New Shun 1730

There were not many British troops in Fort St. David. After Dupleix led a part of the troops to come back for support, the British troops in Fort St. David could only withdraw to the fortress.

But on the way back, the bold Clive set up an ambush, ambushed the French army, and gave priority to attacking the French artillery company.

After achieving the results, Clive did not linger in the battle, but quickly withdrew from the battle and withdrew all the British troops to Fort St. David.

His purpose was very clear: to destroy the French artillery, so that the French siege of Fort St. David lacked artillery support. As long as the French artillery was insufficient, Fort St. David could hold out for a long time.

The clear purpose made Dupleix very passive.

When approaching Fort St. David, in the ambush the day before yesterday, four 18-pound guns were destroyed by the British, leaving France helpless in the face of Fort St. David, which the British had been operating for a long time.

Even though the French were very experienced in attacking bastions, the premise of the Vauban siege method was that the artillery was at least twice that of the defenders.

The defenders of the city included not only the British army, but also a group of Indian mercenaries. Clive suggested to the colonel that these mercenaries be provided with unlimited hemp leaves. After inhaling a large amount of hemp leaves, these Indian mercenaries doubled their combat effectiveness and became extremely excited. They even launched a counterattack against the French army that was digging and besieging the city outside the city.

The French army, lacking heavy artillery, could only choose to besiege Fort St. David. Without the support of artillery, the tactics of slowly approaching civil engineering works were still effective, but their efficiency was greatly affected. Without artillery suppression, digging pits was not easy.

In addition, the counterattacks of the British Indian mercenaries against the French army after inhaling a large amount of hemp leaves made the French siege progress very slowly.

After Fort St. David held out for two months, it was about the time when Dashun was fighting a show battle in Malacca.

George Anson's Centurion appeared on the coast of India.

The weak warships on the French side had to choose to avoid the battle, because Dashun had only rented two cruisers, which were no match for battleships at all.

After the British gained control of the sea, the French attack had already failed.

Not long after, the British army in Bengal, after the British gained control of the sea, took advantage of the calm before the storm period in the Indian Ocean and arrived in Madras.

The British army officially sounded the clarion call for a counterattack.

Dupleix retreated to Pondicherry, but because of the British control of the sea, the defense of Pondicherry was also difficult.

The Indian governors who originally claimed to help the French allies did not speak out at this time.

Relying on the control of the sea and the reinforcements from Mumbai, Bengal, the British reversed the initial decline, turned defense into offense, and began to besiege Pondicherry.

However, although Clive had some wisdom, the British army was not a strong army after all. It had little experience in the European battlefield and lacked sufficient siege methods.

Fortunately, with the control of the sea, the British chose to carry out a long siege of Pondicherry and formulated the tactic of "siege and reinforcement".

Relying on the navy to blockade Pondicherry, concentrate troops and strike at the French army that might come to rescue Pondicherry.

Historically, Dupleix, who had the upper hand and broke through Madras in one fell swoop, suffered the sinister calculations of his "old friend" Liu Yu.

George Anson, who had ambushed the fleet early, became the key to turning the tide.

During this period, the performance of Dashun was beyond reproach by the French.

Dashun helped and did what it should do. It sent a fleet to deter the British, rented two cruisers, and equipped the French instructors of Weihai to sail directly.

Moreover, Dashun had made its attitude clear early: it would declare war on the Netherlands, but not on Britain.

The French could also understand Dashun's decision. Declaring war on the Netherlands was for Dashun's own interests, and declaring war on Britain was purely to help France. The favors that should be done have been done. Of course, France could not have thought that Dashun had planned the British Luzon Fleet early during the Anglo-Spanish Jenkins's Ear War, and now it is still full of gratitude to Dashun.

Facing the siege of Pondicherry, Dupleix also thought of Dashun. Send someone out of the city quietly to Ceylon, hoping that Dashun will come forward to mediate and let the British withdraw their troops.

…………

In India, France was being cheated badly.

In North America, France was also experiencing a special war, and it was being cheated even worse.

The French and the British called this war the "Ginseng War".

Ever since the Portuguese went to Southeast Asia and occupied Macau, they began to trade with China.

There is a problem that has always been lingering on the heads of European merchants.

China is not the natives of America and Africa, where a broken glass ball can be exchanged for a pile of gold, silver and ivory.

China's handicraft industry is very developed, and it is so developed that the most popular imported "goods" in China are not silver ingots, silver dollars and silver coins.

Woolen cloth is really hard to sell in China.

The remaining specialty goods are either spices monopolized by the Dutch.

Or, the market is limited. For example, magenta dye, a dye made from small insects growing on cacti, is indeed very popular in Dashun, but the Spanish control most of it, and it really can't sell too much.

The problem that had been bothering European merchants since the Ming Dynasty finally took a turn for the better a few years ago.

People in the North American colonies suddenly realized that they could not make money by spinning and weaving foolishly and shipping the goods to China.

However, some grass roots that were everywhere in North America could be sold in China for almost the same price as silver.

In fact, it can be said that China can receive as much as you can transport. There has never been a situation where you can't sell it after transporting it, like woolen cloth.

The gold rush has not yet broken out in North America, but the ginseng fever has broken out first.

American ginseng is also ginseng, and the growth environment of ginseng is certain. In Dashun, it is from Shandong to Liaodong, and there is no such thing in Siberia to the north.

In America, it happens to be the border between British and French colonies.

The St. Lawrence River Basin, north of New York State, and south of Quebec.

The ginseng in Dashun has been almost dug up. Dashun is not the Qing Dynasty. It does not have a willow border or a ban on the Northeast. Instead, because of the lessons of the late Ming Dynasty, it has immigrated to the Northeast like crazy.

