Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 273: My intestines are full of regret
The British Royal Navy fleet, which was about to set out, immediately launched a large-scale reorganization after receiving the order. Countless cargo ships carrying supplies arrived at the port of Kolkata, along with the army soldiers who were accompanying them.

These unusual movements were soon discovered by the local "Nanfengtang" chain of department stores, and relevant warning messages were sent out one after another and quickly transmitted back to the country via telegram.

From British Calcutta, messages could be sent to Singapore via long-distance telegram.

The long-distance telegraph network built by the Chu State's Royal Nanyang Telegraph Bureau has been connected to Bangkok, the Kingdom of Siam, with only the section south to Singapore remaining unconnected.

Therefore, the steamship flight from Singapore to the Kingdom of Siam delivered secret documents, which arrived in Bangkok after a day and a night of sailing. They were then sent to Hong Kong by the Bangkok Telegraph Office and then transferred back to Manila.

Any unusual movement in Kolkata, British India, would be transmitted back to Manila two days later, much faster than expected.

However, due to the tense situation between the two sides, the British, although aware of the long-distance submarine cable from Bangkok to Hong Kong and then back to Manila, did not dare to use it with confidence.

Once the relevant secret order was delivered to Singapore, the capital of the British Straits Settlements, a cruise ship would be dispatched to deliver the message to the British Australian colonial authorities, instructing them to prepare for war.

This was the first time that the British felt very uncomfortable because they could not make good use of Chu's transit port.

Singapore is 2600 kilometers away from Hong Kong, and the straight-line air distance from Hong Kong to Sydney Harbor in Australia is 7500 kilometers. If you take the sea route, avoiding the strait channel belonging to the Chu State and taking a detour through Java in the south, the distance will directly exceed 1 kilometers.

What is speechless is
Although Australia was a British dominion, its infrastructure was very backward. The Yorke Peninsula in the north was not connected to long-distance telegraph lines, let alone to Perth, the largest market town in Western Australia, which was desolate and remote.

Urgent military intelligence messages must be sent to Sydney, a major city in central Australia. From here there is a long-distance telegraph line connected to Melbourne, which can transmit messages at the fastest speed.

This long journey, which starts at more than 10,000 kilometers, will take at least a month even if the fast cruise ship stops in Batavia.

It was only then that Britain realized

The Chu State occupies an important geographical location in the entire South China Sea region. If we lose the friendship of the Chu State, there will be a huge gap in the entire South China Sea region.

Further, the Pacific shipping routes will be completely interrupted.

After understanding this geopolitical strategic interest, the British desire to conquer Chu became even stronger.

The Kingdom of Great Britain is known as the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" and cannot allow huge, uncontrollable gaps to appear in the distribution of its colonies around the world.

This would not only lead to the interruption of important Pacific shipping routes, but would also diminish the glory of the British Empire.

Australia
Port of Melbourne

The mountains of wool here are burning fiercely, and thick black smoke wrapped in flames and black ash is rising straight into the sky, burning more and more fiercely.

As the sea breeze blew, a strong stench mixed with the unique burnt smell of animal hair rushed into everyone's mouths and noses without any scruples.

Victoria Governor Sir Harry Clarke's face was ashen. He stood among a group of well-dressed white people, watching the huge wealth in front of him burn to ashes. Naturally, he was in a bad mood.

"Who can tell me what is going on?"

"Dear Governor, after investigation, no unusual conditions were found in the dock area. This was most likely a spontaneous combustion of the cargo. The large amount of wool piled up inside was very hot. After the rain, it fermented in direct sunlight, forming flammable methane, which led to the disaster."

"Very likely... I don't want such ambiguous statements. Could it be that the report also included the word 'very likely' when describing this disaster?"

"Your Excellency the Governor, the Port Authority, after expert evaluation, has determined that the wool spontaneously combusted. This is a disaster no one could have predicted. May God bless you!"

"Mr. Fergus?"

"Hello, Your Excellency the Governor, I am happy to serve you."

"In the name of the Victorian government, I now inform your association, the Victorian Royal Gold Mine Owners Association, that you must pay half the value of the gold you have mined to cover the losses from this accident."

"Oh my God... this isn't fair. Why?"

"Humph, if it weren't for you greedy white gold mine owners who repeatedly instigated and adopted unfair policies towards Chinese gold diggers, Australia's wool trade routes would not have been interrupted, and wool would not have piled up here, causing thousands of farmers throughout Victoria to go bankrupt, social prices to soar, and people to panic. This is all your fault," said Sir Harry Clarke, the Governor of Victoria, angrily.

He is the new governor who just arrived in Melbourne, Victoria last year to take up his post. He does not have to pay for the policies of the past colonial government, but he has to clean up this mess, so he is so righteous.

