Chapter 287 Come, let’s practice
As the suzerain state of Goryeo, the Qing Empire did not give Goryeo enough protection.
At least this is the case for Gaozong.
Japan’s ambition towards Goryeo is obvious. If Goryeo lost the protection of the Qing Empire, it would sooner or later become extinct.
Compared with Japan, the Russian Empire at least will not annex Goryeo. It needs to maintain the rule of Emperor Gaozong in order to obtain maximum benefits in Goryeo.
In Vladivostok, Emperor Gaozong indeed received a courtesy that he had not seen for a long time——
or perhaps he had never had before.
Gaozong knew the origin of courtesy.
So Gaozong fully accepted George's request without any discount.
George has nothing to say.
For Vladivostok, Goryeo’s population of 12 million is its most precious resource.
On February 22, 1892, under the witness of George, Milyutin signed the "Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement" with Korea on behalf of the Amur Governor-General.
There are three main contents of the agreement.
1. From the date of signing of the agreement, the Amur Governor-General will fully cooperate with the Kingdom of Koryo. The Amur Governor-General will help Koryo improve its strength in national defense, economy, military, education, medical care and other aspects.
2. Once Goryeo is invaded, the Amur Governor-General is obliged to help Goryeo repel foreign enemies. This clause is only for defensive purposes.
3. The Amur Governor-General should dispatch consultants to Korean government agencies to assist Korean officials in their work.
Based on these three clauses, there is no need to go into details about other issues such as mutual open borders, free trade, asset acquisition, consular jurisdiction, etc.
The agreement specifically states that if an Amur ship encounters an accident in Korean waters, the Amur ship can enter the Korean port to seek help, and vice versa.
As soon as the agreement came out, the whole world was shocked and aroused opposition from various countries, especially the United Kingdom.
In order to contain the Siberian fleet, Britain did not hesitate to send warships to seize Juwen Island.
Although the "Cooperation Agreement" was in the name of "cooperation", it actually marked the official reduction of Goryeo to a colony of the Russian Empire. Russia's sphere of influence instantly broke through the Sea of Japan, seriously threatening British interests in East Asia.
This is something the UK is not willing to accept in any case.
In this regard, St. Petersburg stated that this was an agreement between the Amur Governorate and Korea, and Britain, as a third party, had no right to interfere.
George's attitude was even more intense.
The deepening of cooperation between the Amur Governorate and Korea triggered strong protests from the British.
Did Britain seek the consent of the Russian Empire when it made India the most dazzling jewel in the Queen's crown?
Also threatening.
Britain supports Japan’s naval expansion, which is also a threat to the Russian Empire. The Russian Empire also opposes it. Has Britain restrained itself?
Imperialism can.
But there can be no double standards on the issue of imperialism!
All are relatives.
Your British Empire has colonies all over the world, with a total area of 33.5 million square kilometers. The area of overseas colonies is 130 times the area of the mainland.
The area of Goryeo is only 200,000 square kilometers.
The Amur Governorate has an area of 600,000 yuan!
So George has only one sentence for the Japanese's rude interference: Mind your own business!
Soon, Her Majesty knew what this meant.
After the Justice Company attacked Kuantan, it did not stop. At the end of December last year, the Justice Company attacked Xiangfei City. The Sultan of Johor was killed. Xiangfei City, like Kuantan, was looted.
Fortunately, the Johor Councilor was in Johor Bahru when the attack occurred and escaped.
However, after the attack, the political counselors sent by the Straits Settlements to the Malay Kingdom, as well as British businessmen and planters from various Malay kingdoms, fled back to the Lion City one after another, and they were in panic all day long.
The endless attacks made Cecil Smith anxious and anxious.
On February 15, Cecil Smith fell ill and was unable to deal with political affairs. British rule over the Malay Peninsula was in turmoil.
While London and St. Petersburg were bickering, Justice Company troops appeared near the Lion City, seriously threatening the security of the Lion City.
On February 25, London authorized the Channel Squadron to intervene in the Malay Peninsula in an attempt to restore the ruling order of the Malay Peninsula by force.
The Strait Squadron, led by Deputy Commander Edward Seymour, landed at Xiangfei City, trying to find traces of the Justice Company.
Same as Kuantan.
After the Justice Company looted Xiangfei City, it left Xiangfei City and disappeared.
The Malay Peninsula is not large, only 130,000 square kilometers.
However, there are mountainous areas on the island, and there are many jungles and complex terrain. Seymour has limited strength and dare not go deep. He can only defend Xiangfei City and wait for reinforcements.
The British troops who landed at Xiangfei City were sailors from the Strait Squadron, with a total strength of only about 500 people.
More than half of these 500 people are Indians, and only the officers are British.
Seymour himself was on the warship and did not go ashore at all.
Leading the sailors to land was Lieutenant Commander Charles Seri.
