Xinshun 1730

Chapter 773 France Was Pitted by Allies

There were not many British troops in Fort St. David. After Duplex led some troops back for reinforcements, the British troops in Fort St. David had to withdraw to the fortress.

But on the way back, the bold Clive set up an ambush, ambushed the French army, and gave priority to attacking the French artillery company.

After obtaining the results of the battle, Clive did not love to fight, but quickly withdrew from the battle and withdrew all the British troops to Fort St. David.

His purpose was very clear: to destroy the French artillery, so that the French siege of Fort St. David lacked artillery support.As long as the French have insufficient artillery, Fort St. David can hold out for a long time.

The clear purpose makes Duplex very passive.

When approaching Fort St. David, in the ambush the day before yesterday, four 18-pound guns were destroyed by the British, making France helpless in the face of Fort St. David, which the British had been operating for a long time.

Even though the French are very experienced in attacking bastions, the premise of Vauban's siege method is that the artillery is at least twice that of the defenders.

The defenders of the city were not only the British army, but also a group of Indian mercenaries.Clive suggested to the colonel to provide these mercenaries with unlimited hemp leaves. After inhaling a large amount of hemp leaves, these Indian mercenaries doubled their combat effectiveness and became extremely excited. Army counterattack.

The French army, lacking heavy artillery, could only choose to besiege Fort St. David.Without the support of artillery, the tactic of slowly approaching civil engineering operations is still effective, but the efficiency has been greatly affected.Without artillery suppression, digging holes is not easy.

In addition, the British Indian mercenaries counterattacked the French army after smoking a large amount of hemp leaves, which made the progress of the French siege very slow.

After St. David's Fort held firm for two months, it was about the time when Dashun was fighting in Malacca.

George Anson's Centurion appeared on the shores of India.

The weak warships on the French side had no choice but to avoid the battle, because Dashun leased two cruisers, which were no match for battleships at all.

After the British gained command of the sea, the French offensive had already failed.

Not long after, the British army in Bangladesh arrived in Madras after the British gained command of the sea and took advantage of the calm before the stormy period in the Indian Ocean.

The British army officially sounded the horn of counterattack.

Duplex retreated to Pondicherry, but because of the British command of the sea, the defense of the local governance was also very difficult.

The Indian envoys who originally claimed to help the French allies were silent at this time.

Relying on its command of the sea and the reinforcements from Mumbai, Bangladesh, the British reversed the initial decline, turned from defense to offense, and began to besiege Pondicherry.

However, although Clive was resourceful, the British army was not a strong army after all. It had little experience in the European battlefield and lacked sufficient siege methods.

Fortunately, with the command of the sea, the British chose to carry out a long-term siege of Pondicherry and formulated the tactic of "siege the city and fight for aid".

Rely on the navy to blockade Pondicherry, concentrate its forces, and attack the French army that may come to rescue the local governance.

Historically, Duplex, who originally had an advantage and broke through Madras in one fell swoop, suffered the insidious calculation of his "old friend" Liu Yu.

George Anson, who had ambushed early in the fleet, became the key to reversing the outcome.

During this period, Dashun's performance made the French beyond reproach.

Dashun also helped what should be helped, and did what should be done. At the beginning, it also sent a fleet to deter the British. It also rented two cruise ships, and thoughtfully equipped French instructors in Weihai to sail directly.

Moreover, Dashun expressed his attitude early on: he declared war on the Netherlands, but he would not declare war on Britain.

The French can also understand Dashun's decision, declaring war on the Netherlands is for Dashun's own interests, and declaring war on Britain is purely helping France.The love that should be done has come. Of course, France did not expect that Dashun had premeditated the British Luzon Fleet during the British-Western Jenkins Ear War. Now it is still full of gratitude to Dashun.

Faced with the siege of Pondicherry, Duplex also thought of Dashun.Send people out of the city quietly to Ceylon, hoping that Dashun will come forward to mediate and let the British withdraw their troops.

…………

On India's side, France was not lightly pitted.

In North America, France is also experiencing a special war, and it is even worse to be pitted.

The French and the British called this war "the ginseng war".

Since the Portuguese went to Southeast Asia and occupied Macau, they began to trade with China.

There is a question that has always lingered on the heads of European businessmen.

China is not the natives of America and Africa, where a pile of gold, silver and ivory can be exchanged for a broken glass ball.

China's handicraft industry is very developed, and the most popular imported "goods" in China are silver ingots, silver dollars, and silver coins.

Woolen wool is really hard to sell in China.

The remaining specialty goods, or spices, were monopolized by the Dutch.

Or, the market is limited.For example, magenta dye, a dye made from small bugs growing on cactus, is indeed very popular in Dashun, but the Spaniards control most of it, and they really can't sell much.

The matter that has been haunting European businessmen since the Ming Dynasty finally ushered in a turning point a few years ago.

People in the North American colonies suddenly discovered that they could not make money by spinning and weaving foolishly, and transporting them to China with great effort.

However, some grassroots that are everywhere in North America can be sold for almost the same price as silver when they go to China.

Even, it can be said that as much as you can transport, you can receive as much as China. There has never been a situation where it cannot be sold after being transported like woolen wool.

Before the gold rush broke out in North America, the ginseng fever broke out first.

American ginseng is also ginseng, and the growth environment of ginseng is determined.In Dashun, from Shandong to Liaodong, and further north, there is no such thing in Siberia.

In America, it happens to be the junction of the British and French colonies.

Lawrence River Basin, north of New York State, south of Quebec.

Dashun's ginseng has almost been dug up long ago.Dashun was not Manchu, it didn’t have wicker borders, and it didn’t ban the Northeast. Instead, because of the lessons learned at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it immigrated to the Northeast like a madman.

