Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 272 The Majesty of the British Empire Must Not Be Trampled
September 21th, 2025

Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence, London.

Prime Minister Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby, looked very bad. He had a serious illness years ago and had not yet recovered, making it even more difficult for him to carry out his heavy work as prime minister.

As a political figure who served as British Prime Minister three times and had been in London politics for more than 30 years, Prime Minister Edward was deeply trusted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and was regarded as a capable assistant.

"What can I do for you, dear William?"

Prime Minister Edward raised his white-haired head. His eyes were no longer sharp, his speech was a little slow, and his whole body exuded the decadent air of an old man in his twilight years.

The Foreign Secretary was William Ewart Gladstone. He stepped forward and sat down in a chair next to the Prime Minister. He said with a hint of relief in his expression;
"There are some minor issues that need to be resolved, and the Third Battle Squadron at Calcutta may be called upon. I assure you it will be an easy voyage, and the invincible Royal Navy will return with what we need."

"Against whom?"

"A newly emerged Chinese nation in Southeast Asia, called the Chu State, had a king who was very dissatisfied with the unequal treatment of expatriates by the British Australian colonies and launched unilateral sanctions against Australia. This was an offense that the British Empire could not tolerate and must be met with a strong response."

"Those idiots in Australia have been stuck in the remote wilderness for so long that their brains have completely degenerated. What good can come of creating conflict for no reason?"

As the saying goes, "Age makes wisdom." Although Prime Minister Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby, was old and in poor health, he had experienced too many mundane and political affairs in his life.

The crux of the matter was accurately grasped from the Foreign Minister's few words.

I saw him shake his pale head slightly and say with a disappointed look;

"On Monday I was in an audience with Her Majesty Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace and spoke about the overstretched military forces of the British Empire and how things were going badly for the armed forces, including the Royal Navy.

Since the middle of this century

We launched two wars against the Northern Divine Land. In 1853, we joined forces with France to intervene in the unprecedented Crimean War. We also launched wars to conquer the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the Kingdom of Burma, supported the civil war in the South of North America, sent warships to bombard Fuso, and repeatedly used force to suppress the enemy.

My Lord Foreign Secretary, I am afraid that you have also forgotten the true meaning of diplomacy.

Whenever there is a problem, instead of considering using diplomatic means to resolve the conflict, they always ask where the British troops are?

This simple and crude method has exhausted the army and cost the treasury a lot of money. Sir Cameron has been complaining that he has had enough.

No matter how much income there is, fiscal expenditure is always insufficient..."

The Foreign Secretary was William Ewart Gladstone, who listened patiently to the Prime Minister's complaints, as if he were talking to a chattering old man.

After listening for a while, he said in a firm tone;

“Whether the British and Australian colonial authorities were right or wrong, this is a matter for internal review in the future.

But on the issue of Chu, we must never show any sign of retreat. We must teach this tough king a severe lesson. No one can ignore the majesty of the empire.

So, I insisted... on pushing Parliament to authorize a war against Chu.

In my speech to the House of Commons, I will explain to concerned MPs that this is just a small military operation that will not take long or cost a lot of money.

All the army has to do is get there, capture that boastful king, and bring him back, that's it."

"I hope so. This king may not be as easy to deal with as you think. After all, they defeated the Spaniards." Prime Minister Edward Stanley Earl Derby sighed and expressed his reserved agreement.

In his old age, he had long lost his enterprising spirit and persistence in his political ideas. Instead, he became easily compromised and gave in to William's insistence.

The current Prime Minister, Earl Edward, does not have the energy to care about a small island country thousands of miles away. He is already dizzy sitting here and needs some French red wine, which will help him sleep.

He had no energy to participate in the relevant parliamentary discussions, nor to deal with the questions from the MPs, so he left it to the young Foreign Secretary William to push it forward.

Ten days later
In the debate held in the British House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary who strongly advocated sending troops to conquer the State of Chu was William Ewart Gladstone, who finally facilitated the parliament to pass a resolution declaring war on the State of Chu.

In the specific battle, the British Governor-General of India sent the Third Sailing Battleship Fleet and 1.4 army soldiers to attack and occupy the islands of Chu State.

From the British mainland, several transport fleets will be dispatched in succession to transport corresponding military supplies and provisions to support the war of conquest against the State of Chu.

The specific deployment of the war was carried out by a telegram sent by the British Foreign Office to the Governor-General's Office of British India.

As for the British mainland, they did not send a single soldier or a warship. They really looked down on the Chu State. From top to bottom, they felt that it would be enough for the British Indian Governor-General to intervene.

The Hainan Islands occupied by the Chu State are only more than 30 square kilometers. They are an old Spanish colony. In the eyes of the arrogant British, they are just a small piece of scrap.

Compared with the British Empire's colonies of more than 3000 million square kilometers, it is about 1%.

The location is not prominent, the population is small, but the courage is great.

Since they dared to offend the might of the British Empire, these bigwigs in the British Parliament would not mind sending an army to teach them a lesson and at the same time regain a piece of colonial skin.

The full name of the British Foreign Office is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Overseas Affairs of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which is in charge of four dominions including South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as more than 4 million square kilometers of colonies around the world.

Among them, the Governor-General's Office of British India is the undisputed leader and is also a unique existence under the jurisdiction of the British Foreign Office.

The highest official of the Governor-General's Office in British India is the Secretary of State for the Governor-General's Affairs, or simply the Governor-General. The current Governor-General is Earl George Broadhead.

His deputy was Sir Ray Davis, Secretary of State for India, and there was a five-member Imperial Legislative Council, the highest decision-making body of the Viceroyalty of British India.

Kolkata
This is a coastal city located in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent. Since 1772, it has been the headquarters of the British East India Company and the colonial governor's office. The British issued orders from here and ruled the entire Indian subcontinent.

