Marlborough was one of the first generals in Europe, and when he found that he could not achieve his goal of warfare, he immediately changed his battle plan and led his army to retreat despite the opposition of many generals in the army...... As a result, after discovering his actions, Yu Zhong couldn't help it. According to General Yu's words: "This old British horse is too inauthentic, Lao Tzu is modest and polite, and he gave up the whole of Myanmar, and he actually wanted to leave without even saying 'thank you...... is so faceless, I'm so bullied when I'm a boy? Therefore, after the retreat of the Qing army in great strides, it began to follow up in great strides!

It's just that what is very interesting is that the retreat of the coalition army and the pursuit of the Qing army are just like the retreat of the Qing army and the pursuit of the coalition army before, very "gentlemanly", and still did not bring any trace of fireworks. It is very doubtful that the "fish" of Yu Zhong is colluding with the "horse" of Marlborough, not to fight, but just to carry out a large-scale marching performance. As some military commentators of later generations put it, it was only "the most polite war ever fought between them"!

However, even if it was a performance, this performance made some people in the Qing court who were not used to it have to shut up. Previously, Yu Zhong did not fire a shot, did not bombard, and retreated to the rear without lifting a knife, some ministers thought that they had caught him, thinking that he could just fight a good fight, and he would not be able to do anything in the face of adversity, and they impeached him one after another for "losing his land and damning", if Kangxi could not hold it, I am afraid he would really suffer. And now, the same without using any sword soldiers, just by retreating, the enemy army has to abandon the area that has been occupied after a period of arrogance, and not a single soldier is consumed, this kind of war really makes those people feel a little dumbfounded.

However, just as people were waiting to see if China could take advantage of the situation and catch up, they would drive the Westerners out of Burma and India.

Even when it was time to destroy it, Yu Zhong stopped at Ava, and similarly, Marlborough led his army to a foothold at Dagon. The two of them, one south and one north, seem to have divided Myanmar into two spheres of influence very tacitly, and they did not show any intention of wanting to fight.

…… Of course, Yu Zhong would not provoke an enemy army that was twice as large as himself when he was not fully prepared, let alone in Dagon Harbor. The European coalition forces can also get support from the navy at any time, they can attack and retreat, they belong to the hedgehog level, and Yu Zhong will not easily provoke the other party. In Marlborough's eyes, the occupation of Burma was dispensable, and attacking here first was nothing more than an attempt to cooperate with the navy to deter the Qing court. It's just that the Yu Zhong he has to face now is really difficult, and it is too difficult to break his muscles and bones for such a small place. So. He retreated to Dagon. The purpose is to make Yu Zhong dare not ignore the existence of the coalition forces, and intends to contain Yu Zhong, an opponent that cannot be underestimated, with fewer troops.

After making this arrangement, Marlborough finally left Indochina with most of his troops. Then, by sea boat we reached Kolkata. Soon after, they divided into two routes with Prince Eugen's troops, one to the west from Calgada and the other to the north after conquering Bombay, and began a formal campaign with a total force of 100,000 troops, and their first target was: Delhi, the capital of India!

………………

Kangxi fifty-three years, July. Almost at the same time as Marlborough decided to abandon his plans to occupy Burma!

Jiangning Mansion!

Ma De, the governor of Jiangnan, also welcomed his own guest, the newly appointed general of Jinghai, Shi Shiji! With him, there were no local officials, only the generals of the two major naval divisions of the East China Sea and the Beihai Sea, and even Lan Tingzhen, the commander of the South China Sea Naval Division, who was reorganizing the army in Guangzhou, also sent a deputy general.

……

"The general has worked hard all the way! There is a loss of welcome, there is a loss of welcome......"

Shi Shifei did not put on the honor guard of his general, but only brought two personal soldiers. The three fast horses went directly to the door of the governor's palace in Made. And Ma De was the same, he didn't prepare any ceremony to greet him, but just led people to the door to greet him.

