Grant's Jian yì still couldn't mention the interest of Montauban and other French generals, they hated to return to the ship to fight again, Colonel Dupan made a questioning voice: "General Grant, as far as we know from our intelligence, the military strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom probably includes at least seven or eight field armies, and the establishment of each field army in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will not be less than 40,000 people, here we are facing only one army of the Taiping Army, and the south is their base camp, except for a few field armies that are still confronting the Qing army, At least there are four field armies in the south, that is, no less than 160,000 elite field troops, can we win? ”

Wu Shili actually sided with the French this time: "I am also worried, although it is unlikely that the Taiping army left behind in the south will gather heavy troops in one place, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still has a large number of reserve troops, which they call local village soldiers, and there are also a considerable number of coastal defense troops and maritime anti-smuggling troops in each coastal city. In recent years, we have also noticed that the Taiping army has strengthened the fortifications of the coastal forts in various places, and I fear that if we attack these places, we may well fall into another difficult battle of Dagukou. ”

Grant still insisted on his opinion: "Gentlemen, the fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom does not have to be a military victory, once we declare war, we must first protect our own concession, so it is very necessary to retreat south to defend the concession, and Hong Kong must not have any accidents." We can give full play to the strengths of the navy and block the trade routes of the Taiping army, and I don't think they can sustain the war for a long time. ”

There is no doubt that Grant's construction is currently the most advantageous choice for the coalition forces from a military point of view, and this construction is to promote its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. gave full play to the advantages of the coalition navy, after all, the navy of the empire on which the sun never sets has dominated the world's oceans for a long time. The Taipings' navy, which consisted of a few old British and French warships, could not be a threat to the Allied navy, once the Allied navy blockaded five ports. Constantly harassing the cities of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom along the coast and along the Yangtze River was very passive for the Taiping army. Once the war continues, the Taiping army can not last, the current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's trade income accounts for a large part of the national income, many people make a living from it, and at the same time, the regular army of the Taiping army has completed the transformation of hot weapons, and they rely on the supply and transportation of the sea and the Yangtze River waterway to a large extent, and they also rely on the arms trade to a certain extent, and the output of several arms factories in the south of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cannot guarantee the arms needs of the national army. Some of the arms still need to be imported.

Grant's intentions were simple and ruthless, he choked the Taiping army at once, and his plan was to slowly strangle the Taiping army, starting with economic destruction. Although Xiao Yungui said that he was not afraid of the trade ban of the coalition forces, once such a thing really happened, even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could win the war with its huge territory and population base in the end, then the industries and commerce that had been developed with great difficulty before would inevitably regress to the Manchu era, or even inferior to the Manchu era, and after losing trade. A large number of people engaged in industry and commerce would lose their jobs, the society would become unstable, and it would take more than a decade to redevelop after the war, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would lag even further behind the foreign powers in the process of industrialization. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If you fall behind in other countries, you will be beaten. It is likely that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom won the national war, but lost the opportunity to compete for supremacy in the next century.

Although Grant's plan seems perfect. But the French did not support it, and the officers on both sides began to argue with each other. At last Sir Elgin knocked on the table, and the crowd fell silent a little. Sir began his speech: "Generals, thank you very much for your analysis of the battle situation from a military point of view, but we must understand one thing, we have not yet declared war on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. ”

Grant and the others looked at Sir Ergin with some astonishment, only to hear him continue: "War is a continuation of politics, and politics is driven by interests, I want to know what is the benefit of us declaring war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" ”

Everyone present was silent, and there was no more noise, Sir Elgin could be sent to China by British Prime Minister Palmerston to serve as Minister Bingquan, and he had some power to negotiate and declare war, so Sir Elgin had more power than Grant or anyone else, because he was a good politician, and he knew very well what he should do with the British in the Far East.

"In the South, we bring in a lot of goods from the UK every month to trade, and then we ship Chinese goods back and sell them to European countries. In the south, we worked with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on a number of projects, including the laying of railways, telegraph lines and submarine telegraph lines, and even the construction of the Great Iron Bridge linking the concession and Hongkou in Shanghai. In the south, we are also preparing for the establishment of an embassy district in Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Gentlemen, before declaring war, we must weigh the interests, and after the declaration of war, what benefits can we get? ”

After returning from the Nanyuan camp, Sir Elgin gradually calmed down, and a calm politician could think of more things. His words reminded those present that, yes, what good could a declaration of war do?