Its scope includes later India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Kolkata is known as the "City of Palaces" for its Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Oriental, and Indo-Islamic architecture. The Indian Museum in Kolkata is Asia's oldest museum, and its library is India's finest public library, all within the confines of the Whites' Quarter.

There are many mansions in the white area, which has good sewage facilities and spacious streets. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a district of London.

In sharp contrast are the colonized Indian settlements, known as "Black Towns".

The black town is full of dilapidated wooden sheds and mud houses, the narrow streets are full of sewage and the stench is overwhelming. The poor residents are densely packed like locusts and live in a harsh environment. It is like two different worlds from the white area.

September 15th, 2025

In a small palace-style dome-shaped conference room in the British Indian Colonial Governor's Palace, five important figures who could influence the fate of the entire Indian subcontinent colonies sat leisurely at the table, discussing the order from their homeland to conquer the Chu State.

There were two military personnel present, one was Vice Admiral Kalvin Phillips, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy's Third Battle Fleet, and the other was Lieutenant General Connor of the British Army, Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the UK.

In addition, there is Viscount Christian Leighton, the Minister of Finance of the Council of State and a heavyweight Scottish nobleman.

Governor George Earl Broadhead handed the cabinet order stamped with the Queen's seal to the Secretary of State Sir Ray Davis beside him, motioning him to pass it to the back.

Then he tapped the table lightly with his hand and said;

"My dear gentlemen, we don't actually need a decree from Her Majesty the Queen. We also know that the situation in Australia is very bad. They have a lot of wool stored up and it is rotting and they are losing a lot of money.

recently

Australia has sent three groups of people here for help, and the fourth group is probably on the way.

There is no need to mock them harshly for being stupid and getting themselves into big trouble. I also dislike these Orientals very much.

These Orientals are proud of their long history and call themselves the "Celestial Empire". They look down on everything around them and even call us "ghosts", which is a very insulting term.

Now that you have received the conquest order from Her Majesty the Queen, all you have to do is take your guns and conquer that damn place.

Now, who is willing to take the initiative to accept this task?"

His eyes moved back and forth between Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips and Lieutenant General Connor of the British Army, waiting for them to volunteer to stand up.

The atmosphere was a little dull for a while
Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips said helplessly, "Your Excellency, Governor, can I refuse to participate in this war?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear General Calvin."

"Damn it! I know it's like this. Since we're going to deploy the Third Sailing Battle Fleet, I have no choice but to lead the battle myself. I won't hand the fleet over to others to command."

"Bingo, great! This is the result I've been waiting for. Dear General Calvin, you will soon receive an appointment from the Governor-General's Office as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy in this war to conquer the State of Chu, and you will be in unified command of all the armies."

"Okay, I accept the appointment, but I don't want to celebrate with champagne. This Chu fleet is not as easy to deal with as you think. They have four tough ironclad ships, and we don't have an effective way to deal with them yet." Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips said with a frown.

Governor George Broadhead certainly knew the fame of the ironclad ships, but he did not know that the Chu State actually had four ironclad ships.

After hearing
His brows furrowed, and after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Are you sure... it's like those formidable ironclad ships from the American Civil War?"

"Your Excellency, the four Chu ironclads were actually surplus materials disposed of by the United States after the war. They played an irreplaceable and important role in conquering the Spanish fortress."

"Oh, God! No one ever told me this, but I know that ironclads are very difficult to deal with and it's very difficult to break through their defenses."

"That's right, Your Excellency. Although we have 10 times more warships than the Spanish, we are still helpless in breaking through the enemy's sturdy armor."

"This is a big problem. Is there a proper solution?"

"It all depends on the situation. If the Chu Navy is intimidated by the Royal Navy's immense power and retreats to the port, not daring to fight, blocking it in the port would be the best approach, but that's unlikely," replied Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips.

No matter how powerful a weapon is, if you don't dare to use it, it will just be a decoration.

Secretary of State Sir Ray Davis subconsciously asked, "Dear General Calvin, do you think the Chu Navy dares to challenge the powerful Royal Navy? I think that's simply a fantasy. It's more likely that they will hide in the harbor and dare not come out."

"The prerequisite is to have a cowardly king." Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips also had a proud look on his face. The pride of the invincible Royal Navy was a glory engraved in his bones. He continued in a calm tone;

"The young king of Chu is strong-willed and behaves like a warrior. I'm eager to see if he still has the courage to fight when he sees the Royal Navy fleet filling the bay."

"Excuse me for being so presumptuous, um... I guess this young king will be scared to pee his pants." Army Lieutenant General Connor rarely interrupted and gently praised the Royal Navy.

In the eyes of the princes and nobles of the colonized Indian states, the British Army was high and mighty, as proud as a peacock with its nose in the air.

People know their own business, and the British Army can only show off in front of these colonized people.

In the eyes of Her Majesty the Queen and senior government officials, the Royal Navy is their own son, while the British Army is an adopted illegitimate child who is unwelcome in various ways.

Compared with the local army, the British Indian Army's equipment is inferior in all aspects, and its combat effectiveness has fallen to a second- or third-rate level.

If we say that the combat effectiveness of the British Army can barely be ranked among the top in Europe, it is only inferior to the French, Prussian and Russian armies, but stronger than the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and other European kingdom armies.

Then, the British Indian Army is definitely second- or third-rate. It can bully some backward countries in Asia, but if it goes to participate in the war in Europe, it will be a piece of cake and will be looked down upon by its own allied armies.

Army Lieutenant General Connor lacks confidence and cannot become the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force even if he wants to. No one will support him.

In contrast, Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips of the Royal Navy was given the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force even though he was very reluctant. This is the difference.

(End of this chapter)