"Lord Governor doesn't have to be so polite, it's Lord Shi who is annoying!" Shi Shiqi did not dwell on etiquette, and after dismounting, several generals arched their hands to each other in front of the door, and followed Ma De into the mansion.

"General, I don't know when the firearms prepared by the imperial court will arrive? You can give it to us first! Our brothers in the East China Sea Division can't wait, and they want to send troops to suppress the thieves! As soon as he sat down, Lan Gui, the deputy general of the East China Sea Division, couldn't help but ask Shi Shiji.

"General Lan doesn't need to be in a hurry. How to arrange, General Shi has his own opinions. This time Jinghai suppressed the Kou, your East China Sea division is naturally one of the main forces, and what should be given will never be missing from you! ”

Ma De couldn't help but be a little amused when he saw that Lan Gui didn't even give Shi Shifei a chance to breathe, and he didn't know if the people of the Lan family were all so angry. However, although he was thinking about it in his heart, because he had only known each other for a long time, he didn't plan to get close to the other party, so he didn't ask.

However, the Lan family is a very influential family in the southeast region. This Lan Gui is the fourth brother of Lan Li, the former Admiral of the Fujian Navy, and is also the uncle of Lan Tingzhen, the Admiral of the South China Sea Navy. There are many people in the Lan family who are in the army, and all of them have military exploits, and their status is not low. In addition to the previous Lan Li and the current Lan Tingzhen and Lan Zhuo, there are also a number of generals such as Lan Yao and Lan Dingyuan, and the worst ones are all at the level of the commander of the four grades. In the army, especially in the sailors, the influence is extremely high. Therefore, seeing that Shi Shifat was not good at wording for a while, he had to help say a few words.

"Your Excellency the Governor is right!" As soon as Ma De finished speaking, Shi Shiji also thought about his words, "This time, the emperor is determined to annihilate all the enemies in the sea area of our country, so the equipment of the sailor will never be left behind." Now, you have to wait not only for the firearms shipped from the Beijing Artillery Factory, but also for a large number of military supplies from Mukden. It's just that it's not safe to go by sea now, so I have to take the land route to enter the customs, and then go south through the canal. So, we have to wait a little longer! ”

"Wait? General, our brothers in the sailors have long been unable to hold back the fire...... Originally, we could have gone to sea to hunt for the enemy, but now it's a good thing, you won't even let us out of the port! Now I have to wait for ......, isn't this embarrassing? Yang Yuan, the chief soldier of the North Sea Division, frowned and said. He is the deputy general of the Fujian Navy Division who once followed Yu Zhong to fight Shiqiuling, and after the pacification of Taiwan, he failed to compete with Nian Qianyao, so he failed to become the chief soldier of Taiwan. However, Lan Li did not lose him, and recommended him to the Ministry of War and transferred him to the North Sea Division of Wanzheng "Color" as the chief soldier. However, the North Sea Division is responsible for the waters around the Yellow Sea, and there are not as many opportunities for meritorious service as in the East and South China Seas. So. He could only watch his previous colleagues move up one by one, even Lan Tingzhen, who was originally a guy with a lower status than him, became the commander of the South China Sea Navy Division, whose status was second only to the Manchurian Naval Division, but he had been wasting his years in the position of the chief soldier, so he was naturally extremely jealous. Now, finally there is a battle to fight, he is grinding his fists, ready to do a big job, but Shi Shifei suddenly issued a ban to prevent them from taking the initiative to go to sea to find enemies, isn't this trying to suffocate him alive?

"The big war. The first thing to do is to recapture Temasek...... The sea of Xikou is strong. Therefore, what we have to face is bound to be a bitter battle. And. In the previous raid of the Western Invaders, our West Sea Division was nowhere to be found, the South China Sea Division suffered huge losses, and the East China Sea Division also suffered a lot of damage, especially troublesome, that is, after this battle, there was a gap in our artillery, ammunition and other necessary materials, although the emperor ordered to replenish it with all its might, but most of the firearms made by the capital and the Fengtian Artillery Factory were for land warfare. Therefore, this supplement must be limited. Moreover, even if we can make up for the needs of our sailors in large quantities, once the war starts, the consumption will inevitably be extremely large, and it is still unknown whether it can support it in the end, so before that, we must save everything as much as possible. Again.

