The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 355 The Threat from New France

Seven years ago, when Qi took over Arcadia, it solemnly re-established the border between the two countries with the French.

At that time, the French insisted that the border between the New France and Qi's Acadia should still be the Isthmus of Chinecto, with the border near the southern end mainly along the Missigash River. The north bank belonged to France and the south bank belonged to Qi, and they respected each other and did not invade each other.

Moreover, in order to strengthen exchanges between each other and reduce military frictions, Qi and France also agreed not to build fortresses or establish fortresses on both sides of the border, or to station corresponding military armed personnel.

In May 1730, the Qi people discovered a coal mine on the Qingchuan side of the Chinecto Isthmus (now the Nova Scotia Peninsula). When developing and constructing the mine, they still abided by the agreement with the French and did not build a fort near the coal mine. They simply put up a circle of simple wooden fences to prevent wild beasts and unauthorized people from breaking in.

However, by June 1735, 6, the foundation of a bastion-style fortress had been completed on the French border side, and hundreds of conscripted Acadians and Mi'kmaqs, under the guidance of French officers and engineers, began to build city walls and various military facilities such as barracks, artillery batteries, and warehouses.

The entire fortress was built on high ground on the north bank of the creek, near the southernmost end of the Chinecto Isthmus, less than five kilometers away from the Qi people's Fort Anlu (now Amherst, Nova Scotia). The French named it Fort Beausejour.

Captain Theo Hernandez Combe rode his horse around the fortress construction site and then ran to the river, where a group of soldiers were confronting several Qi people on horseback who were standing still and watching across the river.

"Captain Com, the people of Qi are very timid and dare not even attempt to cross the river." A soldier reported to him loudly.

"Well, very good." Captain Comb nodded and looked up at the other side of the creek.

Since they started building Fort Beausejour more than ten days ago, the people of Qi sent people to monitor it every day, and after dark, they would return to Fort Anlu not far away.

Apart from sending someone to inquire about the French's purpose on the first day, they did not take any further action, let alone stop the French's actions.

However, it can be seen that the Qi people were somewhat nervous and seemed to feel deeply threatened by the French move. This can be seen from the fact that they sent people to monitor the construction of the fortress every day.

Although the people of Qi had stepped up immigration in the past five or six years, causing their population to rapidly increase from a few hundred to six or seven thousand (the French were not very clear about the exact number of immigrants in Qi and could only make a rough estimate through information obtained from local Acadians), and forced the local Acadians to obey their rule and tried to eliminate all traces of French colonial rule, and changed many place names to the names of Qi, the French colonial authorities in the New France territory did not take it seriously.

Because there are still as many as five or six thousand French residents in Acadia and Newfoundland.

The French believed that as long as they raised their arms and called on all French residents to follow them, renew their allegiance to the king and France, and enthusiastically welcome the arrival of the French army.

"Captain Com, will we attack the Qi people and recapture Arcadia?" When Captain Com led his horse to the river, ready to give his beloved mount some water, a soldier following him asked carefully.

"Pavard, do you want to fight?" Captain Kom asked without turning his head, gently stroking the horse's mane.

"Captain Kom, I..." Pavar looked a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly, "If...if the commander ordered us to start a battle, I would definitely...rush forward bravely."

"War kills people." Captain Com turned to look at the young soldier and said softly, "We are expanding territory for His Majesty the King in New France. The process is full of dangers and hardships, so each of us should live well instead of sacrificing our lives in vain. Paval, your second child seems to have just turned one year old, and it is the time when you, as a father, need to watch him grow up healthily. In this situation, are you willing to sacrifice your life easily?"

"Captain Kom..." Pavar was stunned for a moment, then shook his head subconsciously, "None of us want to fight, and we don't want to die silently in a terrible war. My wife and my children all need me. I need me to protect them from the wind and rain and provide them with a peaceful and prosperous life. Oh, God, to be honest, I am very afraid of death and afraid of leaving my wife and children."

"So, we all have to live well." Captain Comb patted the soldier on the shoulder gently, and then continued to comb the mane of his mount.

"Captain Kom, you are a good man." Pavard was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "You are different from other officers."

"Different? ...Because of my cowardice, or my hatred of war?"

