Chapter 369 Please, go quickly
The Royal Navy is indeed powerful, with 21 battleships and 44 cruisers, alone in the world, leaving other countries far behind.
Compared with the Navy, the British Army is indeed lackluster and has no impressive record.
This is actually normal.
Battleships rely on accumulation. If we build two this year and two next year, we will naturally have a numerical advantage.
The British Army has a history of betraying the king, and once sent the British King to the guillotine. Therefore, the British Army is not even allowed to use the "royal", and it is not even considered as a stepmother, but can only be regarded as a concubine.
The British standing army has a small number and is unable to launch foreign wars. It can only be recruited temporarily when needed.
Furthermore, Britain does not have a group like the Cossacks, who are always ready to fight for the Tsar from the moment they are born. There is really nothing to brag about, so they can only take out the Gurkhas and brag about them.
Even if Gurkhas are as brave and good at fighting as the British boasted, their population is always a flaw, and there is a huge gap between them and the Cossacks who total millions.
The Russian Empire counted its population last year, and the total number of Cossacks exceeded 5 million for the first time.
The British Expeditionary Force in the Cape Colony was recruited on a temporary basis. Many of them had never received military training before. After entering the army, they were hastily trained for a month or two. They were hurriedly sent to the front line without even firing live ammunition a few times. You deserve to be beaten like this.
Unlike the unprofitable East India, London was bound to win the Rand Gold Mine.
After General Buller resigned, Frederick Roberts was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force, Herbert Kitchener was appointed Chief of Staff, and Britain continued to recruit more troops from colonies around the world. Cape.
Boni, as a British protectorate, also received orders to mobilize troops to fight in the Cape.
Boni is still a country in name only, and the Sudan exists in name only. Even the succession to the throne is decided by the British. The North Borneo Company is ultimately responsible for conscription.
Since the North Borneo Company had handed over all its power in Sabah to the East India Company, this matter went round and round and the East India Company was actually responsible.
Marco can conscript troops, but London must bear the military expenses. The reason is that Sabah's finances are bankrupt and unable to pay military expenses.
For the damage caused by the Asiatic Fleet sailors in Xena, the East India Company also filed a claim against the Asiatic Fleet, requiring the Asian Fleet to compensate the East India Company and Xena for their losses.
The Asiatic Fleet not only refused to lose money, but also demanded that the East India Company pay the North Borneo Company's arrears in military expenses.
Marco asked the Asian fleet to go to the North Borneo Company to ask for money. The East India Company will not bear any historical debts of the North Borneo Company.
This caused protests from the Kingdom of Sarawak.
Boni introduced British influence in order to fight against the Dutch. Unexpectedly, the British Raja James Brooke established the Kingdom of Sarawak in 1841 and became independent from Balni.
The North Borneo Company previously had three debts with the Kingdom of Sarawak, totaling approximately 400,000 pounds including interest.
The East India Company only took over power and did not assume debts, which was strongly protested by the Kingdom of Sarawak.
“If you do not assume the debts of the North Borneo Company, then the Kingdom of Sarawak reserves the right to use any method to safeguard its own interests.”
The governor of Sarawak, Zach Weber, threatens Marco with war.
"I was just trying to find you. Why do the Singkawang rebels use Martini-Henry rifles?"
Marco took the initiative to fight back.
After the smokeless gunpowder was stabilized, the British army began to replace the Lee Enfield rifle. Previously, the British army's standard weapon was the Martini-Henry.
Although the British Army is weak, Martini-Henry has a large amount of equipment, with the British inventory amounting to millions.
After the Russian Empire changed its equipment, the Berdan rifle was eliminated and has not yet been sold out.
The same is true in the UK. After changing equipment to Lee Enfield, a large number of Martini Henrys entered the market.
Singkawang is a territory of the East India Company. About half a month ago, the East India Company seized a batch of British-produced Martini-Henry rifles in Singkawang. This situation attracted Marco's attention.
“I asked me, who should I ask?”
Zach Weber denied it.
Marco laughed heartily. Everyone else was wagging their fingers, but he was wagging his robotic hand.
"No, no, no, this is not the correct way to deal with Russians. Are you sure you want to give me this answer?"
Marco's smile seemed particularly ferocious to Weber.
Webb thought for a moment and answered seriously: "I really don't know——"
Marco was indifferent, attached a dagger to the mechanical hand, and slashed hard at the table in front of him, Just cut the tabletop in half.
"Wrong answer!"
The war between the natives of East India was more tragic than the war between the British and the Boers.
The name Singkawang seems to be related to Japan at first glance, but in fact it has nothing to do with the Japanese.
The name Singkawang was given by the Chinese. When the Hakkas came here, they saw mountains, ports and oceans here, so they named this place Singkawang.
