Chapter 195
Chapter 195
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Black and White (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After clashing with the Mongol Eight Banners in Kyushu, the British forces had significantly revised their strategy against China.
China's centralized power and density made it impossible to push deep inside and wage a full-scale war. Admiral Tiddeman and Colonel Draper verbally denied it at first but soon conceded.
"We have to admit it. We can't seize the canal entrance in one fell swoop. This has nothing to do with military superiority. Even if we succeed, we'll be swept away by local garrison troops swarming from all directions."
Colonel Clive gave a wry smile.
"Indeed. We'll need cooperation from local forces after all."
"Like we did in India? Money can buy anyone, sure. But China's provincial governors don't have as much independent authority as India's nawabs. Administrative and military powers are separated too. Can we pull it off in a short time?"
"Not the high officials, but the common people. From here on, our China expert, Mr. Flint, will explain."
East India Company interpreter James Flint looked around at the commanders. Instead of explaining, he posed a question.
"Have you ever wondered how the Chinese government maintains such a massive army?"
"Because China is wealthy, isn't it? Its hundreds of millions of people are like an infinite treasury."
"That's partly true. But most of China's wealth is squandered on the absolute monarch's luxuries and other governing costs, with the military getting insufficient funding.
Moreover, they've long abolished the poll tax (referring to the lijia system), so population growth doesn't directly translate to national wealth. In other words, the state's productive capacity is beyond imagination, but concentrating it is difficult. Yet China actually mobilizes enormous manpower and resources during wars. What does that imply?"
Colonel Clive hit the nail on the head.
"Fiscal operations bypassing the central government... local procurement, then."
"Exactly. All armies do it to some extent, but for the Chinese army's campaigns, official and widespread local levies are essential. Without them, sustaining a large force is impossible."
Colonel Draper, catching on a bit late, asked,
"So, the common people in southern China must already be brimming with resentment?"
"Yes. Responding to our expedition will require far more funds than the Japan campaign. Even then, halting overseas trade hurt some ocean merchants, but that was limited. If the domestic market, especially salt, collapses under plunder, they won't be able to hold out."
Flint also briefly touched on the deep-seated anti-government sentiment and history among southern Han Chinese.
The commanders nodded in understanding.
"So, Mr. Flint, do you have some useful connections inside China to exploit?"
"I have contacts, but not enough to get them to join a rebellion. And they have no need to ride with us."
Hanjian—traitors to the Han who posed greater obstacles to the British than the Qing during the Opium War—hadn't yet reached the point of forming on a large scale.
It's better to let them exploit the Qing's weaknesses individually rather than binding their fate to the Han Chinese.
That way, they could later drag Emperor Qianlong to the negotiation table with Britain.
If the rebels and British explicitly allied, Qianlong couldn't negotiate even if he wanted to. Britain's goal was negotiation, not China's destruction.
Admiral Tiddeman nodded.
"Then the strategy is set."
Leaving only a portion of the army in Nagasaki, they would lead nearly the entire fleet to invade Hangzhou Bay, luring out and sinking China's entire fleet.
Then, sailing south along the coast, they would impress upon the people that the emperor's control was crumbling.
Not necessarily through violence alone. James Flint could strike the right balance between carrot and stick. That was a thug's specialty.
Colonel Clive tapped the map.
"Ultimately, we'll seize Formosa (Taiwan) and turn it into a naval base. That'll give the impression we're supporting the rebels too. The emperor will have no choice but to submit."
"From Nagasaki's perspective, wouldn't using the Ryukyus as a foothold be more stable?"
James Flint looked chastened. He and Admiral Richard King had razed Shuri Castle, earning the Ryukyuans' hatred. They'd narrowed Britain's options.
Colonel Clive turned to Flint and said gently,
"Occupying and holding the Ryukyus would consume just as many troops for us. Formosa is closer to our targets—Guangzhou for opening ports and the Manila we've already secured."
"Fair point. Understood."
Satisfied, Admiral Tiddeman rose.
"Any more questions, gentlemen? If not, let's begin."
The British forces began.
The Qing forces had completed their deployment.
Appointing former Governor-General of Liangguang, Li Shiyao, as overall commander of the Qing army was a rational choice.
No one else had brilliantly repelled the British in Ryukyu before.
Upon transferring to the front-line post of Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, Li Shiyao also took concurrent command of the two provincial fleets' Admiral Superintendents.
