Chapter 395 Bugs in the British Back Garden
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Since the trade agreement was signed with the Shudra of Veerawais Adani last year, orders from India have never stopped, and the total number has exceeded 20,000 rifles and 400,000 rounds of ammunition.
With equipment of this size, it may not be a problem to capture the entire Trivandrum Kingdom, and Franz has not heard of any big moves on the Indian side.
On the contrary, the British felt disgraced after the failure of the war in Afghanistan. Coupled with the outbreak of the domestic economic crisis, they urgently needed to transfer domestic conflicts and consume as much of this batch of materials as possible.
However, the British searched around Europe and finally did not dare to take action, and finally chose the lucky one of Sindh, India.
In fact, the Sindh king Baluch also wanted to take advantage of the British's new defeat to drive the colonists out of their own land, or at least get a relatively equal and unequal treaty.
In fact, as early as 1832, the British forced the three emirs (another name for the kings) of Sindh to sign an unequal treaty.
Later, the invasion deepened in 1839. Not only did the three princely states become vassal states of Britain, they even lost the ownership of their land and the right to defend their own security.
Of course, while occupying all important military fortresses, the British did not forget to provide conveniences to British merchants, that is, the princely states did not have the right to tax British goods.
In order to further weaken their resistance, the local British governor also instigated infighting among the three kingdoms to consume their strength.
Beginning in September 1842, due to the impact of the defeat in Afghanistan, British rule began to waver. The radical General Richard Napier decided to resolve the Sindh problem once and for all.
He put forward extremely harsh conditions to the three kings of Sindh, increased the tribute requirements and prepared to distribute their lands to the more obedient kings.
However, the strength of both sides forced the three Sindh kings to agree to cede land and pay compensation. However, soon after, the businessman Vera Weiss found them and said that he had many weapons in his hands and could sell them "cheaply".
As a result, the three princely states of Sindh united together, elected Baluch as their leader, and began to secretly gather together to fight against the British.
The original plan was very thorough, and the number of resistance fighters was approaching 30,000, and they were also equipped with a large number of obsolete weapons from Austria.
These old-fashioned smoothbore shotguns and small-caliber artillery, as well as primitive Congreve rockets and granulated black powder, were enough to fight a small war on the European continent.
However, there is no impermeable wall in this world, and there is never a shortage of traitors.
Someone tipped off the British colonial government, but General Napier selectively turned a blind eye to the information of 30,000 troops and a large amount of military equipment.
The local British army consisted of 3,000 men and 12 cannons. Napier still confidently issued an ultimatum to the Sindh state and saw the matter exposed.
Some members of the rebel army decided to take action in advance and sent troops to directly attack the British Governor's Palace. But it turned out to be exactly what Napier was trying to do, and the attackers were ambushed by the British army and suffered heavy losses.
On February 1, 1843, General Napier led 2,800 British troops to attack on his own initiative, catching Baruch by surprise. The Sindhi army was defeated by the British army despite their overwhelming numerical superiority.
In addition to strategic mistakes, lack of fighting will is the key. At that time, there were more than 10,000 main rebels in the city of Miani, but they were panicked and the battle lines were in chaos when faced with the sudden attack by the British army.
The 61-year-old General Napier saw the opportunity and ordered the soldiers to launch a bayonet charge. In the end, in brutal hand-to-hand combat, more than 5,000 rebel fighters were captured, 1,200 were killed, 3,000 were missing, and more than 8,000 rifles and two weapons were seized. Ten cannons, the British lost less than 200 men.
Resistance leader Baluch fled back to Hyderabad with only 15 followers.
General Napier decided to pursue the victory regardless of the fatigue of his men from consecutive days of fighting, and forced his way through the desert to attack Hyderabad without any backup supplies.
(Hyderabad is the headquarters and fortress of the Sindh Resistance Army and the most important supply point.)
But this time the veteran miscalculated. Crossing the desert was more difficult than he imagined. And this time Baruch's army was well prepared. Thirty cannons, two thousand Congreve rockets, and 20,000 fully armed local soldiers killed more than 2,000 British troops who were pursuing them.
In fact, the battle only killed a small number of British troops, but the locals had no idea about prisoners of war. They gathered together those British who had laid down their weapons, and then started a crazy massacre.
This was the greatest victory achieved by the locals, and even India, over the British. As they celebrated, Edward Law, Earl of Ellenborough, also toasted in his Governor's Palace.
Because he finally found a breakthrough. The longer the war lasts, the bigger and more tragic it is, the more it can divert domestic conflicts.
But the death of Lieutenant General Napier still reminded Earl Ellenborough that he did not want to overturn like the previous Governor-General of India.
Neither Afghans, Indians, nor Pakistanis should take it lightly.
So he sent an army of unprecedented size to conquer Sind.
Of course, Franz, who was far away in Europe at this time, could only speculate on his own, estimating that another war had broken out on the Indian subcontinent. Now the Austrian military's inventory was finally being exhausted. Although Count Latour felt that it would be profitable to sell new guns to the Indians, Franz did not intend to do so.
Firstly, the cost of new guns is much higher (the cost difference is about 5%), and secondly, Franz does not intend to let the technology spread.
So Franz pointed out a new way to Verawise and asked him to go to Chenla to buy weapons. This would not only save time, but also save costs.
At the same time, it can inject new vitality into Austria's colonies. The most important thing is to completely reduce Chenla to a link in the entire colonial system.
In fact, the main reason is that with the stabilization of the political situation, the local population has also increased. However, due to Franz's large-scale promotion of rubber planting in the local area, the land for growing food will inevitably decrease.
Importing from Thailand is a good choice in the short term, but it is unsafe to put all your eggs in one basket, not to mention that Kalimantan and Suweilasi will also follow in Chenla's footsteps.
In this way, it was very important to open up the trade routes in India. Of course, Franz was also leaving a way out for those who resisted British colonial rule.
After all, gold and silver are always limited, and even if they empty out all the money accumulated by their ancestors and those temples, they won't be able to sustain it for long.
But cash crops and grains are different. They mature every year and are harvested every year. And only in this way can we truly incorporate it into our own system, and only in this way can the interests of both parties be tied together.
The Indian subcontinent is a treasure trove of resources, the pearl of the British Empire, and its continuous blood transfusions to the United Kingdom have kept it in an invincible position.
Franz always believed in a saying: “To put out a fire, you must draw out the firepower from the bottom of the cauldron, and to cut the grass, you must root out the root.”
And he hopes that India can always become a resource-based country, which is in Austria's best interest.