Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 686 Philip Divides the Cake
"Greetings, General Man. I didn't know that your reinforcements were coming, and I actually withdrew from Zhang Xun's camp on my own initiative. I am guilty of a great crime, and I will leave to your disposal."
Man Gui, with wrinkles all over his face, happily helped Cao Bianjiao, who was half-kneeling in the snow, up. "I heard the details from Zuo Menggeng who was walking in front of me. You did a great job. With a weak battalion of a thousand soldiers, you led tens of thousands of foreign soldiers to fight against more than 200,000 brutal enemies for more than half a year. Such a feat really lived up to the painstaking effort of Prime Minister Wen to name the Khyber defense system Zhangxun Village."
"General, what you said makes me feel ashamed. If I had known that your reinforcements were not far away, I would never have surrendered Zhang Xun's camp so readily."
"Hahaha, Cao Bianjiao, you silly boy should be content." Man Gui pointed his finger behind him and said, "Although I brought three divisions this time, each soldier's submachine gun has at most 20 magazines . The three divisions only brought 15 75mm cannons in total. In other words, this amount of supplies is only enough for one battle at most. Moreover, even for this amount of supplies, Li Jia, the minister of Tibet of the imperial court, and I mobilized at least 30% of the yaks from the herders in the snowy area. The transportation of ordinary commercial materials in the snowy area has been greatly affected. If this time is delayed and you are not rescued, the snowy area may be in chaos first."
"Then why, General?"
"This is not my intention, but the emperor's. The emperor said that we cannot abandon any of our comrades who fight for the country. So, this time, the emperor risked the risk of another unrest in the Snow Region and Xinjiang, and ordered all three divisions stationed here to go out."
Patting Cao Bianjiao's shoulder who was temporarily speechless due to excitement, Mangui said: "The roads in the snowy area are like this, so I tried my best this time and only brought enough ammunition for one battle. I originally thought that I would rush in desperately after arriving and get as much as I could. Who knew that Ottoman Davichi actually let all of you out. Not only our Ming soldiers, but also Gurkhas, Siamese, Burmese... So, Cao Bianjiao, you are not guilty at all, this is a great achievement."
"Wuwuwu~ The Emperor's kindness is something that Cao Bianjiao cannot repay even if he dies a thousand times!"
"Alright, alright, you're almost thirty years old, why are you still crying? After this battle, the story of the thousand Khyber warriors will soon be spread throughout the Ming Dynasty and even our vassal states! What a happy thing! However, when troops retreat, the deputy officers go in front and the chief officers cover the rear. This is indeed the tradition of our Ming Dynasty. But how could you be so honest? You were the last one in a team of tens of thousands of people, causing me to walk such a long way. Stop crying and follow me back. When we get to Lhasa, I'll ask the best chef in the snowy area to prepare delicious food for you. After you've eaten and drunk enough, quickly submit a detailed report on this battle to the emperor and the Privy Council."
"Wuwu...Yes, I will obey your orders."
On February 5, 1639, the Khyber detachment led by Cao Bianjiao and Zuo Menggeng finally encountered the Manchurian and Guilian troops who came to rescue them. At this point, all Ming troops in India, except for the prisoners, were withdrawn.
At the same time, on February 8, the flagship of the President of the European Union, King Felipe of Spain, also arrived at the Port of Mumbai.
After a quick tour of major cities in India, meeting with representatives of the European Expeditionary Force, laying flowers at the cemetery of fallen soldiers, and convening a large group of local Indian princes and nobles to preach nonsense such as "Europe and India should unite, for the welfare of the white race, everyone should be sincere and united, and cooperate to fight against the evil yellow race", on April 5, he convened a meeting of major generals and above in Delhi - this was the real core meeting for the post-war disposal of India.
"Your Majesty Philip, the coalition forces have now completed the landing and capture of Ceylon. The base of the Chinese Indian Ocean Fleet has become the base of the coalition navy. The remnants of its fleet have retreated to Burma."
"After the entire Indian war was completely over, according to statistics, our 500,000 army soldiers died in this expedition, and more than 37,000 died of illness and serious injuries. In the navy, 965 people were killed, and 2,725 died of illness and serious injuries. In this battle, we killed more than 120,000 Chinese and their vassal soldiers. After excluding the Indians, we still have more than 42,000 East Asian prisoners. In addition, we also accepted the surrender of about 100 Chinese officials from Major General Li Yongfang down."
"Yeah." Philip habitually adjusted his non-existent glasses and said, "What did the Chinese say to their prisoners? Did they turn a blind eye or did they ask us to release them?"
