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After the end of the Battle of the Chu River, the British army broke and fled. www.xstxt.org British Major General William fled to Bhutan with about 300 British troops and more than 1,000 Indian servants. Cai Ye pursued with 10,000 new troops, and after the pursuit reached the junction of Bhutan, he stopped.

Bhutan, the abbreviation of the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a small country located in southern Asia, on the southern slope of the eastern section of the Himalayas between China and India, bordering Tibet in the northwest and north, and Sikkim in India, West Bengal and southern Tibet in the west, south and east respectively, with a land area of about 38,394 square kilometers, an area equivalent to the size of Taiwan. However, Bhutan is predominantly mountainous and consists of glaciers, which make up one-tenth of Bhutan's total area and are an important source of water for Bhutan's rivers.

Bhutan is called "Zhu Yu" in the local language, which means "land of thunder dragons", and the name suggests that the people have an ancient Buddhist tradition. Bhutan has been a Tibetan territory since the 8th century, and after the Yuan Dynasty unified Tibet, it became a Chinese territory, and it was not divided until the Qing Dynasty, but as a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, it was deeply influenced by Tibetan culture.

In 1865, the British invaded Bhutan and signed the Treaty of Sinchula, forcing Bhutan to cede about 2,000 square kilometers east of the Tytai River, including Kalimpong. In 1907, the Kingdom of Bhutan was established. Wangchuck became the first king, but Bhutan's foreign relations still depend on the face of Britain.

The British army had a garrison of 1,000 troops in Kalimpong and other occupied areas, led by the British envoy to Bhutan. Claude. He was also a soldier. Bhutan's military strength is mainly militia and armed groups, with a strength of about 3,000 troops, and the weapons and equipment are very backward.

Major General William and John of the British Army. After Claude's rendezvous at Kalimpong. Consolidated 1,500 British troops, 1,000 Indian servants, and made the King of Bhutan, Uyan. Wangchuck also sent troops to snipe at the troops of Cai's Chinese Empire. Because William received a telegram from Minto, the commander of the British army stationed in India, saying that the Far East Fleet of the British Empire had rushed to the Yellow Sea, and asked him to hold on for a few days, believing that the Chinese navy would be vulnerable. Soon the Chinese will sit down and negotiate with the British.

At that time, Cai Ye did not immediately attack the British army on a large scale. Logistical supplies for fighting a war are important because the battle front is a bit long. The logistics of weapons and ammunition of the squadron are already insufficient, and he is waiting for the arrival of supplies, as well as twenty tanks on the way. After conquering Gyantse, Song Xiaofei ordered the tank troops to support Cai Yi. There were also 50,000 new troops of the empire rushing to Bhutan from the Sichuan Military Region.

However, Cai Yi was familiar with the British army's defense in Kalimpong. Several tentative attacks were carried out on the positions of Kalimpong, but each time the British attacked the servant army as cannon fodder, and those Indian servants with inferior weapons, such as rifles and flintlock pistols in the early nineteenth century, were constantly strafed by the heavy machine guns of the squadron, which was equivalent to sending them to death, and the Indian Asans were killed and wounded countless times.

Cai Ye was not too happy to watch those machine gunners and soldiers shoot bullets frantically, and he was so consumed to kill some dispensable Indian servants. What a waste of bullets.

But John. Claude was amazed when he saw China's firepower. Originally, he thought that the ancient and backward Chinese Empire. In contrast, because the British Empire has not had large-scale wars in Southeast Asia in recent years, the British army is very leisurely, only occasionally helping merchants to exterminate bandits or something, and their combat effectiveness is dwarfed. He quickly appealed to China for help. British Prime Minister got John. Claude's telegram for help, for reinforcement of troops, they recruited a large number of servant troops in India and Myitkyina, about 100,000 servant troops rushed to Bhutan, and also sent 5,000 British troops to reinforce India.

At the same time, in order to prevent the bombing of the squadron's aircraft, the soldiers were ordered to dig a lot of underground warehouses to store weapons and ammunition, and also asked the soldiers to dig a kind of trench with a wide mouth and a narrow opening, which he believed was conducive to withstanding the bombing of the aircraft.

At the court of Bhutan, the King of Bhutan, Uyan. Wangchuck looked sad and discussed countermeasures with the ministers, caught between China and Britain, once the choice is wrong, it will lead to the demise of the country. Wuyan. Wangchuck was only 47 years old in 1908, in the prime of life, and he combined political and religious power, and stipulated that the king would be hereditary, which in effect meant that his family would be destroyed.

Wuyan. Wangchuck is not a faint king. Wuyan. Wangchuck's father was Jigme Langgyal, a high-ranking official of the Chongsampero tribe, who came from a noble family of Dankhachogy and was a descendant of the Buddhist Tibetan master Pema Kamaringpa. His mother's family originated from Tashi Chokyu, a descendant of local celebrity Lalu Peji Dorjee. As such, he belongs to two of the most respected nobles in Bhutan. But he has served in the grassroots courts since he was a child, proving his worth.