There are many Chinese living in Singkawang, accounting for more than half of the total population. Therefore, the rebellion in Singkawang was not serious compared with other areas in East India. Therefore, Singkawang became the first group of people actually controlled by the East India Company. city.
The rifles captured by the East India Company at Singkawang came from Kuching, the capital of the Kingdom of Sarawak.
Kuching means cat in Malay, so Kuching is also called the "Cat City".
Although Sarawak is nominally independent, it has actually become a British colony, and most of its officials are British.
Unlike the reckless North Borneo Company, after the East India Company took over Singkawang, Sarawak not only did not provoke border provocations, but also actively restrained Sarawakians to avoid conflicts with the East India Company. There are a total of 200 Martini rifles in this batch from Kuching. The shipper and receiver are commercial companies registered in France.
This does not exonerate Sarawak, and is suspected of deliberately creating conflicts between Russia and France.
After Weber left Sena, the rifles returned to Sarawak.
On December 26, a post on the Sarawak border was attacked by rebels. All 12 Sarawak soldiers were killed, including a British commander.
Webber came to Xana again and asked the East Indian government to restrain the rebels in the territory.
“If a rebel obeys restraint, are he still a rebel?”
Marco sneered, rebellion is a double-edged sword, it can hurt others as well as yourself.
If East Indies were still a colony of the Dutch, rebellion would indeed be the most effective way to control the Dutch East Indies government.
There are eighty or not one hundred rebellions that break out every year in the Russian Empire. They have long been commonplace.
The East India Company did not care about losses. Not only did it not stop the melee between the indigenous tribes, but it also made profits by selling weapons. If there was no gold, it could pay for it in other ways.
On Wen Island alone, the population that has flowed in through the war has exceeded 20,000.
The war caused great losses to Kalimantan. When the Netherlands sold East India to George, there were more than 20 relatively large tribes in Kalimantan alone.
Now there are only four left.
The most powerful tribe is no longer the Mullah. The Mullah was injured in October this year and died of inflammation of the wound. His tribe has been annexed by other tribes.
"And why do you think the rebels are from East India and not from Sarawak?"
Marco continued to punch hard.
Weber's face turned pale. The little gangster finally met the big gangster.
It is easy to make a gangster subdue him, just beat him painfully.
The problem lies here.
The Kingdom of Sarawak gained its independent status with the help of the Royal Navy.
The so-called Brooke dynasty is completely a puppet of the United Kingdom and has almost no strength of its own.
When the Royal Navy was at its peak, the Kingdom of Sarawak used the rebellion of East India and Bo Ni many times to expand its territory rapidly. The Dutch and Bo Ni could not defeat the Royal Navy and retreated steadily.
Now the opponents of the Kingdom of Sarawak have changed, and their offense and defense are in different positions.
At this time, if the Kingdom of Sarawak wants peace, it depends on whether the East India Company agrees.
Britain was deeply involved in the Boer War, and the Royal Navy could no longer take care of Sarawak.
Webb also wanted to take advantage of the Royal Navy: "If you dare to go against the Royal Navy, the only outcome will be death!"
"Please, go to London and ask the Royal Navy to come over and kill all the East Indians. Do you know how many farmers in the Russian Empire have no land?"
Marco laughed and used this to threaten Russia. Man, it's a joke.
The East India Company is recruiting immigrants from Amur to develop East India. As long as they are willing to come to East India, each person will receive one hundred acres of land, which will be cashed immediately.
This time it is really not a lie, I will give it to you.
Of course there are conditions.
If the land given to newcomers was not developed within five years, the East India Company had the right to take it back.
And those plantations that have been fully developed will not be given to new immigrants. The East India Company operates them themselves.
If you want to obtain a fully developed plantation, you can buy it according to the East India Company's valuation.
Although the conditions are a bit harsh, there are still many people who are willing to come to East India.
100 dessiatines is 1,635 acres. Even if only one-tenth of such a large area can be developed within five years, it will be enough for a family to live without worries.
This place in East India is rich in products. Planting some fruit trees and catching fish can provide enough food and clothing for the whole family.
If you are lucky enough to find an uninhabited island, you can still work as a mainstay on the island.
"You-how could you do this-"
Webber's face turned pale, finally realizing the level of his opponent.
Britain's own population was insufficient and had to rely on the colonial population to fully benefit.
At this time in 1900, the Russian Empire had 130 million people, accounting for about 8% of the world's total population——
So the British wanted to use the East Indian population to threaten the East India Company. Not only did it not have any effect, but it also exposed The empty nature of Britain.
On the contrary, Sarawak’s population has now become the weakness of the Kingdom of Sarawak.
If there are no people in Sarawak, can the Kingdom of Sarawak attract enough people from the British mainland to fill Sarawak?
Don’t be ridiculous, the British prefer to go to the United States, Canada, or Australia, and no one wants to come to Sarawak at all.
(End of this chapter)