Chapter XXVI: Declaring War and Undeclared War
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On July 1, 1635, in order to strengthen the basic position of the Kingdom of England in Ireland and Virginia, and refuse to recognize the Jamestown bombing, King Charles I, who was invoked by the National Assembly, promulgated the Colonial Trade Act: prohibiting any English colony from trading directly with China and the United States, and all imports and exports of goods must transit through England and convey them to the Chinese diplomat Elson who was waiting for a diplomatic reply in London.
This meant that in the future, every goods entering or leaving England's overseas colonies would have to travel thousands of miles to England to pay taxes before they could be transported by English merchant ships to their true destinations. Regardless of the practical significance of such a bill after the blockade of Virginia, it is even worse in nature than the tax increase bill of the English royal family last year, and is infinitely close to the famous "Navigation Regulations" enacted by Cromwell when he ruled England more than a decade later.
On July 3, the temporary garrison of the Chinese American Foreign Legion, which was in the port of Jamestown, Virginia, "to protect the interests of local Chinese American merchants and carry out the evacuation work", sent troops into the city on the pretext that it had been shot by unknown armed men, occupied the Virginia Governor's Mansion and military camps, and arrested all the military and political officials of the English colonies who had long been under house arrest by the local militia. The Virginia Colonial Council also took the opportunity to convene a freedmen's assembly on the same day, unanimously decided to refuse to accept any governor's appointment or decree from England mainland until the English royal family accepted a series of requests for autonomy from the colonial council, and sent representatives to the Huamei temporary garrison camp to submit the Virginia autonomy neutrality document.
Such a small farce is no longer a conspicuous matter in the current urgent situation, but it seems to anyone that the representatives of the Virginia Colonial Congress, who have long had close ties with the Chinese and American business circles, have been heartbroken by the overlord, and have thus put their future interests on the side of the United States.
……
“…… For any peace-loving citizen of the American Republic of China. Every time we take up arms, it means that the freedom and peaceful life we defend have been threatened ines......"
“…… The Kingdom of England has taken our concessions as weakness, and has responded to our friendly representations with heavy taxes of terrorism and greed, and has repeatedly resorted to radical measures to damage relations between the two countries, reminding us of Captain Chow Kemin, who died in London ten years ago...... In Killarney, Ireland. In Jamestown, Virginia, when bitterness and peace do not solve the problem, ending the war will be our last and forced choice! ”
“…… Unswervingly safeguarding the interests belonging to the Republic of China and the United States of America is the most sacred mission and obligation of our armed forces, and it is also the expectation of every citizen...... At last. With the authorization of Congress, on behalf of the Cabinet, I formally declare that the American Republic of China and the Kingdom of England are in a state of war! Our mighty navy, will fight alongside our allies until the Kingdom of England makes a truly satisfying reply to their unreasonableness! ”
Interrupt the temporary broadcast of all radio programs to every broadcasting terminal in China and the United States. Prime Minister Qi Jianjun's voice read out the declaration of war unhurriedly. In the spacious living room, Yang Wenwen and her children are sitting silently on the sofa, listening carefully to the content of each paragraph.
The choice of the country to send a large naval fleet to officially join Spain's war against England was actually seen as early as when the navy sent three large Princess-class light cruisers to the Azores for military exercises. So today's declaration of war looks more like an after-the-fact explanation to the local people.
"Thank God. Just dispatch the Navy! At the end of the interstitial broadcast, the rousing "War Hymn of the Republic" came from the radio, and Anne, who was listening to the announcement of the declaration of war at Ren's house, finally breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest gently.
"It's a lesson to the English, otherwise it would have cost twice as much to import cotton from Jamestown as before. Elizabeth, pay attention to the supply of raw materials to textile mills at any time, and prepare plans for production cuts and export adjustments in advance. Yang Wenwen elegantly picked up the teacup and drank it slowly, as if she had long been accustomed to this kind of military diplomacy dominated by crossing the crowd behind the scenes.
"Yes, ma'am." Elizabeth, the new assistant to the president, smiled and recorded Yang Wenwen's instructions in the book. Then he stood up very politely, "Then, I will submit Madame's latest instructions to the administrative office, and I will not bother you here." ”
“…… It's really troublesome, I would have known that I wouldn't be a member of the House of Representatives. Yan Xiaosong was right before, it is really not a place for people to stay, and a little tattered thing can be noisy for several hours! ”
Ren Changle's familiar complaint came from outside the hall, and he saw the pot-bellied Ren Changle walking over sweating profusely while throwing the untaken coat towards the nanny.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Mr. Ren." Elizabeth, who was about to leave, saw that the man of the house had returned, so she quickly retreated, gently lifted her skirt and squatted to salute.
"Oh? Did Miss Elizabeth come to import cotton from Jamestown? Ren Changle smiled and waved his hand, with a smug expression on his face, "There is good news, Congress will send a special delegation to negotiate with the Virginia Colonial Council in Jamestown to ensure that this war will not affect the trade between Virginia and us." Now that it is controlled by our army, they have no other choice. ”
"All right, Miss Elizabeth go ahead and get busy. The children are scattered. Seeing her husband talking about military affairs and politics in front of his family and children regardless of the occasion, he quickly glanced at the embarrassed assistant and instructed the nannies to take the children out of the living room.
Soon, there was no one else in the living room except the husband and wife.
