Calcutta.

In the newly formed Royal Expeditionary Force Command, Sir Michael Seymour, who had just been promoted to Vice Admiral, became the Naval Commander of the China Expeditionary Force, and his deputy was the newly appointed Commander of the Combined East India and China Fleet, He Bo, as the Deputy Commander of the Navy; Having just put down the Indian rebellion, Lieutenant General Rus, who was in Calcutta, became the commander of the army of the expeditionary force against China.

Canning, the British Governor-General in India, invited the three of them to his governor's palace at this moment to discuss the schedule of sending troops.

"How's the preparation, guys? On the London side, Mr. Prime Minister, I have been asked when you will send troops. Canning first put himself out of the way, as if the old god was there, and conveyed the doubts of the new prime minister, Palmerston.

The initial pacification of the Indian rebellion was a great relief to him, as the Viceroy of India. As soon as India was pacified, he immediately wrote to Parliament and the Queen of England, asking for troops to be sent to conquer the Chinese Empire in the East, and only he knew that the terrible thing about that Oriental Empire had spread to the entire Far East, and even affected the interests of Great Britain in India and the East Indies.

"Sir, the expeditionary fleet drawn from the Continental and Mediterranean fleets has been divided into two groups, the first of which was led by me, and arrived in Bombay at the beginning of this month, and arrived in the port of Calcutta last week after a week of construction in Bombay. The second team also arrived at the port of Colombo in Ceylon last week to wait for reinforcements from Europe to escort them to the Far East. In general, the expeditionary fleet sent from Europe this time consisted of 61 warships, large and small, of which 23 were main warships with a tonnage of more than 2,000 tons, and they were powerful enough to sweep the entire Far East, not to mention the combined fleets of the East India and China. Uncle Ho, tell me about the East India and China Combined Fleet. Michael Seymour took the initiative to speak.

When Uncle heard the command of his immediate superior, he hurriedly said, "Sir Seymour is right. However, the combined fleet of the East Indies and China suffered a lot of losses and suffered serious damage due to the surprise attack of the Chinese Empire last time. Today, there are only 9 warships left that can fight, including 4 main warships and more than 20 troop carriers. Although the expeditionary force had transferred a large number of main warships from the British mainland and the Mediterranean Fleet, we still could not underestimate the enemy. Today's Chinese Empire already has a powerful navy that is proud of the Far East, and the three fleets under its jurisdiction, the Beiyang, Dongyang, and Nanyang Fleets, as well as another newly established Pacific Fleet, of which the Nanyang Fleet and the Pacific Fleet are the strongest, and it is estimated that there will be 60 or 70 warships of all sizes combined, of which more than 20 are main warships of more than 2,000 tons, and there is also a battleship suspected to have been purchased from the United States. Although its strength cannot be compared with the Royal Navy of the British Empire and the Combined Fleet of this expedition, as far as the Far East is concerned, it is already a first-class existence. ”

"Moreover, my former commander, General Sima, once reminded me that today's Imperial Chinese Navy is not at all the Qing Navy division of ten or twenty years ago, and today's Imperial Chinese Navy recruits European naval officers to train and introduce advanced warships and artillery. When General Sima left office, he specially warned that this rear-loading rifled gun called Krupp was at least a few years ahead of the naval guns of our British Empire, and before we could produce them in large quantities, we would either not engage the other side at war, or we would send more than half of the Royal Navy of the British Empire to defeat the other side in one fell swoop and seize the mass production technology of that kind of artillery. ”

Michael Seymour froze, for the first time he had heard that in the hands of his opponents in the East, naval artillery was even better than that of the British Empire. How is this possible? But seeing Uncle He's solemn appearance, he had to believe it again, and asked, "Is there a sample of the kind of artillery that was captured?" ”

"Yes! The Combined East India and China fleet captured a total of four of these Krupp breech-loading rifled guns, two of which were sent to London, but they have not been heard from since. There were two other gates, one of which was torn down and was in Fort William in Calcutta, and the other was taken back by the people of the Chinese Empire after the signing of the Treaty of Singapore. Although he had only recently taken office, he could see that he was familiar with the situation in the territory of the East India and Chinese Combined Fleet.

"Later we'll go to Fort Wilhelm to see the Krupp breech-loading rifled gun and see how powerful it is! The other party has such a sophisticated artillery, but it has been concealing it, presumably it is their secret weapon. Don't think about it, the two guns sent to London must have been concealed by the other side's means, and it is estimated that some dignitaries in the British Empire's Ministry of Defense or the Admiralty were bought by the damned Orientals! It seems that the enemy is very cunning, although our ships are strong and have the advantage, but we really have to be careful, and be cautious to sail the ship of ten thousand years! Michael Seymour admonished everyone with a serious face.