On paper, China's southeast coast was Li Shiyao's kingdom.
The Qing's ironclad rule of never entrusting absolute power to Han Chinese was ignored by the emperor's direct edict right beside him. Pulling earth from water only makes it sink.
Politically, it could be seen as anti-Western factions gaining ground within the Qing court. Qianlong had solidified his policy direction.
Thus, Li Shiyao absolutely could not fail.
The British had miscalculated one thing. While China's mobilization lagged behind its national power, the emperor's presence changed everything. It enabled mobilization "beyond national power."
Not all southerners hated the emperor either.
Compromisers aiming to elevate the Han status within the empire were here too. Future Indians might lament getting duped, but the response now was enthusiastic.
With the emperor personally intervening, timid measures like heavenly decrees wouldn't suffice. Li Shiyao marched forth to confront the British, fully displaying the might of a heavenly army.
Captain Charles Grant of the 20-gun frigate HMS Seahorse scowled through his telescope.
"Not just junks. That one's nearly as big as ours? Combined, their tonnage could rival Quiberon Bay."
The battleships from the Zheng Chenggong era that Li Shiyao hastily bought from Taiwan pirates were comparable in size to frigates. Aide Robert Jocelyn replied,
"The wind's against us too."
Winter brought northwest winds. The not-so-foolish Chinese fleet had arrayed in a circular formation west of Hangzhou Bay. The British would fight into the headwind.
But Captain Grant wasn't overrating them out of fear. He grinned.
"That's for European naval battles. Think they'll sit with the wind at their backs pounding our waterline? That's only effective for ships designed with broadside cannons."
When wind blows from the starboard of a square-rigged ship with triangular sails, starboard rises, port dips.
The British fleet preferred turning port toward the enemy and firing "downward." This position is called windward.
The enemy then exposes its high side, easy to rake sails with chain or bar shot, crippling mobility.
Deck crew gets shredded too. It foils boarding attempts, the main goal of downwind tactics.
This "enemy" direction is leeward, favored by Britain's rival, the French navy.
Windward and leeward each have pros and cons.
The French preference made sense—they were outnumbered, so they minimized losses (leading to many captures by intact British ships).
Now, the British needed to avoid losses.
But the enemy lacked equivalent broadside firepower.
Unlike brave-only-in-adultery Frenchmen, British boarding was their sailors' specialty. Like cavalry on land, boarding remained paramount at sea.
Already conserving shot and powder, they could charge once the junks floundered limb-broken.
Captain Grant thought it a piece of cake. Admiral Tiddeman likely agreed.
The Hangzhou Bay Battle curtain rose with broadsides from flagship Elizabeth and the heavier-gunned HMS Lenox, two ships-of-the-line.
Unlike Ryukyu, where British firepower massacred the Chinese, that wasn't the main scene here.
Against these numbers, it was impossible, as Admiral Hyde Parker had failed. The British cautiously targeted the largest, easiest flagship and escorts, waiting for formation collapse.
But the Chinese didn't flee easily.
As the British marveled at the unexpectedly high Chinese morale, the Qing showed a tactic only high-morale troops could pull.
"Fire ships!"
Admiral Tiddeman snorted at the lookout's report.
"Downwind, of course they'd try that. Concentrate fire! They're just swept up in madness now. One or two exploding will halt or scatter the rest. No one throws away life that easily!"
His judgment was spot-on except the last part. Except Japanese, humans are sane and don't suicide-charge.
The lookout yelled incredulously, forgetting basics.
"The ships are separating?"
Ming wisdom: linked vessels (lianhuan zhou). Kim Unhaeng might think chaining for line-of-battle firepower like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but no.
They weren't linking but detaching.
Qing sailors jettisoned forward bomb holds, paddling nimble rear halves. Twenty-odd linked vessels sped empty downwind.
Even close, it was like rolling boulders from a mountain to hit below precisely.
Most drifted harmlessly, some destroyed by desperate British fire.
But there were too many.
"Enemy fire ship colliding with frigate Falmouth!"
"Damage?"
"Hasn't detonated yet. And second wave prepping from enemy line!"
"Damn, first navy with fire ships as main force!"
Qianlong would mercifully educate the barbarian: "This amount hardly qualifies as main force."
Admiral Tiddeman decided swiftly.
