Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1276
In the evening, the reconnaissance balloons on Dashun's side were withdrawn, and the British army also began to gather the defenders in the direction of the bay under the cover of night.

After the officers passed on the order, the soldiers were very excited.Rather than waiting to die in this besieged state, they would rather fight a wave.

It's just that this attack can only rely on infantry and sailors who landed after the ships were burned, and artillery cannot provide support.

Because of the siege fortifications on Dashun's side, even during the day, and even if Dashun and French artillery did not return fire, the shelling would have no effect, let alone at night.

It will also take time to change the force from the state of deploying to various fort strongholds, to gathering, and then transforming to attacking.

It doesn't mean that the soldiers stationed at the Gulf Fort a few miles away can instantly reorganize and form formation to counterattack the siege trenches of Dashun with an order from the officer.

The time when the British army began to gather troops was in the evening, and after a rest, the time when they planned to launch an attack was late at night near the early morning.

Because of the problem of the moon's trajectory, the moon rising in the second half of the night can somewhat provide some light for the attack.

Because of the ebb and flow of the tide, if the Chinese and French allied forces in the bay want to use floating forts to bombard and then cover the French marines and Dashun's small number of troops there to attack from the bay, they will have to wait until at least nine o'clock in the morning.

Therefore, the British army theoretically had about four or five hours to raid the camp of the Dashun Army in the direction of the isthmus, seize supplies, burn cannons, and rob the shops of Spanish merchants.

It should be said that the British army is still well-trained. Under such circumstances, reorganizing the team and completing the offensive without being noticed by Dashun really requires a certain degree of organization.

As for the reason why the British army stationed in Gibraltar has such a degree of organization, or what kind of comparison is there between the British Army and the Dashun Army in terms of tactical system, it is inevitable that "children have no mothers, it is a long story." up.

At this time, the main force of the British army stationed in Gibraltar was the 20th Infantry Regiment, whose old commander was James Wolfe, whose original title in history was "Conqueror of Canada".

That is the classic scene in the era of private soldiers - the British army marching in line, with the French muskets advancing to 30 steps, stood still, fired a volley, defeated the French army in one wave, and Canada changed hands - the command official.

James Wolfe and John Mordaunt, the commander of the British army in Gibraltar at this time, were old acquaintances.At that time, he was still chasing his niece, who was considered the son-in-law.

When James Wolfe was old enough to serve in the European War, he was with Mordaunt.After that, he was promoted to colonel and has been the head of the 20th regiment, which is the main force of the British army stationed in Gibraltar at this time.

During the siege of the port of Rochefort, his troops were mobilized to fight, again under John Mordaunt.

However, when discussing whether to continue the attack when the neutral Dashun merchant ship was in the port, Wolfe believed that the navy did not need shelling, and the marines could go ashore without cover to attack, so as to avoid the attack. Opening merchant ships from neutral countries poses a threat to France.

In the subsequent pot-sharing meeting, Wolfe was not implicated because of his remarks, but was reused.

The reasons are of course multifaceted.

First, his father had just been promoted to general.

Second, from the very beginning, William Pitt’s strategy did not feel that he could turn the tide of the war by landing in France—the strategic defensive core interests can sometimes be expressed in the form of offense. If you don’t understand it, you can think about China in later generations. In the state of the US-Soviet struggle for hegemony, it is a standard strategic defense. Why is there a nickname like "fighting cock" with abundant martial arts virtues.

The purpose of William Pitt's attack on France was not to defeat France, but to attack purely for the sake of attack, and the attack itself was the end.Only by attacking can France be mobilized, so that France cannot gather troops to go to the northern front, nor can it concentrate its fleet to threaten Britain and North America. Instead, it will reserve a large number of troops and fleets on the long coastline to guard against British harassment, and Britain can use this This kind of worthless attack guarantees one's own core interests.

Therefore, Wolfe, who insisted on attacking Rochefort, and one of the few army officers who understood Peter's intentions after the Battle of Menorca and believed that France would not land in Britain unless Hanover failed, William Pete recognized his big picture and considered him the best implementer of his North American and Caribbean strategy.

Third, when suppressing the Scottish and Catholic uprising, Wolfe refused to massacre British Catholic women and children, and refused to refill a wounded opposition nobleman, forcing the Duke of Cumberland not to allow a soldier to refill his gun. It gained a very good reputation among the Whig Party and the urban industrial and commercial classes.Because he refused the order of the Duke of Cumberland, which involved the fourth reason.

Fourth... The issues involved here are more complicated, and he has the support of London Financial Street.This is closely related to the third matter, which also involves some games between the British military reform, the Whig Party, and the royal family; the Duke of Cumberland intends to strengthen the royal power, and his military reform idea of ​​strengthening the standing army makes the Whig Party and financial capital Feeling strongly disturbed, needing a living "conscience of a true gentleman who defied the orders of butchers and tyrannical regimes" as a model.

The core issue involved here is the reason why the British army, which had been besieged for two months at this time, could still gather at dusk, execute military orders, and launch a counterattack against Dashun's siege fortifications.

In fact, people often have similar ideas, especially the thinking of fighting beast chess and the view of hero history.

For example, many Chinese people in later generations will imagine that if so-and-so lived, so-and-so did not die early, and when so-and-so lived, what would happen to history.

People in the British circle also imagined in the same way. Regarding the North American War of Independence, the two people they most often imagined were: if Clive had not committed suicide due to opium torture, and went to North America to become the governor; if James Wolf was not killed in the gun show in Canada, but as the military commander in North America, what will happen...

