manchu regular army, Chen Zhouquan's Tiandihui armed forces had swelled to 60,000 men, claiming to be 300,000, but they were still no match for the regular army, and the siege of Fucheng was instantly repulsed.

There is a large army of the Qing army that has landed in Taiwan Prefecture in the front, and there is a squire regiment training in Chiayi County behind it, and the army of the Tiandi Society of Taiwan Prefecture is in a dilemma. At this time, Chen Zhouquan had two choices, one was to give up the Northern Expedition and immediately withdraw to Fengshan, and the other was to continue north.

Chen Zhouquan chose the second path, and he chose to go north. Because compared to Fengshan County, Changhua County is his base, Chen Zhouquan himself was born in Changhua, and he can get the greatest support here. And most importantly, Changhua County is more prosperous and populous than Fengshan County, and heaven and earth will be deeply entrenched here.

So Chen Zhouquan chose to strategically retreat to Changhua County, and then united the 40,000 troops in Changhua County, with a total strength of 100,000 and 500,000 to the outside world.

But these 100,000 people were besieged in Changhua County at this time.

The situation in the north made Chen Guanghui of Fengshan County anxious, Chen Zhouquan's surname was Chen, he was also surnamed Chen, and Chen Zhouquan was his uncle. Clan society, even if it is a social organization with a wide range of fluidity, such as the Heaven and Earth Society, is still full of this kind of clan relationship. The reason why Lin Shuangwen rebelled before was that Lin Shuangwen's family was arrested by the government, because his family was all members of the Heaven and Earth Society.

Chen Zhouquan is now trapped in Changhua County, Chen Guanghui is thinking about going to the rescue, he has 10,000 soldiers in his hands, so he plans to send 5,000 to reinforcements.

Chen Guanghui not only plans to rescue himself, but also hopes to get Zhou Lang's support, after all, Zhou Lang is now in-law with Chen Zhouquan, he hopes that Zhou Lang can transfer his three hundred musketeers to help in the battle, after many battles, the three hundred riflemen led by Colin have become well-known.

Zhou Lang didn't agree, first, he didn't want to be involved in the endless Tiandihui uprising, and second, Zhou Lang was actually powerless, he knew very well that he could persuade Colin to help the Tiandihui Northern Expedition, but it was difficult for Colin to give up the left camp and follow the Tiandihui directly to the Northern Expedition.

But in Zhou Lang's opinion, he ordered not to come to Colin, but in the eyes of outsiders, Zhou Lang didn't want to help. Coincidentally, an excellent excuse appeared at this time, and the Qing army's sailors went south again.

After repelling the siege of Fucheng, the Manchu Penghu and Taiwanese sailors jointly moved south.

This time they were bigger than the last, with as many as three hundred warships.

Just like last time, they still attacked the left camp in the north first, but like last time, they were purged of the forces of the Heaven and Earth Society, and Colin was defeated again by three hundred Chinese soldiers, and after paying hundreds of casualties, they gave up landing on the left camp and went south again to attack Tagu Harbor.

However, the situation in Dagu Port is not the same as last time, the batteries have been greatly reinforced, the number of artillery is more, and the combat effectiveness of Zhou Lang's men has improved, and Zhou Lang also arranged the infantry next to the tidal flat where the Qing army may land according to Fischer's suggestion.

The Qing army was completely helpless, and after more than four hours of continuous artillery fighting, two battleships were sunk by the battery, and the losses were greater than those of the left battalion, and they did not choose to land near the more dangerous port of Tagu, as last time, but did not withdraw directly as they did last time, but continued to move south.

This Qing army finally entered the eastern port of the mouth of Tamsui Creek in the south.

According to the agreement with the Heaven and Earth Society, the coastal villages and towns belong to Zhou Lang, but Zhou Lang has never had any extra troops to expand before, Zhou Lang did not have time to capture it, and the Heaven and Earth Society did not capture it, so Donggang has become a fish that has slipped through the net, and it is still in the hands of Donggang Xun, the Qing army's naval division.

The Qing army occupied Donggang, which was not a big threat to Zhou Lang, but it could go north along the lower Tamsui Creek (Gaoping Creek) and attack Fengshan County from behind the Fengshan hills.

In this case, not only was it impossible for Zhou Lang to go to the Northern Expedition to rescue Chen Zhouquan, but even Chen Guanghui did not dare to go on the Northern Expedition. However, the two sides could cooperate to deal with the Qing army in Donggang, because this Qing army was a threat to both sides.

At this critical juncture, Zhou Lang's long-awaited assistance from India arrived.

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Everyone is interested in adding a group: four, four, six, five, six, one, three, four, two.