"In early February this year, Chinese envoys arrived and asked us to release the prisoners. But because Your Majesty was touring India, we suppressed the matter. Now, we have thrown all the East Asian prisoners into coal mines, iron mines and other mines to do hard labor. Well, they are doing quite well. At present, the coal mines and iron mines in southern India have already produced a large output. However, Your Majesty, for the sake of our future combat plans, I suggest that we offer a price and let the Chinese buy their prisoners away."
"Uh..." To be honest, Philip really didn't want to release these captives: after conquering India, the population gap between the two sides only narrowed instead of equalizing. If we consider that among the many ethnic groups in India, except for the Sikhs, the others are basically unsuitable for military service (most of the Sikhs are in Punjab, which was previously allocated to the Ottoman Empire), it can be said that Europe still has a huge gap compared to the Ming Dynasty in terms of military resources. In this case, releasing these soldiers who have experienced brutal battles? That would be aiding the enemy!
However, it would be fine if the Chinese time traveler did not send an envoy, but the key is that they sent the envoy very quickly.
The wars in Europe at this time generally still had some chivalry legacy: prisoners of war could be redeemed. This was something that everyone recognized and implemented seriously.
If Philip broke this rule, the European soldiers would think: His Majesty wants us to die in battle under any circumstances, because he will not care about us after we are captured. Once the soldiers have this idea, he will be doomed.
Therefore, no matter how unwilling he was, he had to accept the other party's intention to redeem the prisoners.
"Let's put it this way. Tell the Chinese envoy that I don't care whether our prisoners are Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. In short, one soldier will be charged 1,000 double pillars. Colonels and lieutenants will be charged 3,000 double pillars. Generals will be charged 10,000 double pillars. Similarly, if you want remains, you can send someone to dig them up. The price of remains is 100 double pillars per body."
"Uh, Your Majesty, isn't this price a bit too high?"
"Gentlemen, the Alliance's conquest of India will incur a huge financial deficit. Europe hopes that India can generate benefits for the Alliance as soon as possible. Besides, as long as we continue to win in the future, even if there are a few prisoners, the Alliance can afford this price."
"...Okay, Your Majesty, as you wish, we will formally inform the Chinese envoys after the meeting."
"Okay, let's stop here. Next, Mr. Wallenstein, please tell us about the current distribution of the expeditionary force."
"As you command, Your Majesty." Wallenstein stood up and walked to the South Asia map hanging on the wall of the conference room. "At present, our remaining 360,000 land forces are mainly divided into three parts. The First Army is commanded by Lieutenant General Coutinho and is headquartered in Dhaka. Its main task is to guard against the Chinese army that may come out from the Arakan Mountains and the Chinese navy that may invade from the mouth of the Ganges. According to the intelligence we have obtained, the main force of the Chinese has retreated from the east side of the Arakan Mountains, leaving only a small-scale force there to reinforce the fortifications of the Dongge Pass. Moreover, our navy has firmly controlled the sea power in the Bay of Bengal at this time, and the Chinese navy is hiding in Yangon and trembling... Therefore, this First Army actually has only one understaffed division, with a total of only 12,000 people."
"The Second Army is commanded by General Raymondo, with its headquarters in Calcutta, and has 200,000 troops under its command. The mission of this army is, first, to guard the middle and lower Ganges plains and maintain order there. Second, to draw troops to the south to intimidate some independent Hindu countries in the southern part of the peninsula. The Third Army is temporarily commanded by His Majesty Gustav himself, and the actual commander is Lieutenant Colonel Durreny, the chief staff officer of the army. The headquarters is in Delhi. It has nearly 150,000 troops under its command. The mission of this army is to guard the middle and lower Ganges plains and the southwestern part of the peninsula and maintain order in these areas."
"As for the navy, after the army helped it capture Ceylon, the navy has transported a marine division from the mainland to garrison the island. In addition, the navy has also mobilized some local Indians to build naval bases in five regions, including Mumbai, Goa, Colombo, Kolkata, and Dhaka."
"Very good." Seeing that the people below also knew that he didn't like Coutinho, Philip nodded with satisfaction: "How is our current military supplies stockpile?"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about food. India is so rich. As for weapons and ammunition, er, Your Majesty, the transport ships from the mainland are still transporting them to India. We are privately speculating whether you will continue to send troops eastward?"
"Hahaha, Mr. Wallenstein, you are always so wise. Yes, the end of the Indian Campaign is not the end of this war. For the fundamental interests of Europe, and for us white people to truly stand on the top of the world. Our long-term goal is of course to land on the Chinese mainland and dismember that huge empire. And the short-term goal is to control the Strait of Malacca. Only by locking the Chinese east of Malacca, everything we have gained in India will be safe!"
Glancing at the generals who were hesitant to speak, Philip smiled slightly: "Of course, it is also very hard for everyone to conquer India. So, before taking the next military action, let's talk about how to better govern India."