This does not need to consider the economic base, does not need to consider trade, does not need to consider the combination of financial capital and aristocracy, does not need to consider the contradiction between forced feudal monopoly and free trade, does not need to consider the demand for raw materials in the European market, and so on.

But the inverse also proves two things:
One is that for those who have established a certain reputation, the sooner they die, the better.The sooner one dies, the more perfect the reverie of the future generations will be.

The second is James Wolfe, who is really implementing the reform of the British Army, making the British Army truly an army capable of fighting, and can be regarded as a representative of the British Army Reform.

In fact, the military reform and tactical system reform presided over by Liu Yu in Dashun was not an isolated incident.

Almost at the same time as Liu Yu’s Dashun military reform, there were also British military reform, French military reform, Russian military reform, Prussian military reform, and Austrian military reform—including the one that Carlos III of Spain will carry out soon in history The military reform can also be regarded as the aftermath of this wave of major military reforms in the world.

From a purely technical point of view, this worldwide wave of military reforms in major powers originated from the War of Spanish Succession.The standard configuration of flintlock and bayonet is cited as the most cost-effective tactical system in this era by the blood and fire of actual combat.

And the tactical system that goes hand in hand with munitions technology requires formations, ranks, discipline, treasury revenues, a more centralized government, and a standing army.

In Dashun, it is manifested in the increase of treasury income from the military officer corps, recruitment tactics system, monopoly system, and overseas trade development.

In the UK, there is one more "royalty" issue than Dashun.

Before this new era of military reforms that began three to forty years ago and that major military powers around the world are carrying out, the theoretical standing army of the British Army hardly existed.

Both the Tories and the Whigs opposed Britain having a standing army.

It is very easy to understand from the class level.

The last time Britain really had a standing army, it was called the Republic of England, and the leader was not the king, but the Lord Protector.

Although Cromwell did this and that, he did carry out a social revolution involving production relations to a certain extent. Although it was not complete, the Tory Party also suffered serious losses that time.

They still have lingering fears about the standing army that affected the social revolution that affected them, as well as the intensified movements of the "earth-digging faction" and "land-sharing faction" in the standing army, and the land-sharing mutiny that almost resulted.

The Tories believed that the standing army was a breeding ground for spreading the "extreme" ideas of the earth-diggers and the land distributionists, which made various ideas spread rapidly in the efficient organization of the army, so they firmly opposed the establishment of a formal standing army in the UK.

The Whigs, of course, were against it.

The reasons for their opposition are also closely related to their class attributes.

The Whig Party only tolerated the existence of the army during peacetime, and as prominent families, local forces in various counties, and capital groups, they were confident in controlling the army under the previous "ownership of officials and heads" and made the army permanent. It is regarded as autocracy and tyranny, and it is believed that no country should have a standing army, but each county should form an army of each county.

The Whig Party publicly stated: [The officer purchase system is the guarantee of parliamentary sovereignty against royalist rebellion].

There are two things involved here.

One: The officer purchase system, that is, the regiment leader ownership system, or the "county soldier system" or "partial music system".

Two: Sovereignty in the Whig-controlled Parliament, or in the monarch, that is, parliamentary sovereignty?Sovereignty?

The officer purchase system here, the regiment leader ownership system... If it were before the military reform, it would actually be impossible for the 20th regiment stationed in Gibraltar today, but it would be named as "a certain lord regiment", "a certain lord regiment", "a certain lord regiment" A certain group of gentlemen".

Spend money to buy the leader.The regiment is used as a unit to form an army, and the treasury provides armaments and basic food and grass, while the regiment leader provides rewards, allowances, salaries, etc.

The head of the regiment can sell the lieutenant colonel, major, captain, company commander and other commanders in the regiment. Generally speaking, the more they sell, the more they earn.

In English, "company" and "company" are the same word.

Those who buy company commanders and battalion commanders are equivalent to buying shares.Including the income from battlefield loot, and the income from the "legal regiment's exclusive business and trading rights", it is natural that the "shareholders" should distribute it reasonably.

The Whigs said, "Officer purchases are the guarantee of parliamentary sovereignty against royalist rebellion," which is, of course, quite correct.

Purely from the point of view that the army is a violent institution: after Emperor Hanling resettled the state priests, would there still be "royalists"?Isn't sovereignty firmly in the hands of the "prime minister".

Of course, the situation is different, but the topography of the UK determines a thing that is essentially the same as Dashun, but behaves differently.

That is, Dashun can develop the navy, because Emperor Dashun knew that although battleships were strong, they could not sail on land.However, within the army, the elimination of Liu Yu's influence had already begun.

As for the United Kingdom, its terrain determines that the navy is the pillar force for guarding interests, while the army is the force that determines the political struggles on the island. The party is full of vigilance against the standing army.

Obviously, such an army cannot adapt to the era of flintlock arrays, nor can it achieve professional confrontation in which thousands of people are sent.Various restrictions on the army, the South American expedition in the Jenkins Ear War became the biggest military laughing stock in Europe, which triggered the military reform of the Duke of Cumberland.

The problem is that the Duke of Cumberland is the king's own son, so what will the parliamentarians think of this military reform?
Does the standing army mean royal tyranny?

The reform of the standing army was proposed by the king's own son. What do you want to do?
Coupled with the theory of restoration of royal power that the faction of the prince party has always advocated, it really has to make the Whigs feel uneasy: the prince is gone, and the prince and grandson grew up watching Viscount Bolingbroke. , can't imagine.

(End of this chapter)