"Break formation! Furl all but triangular sails. All hands prepare to repel boarders! Frigate Seaford leads—charge the flagship!"
Attrition was what Britain most wanted to avoid now.
Fire ships were uncontrollable post-launch, infiltrating at perfect moments.
Hitting zigzagging British ships into the wind with unmanned hulks was hard.
Once inside, it was over.
This fleet's hundreds of guns unleashed broadsides would neutralize or rout most non-elite Chinese ships. Then board the flagship.
For the numerically superior Qing, boarding wasn't bad either.
Both sides had chosen optimal tactics for their situations.
Not like the Opium War's blunders and plot holes—this was "unrealistic" war where both maximized strength.
British sailors with fixed bayonets bared black teeth under yellow beards, glaring like lions at the Qing.
Barefoot Chinese pirates wielding broadswords and spears flaunted iron-thighed legs, roaring like tigers.
Earth's two greatest beasts charged without mercy.
Zhangyongying Commander Kim Seong-eung brushed snow from his shoulders.
Advanced in years but his iron-forged frame needed no worry for outings even in this snowy winter.
About to enter the State Tribunal chamber, Kim paused, detouring to a side room to warm up first.
Not for himself. Consideration for another elder. To spare the waiting old man the outer chill.
Park Mun-su, nominal overseer of Joseon's "war" as the Five Provinces Inspector, looked even gaunter.
With Qing tangled in bloodshed with Russia, Japan, Britain, one might question Joseon's war.
But without warrior strife, scribes claimed that share.
Supporting Kim Unhaeng's grand deception—all but fully mobilizing Joseon's fleet—and sealing expanded domestic/foreign comms against leaks required total national effort.
Joseon lacked modern logistics and counterintelligence. Only an alchemist transcending common sense like Park could manage it.
Yet Park couldn't resent Kim Unhaeng. Rather, he deserved praise.
But Park didn't want to.
Kim Seong-eung had praised him instead.
"This affair shattered two mighty English battleships. Qing lost over eighty sunk, more fleeing. This is what 'supreme extremity' means—winning without fighting."
Qing had continentally squandered ten thousand troops, countless warships, and crucially southern hearts/money. No more sea ventures.
Britain too. No commander would report massive losses as "occupy Taiwan"—they fled. They'd gasp for breath awhile.
Black and white unresolved. Mingled gray.
Joseon's stage as gray agent expanded.
But Park said hoarsely,
"Same talk when Song pitted Jin (Jurchen) against Liao (Khitan). Did that spare the Joei imperial house Jingkang wrath? Supreme extremity and utter ruin are hard to distinguish. Neighboring fires are never good."
"You think it'll go awry?"
"Too precarious. Lately, Hong Daeyong of the Observatory said of Westerners' discourse: two bodies' motions predictable with paper and pen, but three? Impossible. Let alone four now. One change of heart turns this land to battlefield."
Kim tilted his head. Park didn't explain two-body, three-body problems, or human madness far more complex than planets.
So Kim focused calming the precious talent, Prince Yeongseong.
"Future's for posterity. Especially with Western ties—none fitter than Kim Chunsik? Nothing more honorable for a scholar than upright service in old age, unburdened by office. Why fret distant woes, my lord?"
Park felt sticky despair rising like vomited blood.
'Must this country rely on Kim Unhaeng ultimately?'
Not Noron issue. Soron moderates chose Noron compromise. The problem was Kim Unhaeng.
Joseon daily stepped into uncharted under unprecedented king.
Each step needed Kim Unhaeng.
'Could it be?'
Park whipped around. Toward Changdeok Palace.
'Is His Majesty making the country unable to function without Kim Unhaeng?'
Few in court now sought to oust him.
But poor war outcome pins blame on leading Kim (he'd foam-denied: "I tried stopping it!").
Flowers wilt in eleven days. Once legitimacy tips, end. Like Yu Ja-gwang, Yun Won-hyung, Kim Ja-jeom—mightier powers fell instantly.
But if crises only he could solve kept arising?
Hangzhou news prompted King Yi Hwon’s first order, deepening Park's suspicion.
Three hundred Training Band elites assembled at Namdaemun.
Their straw shoes and gun muzzles clearly northbound.
Too few for cherished northern expedition. Too many for provincial training.
Onlookers buzzed like Hanseong's questions/debates. Training Band trumpets wailed through the crowd.