Deep in the rainforest of the Kingdom of Johor.

In a valley.

Thousands of British soldiers, dressed in rags, sat listlessly on the ground, hiding under tall broad-leaved trees.

Under a broad-leaved tree in the middle, a simple tree house was built with branches and leaves, and dozens of soldiers were on guard around it. On the treehouse, Major General Ward, deputy commander of the British Expeditionary Force, frowned, and looked at Taniguchi with deep eyes.

He beckoned to his assistant under the tree, and a major in the uniform of a British officer hurriedly came over: "General, what is the order?" ”

"What happened to the enemy forces outside the valley?"

"There is still no movement, but in the sky above the enemy garrison outside the valley, the smoke from the cooking in the morning and evening of the past two days seems to have increased a little."

"It looks like it's an increase in troops!" Ward's face was even more ugly.

"But general, if you have increased your troops, why don't you delay the attack?" The Major was puzzled.

"Humph! I arranged a thousand infantry to guard the valley pass, using the terrain to hold the key points, as the so-called one man is the pass, the enemy is not stupid, how dare they attack in? Ward scoffed.

It turned out that Ward had led 8,000 British troops into the Sultanate of Johor to pursue and destroy the Chinese army in Singapore. Unexpectedly, it didn't take long for the Chinese army to grow more and more, and the British army began to not adapt to the mosquitoes and poisonous snakes in the primeval jungle.

However, at this time, more than 20,000 Chinese troops surrounded it and blocked the road back to Singapore, and in desperation, Ward led his troops to fight the enemy army while evacuating, but was never able to get rid of the enemy army. In desperation, Ward sent a team to venture out of the primeval jungle to the nearby Malacca for help, and he led the remaining 5,000 soldiers to find a canyon with dangerous terrain, guard the mouth of the valley, and hide in the valley to wait for help.

This perseverance is a matter of weeks.

Fortunately, there was a stream in the canyon, and there were bananas and some small beasts, which barely replenished the already small amount of military rations, otherwise, Ward was afraid that the army would have run out of food long ago and would not be able to hold on. But even so, Ward was unusually worried, why hadn't he come to help after so much time had begged for help? Now that the army is about to run out of food, and in a while the bananas and wild fruits in this valley will be eaten up, and then there is only one way to surrender except to rush out of the valley and exchange fire with the enemy army of more than 20,000 people.

He really wanted to rush out of the valley and fight the enemy army head-on, but thinking about it made Ward feel a chill all over his body. In the previous few battles, he still retreated while fighting, and his army of 8,000 people became about 5,000 people today, and now the enemy army is waiting for work to defend the valley mouth, just like he is guarding the valley mouth, how dare he rush out and send him to death?

At the same time, outside the valley, Li Kaifang, who commanded more than 23,000 infantry of the captive army, was also very depressed. After leading 5,000 men to destroy Singapore, he withdrew into the territory of the Kingdom of Johor and successfully lured the 8,000-strong British army into the jungle of Johor.

After that, Li Kaifang mobilized another 20,000 captured infantry ambushed in various parts of the jungle and began to assemble to counterattack the pursuing British army, defeating the British army many times. Seeing that he was about to win a complete victory, he was hidden by the British army in a valley that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and attacked twice, and the captives were all killed and wounded and difficult to attack, and then, Li Kaifang tried fire attack, poisonous smoke, and detour into the valley, all in vain, Li Kaifang could only send people to defend the valley to the death, preparing to consume the British army alive in the valley.

A stalemate ensued between the two sides.

..........

Kolkata Governor's House.

The Governor of India, Canning, looked at the letter in his hand in astonishment, and sat down on the ground in a dejected manner, without the slightest gentlemanly demeanor of an earl. On the other side of him, the two assistants also looked incredulous, full of surprise and panic.

"Lord Governor, if this news is true, it is truly terrifying! The sun does not set on the throne of our British Empire, and it will come to an end. The news is so shocking, God, it's a demonic day. I'm afraid that there will be a big earthquake in London. An assistant muttered.

Another assistant reacted even more strongly than he did: "This can't be! This is not true! God, this can never be true! It must be fake news, how powerful is the British Empire Expeditionary Fleet, how can it be completely annihilated? ”

Canning, who was sitting on the ground, trembled and couldn't believe it, but he knew that these news were true! He slowly got up and regained a little of his true color, but his fingers were still trembling freely, and he smiled bitterly: "How can this be fake news, who dares to make such a joke?" After speaking, he handed over another report in his hand and continued: "This is a distress letter from Major General Ward, Deputy Commander of the Expeditionary Force!" He was sent by Lieutenant General Ross, commander of the expeditionary force, to lead a force of 8,000 men to pursue a Chinese Empire army that had destroyed the port of Singapore and fled into the Kingdom of Johor. Ward said that more than 20,000 enemy troops were besieging his troops, and his army had lost more than 3,000 men. Moreover, there is no logistical supply, I am afraid that I will either run out of food or ammunition, and now I am afraid that I will also face the fate of total annihilation! ”

The two assistants were dumbfounded.