The Justice Company was ruthless. The Sultan's palace was ransacked, valuables were taken away, and everything that could not be taken away was burned. Fortunately, the palace was not burned down.
So Charles Seri used the palace as his temporary headquarters.
“Be careful, people from Justice Company may leave and come back at any time.”
Seri has rich experience. The reason why he chose the palace as his headquarters is that the palace is right on the seaside. He can even see the armored cruiser "Northampton", the flagship of the Channel Squadron, parked in the port. If it is attacked, the "Northampton" Its 254mm main gun can be used at any time to provide support to landing sailors.
“The people of Justice Company are so abominable. They rob white people and rich people, take away all the valuable things, and distribute the worthless things to civilians, so we can’t get exact information about Justice Company.”
Serrie's adjutant, Gibson, is at a loss. In the past, in the wars within the Malay Kingdom, no matter who lost or won, they had to rely on the support of the British to maintain their rule. Therefore, not only did the British property not suffer losses, but they continued to buy it at low prices through the war, and their wealth became more and more. Getting bigger and bigger.
Justice Company is different from all Malay kingdoms, just like bandits and robbers who have no political aspirations at all and never stay in one area for a long time.
This resulted in the Royal Navy's military superiority being unable to be exerted at all.
If you want to eliminate Justice Company, you have to find where the people from Justice Company are.
Now we don’t even know where the people are, how many people there are, what level of equipment they have, or what the training situation is, so how can we fight?
"They are not robbers, at least not ordinary robbers. This group of people is very dangerous. If we cannot eliminate them as soon as possible, our troubles will be endless."
Seri's sixth sense is still Very keen.
Now Seri just hopes to get in touch with Justice Company to understand its demands and see if the problem can be solved peacefully.
If Justice Company only asks for territory and wealth.
That doesn’t matter. For the British government, it makes no difference whether the Malay Sultan or the Justice Company rules the Malay Peninsula.
If it is something other than wealth.
Then we need to go to war.
There is also the issue of the costs and benefits of war involved here.
Britain never launches wars without interests.
In the past, Britain pursued a "non-intervention" policy towards the Malay Peninsula. It was not that Britain respected the Malays, but that it turned the Malay Peninsula into a British colony, which was not worth the gain for the UK.
With the economic development of the Malay Peninsula, the tin mines in the Malay Peninsula have become more and more important to the UK, so the UK changed its policy towards Malaysia.
If the Justice Company is willing to continue supplying Britain with tin ore.
Even if the Malay Peninsula is handed over to the rule of the Justice Company, it is not impossible.
For Britain, which has an area of 33.5 million square kilometers and a native population of only 33.5 million, the least valuable thing is land.
"Find a way to send someone to get in touch with the Justice Company. We must understand our opponent before we can decide on the next step of action——"
Before Seri finished speaking, the port not far away There was a sudden explosion inside.
“What happened?”
Seri's worst fear happened.
But Seri couldn't care less about "Northampton", because at the same time as the explosion was heard, gunfire suddenly rang out near the palace.
Beep——
The alert sailors blew their whistles desperately to remind Seri that the palace was being attacked by the enemy.
“Damn——”
Seri roared angrily, but before he could give the order, he suddenly saw something flying over in the sky.
Naval officers have very good eyesight.
Seri vaguely saw that the things flying over in the air seemed to have sparks.
Danger!
As soon as the alarm in Seri's mind sounded, the thing exploded violently in the air.
Boom——
A flame as powerful as the explosion of the 254mm main gun shell of the "Northampton" lit up, and the violent shock wave blew Seri and Gibson directly down.
Seri was unprepared and hit her head on the wall, bleeding profusely.
Gibson was not much better. He stood up unsteadily, touched his face and found that his nose and mouth were bleeding.
This is still relatively far from the center of the explosion, and Seri and Gibson were still seriously injured.
Those who were relatively close to the center of the explosion were shocked to death without even thinking about it.
“Retreat, retreat, leave here immediately——”
Before Seri finished speaking, something flew over from the sky.
“No——”
Seri yelled in despair.
That night, the "Northampton" docked at the port of Xiangfeicheng was attacked. A large hole was blown out of the ship's hull, which was severely flooded and unable to move.
The 500 sailors who landed suffered heavy losses. About 120 people died in the explosions and attacks that night. Later, more than 160 people died or disappeared after jumping into the sea.
Seri and Gibson hid on the beach near the Sultan's Palace overnight and left in a small boat at dawn the next day.
News of the attack on the "Northampton" reached London.
The British Parliament finally decided to send reinforcements to the Malay Peninsula to quell the rebellion in the Malay Peninsula by force.
Just after this decision was made, a British army barracks in India was attacked by unknown forces.
At the same time, the Transvaal Republic in southern Africa received the second batch of weapons from Vladivostok.
It is reported that this batch of weapons includes heavy machine guns and artillery.
(End of this chapter)