The Governor General of India, Canning, seemed to be unconcerned about the artillery that Hober said, and sneered about the glory of the British Imperial Navy: "Joke, what artillery can still snatch the Armstrong artillery of my British Empire?" The British Empire sent an expeditionary fleet of this size, together with the East India Fleet, to 70 warships. Moreover, first of all, we have already been told by letter that the three countries of the Netherlands, Portugal, and Ottoman Turkey are also willing to send troops, and their combined expeditionary fleets also have nearly twenty warships, and I will make up the decision to requisition all the armed merchant ships and small frigates and gunboats of India and Ceylon, the three places of the Strait, and Australia, and make a hundred warships, and I will hand them over to you, Mr. Seymour, to take the four fleets of the Chinese Empire and all the coastal cities in one fell swoop. By the way, how is the army prepared? London is anxious and urging troops to be sent as soon as possible. ”

The Army was under the responsibility of Lieutenant General Ross, who said calmly: "Mr. Governor, the 10,000 vanguard troops from Great Britain have arrived in Calcutta a week ago, together with Sir Seymour, and are now resting in the barracks in the suburbs. The 20,000 European counterinsurgency soldiers from New Delhi, Kanpur, Jhansi, Gwalior and Kolkata have also arrived at their barracks outside Kolkata, waiting to follow the navy. The second group of native soldiers, 15,000 soldiers from Scotland and Wales respectively, had also arrived in Ceylon and could be sent directly to the Far East after a short rest. ”

Michael Seymour also followed: "The Navy is fully prepared to go on the expedition. Fuel, food, ammunition and warships and troop carriers are in place. Except that the combined fleet of the Dutch, Portuguese and Ottoman tripartite has not yet arrived, and I heard that it has just entered the Indian Ocean. ”

Canning was overjoyed and clapped his hands: "Very good! What are the Dutch, Portuguese and Ottoman waiting for now that the expeditionary forces' land forces are ready? The sooner you send troops, the sooner you will govern that evil country in the East, and London will give an explanation as soon as possible! ”

Hearing the governor-general's urging to send troops, General Ross was a little uneasy: "Mr. Governor-General, the rebellion in India has just been put down, and it is not safe to send 20,000 European soldiers with a total of less than 80,000 European soldiers to the Chinese Empire?" Otherwise, only 10,000 European soldiers will be transferred, and the remaining 10,000 will be changed to those new Sikh soldiers and Gurkha soldiers, right? ”

Canning shook his head: "India is no longer a problem!" The most dangerous is the Sikh kingdom, but now their king has been persuaded by the envoy I sent to make peace with the British, and the people around him have been bribed by me to make them Sikh princes, and they will help persuade the new Sikh king to submit to our British Empire. Even if they have not yet surrendered, they have agreed to a temporary truce and not interfere. He will develop in the northwest direction, help us resist the Russian forces, and wait for India to completely settle down, and then force it to submit or directly send troops to destroy it. As for the rest of the rebels, except for sporadically hiding in the deserted mountains and forests, the rest have been killed. Moreover, after this rebellion, it is actually a good thing, the Cabinet and Congress are ready to abolish the East India Company and rule all of India except the Sikh Kingdom directly under the occupation of the British Empire, and I will be the first colonial governor of the British in India. So, there is no need to worry about rebellion in India. However, General Ross reminded that those Nepalese Gurkha soldiers should send 5,000 to follow the expeditionary force to conquer the Chinese Empire. As for the Sikh army, it has not been completely annexed yet, so it is better not to dispatch them lightly! ”

Hearing this, Seymour, Ross, and Ho Bo congratulated one after another: "Congratulations, sir, for becoming the first Governor-General of India under the British Empire." "To the displeasure of Canning.

Ross suddenly said: "Sir, my British Expeditionary Force is attacking the Chinese Empire head-on, why not let the Nepalese and Sikhs both attack from Tibet, and my British can nominally support them." Although it will not have much impact on the situation of the war, it can at least distract the Chinese Empire, especially the Sikhs, who can destroy their relationship by hearing that their Sikh king is friendly with the emperor of the Chinese Empire, and letting them attack Tibet. And the people who love the ukhan can also send envoys to ostensibly support them in sending troops to conquer the newly occupied Kokand Khanate and Bukhar Khanate of the Chinese Empire, presumably they will be interested! ”

Canning clapped his hands and praised, "Not bad! General Ross said this is a wonderful thing! The Aiwuhan people can fight well, when my British sent a large army to conquer, they also returned, if we can persuade them to send troops, those Orientals are really difficult opponents! Moreover, the territory of the newly occupied Kokand Khanate and Bukhar Khanate of the Chinese Empire is full of religious members of the same faith as the Aiukhan people, and we presumably they will send troops for the sake of rescuing the faithful, and those locals will also support the Aiukhan army, and it seems that it is unlikely that the Easterners want to occupy Central Asia. And Nepal, which has always been ambitious, has this great opportunity, and with the support of our British Empire, it is not small that they will send troops. Very well, I will send an envoy to Aiukhan and Sikh and Nepal! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, since the expeditionary force is ready, according to the orders of the London side, send troops as soon as possible! Three days later, the departure ceremony was held and the troops set out from the port of Kolkata! ”