Although it cannot cross the Songliao watershed, the area south of the Songliao watershed has been stuffed with millions of people in the past hundred years.

There are many people, and digging ginseng is profitable. If it is not dug up in a hundred years, it will be a ghost. Several border conflicts with North Korea were provoked by ginseng diggers, and fighting often broke out.

But in North America, before Liu Yu started to trade ginseng with France on a large scale, no one dug this stuff.

The local Indians would occasionally dig some as herbal medicine, but they didn't use much. The primeval forest that had not been touched for thousands of years, the latitude suitable for the growth of ginseng, no matter the appearance, size, weight, or year, is a hot commodity in Dashun.

It is really difficult to find a 100-year-old ginseng in Dashun, and in recent years, even 10-year-old ginseng is rare. Ginseng diggers are everywhere from Liaodong to Songhua River. But in America, there are really many 100-year-old ginseng.

After the invasion of Japan and before visiting Europe, Liu Yu asked Kang Budai to find someone to write a pamphlet, arguing that American ginseng is not produced in Southeast Asia, and that the saying that the hot place of origin means the cool nature has been broken, and the price of American ginseng has gradually risen.

Let's start with this, because American ginseng comes from the port of Guangdong. Some doctors thought that it must be from Southeast Asia. Since it is so hot in Southeast Asia, the ginseng grown there must be cool in nature. In terms of medicinal effect, it is not as good as the ginseng grown in the bitter and cold land of Liaodong.

However, once the pamphlet was published, coupled with the trade model that the French developed under Liu Yu's suggestion, this perception was gradually reversed.

Because the French ships coming from America used ice as ballast. The ice that the citizens of Guangzhou eat in summer is all North American ice.

Covered with sawdust and wood chips, I dare not say that there is too much, but it will not melt in a year. Seeing that the ship carrying ginseng is also loaded with ten thousand years of black ice, I believe that this Western ginseng is also grown in a bitter and cold land, but I am afraid that the cool nature is not right.

Liu Yu was responsible for opening up the market. The price of this American ginseng rose steadily, affecting North America all the way, so the contradiction between Britain and France became more serious.

If this ginseng grows in the south of the thirteen states, there will not be too much contradiction, and the French can only be jealous.

If it grows north of Quebec, there will not be too much contradiction, and the British can only be jealous.

The latitude suitable for the growth of this thing happens to be the dividing line between the British and French colonies.

A war over ginseng broke out around the St. Lawrence River Basin.

The income of one hundred thousand taels of silver a year would be envied by any country. Moreover, in the environment where European countries generally have a headache about how to make silver from China.

The merchants in the British colonies saw the French shipping ginseng to China by ship, and some retired people from the East India Company who knew something about China also advocated the value of ginseng, so the merchants in the British colonies became jealous.

They began to build momentum, believing that America was the chosen place. When Europe was struggling to make silver in China, America only needed to dig grass roots to exchange for a large amount of silver. This kind of profit should not be monopolized by the French.

At the request of a group of businessmen, William Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, granted the power to the Maine tycoon Pepperell, allowing him to recruit troops and allow wealthy businessmen to fund an army to declare war on France. The British Governor would also use official power to support them, and promised that after defeating the French, these wealthy businessmen who invested would have priority in obtaining the exclusive rights to trade ginseng.

These colonial merchants had a big appetite, and they were not just thinking about competing in the ginseng producing areas.

In addition to ginseng, the furs of French colonies were also good things that could be exchanged for silver in China.

And the Newfoundland fishing grounds created by the confluence of the Mexican warm current and the Labrador cold current were once a good place ranked among the world's four largest fishing grounds. However, the Newfoundland region, especially the area at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, was occupied by the French.

Fish is also valuable.

Catholicism has fasting days, and meat cannot be eaten during fasting, but fish can be eaten with a little flexibility. Just like Islam cannot drink alcohol, but the essence brewed from dates can be drunk, because in Europe Mary gave birth to Jesus next to a manger, but in Arabia he was born under a date palm tree according to local conditions.

Although Protestants, in order to fight against Catholic habits, only do not eat fish on Fridays, the fasting day, but they do not say that they do not eat fish every day.

Dried fish is a very good trade item. It is easy to transport along the European coast. In recent years, the price of grain has been high due to the war, so it is naturally popular.

So.

Ginseng.

Cod.

Fur.

The wealthy businessmen in the British colonies all want these three things.

So, they decided to seize the French colonies in one fell swoop, rather than just making a small move in the ginseng producing area.

Their plan is also very simple:

Because North America has not had any civilization for thousands of years, there are no good roads.

In imagination, the primeval forest is very suitable for travel, with towering trees next to it, blocking the sun, no weeds or small trees, and large gaps, even cattle and horses can pass through.

In fact, the trees in the primeval forest fell down when they got old, and this place is not tropical, so it is cold and it will take decades for them to rot completely. As a result, the forest is full of fallen trees several people tall and covered with moss, which is a torture to walk on.

Therefore, without roads, the only things that can be used are rivers and water transportation.

The French occupy the estuary of the St. Lawrence River, the upper reaches of which run through the Great Lakes, and the tributaries can jump to the Hudson River to control New York State.

The British merchants are ready to play a big game, directly attacking the French port of Louisbourg in the lower bay of the St. Lawrence River, and then capture Quebec at the estuary, cutting off the internal and external connections of the French colonies and catching the turtle in the jar.

Cutting off the estuary and controlling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Will the French reinforcements have to walk inland from the primeval forest? Moreover, once the river transportation channel is cut off, even if the inland is difficult to attack, the French ginseng and fur cannot be transported out. Wouldn't they be controlled by British merchants?