"No, Captain Kom, you are not a coward." Pavar said seriously: "We can all feel that you are very... caring towards all the soldiers. You are so wise and so upright. Do you know? In the entire company, you are loved by all the soldiers. To be honest, Major Dio is not as good as you..."

"Okay, okay..." Captain Kom interrupted him quickly, "Pavar, go and do your work seriously, and stop bragging about me here. To be honest, I feel a little ashamed now. Oh, by the way, tell the other soldiers not to initiate any provocative actions against the Qi people on the other side. I don't want to make the relationship between our two countries too tense and ruin this hard-earned peace."

"Yes, Captain Kom." Pavard saluted Captain Kom, then turned and ran to his companions to convey the captain's order.

As he said, Captain Combe was a "good man". Compared with those corrupt and incompetent officials and military generals in the entire New France territory who only knew how to plunder and defraud the French king's salary, the young captain's actions were simply a breath of fresh air in New France.

He is upright, philanthropic, caring for soldiers and subordinates, and has sophisticated military skills. What's more, he is also very strategic. He has very unique insights on both the disputes among European countries and the development and management of the North American continent, and is quite favored by the bigwigs in Quebec City.

Perhaps it was because he was too unique that he was ostracized and suppressed in the military.

His tyrannical colleagues thought that he was so caring for the soldiers that he was unbecoming of an officer; his corrupt superiors, seeing that he was so clean, honest and kind, thought that he was not the same kind of person as themselves, and would deliberately alienate and suppress him; the officers who had seized high positions because of bribery could not help but feel jealous when he explained current affairs and commented on the general trend, and thus deliberately slandered and defamed him behind his back.

Although Captain Combe had received recognition and praise from Governor General Marquis de Beauharnois in Quebec City, he had never been promoted over the years and remained a small company captain.

However, those playboys who were inferior to him in terms of knowledge and professional military qualities were frequently given important positions and occupied prominent high positions.

For example, Major Ronnie Diot, who was in charge of the construction of Fort Beausejour, was a typical incompetent officer. He had neither military skills nor the ability to manage troops. He left almost all the work to Captain Combe, and then returned to the rear to drink and have fun, attend balls, or flirt with the skirts of noble ladies.

Nearly seven hundred Acadians and Mi'kmaqs were recruited to work on the fortress site. Under the supervision of the soldiers, they worked day and night to speed up the construction, aiming to complete the project when the weather turned cold in autumn.

However, all of them worked hard while living on hunger, and most of the wages and food expenses that should have been paid to them went into the pockets of Major Dio and several supervisors.

Captain Combe was firmly opposed to the construction of Fort Beausejour. He believed that this move would over-stimulate the Qi people on the other side, thus causing a de facto military confrontation between the two sides. If not careful, it would trigger a border conflict or even a war.

It is true that in terms of power, we French have an absolute advantage. Perhaps through a war, we can completely recover the lost Acadian Peninsula and Newfoundland Island, and completely drive the Qi people out of the east coast of North America.

But what happens after that?

The Anglo-Qi War seven years ago made everyone realize that the people of Qi had begun to rule the ocean.

The terrifying maritime power they possess is enough to make any country that is interested in developing overseas colonies and overseas trade feel fearful.

They have the ability to attack you and inflict severe damage anywhere in the world's oceans.

They also have the ability to send a powerful fleet to the overseas colonies you run, blockading you on the continent and making you unable to move at all.

Of course, they are more capable of cutting off the overseas trade you pursue and severing your access to maritime wealth.

Therefore, countries and merchants who want to survive on the sea have to seriously consider how much impact the existence of the Qi people will have on themselves.

In Captain Com's opinion, the idea of ​​trying to attack the Qi people and then retake Arcadia was an extremely risky act.

Once war breaks out, there is a high probability that the people of Qi will join forces with the English in the south to launch a strong counterattack against the territory of New France.

In North America, France's biggest and most dangerous enemy should be the English.

Over the past two hundred years, several large-scale wars have broken out between Britain and France over the North American continent, which has accumulated too many conflicts and hatreds.

Although Britain and France have maintained a long-term peace in North America over the past decade, this has not eliminated the estrangement and disputes between them. This is just an interval before the next war.

