Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 469: Second Battle of Delhi

In addition, the South was an important source of industrial raw materials for Britain (cotton), while the North was a competitor to British industry.

Therefore, Britain wanted to get involved in the American Civil War.

This is what the British think and do!
Historically, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Britain began to support the weaker Confederacy in the South and suppress the United States in the North, hoping to split America.

It’s a pity that Britain’s plan failed!
In this civil war, the Northern states achieved ultimate victory.

By the time the Civil War broke out, the Industrial Revolution had already begun.

The supporting industry of the northern United States is industry, and the Great Lakes region is the industrial center of the northern United States.

To put it bluntly, the North is actually an industrial country!

However, the pillar industry in the southern United States is agriculture, mainly cotton cultivation.

Well, black slaves and cotton picking are a match made in heaven.

Otherwise, the Southern states would not have insisted on slavery.

After the war between the North and the South broke out, to put it bluntly, it was actually an asymmetric war between an industrial country and an agricultural country.

There is also a huge difference in population between the two sides.

Before the war, the northern states had a population of about 20 million, but the southern states had a population of less than 10 million, and a considerable number of them were black slaves.

To put it bluntly, the two sides are not opponents of the same level, whether in terms of industrial strength or number of troops.

So, even though the Southern states were in a strong position at the beginning of the war thanks to outstanding generals such as Robert Lee and Jackson, it was useless.

The Northern states could lose once, twice, ten times, or eight times; it didn’t matter. With their own industrial capacity and population size, the Northern states could quickly make up for the losses and then launch a counterattack against the South.

But what about the South?

A loss is a real loss.

There is no ability to make up for the losses.

As long as the South failed to capture Washington in one fell swoop in the early stages of the war, it would have overthrown the Northern regime and completely established victory.

Well, once the war enters the stalemate stage, the defeat of the South is inevitable!

Unless the British army is willing to take action and fight a large-scale war with the Northern states for the interests of the Southern states, no less than the Crimean War.

Otherwise, it would be a perfectly normal thing for the northern states to achieve final victory.

Unfortunately, the British army did not succeed in the end!
It just provided some economic, trade and military support to the southern states.

However, this little support was not enough to change the power gap between the North and the South in the Civil War.

Now, as the situation in North America becomes increasingly tense, Britain has begun to pay attention to the war situation in North America.

Victoria can no longer resist her trouble-making nature and wants to go to North America to stir things up as well.

Palmerston heard this and replied immediately.

"Your Majesty is right. The situation in the New World is indeed very tense right now."

"War between the North and the South was imminent, and President James Buchanan was incapable of resolving the conflict."

"Abolition and slavery are the biggest issues in American politics today."

"I predict that once James Buchanan steps down and the new president supports abolition, the American Civil War will break out."

Victoria heard this and asked.

"Then, Prime Minister, do you think it is necessary for Britain to get involved in the American Civil War?"

Upon hearing this, Palmerston put forward his own ideas.

"Your Majesty, I think that Britain could give some support to the weaker southern slave states and then try to split the United States."

"However, all of this has a prerequisite, that is, Great Britain needs to quell the Indian rebellion first..."

For Britain today, the situation in the New World is certainly important, but no matter how important the situation in the New World is, it is not as important as the situation in India.

India is the lifeblood of Britain today!
Upon hearing this, Victoria nodded in understanding and said.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister is right."

After saying this, Victoria couldn't help but curse.

"Damn Tang people!"

In the past, it was always Britain that caused trouble for other countries. This is the first time that other countries have come to stir up trouble for Britain.

Life...ah, the first time in national school is truly impressive and unforgettable...

Now Victoria finally understands how disgusting other countries are when faced with Britain's trouble.

Suddenly, Palmerston remembered something and spoke.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing I think I need to report to you."

Victoria heard this and an interested expression appeared on her face.

"Really?"

"Whatever you want to say, just say it freely!"

Palmerston began.

"Your Majesty, I just received the news."

"After completing the peace talks and ending the hostility between the Tang Kingdom and Tsarist Russia, they reached a secret agreement."

"Tsarist Russia sold its Alaska territory in the New World to the Tang Dynasty in exchange for Tang's support for Tsarist Russia's industrial revolution."

In fact, the deal between the Tang Dynasty and Tsarist Russia had ended long ago.

However, since the agreement reached between the two sides on the territorial transaction was a secret agreement, the UK has not received relevant news until now.

When Victoria heard this, the expression on her face changed.

"If I remember correctly, Alaska should be near the Canadian territory, right?"

"The Tang Empire took Alaska. Could it be that they want to covet Great Britain's Canadian territory?"

Queen Victoria was now wary of the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing this, Palmerston first shook his head, then said.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has no way of judging this."

"But I think this might be a good opportunity for Great Britain to counter the Tang Kingdom..."

When Queen Victoria heard this, an interested expression appeared on her face. She raised her chin slightly, indicating Palmerston to continue.