There were mountains of wool waiting to be exported at the port, and now they were burned down by an inexplicable fire. Should the Victorian government take the blame?

That is obviously impossible. In this case, it would be justified to drag the "Victorian Royal Goldfield Owners Association" out to take the blame, and no one would raise any objection.

This would compensate thousands of white farmers and hundreds of thousands of white cowboy families and appease their nameless anger, which is the root cause of the current social unrest.

After wool exports were blocked, the whole of Australia from north to south was in social unrest, with bank and post office robberies, murders and arson, riots and chaos occurring from time to time, and wars everywhere.

Those Chinese workers who had always been honest were quickly armed with weapons imported through secret channels, occupying towns and villages, or gold mines, and launching bloody revenge on the white gold miners who oppressed them.

It is common for a dozen or more people to be involved in a vicious brawl.

The problem is that it happens too frequently, with violent murders occurring almost every moment across Australia.

In the southern state of Victoria alone, hundreds of incidents occurred in a single month, resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands of white gold miners, and varying degrees of casualties among Chinese gold miners.

When all these things pile up one after another, it's really a headache.

Many channels show
In particular, some retired veterans from the northern Chu State who had military knowledge were able to quickly gather many Chinese gold diggers. In the name of various associations, they gathered dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people, all equipped with various weapons.

These Chinese gold prospectors suddenly transformed themselves into horse bandits armed with muskets. When food was scarce, they robbed and killed the surrounding white ranchers, disrupting local security.

Australia is a vast and sparsely populated country. The white rancher families scattered across the country are powerless against the Chinese horse bandits who come and go like the wind. From time to time, there are always reports of vicious cases of bloody purges somewhere.

With only three or four hundred mounted police officers in the entire state of Victoria, scattered across a dozen towns, it is impossible to curb the deterioration of the social situation.

In a word, it's terrible.

The instigators of all this are the greedy white gold mine owners and the white gold prospectors from southern North America, who are always full of malice towards Chinese gold prospectors.

Instead of working diligently to pan for gold, they were always looking for trouble and took pleasure in oppressing and robbing Chinese gold miners.

Now the game has gotten out of control. The Chinese gold miners are attacking the white gold miners from the southern part of North America like crazy, cutting off their heads and throwing them in the wilderness, arranging them into various strange patterns.

Victoria Governor Sir Harry Clarke had been overwhelmed since taking office, and now that this incident had happened on the dock, it was natural for him to vent his anger on Mr. Fergus.

Fergus was a typical Scottish white colonist who made a fortune through speculation in Australia. After gold was discovered in Victoria, he was one of the first white gold mine owners to get involved.

Therefore, the Royal Victorian Gold Miners Association, initiated by Fergus and several other major white gold miners, has great political power in Melbourne.

Under their influence, the Victorian government introduced various policies to suppress and restrict Chinese gold diggers, which ultimately led to the current chaotic situation.

For these profit-seeking white gold mine owners, on the one hand, it is necessary to stabilize the current social situation, and on the other hand, it is necessary to appease the white ranchers who are boiling with anger and give an explanation to the people of Victoria.

Why should white ranchers bear the serious consequences of having their livelihoods cut off after the evil deeds of these white gold mine owners?

Victoria Governor Sir Harry Clarke chose to take action against the "Association" without hesitation. Only they had sufficient financial resources to give the severely damaged white ranchers a chance to breathe and vent their anger.

Fergus naturally knew the secret, he opened his mouth but said nothing.

Making excuses at this time would only bring on the governor's even more intense anger, completely ruining the relationship with the political circles, and the consequences would be even more terrible.

He looked at the blazing fire in front of him with a pale face, then looked at his companions around him, and saw despair in their eyes.

Oh my God! These mountains of wool before my eyes are not just a few tons or dozens of tons, but thousands of tons.

From what the governor said, it seems that it is not limited to this. It means that all white gold mine owners will have to bleed heavily and cover the losses for the white ranchers who have suffered serious losses.

If this is true, then wouldn’t all the hard work be in vain?

The problem is that this is only one shearing season, and many white farmers and ranchers have chosen to postpone shearing because wool exports have been forced to stagnate.

If the wool export problem cannot be resolved by next spring, it is chilling to think about the terrible consequences.

No matter how rich your family is, it will all be drained away.

At this moment, Fergus was regretting his decision. If he could do it again, he would definitely run the gold mine peacefully and not act like an ignorant fool, teasing cats and dogs everywhere and making enemies everywhere.

Isn’t it good for him to just make money peacefully?
The chaos that had arisen now had caused these usually arrogant white gold mine owners to secretly groan in pain, and they were simply becoming Muggles.

They were all helpless. When had they ever seen the docile Chinese become so violent?
(End of this chapter)