In recent years, in order to improve its financial problems, the English government had to impose corresponding commodity import and export tariffs and tobacco sales taxes on its North American colonies, which led to successive waves of protests in various British colonial territories. As a result, they had no time to look north and basically stopped harassing and attacking the New France territory, which made the French authorities' ambitions swell for a time.

The bigwigs, including the governor and several provincial governors, felt that they could take advantage of this great opportunity to do something to better consolidate and expand the territory of New France, so as to gain the appreciation of His Majesty the King and the Regent (later ruled by the Duke of Bourbon and Bishop of Fleury).

Therefore, in addition to sending a number of expeditions to intensify exploration and expansion in the Ohio River and Missouri River basins, the French also frequently contacted local Indians to infiltrate New England and Acadia, instigating local indigenous peoples and Acadians to launch violent attacks in an attempt to shake the ruling foundation of the English and Qi people in the local area.

In fact, infiltration and sabotage of the New England region was indeed necessary, which could gain a certain degree of advantage in the next British-French battle for North America and increase the chaotic situation in the New England region.

However, secretly inciting the Acadians and Indians to oppose Qi's colonial rule was an irrational act.

Such behavior would not only annoy the people of Qi and undermine a series of close commercial cooperation reached between the two sides in the early stages, but it would also likely make the people of Qi wary of France and push them to the side of the English.

Originally, with the arrival of the Qi people, France joined forces with them to contain and confront the powerful New England colonial territory. The French pressed hard from the north, and the Qi people responded from the northeast. In addition, they had strong maritime power. Therefore, in the future battle for North America, Qi and France would have a considerable strategic advantage, which could slightly offset their own disadvantage of having fewer people.

However, in July 1731, an expedition heading northwest in search of furs discovered a trading post built by the Qi people in the upper reaches of the Missouri River.

It is reported that these Qi people came from the west coast of North America. They crossed the towering Rocky Mountains, followed the rivers and valleys, and came here. Then they built this fort on the north bank of the Missouri River, named Fort Qihua (now Williston, North Dakota, USA), collected furs from local Indians, and sold goods from the civilized world.

Upon learning the news, the New France authorities were extremely shocked.

This meant that the Qi people had crossed the Rocky Mountains and extended their influence to the Missouri River basin.

I still remember that before the outbreak of the Qi-England War, the people of Qi had solemnly assured the French that the border of their west coast colonial territory was the Rocky Mountains and would not expand eastward.

How come, after only five years, the people of Qi had actually reached the Missouri River Basin?
So, will they continue to extend their tentacles eastward along rivers large and small, through Louisiana, and then reach the East Coast?
The French suddenly felt that those Qi people who seemed harmless on the surface might have a strong desire for expansion deep in their hearts, and they would eventually become the biggest competitors of French North American territories like the English.

Looking at the Qi people in Arcadia who were so close, the French suddenly felt threatened.

Should we delay or hinder the development of the Qi people, preferably to prevent them from gaining a foothold in Arcadia?
Therefore, whether it was tacitly approving or condoning radical "patriots" inciting the Acadians to attack the Qi people, or supporting and uniting with the Indians to destroy the Qi people's immigrant settlements, it was a reflection of the many outrageous actions taken by the New France territorial authorities.

Now, Quebec has received instructions from mainland France, asking them to exert certain pressure on the Chinese in North America, so as to force the other party to change its position on the Austrian issue or make certain concessions.

Therefore, under the collective resolution of the Supreme Council, Governor Marquis de Beauharnois decided to build Fort Beausejour on the border of Arcadia, directly threatening the Anlu coal mine that the Qi people valued most.

Presumably, after feeling the strong military threat, the people of Qi would have worriedly reported the difficulties here to their emperor, which would then have affected their diplomatic attitude towards European affairs.

"Acadia is only a marginal land for the Qi people. Even if it is taken away by us French, it will not harm their core interests at all." Captain Com looked at the other side of the river and muttered to himself: "If we start a war here, it will not only be of no help to European affairs, but will worsen our geopolitical situation in North America. ... Alas, the Governor-General is too hasty!"

(End of this chapter)