One of them quickly reacted and said cautiously: "Your Excellency the Governor, the defeat of this expeditionary force will completely cause our British Empire to completely lose its territory in the Far East and the East Indies. And that's not all, I fear that the Eastern Empire, which has experienced this great victory, will inevitably expand aggressively and ambitiously, and I am afraid that after occupying the three parts of the Straits and the entire East Indies, it will not be satisfied, and will march into India. ”

"He dares!" Canning said viciously: "India is the most brilliant jewel in the crown of the British Empire, and the Queen and Congress will never allow other countries to get involved." Although the Eastern Empire began to rise and defeated the expeditionary force, there was still a big gap between it and our British Empire, and if the adults in London ruthlessly conceded some interests and united with other powers such as France and the United States to send troops, they could still suppress this Eastern Empire. Yes, yes, I'm going to rush back to London and convince the Queen and the Prime Minister that they will send troops again to strangle the newly rising Eastern Empire. Otherwise, with their demographic and economic power, sooner or later there will be a threat to the British Empire! ”

The two assistants looked at each other and smiled wryly: Having just experienced the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion, and the great defeat of the expeditionary force, can the British Empire send a large-scale expeditionary force to the East again? It's very difficult! Because the expeditionary force was mobilized from Europe or from India, the preliminary preparations and logistics were all arranged and dispatched by them with the help of Governor Canning, so they knew very well how much wealth and materials the British Empire had spent on this expeditionary force, not to mention that more than 30,000 British soldiers were killed in the battle, and nearly 10,000 soldiers were captured by the other side. It's unlikely.

.......

Punjab in northwestern India. Inside the Sikh Palace.

The Sikh Maharaja and King Summit Kumar also received the results of the war in the east and hurriedly summoned several ministers to discuss the policy towards China.

Summit Kumar originally thought that in the early stage of this war, the powerful British army would definitely have the upper hand. Although the army of the Chinese Empire was strong, he knew this very well, but he preferred to believe that the British army was even stronger, and that the British expeditionary force of 50,000 was better than the 100,000 army of the Chinese Empire. On the Chinese Empire's side, it could only continue to use the number of troops to wear down the invading British army, and withdraw its troops with a strong soldier base and a huge price in exchange for the final British army's unbearable losses and the wealth seized.

But he didn't expect that things would turn out to be the way they are now! The powerful British Expeditionary Force, especially the Combined Fleet of the Expeditionary Force, had just entered the Chinese Empire, and before the city of Guangzhou could be captured, it was burned to the ground! When he received the news, he even wondered if the original Holy King was the devil of hell, and summoned the flames of hell to the world to help him fight.

He was excited! This is huge good news! He couldn't help but rejoice in his friendship with the Chinese Empire and expressed his loyal choice to the emperor of the Chinese Empire. At the same time, he was secretly afraid of his own vacillation and almost betrayal.

"I'm ready to pay homage to the empire of the East! Ally with it in this way! Summit's words shocked the ministers in front of them, but they were powerless to refute them. In fact, not only because the words of the Sikh Maharaja were the decree of the living gods, but also because the Sikh Kingdom had to face the powerful British Indian colonial authorities, and it was the best choice to defeat the British Chinese Empire.

"Pass my order, prepare the credentials, and quickly send people to the Shengjing of the Chinese Empire, meet their emperor, and present their credentials to him, and our Sikh kingdom is willing to worship him as the kingdom of God, and pay tribute every year, only asking them to help us resist the British colonial power and get rid of their rule!" Although Summit Kumar is a wall-to-wall grass, he has a very accurate vision and an unusually decisive personality: "In addition, send a declaration of war to the British Empire's Viceroy in India!" At the same time, while gathering troops, we will contact the princes of the various states of India to attack the states occupied by the British, and seize this opportunity to expand the territory of our Sikh Kingdom! ”

"By the way, there is also the prince of the Chinese Empire on the side of Kokand City in the northwest, and he should also make good friends. I heard that the Russian army in the far north was attacking the prince's territory recently, and increased the 4,000 cavalry and 20,000 horses that I had originally asked for back to 5,000 cavalry and 30,000 horses, and immediately rushed to the prince's side for his use! ”

One after another orders came down, and Samit Kumar breathed a long sigh of relief.