His first political struggle was in 1878, when he was not yet 16 years old. In order to recapture Paro Castle, he fought alongside his father. Unfortunately, they failed, and he was captured and imprisoned in Parota Dzong, where he suffered a lot, and later his father, Jigme Langjie, took the family members of his rival hostage as Uyan. Wangchuck was released.

In 1881, his father died, and at the age of nineteen, Wangchuck suppressed a plotted riot. During the rebellion, when his uncle, the 8th Living Buddha Pemaka Maringpa, was assassinated by Sangha Ranga in Chongsang Chungye, Wangchuck succeeded in quelling the rebellion with the support of his mother, took charge of the tribe, and appointed his elder brother Chiletobuka as the official of Paroponglo. Later, when Bhutan broke out in the final civil war, Wangchuck received British support and cooperated in the attack on Tibet, and finally unified Bhutan, and also received the Knight of the Order of the Indian Empire from the British Indian colonial authorities.

Yanbu, the capital of Bhutan, has a hot and muggy weather in summer. Wangchuck was in the palace of Punakhapojang, sitting on a golden throne and sweating profusely. Underneath the palace were the spiritual leader of the lamas, King Debfa, as well as senior lamas, nobles, councillors, and tribal leaders from different regions. Wuyan. Wangchuck looked sad and said: "Now, we have to choose between the British Empire and the Chinese Empire, and it will be an extremely difficult decision. Do you have any good ideas, let's hear about it? ”

The spiritual leader of the lamas, His Holiness Deb, has now been replaced by Uyan. Wangchuck was empty, but he still had the power to deliberate, and he was inclined to return Bhutan to Tibet, saying: "Although the British Empire is strong, it is not strong in Asia. We were originally a vassal state of the Chinese Empire. I suggest that the book be revised to the generals of the Chinese Empire, explaining that we should return to one of them, so as not to lose our lives. ”

Bhutan's elder brother, Prince Chiletobuga, shook the red sleeves of his robe and said: "We have betrayed China before, and we have cooperated with the British army in attacking Tibet, and the Chinese may not let us go easily." ”

There was a lot of discussion among the ministers below, some advocating the return of China, some advocating the union with the United Kingdom, and some advocating neutrality. Wuyan. Wangchuck didn't have an idea for a while, this time the British army was defeated by the army of the Chinese Empire from Gyantse, Tibet and fled, he knew when the British army entered Bhutan, from the mouth of the servant army deserter who fled to Bhutan, he learned about the defeat of the British army, he could not imagine that the powerful British army was defeated by the Chinese army, which made him even more alarmed, his army was not China's opponent at all, and he absolutely could not resist the Chinese army. He made up his mind and sent someone to contact Cai to test China's attitude.

In Cai's military camp, Bhutan's special envoy Alzai had not yet spoken, and Cai, dressed in military uniform, went straight to the point and made clear China's attitude, "Our president said that Bhutan has always been our Chinese territory since ancient times, so we hope that Bhutan will return to the embrace of the motherland again." ”

When the Bhutanese envoy heard this, he was a little confused, and he thought that the meaning of Cai Yi's words should be to make Bhutan a vassal state of China again. Wangchuck's bottom line of negotiations, Alzai said: "Since 1907 Metana has been completely independent, and has been recognized by the British government, we are willing to become a vassal state of China, and respect China as the suzerain." ”

Cai Yi shook his head and said: "You still don't understand what I mean, what our president means is that as a punishment for your past attack on Tibet, we will not recognize the independence of Britain from Bhutan, so you still die of this heart, and we hope that the Kingdom of Bhutan will be incorporated into the Tibet Autonomous Region." The King of Bhutan can still be the Governor of Bhutan. ”

Hearing this, Arzai's body trembled a little and he stammered, "This is impossible, the people of Bhutan will live and die with the kingdom, and Bhutan will not perish unless we all die." ”

Cai Ye said coldly: "Don't be in a hurry to refuse. Go back and tell the King of Bhutan that our President has always had a clear grudge. The people of Bhutan are not very large, and China will not deal with the people of Bhutan in the same way that the colonizers of the American continent did with the Indians unless absolutely necessary. Our president has clear grievances, the people in power in Bhutan are not elected by the people of Bhutan, they do not represent the people of Bhutan at all, once we break through Yanbu, we will only kill the families of the nobles and government officials in power! ”

The word "killing", Cai Ye said it very calmly, but the Bhutanese envoy was not calm at all, and hurried back to the palace to resume his life. King Uyan of Bhutan. Wangchuck and the Bhutanese ministers are in a cold sweat, if the squadron really does this, they will bear the brunt of it, and they are also afraid of being exterminated!

Wuyan. Wangchuck said: "What else did General Cai Ye say? ”

Arzai said: "General Chua said that after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, you can still be the leader here, but Bhutan will never be allowed to build an army, and you can no longer have the idea of regaining the country. ”

Wuyan. Wangchuck thought about it, anyway, he is still the leader here, it doesn't matter whether he is called the king or the civil governor, if he does not accept it, he and his family may not see the sun tomorrow, so he decided to accept the conditions of the Chinese, and in June 1908, he telegraphed the whole world, announcing the dissolution of the Kingdom of Bhutan and becoming an autonomous region under Tibet. (To be continued......)