"A simple matter like declaring war must have been brewed a long time ago, and you can still hold a meeting in the Congress for most of the day, hey......" Seeing that her husband was still sweating profusely, Yang Wenwen couldn't help but vomit softly, "There is something more important for you to rush back...... Tomorrow Xingzhong will go home on vacation, and I plan to invite Chen Liwen to my home to talk about Xingzhong's affairs, and I want to transfer him to the Manchester City Garrison Command......"
"Uh...... Just declared war with England, the army has stopped vacation, at this time to privately carry out personnel transfers, I'm afraid the timing is not right......" Ren Changle was stunned, his face was a little red.
"This time it's just a matter for the Navy. The army is not dispatched again, what does it have to do with the Xingzhong Garrison Command?! Yang Wenwen frowned, very dissatisfied with her husband's "sluggishness".
"Uh...... In fact, today's meeting is not a matter of declaring war on England...... It is a proposal to urgently send troops to the governor of Nanshan, you have also read the newspaper, and now the strength of the Foreign Legion has been exhausted......" Ren Changle swallowed his saliva. It seems a little embarrassing, "Something went wrong on the South African side, the local black indigenous people rioted, destroying many settlements in the surrounding area. On several thousand square kilometers of ground, only the National Guard and a newly formed infantry battalion of the Foreign Legion could no longer control the situation. This disrupted our plan to send our army to Europe...... Although we don't have a big business in South Africa, it involves the interests of several other buddies, so I voted for it as well......"
"How many troops will be sent?" Yang Wenwen had a bad premonition in her heart, and quickly lowered her voice.
"At least one reinforced brigade, but in everyone's opinion, the elite main force must stay on the mainland. Respond to changes in the war situation on the European side at any time. Therefore, the troops sent by the army to South Africa will be newly formed units in the past two years...... Oops, I didn't think of that at the time! Ren Changle said as he spoke, slowly sensing something wrong from Yang Wenwen's increasingly dark face, and quickly took a small step back.
"You're insane! Send your own children to South Africa, tens of thousands of kilometers away, to fight, what else can't you do! Yang Wenwen was furious, grabbed the water cup on the coffee table in the living room and splashed Ren Changle in the face.
"This is the overall opinion of Congress! What are you a woman coaxing! Whose children are in the army, don't they all obey orders?! Wouldn't it be better not to go to Europe? ”
A nanny who was waiting outside the living room quickly ran in. wiped the water and untied the tie for Ren Changle. Ren Changle crossed his hands on his hips and put on a righteous appearance to cheer up his husband.
"Auntie, will Ren Xingzhong go to Africa......
At the end of the living room, Anne stood out timidly at some point, pinching the corner of her skirt and carefully looking at the two parents of the Ren family.
The confrontation and quarrel between the husband and wife dissipated instantly, and they both turned their heads and looked at the nervous and restless appearance of the "future daughter-in-law who was determined......
……
The flames in the olive groves and vineyards still shook their bewildering figures in the night, and the destroyed armed settlements wailed. The heavily wounded armed militiamen leaned against the base of the wall, watching as the few intact companions accidentally ignited the fire during the battle.
This is a mountainous valley more than 40 kilometers east of Nanshan Port. It is historically South Africa's famous wine producing area of Stellenbosch. The climate and soil conditions made for excellent viticulture, but it was also the most remote agricultural reclamation area under the Governor of Nanshan, with only a small armed colony and hundreds of European settlers, and most of the day's distance from the nearest National Guard fort.
Violent attacks by indigenous blacks have destroyed a considerable number of olive groves, vineyards, oil mills, wineries and mountain pastures outside the strongholds. Many "foreign laborers" and immigrants were killed, and the same damage was taking place throughout the agricultural areas around the Governor of Nanshan.
The South African fleet stationed at Nanshan Port could not play any role at this time, and the National Guard Force, which had only one brigade, and the Brown Bear Brigade of the Foreign Legion, which had a total of less than 800 troops, fell into the dilemma of not being able to save the east but the west after the initial emergency dispatch. In desperation, the commander could only abandon the outermost military defense, and instead deployed on the second line, and issued helpless instructions to the remote reclamation points to "organize themselves, stay behind and wait for reinforcements, or evacuate".
There was no radio station that could communicate thousands of miles in an instant, the horses were almost completely lost, and there were many equally dark native warriors hidden in the darkness of the surrounding night. The armed militiamen in the colony base looked sadly at the night to the east, praying in their own ways for the dawn to come.
“…… Didn't they already repel them, and as a result, they lost a number of reclamation farms, did they all come out of the soil?! Distribute weapons and organize and mobilize the militia in the city! Send them out tomorrow and kill all those stupid niggers! If the tiger is not powerful, it is still a sick cat? ”
In the Nanshan Port Governor's Mansion late at night, Wu Yuanyi was still walking around the office restlessly, angry at the local police chief and the commander of the National Guard.
"Your Excellency the Governor, we have done our best, a battalion of the Foreign Legion is still in charge of supporting the periphery, and the strength of the National Guard has been reduced to defense, at least the black natives will not threaten Nanshan Port." The commander of the local National Guard unit spoke cautiously about his arrangement, and was secretly curious about the series of novel scoldings that had just been in the governor's mouth.
"Well, the safety of Nanshan Port must be guaranteed! The Congress has already passed the plan to send troops, and soon the main army force will come...... Damn, at least 100,000 acres of farms will be ruined by those sloppy people before here! I'm going to sell all these idiots to Brazil! Wu Yuanyi finally calmed down, gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the desk, revealing a hideous angry face. (To be continued)