In the face of the terrifying, demon-like artillery of the Chinese Empire, Canning and Campbell felt a deep sense of powerlessness in their hearts for the first time.

But neither was willing to admit defeat, and Cunning shook his head vigorously to dispel his fear and despair, and said to Campbell and Robert Napier: "We have one last glimmer of hope!" The east and eastern suburbs of Calcutta are still under our control, and we still have nearly 60,000 British soldiers in our hands, the enemy is only a fleet, but the warships cannot go ashore, and cannot threaten the east of Calcutta, the enemy can only threaten the east of the city with those infantry, and we still have a chance to win! ”

Campbell nodded in agreement and said, "Fortunately, those Burmese troops and some Bengali rebels were defeated in advance. Mr. Governor, if those Bengali rebels could not intervene, we would indeed have any hope of victory in the land war with these armies of the Chinese Empire alone! Will the Bengali rebels wait and see? ”

Robert Napier was a little discouraged in general and did not speak. He seemed to be completely frightened by the terrifying firepower of the fleet of the Chinese Empire, and had completely lost faith in defending Calcutta, and if Canning and Campbell said that the army could win, he was also very worried, how could those Bengali rebels give up such a good opportunity? If he wants to say that the Chinese Empire did not contact those rebels, he does not believe it, perhaps, the Burmese army is specially arranged by the Chinese Empire, after all, Burma is already a vassal state of the Chinese Empire.

Canning bluffed: "Although the Bengali rebels have not responded, their main force has been routed by 40,000 British warriors in the east, and it is impossible for the defeated army to fight back so quickly." And, even if they regroup, 60,000 British soldiers would be able to defeat any enemy who fought face-to-face! ”

But even he could hear the unconfidence in his tone. Without him, the morale of the British army in the whole of Calcutta had been taken away. Moreover, everyone is not a fool, and those soldiers also know that even if they can hold the streets and alleys east of Calcutta, even if they can defeat the Bengali rebels, they will not be able to return to the west of Kolkata without supplies, and the loss of the port means that the supply of the back road will be cut off, and the daily consumption of 60,000 troops is astronomical. Crucially, the 40,000-strong army did not carry much supplies, and now that two-thirds of the city of Kolkata had been destroyed, they had to face the need to rob the Bengali rebels to replenish them. In other words, even if the Bengali rebels were willing to negotiate peace with them, they would have to fight them in order to steal the other side's supplies, unless the Bengali rebels were willing to act as saints, give up all their supplies to the British, and leave on their own.

As soon as Canning finished speaking, a dense burst of gunfire rang out in the southwest outside Calcutta, mixed with the sound of artillery explosions, and not long after, gunfire rang out on the southeast side. Soon, a soldier came to report to Campbell: "Report to the general, there are enemy troops attacking east of Calcutta in the west and south, and more than 10,000 Burmese troops and 10,000 Bengali rebels in the southeast are beginning to attack Lieutenant General Henry outside the city, and the Bengali rebels in the northeast are slowly beginning to gather." ”

The soldier's retribution completely shattered the last hope of Canning and Campbell. Just now, Campbell was fantasizing that the Bengali rebels would accept Governor Canning's terms and no longer intervene in the war with the Chinese Empire.

Canning also found his offer very tempting, and he had earlier sent letters to several rebel forces to the north and east of Bengal, inviting the rebel leaders to come to a small hill on the east side of Calcutta for talks, offering that as long as several Bengali rebel leaders cease confrontation and withdraw 50 miles from Kolkata, an agreement could be signed on the spot, promising the Bengalis on behalf of Britain that they would not retaliate against their rebellion, and that all Bengali districts east of Bengal would be bounded 50 miles east of Bengal as far as Burma. All of them were given to the Bengali chieftains, who could support their self-government as long as they promised to remain nominally the territories of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Even, if they could help the British Empire and turn their guns on the Chinese Empire and the Burmese army, Canning promised to allow the Bengalis to establish an independent state, and promised not to interfere in Bangladeshi affairs in the future. Canning didn't expect that the damned Bengalis didn't respond much, only a small rebel leader in the north verbally promised to retreat first.

Canning probably didn't expect that before the Bengali rebels could reply, Lieutenant General Henry would lead his troops to charge the Bengali rebels, and the rebel leaders would believe him.

General Campbell's face changed drastically, and he began to panic even though he had always been calm: "It's bad, Mr. Governor. Now those Bengali rebels have turned their spears against us, and with the Chinese Imperial Army, we have become a besieged situation. At present, there are two roads in front of us, one is to rush out lightly and recklessly, but now that there are rebels all around, there is really not much place to go; The second is to hold on to this place, but food supply will be a problem, and it will not last long. ”

Canning's face turned cold: "General Campbell, what do you mean?" If you can't leave Calcutta and charge out, and you can't hold on here, can't you surrender?

You must know that you are a general of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and you must not let down the expectations of Her Majesty and the people of Great Britain!

Today, in the whole Bengal region, there is no one who can help us except ourselves! If you escape from Calcutta, will you be able to take those supplies with you through the mountains and forests? Can we, the soldiers of Great Britain, survive by eating tree roots, gnawing insects and snakes, just like those Bengali natives? Leaving Calcutta, we will be in a desperate situation and die sooner!

Don't think about it anymore and get ready for battle! We would rather die in battle in this Calcutta than flee and leave, and we will not be able to surrender because we are greedy for life and afraid of death! ”

Campbell said no more, nodded at Robert Napier, and the two hurried to assign the troops. The situation is now very bad, and Campbell can only hope that his 60,000 British soldiers can defeat all the rebels in one fell swoop and turn the tide again.

He quickly figured out what was going on with himself and his enemies.

20,000 British troops were stationed in the eastern streets of Calcutta, and nearly 40,000 British troops were stationed in the eastern suburbs of Calcutta. The central and western parts of the city of Calcutta have been blocked by the artillery fire of the Chinese Imperial Fleet in the port, and the west and south are Chinese armies, but the number is not large, it seems that there are only 20,000 in total, and in the southeast and northeast, there are Bengali rebels who are slowly gathering, and the final number must exceed 100,000, this is still because Vice Admiral Henry led 40,000 British troops have just defeated the Bengali rebels due east, otherwise as a few days ago, there will be more than 150,000 to more than 200,000 rebels besieged.

Therefore, Campbell found Lieutenant General Henry and Robert Napier, who had just returned to defense, and decided that the three of them were each responsible for a position, Robert Napier led 10,000 British troops, stationed in the east of Calcutta, to defend against enemy attacks from the west, here are the streets and alleys of Calcutta that have been bombed into ruins, there are many obstacles, easy to defend, and there should not be many enemy attacks; Campbell personally led 20,000 British troops to defend against the attack of more than 10,000 enemy troops from the Chinese Empire from the south; Lieutenant General Henry led 20,000 British troops to defend the Bengali rebels from the north.

In the end, Governor Canning led 10,000 British troops to the east, responsible for the least stressful eastern battlefield. The enemy army to the east had been cleared, and it would be difficult to reach it for a while, and the three of them made an agreement with Governor Canning, and if the position was urgent, Canning would send troops to support it.

As the gunfire in the west and south of the city became more and more intense, the fierce fighting officially began.