The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 660 Pius IX
Masti Ferretti (later Pius IX), as the second son of a minor nobleman born with epilepsy, his mother's greatest expectation for him was to make him a priest of the Papal State.

Priests have said before that they are a key link in the political system of the Papal State, but most of them are scumbags.

The year 1792, when Mastel Ferretti was born, happened to be one of the most chaotic periods in Europe. Louis XVI was guillotined and the French Revolution was pushed to its climax.

In 1809, when Napoleon swept across Italy, the Roman seminary where Maste Ferrer was located was subsequently closed, and what was even more unfortunate was that he was also brought to France by the French who studied with Pius VII.

Fortunately, the French soon had bad luck, and finally Napoleon abdicated in 1814, and Pius VII returned to his hometown in honor, so that Mastai Ferretti was able to continue his imperial studies.

In fact, Mastai Ferretti has no interest in studying. The days in France are like vacations for him, after all, he doesn't have to go to school.

Masti Ferretti never felt that his theological and cultural knowledge was of a high level, and the fact is the same. When he lived in a foreign country, he could not even argue with the soldiers guarding him. When he returned to his hometown, he was often dumbfounded by the tourists who visited him. Mouth speechless.

Colleagues of Masti Ferretti often joked.

"The best way to get a man out of religion is to get him to listen to the Ferretti brothers."

In 1818, Mustafa Ferretti still became a "glorious" priest, but considering his occasional epilepsy, poor theological knowledge, and low adaptability, he could only be a priest among other clergy. Assisted in celebrating Mass.

Later, his poor performance in the Bologna uprising did not let him be hidden, but was promoted step by step due to unknown reasons.

Soon he became bishop, and here Masti Ferretti first showed his talents, and he managed to be isolated by the local Church.

No priest liked him, much less admired him, but Maste Ferretti earned him a decent reputation for being a naysayer to the local church, and his liberal rhetoric was even more touted.

The Young Italy party in Switzerland called it "the conscience of Italy".

But at this time, no one could have imagined that this somewhat funny little person would stir up the situation in the future and plunge the whole of Italy into the flames of war.

One day in November 1845, the British government made a decision that surprised the outside world.

That is to make concessions to the Americans on the Oregon issue, which also gained access to the Pacific Ocean.

But why did the British choose to give in when the Austrian Empire occupied California and the French occupied Texas and the surrounding area?
Because of the mysterious 'potato outbreak' on the island of Ireland again?Stalemate over the invasion of southern Brazil?Is it because the transaction with the Qing Dynasty has not received a satisfactory answer?Because of the cholera in London?

No, it's because India is in chaos.

At this time, the subcontinent of South Asia can be said to be full of heroes, with a hundred flowers blooming, gongs and drums ringing in the sky, and firecrackers blasting together.
Britons, Sikhs, Afghans, Nepalis, all land states, religions, opium dealers, smugglers all rose up.

Sir Henry Harding was already in despair, even if foreign enemies invaded, there were still many rebels. If it weren't for the presence of the Indian Ocean Fleet, the war would have ended at this time.

But even so, the intensity and destructive power of the war far exceeded its previous imagination.Although Akbar Khan's people were backward in equipment, they were brave and good at fighting, and because they had slaughtered tens of thousands of "British troops", they had certain psychological advantages.

Although the Sikh Empire has fallen, its soldiers have no fighting spirit and will not fight, but they are well-equipped and occupy a dominant terrain.

However, if Sir Henry Harding wants to end the turmoil quickly, he must win quickly, and whether it is storming the towns of the Sikh Empire or going to the mountains to fight guerrillas with the Afghans, it is not something that can be ended quickly.

The previous strategy of trying to build a stronghold and fight a deadly war has completely failed, and what is even more frightening is that if the Afghans and Sikhs really join hands, it will be a super big trouble where 1+1 is greater than 2.

In addition, the rebels all over the ground were unexpected by Sir Henry Harding. He no longer knew how many letters of help he had written to the country.

The strength of the Nanyang region is not surplus, and it can only support 500 people.The Far East has to guard against the Qing Dynasty, and can only send 500 people to support at most.

Sir Henry Harding's greatest hope at this time was the five thousand soldiers of the Cape Colony and the twenty ships of the West African Fleet.

The participation of the Nepalese in the war was also unexpected by the British. After all, the British had defeated Nepal many times before and cut off a large amount of land. It is already a puppet country in the hands of the British.

But in fact, there was a coup in Nepal at this time, and the prime minister supported by Britain was assassinated by the royal family.This was originally an internal power struggle, but the faction of the prime minister was quite powerful, and the royal family had no choice but to launch this war in order to stabilize the situation and divert conflicts.

6000 Nepalese soldiers, known as [-], launched an attack on the British who had been threatening their country.

There are only more than 500 British troops and a battalion of Gurkhas stationed there. The so-called Gurkhas are Nepalese.

The British commander immediately decided to retreat to the Batna area and stand by for help, because it is impossible for them alone to stop the Nepalese army.

The British commander was actually very courageous, but he could not trust his Gurkha mercenaries.

However, at that time, Nepal had no concept of the country, and people were more divided into tribes. The Gurkhas who accepted the employment of the British happened to belong to the prime minister's faction.

These people have been working as mercenaries for generations, and they still have a certain degree of integrity. Coupled with the fact that the tribal leaders were killed, they are at odds with the Nepalese army that is attacking now, and they are unwilling to leave for reasons.

The British didn't want to pay attention to these lunatics, and they fled away after paying off this month's wages.

Perhaps it was because of the unfinished business of Great Britain, this mercenary repelled the "one hundred thousand army" of the Kingdom of Nepal at a cost of almost total annihilation.

When the British reconnaissance team arrived, they found that there were corpses inside and outside the fortress, and only a small group of Gurkha mercenaries waved the flags of British India to greet them.

In fact, Nepalese live in mountainous areas, with harsh natural environments and barren land. Coupled with their ethnic martial traditions, even fighting among the same clan will be so bloody.

Sir Henry Harding breathed a sigh of relief when the news reached Derry. It was the best news he had heard lately.

However, Sir Henry Harding soon received bad news. According to a secret report from an informant, the Sassoon family seemed to intend to establish a Jewish state on the Indian subcontinent.
Sir Henry Harding's head was buzzing. He even felt that he should send someone to negotiate with the Sassoon family, and then ask London to make a promise to hold them back. After all, the Sassoon family is too rich.

It would be disgusting if this group of damned opium dealers give financial assistance to the princes of those land states
But at this time, Sir Henry Harding received another piece of good news. The Austrian in Tranqueba said that he could help him solve this trouble. As for the reward, he only needed a little land in the Karaika area.

(Kalaika is now Tamil Nadu)

(End of this chapter)