By the end of September, the foreign policy of Britain and France had failed and had not achieved any results. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Britain was in the purpose of protecting the Indian colonies, and France held the goal of recapturing the Indochina colonies, and after many negotiations, decided to set up a four-nation alliance of Britain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, and sent troops to teach the Xia Empire a lesson.

On 20 September, the British government ordered Field Marshal Frederick Roberts to be the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, and to serve as commander-in-chief of the forces in India and governor of India. General Horatio Herbert Kitchener was Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force; The former Governor-General of India, Kinimund, was demoted to Deputy Governor-General, and the former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Aldershot, was demoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, and the two assisted Field Marshal Frederick Roberts.

Admiral Joseph Gallieni of France was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces.

Field Marshal Frederick Roberts and Admiral Horatio Herbert Kitchener, both of whom served as commanders-in-chief of the forces stationed in India, were very familiar with the situation in India.

Britain appointed the retired Field Marshal Frederick Roberts because he had been in India for many years, was familiar with the situation in India, and with his qualifications, he was able to unite the coalition forces and the Indian garrison and the servant army closely together and give full play to their combat effectiveness.

It turned out that Britain did not attach great importance to the development of the army, only 240,000 army, a large number of colonial servant army, and later Canada, the Australian Federation and other places were attacked by the Xia Empire, feeling that the troops were too small, and some of them were powerless; Under the strong military pressure of the Xia Empire, coupled with the desperate expansion of the army by France, Germany, Russia and other countries, Britain was forced to expand the army in 1908, and it has expanded from 240,000 to more than 800,000 so far, which is several times stronger than this time in history.

At this time, the French army expanded from 800,000 to 1.2 million and then to 1.6 million, making it the largest army in Europe.

In order to deal a devastating blow to the Xia Empire, France decided to send an army group with a total strength of 280,000 troops.

The commander of the French Army Group was General Joseph Gallieni, under the command of the Fourteenth Army of General Joseph Gallieni, the Third Army of Lieutenant General Joseph Jacques Césaire Chauffel, the Tenth Army of Lieutenant General Louis Herbert Leotet, and the Sixteenth Army of Lieutenant General Michel Monourie; The group army also has cavalry divisions, heavy artillery divisions, baggage divisions, and engineer regiments directly under its jurisdiction; The French General Staff treated the operation against the Xia Empire as a military exercise.

Britain decided to send 4 armies, plus auxiliary troops, for a total strength of 300,000 troops; There are also troops stationed in India and a large number of Indian servants, and if they fight in India, there is a steady stream of Indian reinforcements; The British War Office meant to treat the war as a test for the British Army.

The Netherlands and Belgium each sent one corps, each with a strength of 45,000 troops; Under the direct command of the commander of the expeditionary force.

The total strength of the Four-Nation Coalition Army reached 670,000; If you add the Indian army and the Indian servant army, the total strength will exceed one million.

In the impression of Britain and France, the army of the Xia Empire is good at sneak attacks and is good at blitzkrieg; This time, the coalition army dispatched a million-strong army and adopted a step-by-step strategy, not giving the Xia Empire army a chance to sneak attack; Moreover, the Xia Empire occupied such a large territory, and the time was very short, it must leave enough troops to guard all places, and the army that can be mobilized will not exceed 10 armies, that is to say, it will not exceed 700,000 people; Britain and France could achieve the goal of defeating the Xia Empire by virtue of their superior forces, and there was absolutely no problem in seeking to recapture the occupied Indochina Peninsula without seeking to occupy the territory of the Xia Empire.

The purpose of Britain and France was to fight a local war, and they did not want to expand the scale of the war wirelessly, so so far, no war has been declared on the Xia Empire.

In order not to give the Xia Empire an excuse to send a stronger navy into the Atlantic, the British and French decided to send troops from the Mediterranean, and after reaching Calcutta, they launched an attack on the Xia Empire from the land, trying to recover the territory occupied by the Xia Empire.

In addition to sending a strong army force, the two countries also established a powerful combined fleet, with France dispatching 4 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, and numerous cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats; Britain dispatched 8 battleships, 4 battlecruisers, 6 light cruisers, 20 destroyers, and dozens of torpedo boats.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet was British Admiral Sir Charles Biersford.

Rear Admiral John Jellicoe, known for his steadiness, was appointed Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet.

Admiral Sir Charles Biersford was originally the commander of the British Channel Fleet, specializing in battleship operations for many years, and had rich combat experience and experience in commanding battleship operations.

Field Marshal Frederick Roberts decided to base the logistics base in Cairo, where all the troops were gathered, and then all the army ships to Bombay under the protection of the navy and then transported by train to the city of Calcutta.

There were too many cargo ships that needed to be escorted, and they were afraid of being attacked by the Xia Imperial Navy during the transportation, so the fleet did not dare to enter the Bengal Sea directly, but landed in Bombay, which was also the cautious place of Field Marshal Frederick Roberts.

Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, knowing the climate of the Indochina Peninsula, asked his troops to gather in Cairo in October, to Bombay and Calcutta in November, and to begin an attack on British Burma in December; It was only after the start of the land war that the navy was allowed to look for opportunities for a decisive battle with the navy of the Xia Empire.

At the beginning, Sir Charles Biersford thought that the old marshal's tactics were too conservative, but he could put aside the escort cargo ships and find opportunities to fight the Xia Imperial Navy alone, he was still very satisfied, without the burden of cargo ships, reducing his worries, his fleet could exert higher combat effectiveness, and he would command more freely, so he still agreed with Marshal Roberts's opinion.

Most of the Indochina Peninsula is south of the Tropic of Cancer and has a tropical monsoon climate, with three distinct seasons a year: the hot season (March to May), the rainy season (June to October), and the cool season (November to February). Due to the tropical location and the influence of the monsoon, the temperature in most areas is high in each month of the year, except for the higher altitude areas, and the temperature difference is small. November to February of the following year is the cool season with an average temperature of 25 degrees, which is the time of the lowest temperature and the least rainfall, the weather is hot and dry, and the sunshine is relatively abundant, which is the most suitable time of year for marching and fighting.

In early October, the Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, was sent to India to reorganize the troops stationed in India and the servant army, and to recruit another 500,000 troops as a reserve force on the original basis.

After General Kitchener arrived in India, he began to vigorously reorganize the servant army, adjusting the officers, and the capable were promoted and the mediocre were lowered; Eliminate unqualified soldiers and re-conscript, veterans of the Boer War and Afghanistan wars are re-conscripted, expand the scope of conscription, and raise the standard of conscription; readjust the treatment of the servant army, improve the food, update the equipment, and increase the intensity and discipline of training; The promotion of outstanding Indians as junior officers has given Indians the opportunity to be promoted; the establishment of military schools to train officers at the grassroots level; In a short period of 2 months, the servant army was glowing with new strength and had a certain amount of fighting power; Newly recruited servants, after 2 months of training, can also take on the heavy responsibility of transporting baggage, guarding the place, or maintaining local order. (To be continued.) )

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