Chapter 471 The First Battle of Kalimantan (Part 1)
Putingcha was very clear about the style of the Qing officials. He knew that if he did not accept the bribe, it would make these people uneasy, so he gladly accepted Qiying's bribe.
But the British envoy was very generous and gave Qiying two hundred boxes of the best "Bangong soil". This exchange of gifts made both of them feel that they had gained something.
A few days after the Battle of Mala Port, the British consul in Malacca received the news. The Southern Ming side demanded that the British side recognize the Southern Ming's ownership of Brunei and stop all hostile actions, including maritime blockades and trade embargoes, otherwise they would refuse to release prisoners of war.
This letter almost angered the British consul in the "Lion City".
"Damn barbarians! They attacked our port and now want us to give up!"
To be honest, he now has nearly 6,000 troops under his command, and he can't wait to drive to Kalimantan Island to destroy the group of "barbarians".
However, Rui soon calmed down. He immediately asked for help from India, and the other side quickly responded and said that it would send 2,000 troops, plus two battleships and 1,000 marines from Hong Kong, a total of eight warships and 3,000 army soldiers, including about 1,500 Indians.
But this is not important to Rui. What is important is that the group of "barbarians" is dead.
After all, the total force of the navy and army in this expedition to Kalimantan has exceeded 4,000 people. You must know that another war in the East before only mobilized 7,000 people.
However, the direction of this war was not what all parties expected. The British at this time were still very efficient, and soon a large fleet gathered on the coast of Brunei.
In some aspects, the British were very reasonable. For example, before the two sides officially went to war, Lieutenant General Boris, who was in charge of this expedition, sent an envoy to issue an ultimatum to Zhu Qiongying.
The British soldiers captured must be handed over within seven days, and 10 million taels of silver must be paid as compensation. Brunei and West Borneo must be handed over to Britain, and trade must be agreed to, etc.
Zhu Qiongying didn't want to agree to any of them. She still remembered the strategy Franz told her, luring the enemy deep into the country and then closing the door to fight the dog.
"Sir James Brooke, please reply to your expeditionary commander Hugh Gough. I thank him for his kindness, but I will not agree to any of the above conditions.
I hope that the two countries can coexist peacefully, but if he insists on doing so, he must take it from me by force, not by threats and intimidation."
Zhu Qiongying's English was very poor, so she spoke in Dutch, which surprised the other party and even made her wonder if she had heard it wrong.
James Brooke admired the courage of the oriental woman in front of him, but this provocative reply was really reckless.
"Then goodbye, Your Majesty." James Brooke did not kneel down, but only took off his hat to salute. This was his pride as a white Westerner. He would not kneel even in front of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
The officials of the Southern Ming did not force him, which made him feel that he had won.
The meeting between the two sides was simple and clear, without any dragging.
The officials of the Southern Ming in the hall were not divided into two factions as imagined, but all advocated war. After all, no cession of land, no compensation, and the emperor guarding the country's gates are also considered old traditions of the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Chongzhen suffered greatly from this. At that time, Yu Qian's words "Those who talk about moving south will be killed!" set this rule.
A group of "old ministers" of the Southern Ming began to offer suggestions frantically, such as iron chains across the river, wooden stakes, and sending people to chisel the bottom of the British ship.
The other faction was more pessimistic. They were willing to die for the Southern Ming and were ready to move to Mala Port with their entire family to fight the British to the death.
Especially some of the Qing immigrants who had just come over, and some of them were Manchus who were guilty. Their hatred and despair for the British far exceeded others and they all demanded to fight to the death.
But at this time, Zhu Qiongying announced a major event, that is, to abandon the port of Mala.
You know, there are artillery and fortresses built by the British in Mala Port, and it can even be said to be the strongest city in the entire Kalimantan Island.
Everyone expressed puzzlement, and some people proposed to burn Mala Port and leave no bricks and tiles for the British, so that they would have to rebuild the port and supply points, which would delay the British army's advance.
And Kalimantan Island has a tropical rainforest climate, which is humid and hot, and has a lot of miasma. Plague will occur over time. They can use Meng Huo's method to deal with Zhuge Liang, dragging the British on the island and letting the other side retreat without fighting.
However, Zhu Qiongying denied this answer. They will leave Mala Port intact to the British, because it is the best port in the entire northern part of Kalimantan Island. If they drive the British away, they will still need to continue to use it, so it cannot be burned.
This made everyone's heart skip a beat. You know, the British had almost no defeats in the East and the West. The Dutch, their most feared enemy, were also defeated by the former.
Hugh Goff received the official reply from the Southern Ming Dynasty, smiled and tore the letter into pieces, and then chopped it hard.
"These damn barbarians, they are just like what Sir Rui said, they are simply a shame for mankind. A woman dares to give orders to men! I will press this woman under me like I did in Guangzhou, let her experience the power of us Western men!
Gentlemen! Go and ravage! Go and trample! Those damn barbarians are not worthy of sympathy, they are just some beasts that look like humans! Long live the British Empire!"
This Hugh Goff who gave the obscene military order was one of the main villains in the Sanyuanli Anti-British War at that time. It is said that it was this man who indulged his soldiers in committing crimes. However, he was not beheaded by the hero like in the novel, but lived to the age of ninety.
He was originally sent to India to deal with the growing threat from the Sikh Empire, but a war suddenly broke out in Nanyang. The Governor-General of India thought that Hugh Goff had experience in dealing with Orientals and sent him here.
Hugh Goff did not take the so-called Oriental army seriously due to his personal experience. His tactical thinking was still in the Napoleonic era. He only trusted infantry. He had no defeat in his life, but that was only because he came to the right place.
The huge British fleet began to approach Mala Port, and then fired intensively, carefully destroying the surrounding artillery one by one.
Then came the main landing operation. Hugh Goff was ready to turn Mala Port into a sea of fire, because as a veteran he understood how terrible the offensive and defensive battles in the city were.
However, it took only four hours for the vanguard to report that they had taken over the port of Mala and no one was killed or injured.
This made Hugh Gough more certain that the British were superior, but after landing, he was surprised that there were no Nanming garrisons in Mala Port. The British army went ashore and massacred for four hours, and those who were killed were just some Brunei natives.
Hugh Gough was very confused that a country had given up an important port guarding the country so easily, because at that time, the Nanming capital "Xinjing" was only four or five days away from the port of Mala.
Hugh Gough felt that he was only a stone's throw away from success, and he ordered the entire army to land and prepare to attack the Nanming capital "Xinjing".
Watching the British rushing to set off, Zhu Qiongying knew that she was one step closer to success.