Although they cannot cross the Songliao watershed, millions of people have been crowded in the south of the Songliao watershed in the past hundred years.

There are many people, digging ginseng and making money, if you don't dig it out in a hundred years, it will be hell.The several border conflicts with North Korea were all provoked by ginseng diggers, and they often started fighting.

But in North America, before Liu Yu engaged in large-scale ginseng trade with France, no one dug for this stuff at all.

The local Indians occasionally dig up some as herbs, but they don't use much.The primeval forest that has not been touched for tens of thousands of years, the latitude suitable for ginseng growth, regardless of its appearance, size, weight, and age, it is a hot commodity in Dashun.

It is really difficult to find a hundred-year-old ginseng in Dashun, and it is even rare to find a ten-year-old ginseng in recent years.Ginseng diggers are everywhere from Liaodong to Songhua River.But in America, there are quite a lot of century-old ginseng.

After cutting Japan and before visiting Europe, Liu Yu asked Kang Bushao to find someone to write a pamphlet, arguing that American ginseng was not from Nanyang, and after the saying that the place of origin is hot is cold, the price of American ginseng gradually rose.

Let's start with this, because American ginseng comes in from Guangdong port.Some doctors slapped their heads, and they must be from Nanyang. Nanyang is so hot, and the ginseng grown in Nanyang must be cool. When it comes to medicinal effects, it is not as good as ginseng from the bitter cold place in Liaodong.

However, as soon as the pamphlet came out, coupled with the trade model that the French developed under Liu Yu's suggestion, this perception was gradually reversed.

Because, the French ships coming from the Americas used ice as ballast stones.The citizens of Guangzhou City, the ice they eat in summer is all ice from North America.

Cover it with sawdust and sawdust. If there is too much, I dare not say that it will not be finished in a year.Seeing that the ginseng boat was filled with Wannian Xuanbing, I believed that the western ginseng also grows in bitter cold places, maybe it's not right to be cold.

Liu Yu was in charge of opening up the market, and the price of American ginseng was rising steadily, affecting North America all the way, so the conflict between Britain and France became more serious.

If this ginseng grows in the southern part of the thirteen states, there is no big contradiction, and the French can only be greedy.

If it grows north of Quebec, there is not much contradiction, the British can only be greedy.

The latitude that is suitable for the growth of this thing happens to be the dividing line between the British and French colonies.

Around the St. Lawrence River Basin, a war on ginseng broke out.

An income of one million taels of silver a year would be envied in any country.What's more, European countries generally have a headache how to earn silver from China.

Merchants in the British colonies saw the French shiploads of ginseng to China, and some retired people from the East India Company knew about China and advocated the value of ginseng, so the merchants in the British colonies were jealous.

They began to build momentum, thinking that America was the chosen place.When Europe is struggling with how to earn silver in China, the Americas only need to dig grassroots to exchange for a large amount of silver. This kind of profit should not be monopolized by the French.

The governor of Massachusetts, William Shirley, at the request of a group of businessmen, granted the power to Pepperel, a rich man in Maine, allowing him to recruit troops, allowing wealthy businessmen to pay for an army, and declaring war on France.The British governor will also use official power to support it, and promise that after defeating the French, these wealthy businessmen who invest will have priority in obtaining the exclusive right to trade ginseng.

These colonial merchants have a big appetite, and they don't just want to compete in the ginseng producing area.

In addition to ginseng, French colonial fur is also a good thing that can be exchanged for silver in China.

And, the Newfoundland fishing ground created by the intersection of the Mexican warm current and the Labrador cold current was once one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world.But Newfoundland, especially the St. Lawrence estuary, was occupied by the French.

Fish is also worth money.

The Catholic Church has a fasting day, and meat is not allowed during the fasting period, but with a little modification, you can eat fish.It’s like Muslims can’t drink alcohol, but the essence of dates can be drunk, because in Europe Mary was born Jesus beside a manger, but in Arabia he was born under date palms according to local conditions.

Although Protestants, in order to fight against the Catholic habit, only do not eat fish on the fasting day of Friday, but they do not say that they do not eat fish every day.

Dried fish is a very good trade product, and it is convenient to transport along the coast of Europe. In the past few years, the price of food has been expensive, so it is naturally a bestseller.

then.

ginseng.

cod.

fur.

All three things were wanted by wealthy businessmen in the British colonies.

Therefore, they decided to seize the French colony in one fell swoop, instead of just playing around in the ginseng producing area.

Their plan is also very simple:
Because there is no civilization in North America for thousands of years, there is no good road.

In the imagination, the primeval forest is very suitable for traffic, surrounded by towering trees that shade the sun, no weeds and small trees, the gap is huge, and cattle and horses can walk through it.

In fact, the big trees in the primeval forest fall down when they get old. This place is not tropical, it is cold, and they cannot all rot in ten or ten years.The forest is full of fallen trees that are several people tall and covered with moss, and it is simply a torment to walk.

Therefore, there are no roads, and only rivers and water transportation can be used.

The French occupied the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, the upper reaches of which ran through the Great Lakes, and the tributaries could jump to the Hudson River to control New York State.

The British wealthy businessmen were going to play a big game, directly attacking the French port of Louisbourg in the lower bay of the St. Lawrence River, and then capturing Quebec at the mouth of the river, cutting off the internal and external links of the French colony, and catching the turtle in the urn.

Cut off the estuary and took control of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.Is it possible that the French reinforcements will go from the virgin forest to the inland?What's more, once the river channel is cut off, even if the inland is difficult to attack, the French ginseng fur will not be able to be shipped out. Wouldn't it be obediently controlled by British businessmen?
(End of this chapter)