Seeing this, Palmerston didn't hesitate and spoke immediately.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, although Tang has begun to organize immigration to Alaska, it has only been a short time since then. Currently, the number of Tang's immigrants in Alaska is just over 10,000."

"Its military presence is even weaker!"

"Perhaps Great Britain can send troops from Canada to threaten Alaska, thereby forcing Tang to negotiate with Great Britain and force Tang to stop interfering in the situation in India."

After hearing what Palmerston said, Queen Victoria couldn't help but show an interested expression on her face.

"Is this possible?"

"Can the British military forces in Canada threaten Alaska?"

Palmerston heard this and said very confidently.

"Of course your Majesty."

"I have great confidence in the fighting ability of British soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Queen Victoria stroked her chin and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, she finally nodded.

"very good!"

"Since the Prime Minister has made a decision, let's implement it."

"I believe in the Prime Minister's decision!"

Upon hearing this, Palmerston bowed with an agitated expression.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust!"

Upon hearing this, Victoria just waved her hand and signaled Palmerston to leave.

Seeing this, Palmerston immediately bowed and withdrew.

……

India!

Delhi!

By the end of 1858, Indian troops finally arrived outside the city of Delhi.

Standing on the top of Delhi city wall, Canning looked out of the city with a telescope in hand.

As he watched, he saw a dense army outside the city.

The dark army stretched from sky to earth, like a huge carpet dozens of miles long and wide, spread out on the ground, with no end in sight.

There were so many flags fluttering in the wind that it was impossible to count them.

"If I'm not mistaken, the main force of the rebels should have all gathered together."

"Ha ha……"

Canning looked out of the city and couldn't help but sneer.

Seeing this, Kofman on the side said with a smile.

"That's best, isn't it?"

"Give Daying a chance to wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop."

"It saves us from storming the rebels' strongholds one by one!"

Canning smiled and nodded, then spoke.

"Hehe, I just wonder if Bahadur Shah II is in the army?"

"It would be even better if he was in the military, too."

"We won't let him escape again this time!"

Upon hearing this, Kofman simply nodded in approval.

……

"Ah!"

Among the Indian troops, Bahadur Shah II couldn't help but sneeze.

"Who's talking about me?"

He couldn't help mumbling.

At this moment, the rebel general named Sharma walked into Bahadur Shah II's tent from outside and came to him to report.

"Great Khan, our army has successfully surrounded the city of Delhi."

"We can launch an offensive against Delhi at any time and retake the lost territory!"

"Please give the order!"

Bahadur Shah II nodded immediately after hearing this.

"very good!"

"Pass on my military order, ordering all our troops to launch an offensive against Delhi immediately."

Sharma heard this, clasped his fists and left.

Looking at Sharma's departing back, Bahadur Shah II suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart and felt a little flustered.

Damn it, isn't it going to be a problem? Although he was the first to propose the counterattack on Delhi, Bahadur Shah II was just talking nonsense.

So, not long after he brought the matter up, he regretted it.

I feel that I may have been a little too arrogant, and this counterattack may end in failure.

But at this time, most of the rebels had reached a consensus and decided to counterattack!

We must counterattack!

This undoubtedly put Bahadur Shah II in a difficult position.

Make it impossible for him to raise objections and cool down the counterattack.

Then, the Indian army sent troops from Kanpur and marched towards Delhi in a mighty manner.

However, Bahadur Shah II was always worried along the way.

Now, having finally arrived outside the city of Delhi and with the counterattack about to begin, the uneasiness and anxiety in his heart reached its peak.

Afraid something might happen!

Thinking of this, Bahadur Shah II turned to his chief attendant Ali and said.

"Ali, please ask the Tang envoy to come to my Lord..."

Upon hearing this, Ali nodded to show that he understood.

"As you command, my Khan!"

……

Outside the city of Delhi, the Indian army's counterattack finally began.

The bombardment opened the curtain of war.

The Indian infantry launched a massive attack on the Harakha Heights north of Delhi.

Harakha Hill is the commanding height outside the city of Delhi. In order to take Delhi, Harakha Hill must be captured first.

Both the British Army and the Indian Army have a clear and explicit understanding of this.

Therefore, the first step of the Battle of Delhi was to start from the Harakah Heights.

The Indian army rushed towards the Haraka Heights with great momentum.

Behind them, artillery began to provide covering fire for the attacking troops.

The artillery on the high ground also began to fire to suppress the Indian army's charge.

Boom! Boom!
The deafening sound of artillery fire resounded throughout the battlefield.

Explosions continued.

The Indian army rushed towards the Haraka Heights, but was only halfway there and was not even within the range of the machine guns.

The Indian army collapsed during the charge!
One by one, the Indian soldiers dropped their weapons, turned around and ran away, with visible fear on their faces.

"Help!"

"Help!"

"Oh Shet!"

"Who can help me!"

"..."

In the chaos, the Indian army attacking the Haraka Heights showed everyone what it meant to suffer a crushing defeat.

The air is filled with the smell of gunpowder!
Bahadur Shah II could not help but hold his forehead.

"How could this be?"

