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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 135: Peace Talks

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    When the rising sun of the next day climbed up the ridgeline of the Bago Mountains and cast its sunlight onto the fertile Irrawaddy River Valley, the soldiers on the shore could clearly see a huge ship leaning askew, like a dead fish, stranded on the shore.  On the beach.  That was the HMS Counterattack, the flagship of the British Empire's Burmese Irrawaddy Squadron. Last night, this behemoth with a displacement of 3,800 tons took in a lot of water after hitting a mine on its side.  To make matters worse, in order to carry out damage control, the "Counterattack" had to break the light blackout. Coupled with the fire caused by being hit by a mine, the battleship became a target for the Junjun battery on the shore.  After being hit by four more nine-inch shells, the fire on the "Repulse" became more and more intense, and more and more water entered. In order to prevent the ship from sinking, the captain of the "Repulse" had to steer the ship towards the shore.  Grabbing the beach in the shallows.  During last night's fierce battle, two British cargo ships, the "Tuna" and the "Big Herring" hit mines and sank. Nearly 800 soldiers and a large amount of cargo on board sank into the river.  There are countless other smaller losses.  In addition to all the accidents mentioned above, there is an even more shocking loss - Colonel Alexander, the newly appointed supreme commander of the Burma Expeditionary Force, disappeared during last night's operation. After losing this supreme commander and carrying a large number of weapons, it has been speculated that  , the most likely possibility is that the "Repulse" was hit and sunk by a warship in the dark on the way from the lifeboat to the "Warrior" after hitting a mine. It was already a disaster.  After losing its supreme commander and the transport ship carrying supplies and marines, and most importantly, the British fleet began to doubt whether the previous clearing of the enemy's minefields was successful, and had to abandon its previous combat plan and return to the starting point  .  India, Calcutta, Governor's Palace.  Governor Earl Dufferin was sitting in front of a leather chair, reading a telegram that had just been sent. Opposite the table, a young guest sat, looking at an oil painting on the wall with interest.  "Alas!" Earl Dufferin sighed softly and slumped down in the leather chair. His originally straight back became stooped, and with his gray hair, he seemed to have aged ten years suddenly.  The young man's eyes left the oil painting: "Your Excellency, if you don't mind me being presumptuous, may I ask what is in the telegram!" "No, no, dear Arthur!" Earl Dufferin handed the telegram to the young man opposite.  The special envoy to Burma sent by the Marquess of Salisbury, who had just returned to the throne of Prime Minister, was his nephew Arthur Balfour.  "We have suffered another defeat in Burma. We have lost another commander. This is the second commander we have lost in the last two months. If I were not a devout Christian, I would even believe that  What kind of strange witchcraft did the Chinese use and what kind of supernatural power did they make a deal with the devil to achieve this result? "No, if you really went to Myanmar to understand the situation, you wouldn't think so!"  " Balfour replied in an almost rude tone: "The Chinese commanders have very good abilities, and their officers have amazing initiative, so they have seized the initiative in the war.  This is what happened on the first day, and with a little luck, it ended like this. " "Arthur, maybe you are right! But this will not help the situation of the war. Your Excellency, the Prime Minister asked you to come here.  In order for you to praise the courage and strategy of the Chinese, the members of the House of Commons will not pay attention to your eloquence. You must know that the Burmese army costs taxpayers 40,000 pounds every day. The purpose of your coming here is.  Winner!" Balfour smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there are some omissions in your calculations. The cost of the war between the Empire and China is far more than the military expenditure of 40,000 pounds per day. You must know that due to the war in Burma, the British Empire and the Chinese  Trade has been hugely affected. According to figures I got from customs in London and Liverpool, in just the four months from August to December last year, trade with East Asia fell by 1.7 million pounds.  , and according to normal circumstances, it should grow at a rate of 5%. If the war continues to expand, the trade between the two countries will definitely be damaged to a greater extent. Businessmen engaged in Far East trade will definitely protest in the House of Commons.  "Okay, please tell me, Arthur, what are you going to do next?" Balfour replied decisively: "It's very simple, end this war as soon as possible and sign a treaty with the Chinese!" "Okay?"  , a treaty must be signed, but under what conditions do you plan to sign the treaty? You know, the Chinese army has not been defeated yet, you cannot ask them to accept a treaty that is too harsh!" "Earl,  The interests of the empire do not require too harsh a treaty!" Balfour replied: "If the Chinese agree to recognize the empire's occupation of the Irrawaddy Delta, freedom of inland navigation on the Irrawaddy River, teak, rice monopoly, and restrictions on garrisoning in other areas of Burma.  , I am willing to sign a treaty with them! I think they should?Agree for peace!  " "Just these three?  No compensation for military expenses?  Not expanding territory?  "Earl Dufferin frowned with a white brow: "Believe me, Arthur, even with the help of the Prime Minister, your treaty will be difficult to pass in the House of Commons.  " " No, it won't!  Balfour showed a sly smile on his face: "Members of Congress are not fools. They know that the benefits of trade with the Chinese are far greater than controlling the barren land of several provinces in distant Myanmar. Compared with these, that little compensation  Military spending is negligible.  As long as we control the Irrawaddy Delta, the outlet for Myanmar's rice and teak trees is under our control, and coupled with the inland waterway rights of the Irrawaddy River, we can completely absorb the sweet juice of Myanmar's citrus and leave it to the Chinese  It's just an empty shell like cotton wool.  In fact, the biggest purpose of this war is to prevent the Chinese from using Myanmar as a base to threaten India.  As long as the Chinese can recognize Burma's neutralization and demilitarization, the goal has been achieved, and there is absolutely no need to continue a war that costs a lot of money and yields little!  " "Well, even if you can pass it in the parliament, those reporters will portray you as a loser of the Chinese in front of the voters, and your political career will be completely over!  " "No, most voters in my constituency rely on foreign trade, and they will continue to support a congressman who helps them become rich.  As for other constituencies, since the newspapers are in the hands of the rich, reports that go against the will of the rich cannot be printed!  "    "All right!  "Earl Dufferin, who was impressed by Balfour's impeccable argument, sighed, stretched out his right hand and said: "Then I wish you success, Arthur!  Also, if possible, I hope the Chinese can hand over to us Colonel Kitchener and the soldiers who mutinied in Bagan last time.  " "Okay, I will remember it!  "Belfort took hold of the other person's outstretched hand: "Your Excellency, Earl, I hope you can support me¡ª¡ª" "Don't worry!  Arthur, I also understand that the empire needs a prudent helmsman!  ¡± For Chen Zaixing in Mandalay, March 27th was simply his lucky day. Just as he was struggling with piles of various paperwork in his room as usual, a document came from the front line  The telegram saved him from all this - the British proposed peace talks. To prove their sincerity, the British even moved their front line back twenty kilometers. The frontline commander Zao Guoquan asked him to hurry up  Going to the palace, obtaining the authorization from the King and Princess of Myanmar, and requesting them to send a Burmese official to start preliminary negotiations together, this was like hearing about the Bird of Paradise for Chen Zaixing, who was looking forward to an early peace to realize his ambitious plan.  Sing in your ears "Quickly, prepare my clothes and sedan, I want to enter the palace immediately!"  "Chen Zaixing loudly urged his followers. He was full of excitement at this time. He didn't know whether he could get rid of the heavy paperwork or see the beautiful eldest princess again. "Master Chen, Master Chen!  "There were rapid footsteps outside the door. Chen Zaixing turned around and saw Liu Zhixing running in panting: "Mr. Chen, something happened, something big happened!  " When Chen Zaixing saw this, he quickly stretched out his hand to support the other party and said: "Master Liu, drink some water, sit down and talk!  " "Mr. Chen, riots broke out in dozens of villages and towns including Biaobei, Yangmiding, Disongji, etc. The mob took up arms and besieged the granaries of the villages and towns. The acting officials in many places were killed!  "    "What?  "Chen Zaixing stood up suddenly. It turned out that the places Liu Zhixing mentioned were villages and towns near Mandalay. In order to collect military rations and supplies, Chen Zaixing sent agents to collect food in these villages and towns. But these days, although there have been a few raids on food  A group of bandits appeared, but such a large-scale riot happened without any warning. It was really unexpected. ¡°Master Liu, who did you get this news from? Why don¡¯t I have any news at all?  Liu Zhixing asked in surprise: "Alas!"  I got the news from a nobleman in the Privy Council. His house was burned to the ground and his family fled to Mandalay. He asked me to help him find a house to live in. That's when I came to ask you.  Mr. Chen, why don¡¯t you know?  " "Yes, I still got the news from you!  "Chen Zaixing's face became gloomy. Obviously, there was a powerful organization behind this riot that had been preparing for a long time and wiped out all the acting officials in these villages and towns. That's why he in Mandalay would  Being kept in the dark, the harm of such a large-scale riot can be imagined. At this time, Liu Zhixing did not care about his dignity and directly asked: "Master Chen, before I left, I entrusted the rear affairs to your hands.  , you are like this, how can you report to the morning captain?  " "This is indeed my fault. I will figure it out when I come back early."Please forgive me!  Chen Zaixing said in a deep voice: "But before that, you and I must work together to stabilize the situation as much as possible to avoid missing important events!"  "Liu Zhixing stared at Chen Zaixing, and after a while he said dejectedly: "Forget it, Mr. Chen will lead the army and leave the affairs of Mandalay to me.  "    "Um!  "Chen Zaixing nodded: "In short, we cannot let the Burmese people have the opportunity to take over the military power, otherwise there will be endless troubles!  " Just as the two reached a consensus, there was another rush of footsteps outside, and a clerk ran in quickly and said: "My lords, there is an urgent call!  "
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