Most of the people who are now rampant in the seas are nothing more than a bunch of pirates, who cannot compete with our sailors, but who can drain our strength. But after these people, there are also Xikou Shui Divisions, so even if we eliminate them, we won't have any results. Instead of doing this useless work, it is better to retain your strength and wait for the decisive battle! Of course, Shi Shiqi could understand Yang Yuan's mood, although the other party's words were a little disregarded for his majesty as the commander-in-chief, but when facing the enemy, it was more important to be consistent with the upper and lower levels, so he still explained his thoughts in detail.

"Having said that, if we blindly avoid war, Xikou will only be more careless, and when the coastal people suffer, how will those imperial envoys let us go?" Yang Zhu, the deputy general under the command of Admiral Lan Tingzhen of the South China Sea Naval Division, also spoke, and did not oppose Shi Shiji's plan in his words, but only expressed his own worries. The South China Sea Naval Division was the only naval division of the Qing court that had fought with the European coalition fleet, although Kangxi had previously ordered Lan Tingzhen to gather part of the main force near Temasek, but because Kangxi did not really specify the purpose of the assembly, and the whole army had developed the habit of arrogance in the process of pacifying the South Seas, and did not think that anyone could threaten him, so the vigilance was insufficient, the assembled forces were also insufficient, and the strength was quite scattered. In the process of the confrontation, they were raided by the coalition forces, which was equivalent to being broken by the enemy forces, and it can be said that they were quite defeated. If Admiral Lan Tingzhen hadn't seen the urgency of the situation and ordered the whole army to retreat to Guangzhou regardless of the consequences, perhaps the South China Sea Naval Division would have followed in the footsteps of the Western Sea Division. However, despite the somewhat unjust defeat, the South China Sea Naval Division still has a relatively clear understanding of the naval strength of the coalition forces, and knows that the other side cannot succeed by sneak attacks alone......

The strength of the people is also there.

"Before I came, I had already ordered the coastal provinces to take strict precautions, and it should have a certain effect...... However, even if it doesn't work, we have to endure it. Xikou is ferocious, relying on the fact that my Chaoshui Division failed to defeat its main force, and when we win, they will have ten more dares, and they will not dare to provoke it easily! Shi Shifat said in a deep voice. As the commander of the naval division, he can only watch the enemy constantly attack his country's maritime frontier in front of him, killing and plundering the coastal people, this kind of oppression is not something that can be understood just by thinking about it.

"General, there is a way to temporarily alleviate the rampant piracy under Xikou's rule, but I wonder if the general and the generals are interested?" Ma De looked at everyone present and suddenly said with a smile.

"Oh? Please teach me, Lord Governor! Shi Shifu was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly stood up and bowed to Ma De and asked, his face could be said to be very sincere.

"Your Excellency the Governor, why didn't you say it earlier, but wait until now?" Yang Yuan also asked Ma De with some displeasure. However, although he was a little inquisitive, he didn't dare to really have any dissatisfaction with Mader. The outer block of the North Sea Division is much less than that of the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and it is even more impossible to compare with the West Sea Division led by Nian Qianyao. Help find an opportunity, his subordinates don't know what will happen. What's more, let's not talk about how hard Ma De is to mess with, even if he can afford to provoke him, everyone knows that Ma De and Yu Zhong are still brothers in life and death. Back then, there were few people in Taiwan who knew better than Yang Yuan, if the brother of General Zhenyuan provoked "Mao", although the consequences were not very clear, but it was certain. It must be him who is unlucky.

"Why don't I want to say it sooner? However, I can only do this idea, as for reporting to the court, I can't! Ma De smiled bitterly and said.