"How come they collapsed halfway through the charge? These soldiers are too useless."

Bahadur Shah II felt powerless to complain.

On the other side, the leader of the rebel army, Sharma, was ashamed and looked frighteningly gloomy.

"Pass the order down, order all our troops to reorganize their formations and launch another offensive towards Harakha Heights."

"Let the supervisory team push forward. Anyone who retreats without orders will be killed without mercy, no matter who it is!"

……

Soon, under Sharma's strong order, the Indian army once again charged towards the heights.

Deafening shouts of killing resounded throughout the battlefield.

Under the pressure of the supervision team, the Indian soldiers rushed forward in a mighty force.

boom! Boom boom!

The British artillery began firing, suppressing the Indian attacking forces with all their might.

The shells landed in the crowd, the explosions raised balls of fire, and broken limbs flew everywhere.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of blood.

Finally, the Indian army rushed to the British position under the bombardment.

The next moment, the sound of machine gun fire was heard.

Dense metal bullet chains splashed like water, and Indian soldiers fell to the ground one after another wherever they passed.

Although the Indian artillery was also firing to provide fire cover for its own infantry's attack, due to the small number of artillery, it was unable to suppress the British artillery and machine gun fire.

To put it bluntly, the Indian army's attack on the Haraka Heights was simply filling its territory with human lives.

Screams and wails continued to be heard.

Finally, the Indian army could not bear the casualties and began to retreat.

But at this moment, the supervision team's machine guns also began to fire.

Dada! Dada!

Under the machine gun fire, the retreating Indian troops were shot dead in unison.

In an instant, the Indian army's retreat trend was halted.

They turned around and rushed towards the British position again.

On the battlefield, the sound of machine gun fire continued to ring out. Sometimes the British army fired at the passing Indian troops, and sometimes the Indian army fired at its own fleeing soldiers...

On the battlefield, the Indian army's casualties continued to rise.

The corpses were piled up on top of each other.

The smell of blood is extremely pungent.

"kill!"

"dash forward!"

"Run, I can't hold on any longer!"

"..."

Amid the chaos, screams and wails continued to be heard.

Finally, the Indian army's offensive forces collapsed completely. They turned around and fired at the supervision team and fought with them.

The situation on the battlefield suddenly fell into chaos!
Seeing this, Sharma felt helpless but had to order his army to retreat and prepare to rest before fighting again.

On the other hand, the British army was in a frenzy, celebrating their success in repelling the Indian invasion.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

"Long live Her Majesty the Queen, Britain is invincible."

"..."

……

Fighting continued outside Delhi.

After a brief reorganization, the Indian army launched another attack on the Haraka Heights.

The shouts of killing resounded throughout the city of Delhi.

After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the corpses of Indian soldiers covered the fields outside Delhi.

On the banks of the Yamuna River, columns of smoke from the burning corpses rose into the sky, almost burning the entire sky into gray and black.

The air was filled with the strange stench left behind by the cremation of corpses!
But even so, the Indian army is still launching an offensive towards the Hakkara Heights north of Delhi.

There are at least thousands of casualties among the Indian army every day!
After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the Indian army suffered heavy casualties and the morale of the troops plummeted to the bottom.

Inside the central military tent, many high-ranking Indian military officials gathered together to discuss matters.

"We can't go on like this. Enough of our men have died, but we haven't even reached the walls of Delhi."

"If this continues, the blood of the Indians will be shed dry!"

Bahd Khan was the first to speak.

Sharma on the side also said.

"Well, I also think it's time to withdraw our troops."

"Delhi is well defended and the British army is well-defended. It will not be easy for our army to capture the city."

"Let's withdraw our troops back to Cawnpur and prepare for defense!"

Then, everyone started talking.

After roughly discussing the result, all eyes turned to Bahadur Shah II who was sitting in the main seat.

Bahadur Shah II saw this and smiled.

"Delhi's defenses are strong. It's meaningless for us to continue to waste time under Delhi."

"In that case, prepare to withdraw!"

Everyone heard this and said in unison.

"The Great Khan is wise!"

Then, a group of people began to discuss the retreat, preparing to arrange people to cover the rear and evacuate in an orderly manner.

……

We were discussing matters and staying overnight, and it was already late at night!

Sanjay left the central army tent.

However, although the army was about to retreat, his face looked very unhappy.

Because, in the meeting just now, he was assigned to lead the troops to cover the rear.

And being the last one to leave is undoubtedly a tough job!

If they are not careful, these remaining troops will be completely eaten up by the British.

By then, his fate will be obvious!

After returning to the military camp, Sanjay sat down in the big tent and began to drink alone.

Seeing this, the deputy general who had been following him made a suggestion.

"General, let's just withdraw. Don't worry about whether we will cover the rear or not."

"If we stay behind to cover the rear, I'm afraid we won't be able to retreat. Once we are blocked by the British army, the consequences will be disastrous..."

……

PS: I went to the movies today. I was so impressed with Ne Zha 2! So impressed!!

(End of this chapter)