Chapter 857 Split into two
Port of Elele.
"Your Majesty the Governor, Rogge has sent someone to send a message. Are the Americans going to take action today? They must have already started taking action. Should we take action?" Lieutenant Granston asked.
John Crane nodded and said: "It is already seven o'clock now. I will first let our people on the island prepare. We will launch a coup at six o'clock in the evening."
Gladstone did not refute John Crane's words. This operation could not be carried out by all his own people, and other forces lurking on the island in East Africa would also need to be linked up.
Gladstone's two thousand men cannot be dispersed throughout the island, but must be used in key places. After all, Kauai Island is not small, and too dispersed troops will not be conducive to possible conflicts with the Americans in the future.
Gladstone said: "When the time comes, I will take the main force to Lihue. How many people are suitable to stay in Lihue?"
John Crane thought for a while and said: "Three hundred men in Elelei should be enough. If there are too few, there is a risk of being defeated. If there are too many, it will not be conducive to controlling Lihue. Once Lihue is controlled, I am afraid we will have to divide our troops to the islands." Other areas in the east and north, so you will leave at least a thousand troops in Lihue, and you will be in charge of Lihue yourself.”
Gladstone said: "Of course, Lihue has the largest population, so I will pay more attention. As for the east and north of the island, the north should pay more attention. After all, if you control the east of Lihue, you will be stable. The north is mainly Concentrated in Princeville, east of Hanalei Bay.”
"Princeville is the second most populous town on the island, and it covers most of the island. If we send people out now, the news there will not be able to spread for a while." John Crane also said.
As for Elayele, because it is not far from Lihue, it was developed relatively late, that is, after the arrival of East Africans, Elayele became somewhat large-scale.
After discussing the arrangements for the coup, Gladstone asked: "Your Majesty the Governor, why hasn't the navy arrived on Kauai yet?"
John Crane said: "The news came back the day before. The navy should be on the way now, and it may only arrive in a day or two."
…
Oahu.
Iolani Palace.
Iolani Palace was built in 1882 in downtown Honolulu and was the "only" royal palace in the United States in its previous life.
This palace, built relatively late, is completely built in Western style. It looks smaller than the Palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar, but it is also more exquisite.
At this time, the Hawaiian royal family did not expect that the Americans would not be "merciful" after all. After all, the United States was quite righteous before and helped the Kingdom of Hawaii resist the aggression of Tsarist Russia, Britain and France.
Of course, in recent years, the Hawaiian royal family has also realized the dangers of the United States' dominance in Hawaii, but they can only pretend to be ostrich and hope that the United States will show some respect.
The United States adopted the "boil the frog in warm water" approach to the Kingdom of Hawaii to achieve annexation of the local area. Originally, there was a native Kapu religion in Hawaii.
The Kapu cult was eradicated, and this provided the conditions for an American invasion. Many American missionaries preached the Bible in Hawaii, and American Christianity spread wantonly in the country.
On the surface, American missionaries opened free schools and hospitals in Hawaii, and also held many charity activities. But in fact this is a means of invisible intrusion.
Of course, the Kingdom of Hawaii deserves it. Now King Kalakaua of Hawaii is an out-and-out admirer of beauty. After taking the throne, Kalakaua also took a series of measures to get closer to the United States. Therefore, after Kalakaua succeeded to the throne, Hawaii The fate of the royal family was sealed.
In fact, the location of Hawaii is not an easy country to be invaded. Even the mainland United States is more than 3,700 kilometers away from Hawaii.
If Hawaii could balance the forces of all parties on the island, it would still be easy to have both sides, but the Hawaiian royal family has blocked its own path.
Today, the sea breeze in Hawaii is still very fresh. Kalakaua stands in front of the palace window, enjoying the blessings of the "civilized" world.
Since Kalakaua succeeded to the throne, he moved the capital from Lahaina to the more economically prosperous city of Honolulu. The American-style palace Iolani Palace was his handiwork.
The exterior walls of the palace are painted the same bright white as the White House in the United States. Tall tropical trees are planted in front of the palace, and the roads are smooth, no less than the palaces of some small European countries.
Take the Hohenzollern Palace of the Ernst family. The Hohenzollern Palace is more like a military fortress, and the living experience is actually not that good. On the contrary, the Iolani Palace is located in the city center and is not at all There are not many defensive functions, there are only simple walls on the outside, and now outside these walls, Americans are already carrying weapons and are killing them aggressively.
"Your Majesty, no, our palace is surrounded!" Kalakaua's minister nervously reported to Kalakaua.
"What's going on?" Kalakaua asked in shock.
"Americans, all Americans outside, they surrounded the palace with weapons and I saw banners protesting against the monarchy."
"Damn, how could this happen!" Kalakaua said in disbelief. How could his "American dad" overthrow him?
It has to be said that Kalakaua trusts the Americans too much. If it were Ernst, he would definitely not put the palace in Honolulu. Although Lahaina was a little remote, it was not easy to be directly surrounded by the Americans. If there was another military palace like the Hohenzollern Castle, it would not be a problem to be besieged for several months without using heavy weapons.
Of course, the most prominent point of the Hohenzollern Castle is that it is built on a hill, so it is conceivable how poor the living conditions of the Hohenzollern Castle are, and Iolani Palace is completely opposite to the Hohenzollern Castle.
Kalakaua built this palace just to "enjoy the good life". The Pearl Harbor in Honolulu is the best port in the entire archipelago, so the economy is also the most developed, and with a large number of Americans living there, the living conditions are also the best. Now these have become Kalakaua's death warrant.
Of course, according to the morality of Americans, it is unlikely to kill Kalakaua. After all, they still have to continue to use the name of the Kingdom of Hawaii to maintain the US rule in the local area, mainly to prevent gossip from the international community, and East Africa is also planning to do so.
Six o'clock in the evening.
Lihue.
"You are the Governor of Kauai, Kumali. I heard that you are the descendant of King Gaomualii?"
Gladstone easily led his troops into the Governor's Mansion in Lihue and captured Kumali, the Governor of Kauai appointed by the Kingdom of Hawaii.
"Next, what do we say and what do you do..." Gladstone did not talk nonsense with the frightened Kumali, and directly asked him to start forming a puppet government, and announced his separation from the Kingdom of Hawaii and restore the Kauai regime.
At the same time, the turmoil on the island naturally attracted the attention of the Americans, but looking at the murderous soldiers of the East African National Defense Force, they dared not fart.
There was even a sharp-eyed British businessman who was the first to recognize the uniforms of the East African National Defense Force and exclaimed: "Oh my God, why are these damn East African barbarians here!"
Fortunately, the East African soldiers did not understand English, otherwise they would definitely give him a rifle butt.
On this day, on March 13, 1892, a world-famous painting appeared on the Hawaiian Islands. On the same day, East Africans and Americans launched a coup in the Hawaiian Islands one after another.
The unified Hawaiian Kingdom was completely destroyed, and two puppet regimes were established, one was the Republic of Hawaii supported by the United States, and the other was the Kingdom of North Hawaii (Kauai) supported by East Africa.
The changes in the archipelago soon attracted the attention of the forces of Britain, France, Japan and other countries on the islands. The countries could only watch the United States and East Africa "divide the spoils" and were temporarily unable to stop it.