"Why?" Yang Yuan and the others asked.

"The reasons for this are complex...... Don't say it! Mader shook his head, still smiling wryly.

"Your Excellency the Governor is an important minister of the court, since you don't say it, you must have unspeakable hardships, and you don't dare to ask more. However, I was anxious to know. What the hell do you have to do against the pirates of Sikor? Shi Shiji asked again with a fist at Ma De. Both of them are in Beijing. None of them are stupid people, of course they know what kind of unspeakable secrets this Governor Mader has. However, because they are not yet core members of the Qing court. Therefore, there are not many things that can be learned, and they belong to the kind of half-people who only know some things, so they just thought that Ma De's growing influence in Jiangnan had made the court dissatisfied, but it was difficult to find a replacement for a while, so he was able to stay in office. And the reason why Ma De stayed in office after staying in office was just to ease the relationship with the court again and no longer stimulate those people in the court. And. Shi Shifei didn't care about these things, he only cared about what kind of ideas Ma De had now.

"Since the completion of the four major sailors of the imperial court, it seems that a lot of pirates have been recruited, I wonder if there is such a thing?" Hearing Shi Shi's question, Ma De smiled slightly and asked.

"It's true that there are a lot of recruits, but there are also a lot of pirates who are too slippery, even if the sailors are powerful. It's hard to help it! Lan Gui replied in place of Shi Shifat. The sea is vast, and the pirates are mostly dispatched in small groups, although the strength of today's Qing Dynasty sailors is far better than twenty years ago, but they are still a little powerless to deal with pirates. Most of the time you can only play from the defensive side.

(The modern navy can't completely wipe out pirates, let alone before?) Today, the Strait of Malacca is a golden waterway, but it is also home to 60 percent of the world's pirates. From this, it is conceivable that pirates are not so easy to deal with! ）

"But now we have a chance to recruit again......" Mader smiled slightly.

"Your Excellency the Governor, do you mean to fight thieves with thieves?" Yang Zhu asked.

"General Yang expected it well. That's exactly what it means in the next! Mader nodded in reply.

"I'm afraid it's not easy, right? Let's not talk about whether those pedestrians in the court will agree, and even if they do, where will we go to find those pirates? Those dens have always been very secretive, and even if they did, would the pirates listen to us? Don't forget, now that Xikou is powerful, there are as many pirates as cattle and hair, and they may not be much worse than them! Provoke a strong enemy in vain, how can those people do this kind of loss-making business? Yang Yuan frowned and said.

"How do you know if you don't do it? Among the pirates, except for some who were unwilling to be loyal to the imperial court, the vast majority were still willing to be recruited by the imperial court. Moreover, this time, it was Xikou who came to their territory first to grab business, which is a desperate revenge! Even if we don't, those pirates won't give up. So, we only need to provide some official positions and assistance, and we should be able to get these pirates to take the initiative against the Siko. Maybe you can even achieve a lot of results! Moreover, if you do this, you may be able to make up for the loss of my sailor, so why not? So, I think you can report to the court and give it a try. Mader said.

"You don't have to report to the court!" Shi Shiqi waved his hand, "I am the general of Jinghai, holding the gold and approving the arrows, and recruiting pirates is just a trivial matter, I can be arbitrary!" This matter shall be handled according to the words of the Governor! ”

"General Shi is not afraid of criticism from people in the DPRK?" Hearing that Shi Shifu agreed to his suggestion, Ma De asked with a smile.

"What did the Governor say? My father once followed Zheng Zhilong as a general, and when Zheng Zhilong was a pirate, he broke the Dutch fleet many times, which shows that these pirates should not be taken lightly. Therefore, recruiting pirates as my vanguard is indeed a good law! Not only can it increase the strength of our army, but it can also contain Xikou first! Such a profitable business, of course you have to do it! Shi Shifu said with a smile.

"Well, the general is so decisive, he won't hide it below! In fact, there is another way to contain part of Xikou's power, and the general will be interested! Mader laughed again.