"Once war is declared, I think General Grant's Jianyi is the best Jianyi, but the blockade of trade is a double-edged sword, and while harming the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we must also bear very large and painful losses. If we fail to force the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to submit quickly after the war, and if the war continues, our commercial interests will be dealt a fatal blow in the Far East, and perhaps other countries will be cheapened. Sir Elgin's voice was calm and powerful, and the content of his words was thought-provoking.

Finally, Sir Elgin concluded: "Gentlemen, the matter is beyond the scope of my power, and the declaration of war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom needs to be reported in detail to the country, and then the decision will be made by the Parliament!" ”

Immediately afterwards, Lord Gro also nodded and said, "Unfortunately, gentlemen, declaring war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not a trivial matter, we can't make a decision right away, and I must also report to His Majesty the Emperor before I can make a decision." ”

General Montauban clenched his fists tightly and said: "Gentlemen, the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has completed the siege of Beijing, and as long as they are willing, they may launch an attack tomorrow, can we just watch the fruits of victory that are about to be snatched away?" When the domestic resolution returns to the Far East, I am afraid that we will have to go to the city of Beijing to find the king of the West to deliver a declaration of war note. But by that time, the Manchu government has been eliminated, so what's the point of us declaring war again? ”

Everyone was silent, and General Montauban was telling the truth, sending the news back to England and France, at this time it was still possible to rely on ships, even the fastest clippers would take a month or two to make a round trip, and the indecisive efficiency of the British Parliament would inevitably lead to a new round of disputes, and it was possible to waste more time. And how much time will it take for the Taiping army to capture Beijing? The most conservative estimate will not exceed a month, not to mention that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still has plenty of time to continue to increase its troops under the city of Beijing.

Once the Manchu government was eliminated, the coalition army lost its goal, and without the Manchu royal family members in hand, the appeal of the rebel nobles such as Mianyu and Ronglu was far from enough, far from enough to achieve the establishment of a state. What's the point of declaring war at that time?

"Very meaningful!" Sir Elgin's words were sonorous: "If Britain and France want to guarantee the interests of the Far East, they must bring the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to its knees, and even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom completes the unification of China in the future, if their new government causes damage to our British and French interests in the Far East, we will still need to go to war." What's more, once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom eliminated the Manchu government, we can ask the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to inherit the Qiē treaty signed by the Manchu government, and at the same time, we can also ask them to negotiate a new contract, and the interests of Britain and France can be continued and guaranteed, which is better than going to war without a clue now. ”

Everyone understood Sir Ergin's words, and with the change of the situation, the political objectives of Britain and France could be adjusted and changed, so Rong Lu and others were abandoned under such circumstances.

Of course, Rong Lu couldn't sit still, he made a final struggle, he immediately stood up and said: "Your Excellency, I hope you can consider another possibility, what if Beijing City can hold out until the news of the two countries comes back?" ”

Sir Elgin shrugged his shoulders and said, "If such a miracle really happens, we can still proceed according to the previous plan, and a divided China is better than a unified China." ”

Everyone laughed, and after listening to the translation, Mianyu and the others looked ashamed, but Rong Lu was red with excitement, and he continued: "I understand the temper of the Empress Dowager of the West in Beijing, she gathered heavy troops to guard Beijing, and at the same time personally sat in the capital, showing that she will definitely not give in lightly, maybe we can give them some support during the time when we report the news to the two countries." ”

Sir Elgin was interested: "Oh? Like what? ”

Rong Lu said slowly: "For example, provide them with some weapons and arms support, or release some prisoners, and arm them to attack the supply lines of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or directly contact the Qing army in Jianghuai to provide them with arms, as well as the Qing army outside the border such as Heilongjiang, we can also provide material support, so that they can drag down the Taiping army." ”

Everyone quieted down again, without the joke just now, Rong Lu's construction is indeed very attractive, it is beneficial to the coalition army to keep the current situation from new changes, if a miracle really happens, the Qing army can hold the capital for a month or two, and the coalition army can make a lot of preparations, even including mobilizing a batch of reinforcements from India.

And Rong Lu's dying struggle for self-preservation, he sold the future of this country more completely, he no longer cares...... (To be continued......)