Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 266 033 This kind of mistake actually requires a lightning strike from heaven.

Solovyov can be said to have killed the "zombie", but there is still a very troublesome thing for him, which is that he has angered the small group behind Dessalin who encouraged the purge of white people.

The person who heads this group is naturally the person who was struck by lightning as a baby. This kind of thing is not surprising. In the environment of black Africa, most of the people we know who were struck by lightning and survived. Some "divine power".

With "divine power", sometimes when thinking about stability or doing something, you will go crazy and cannot use common sense to reason.

And Mr. Boiron is just such a person.

He was the biggest advocate of the plan to cleanse white people in Haiti. As a relatively educated person among the black Haitian rebels, his move was more advanced than those who had always been racist.

Racist people are inherently crazy, and the advanced version of him is even more crazy.

As for what he wanted to do, it was also very clear. He came to see Dessalin and said that he could not let any Russians in, even if there were indeed more than a dozen Russian expatriates here.

But Dessalines and Pétion knew very well that they could not afford to offend their opponents, so they decided to negotiate inside the fort.

At this time, Pétion's role can be reflected. After all, he is one of the black or mixed-race people with the highest cultural level in Haiti, and he has indeed seen the world in Paris.

"We deeply regret what General Boiron did. Based on the principle of relieving the humanitarian crisis, we came to Port-au-Prince, and we may go to Cap-Haïtien, which was also known as Cap-de-France in the future. This is also for the future. It comes from the harmonious coexistence of various races in Santo Domingo. Once the killings begin, they will plunge into bloody racial vendettas and various revenge actions. There is no way to calm down the pain within a few decades. "

"I can understand your point of view. You now represent the Russian government and the expeditionary fleet, and I represent the Governor of Haiti. We should both reach a consensus instead of really falling into this kind of vendetta."

"Regarding this, General Pétion, I think it is better to establish the following consensus based on the principle of mutual benefit between Russia and Haiti."

Anyway, Russia's power, unless the West Indies is occupied by the British for the most part in the future, and then arbitrarily divides a string of islands that used to belong to France, there is unlikely to be a chance to intervene.

Later, the British handed over some islands to Sweden, and finally Sweden gave up and returned them to France. It was against this background.

It was the British who took advantage of their absolute naval superiority to take some Caribbean islands into their own hands.

Speaking of which, the British's maritime advantage cannot be offset for a while.

"I basically agree that the two sides can conduct further negotiations in a peaceful and friendly environment, but some problems will inevitably arise in some garrison troops in Port-au-Prince under the command of General Boiron."

"Then please ask Your Excellency the Governor to issue an order, jointly issued in the name of the Commander of the Russian Fleet and the Governor of Haiti. The principle of ceasefire cannot be violated, and no one can shoot at this time."

"I agree with your idea, even if the ceasefire is maintained for now."

Petion has indeed seen the world. Since the other party has no ill intentions, he thinks this is no problem and can continue the negotiation.

"I even think that one day when France cannot threaten your Haiti's true independence, you can go to Paris to exchange a treaty with them."

"What you said is indeed a good idea, but the British may not be willing. They have supported the weapons of the rebels before, and they certainly do not want Haiti and France to recognize each other."

Petion said this, proving that he understands the stakes now.

At the same time, Boiron was also educated, and even his uncle was a member of the House of Five Hundred representing the colony of Santo Domingo, but his political sense was far different. The same environment would eventually lead to different behaviors and practices. , it is also difficult to explain what is going on.

"However, if General Boiron does anything unfriendly, I'm afraid it will trigger a battle."

The Russian naval infantry regiment on board the ship has more than a thousand people, plus sailors and some naval infantry on the ship. This force is actually not enough to fill the Haitian army's teeth. The opponent's garrison in Port-au-Prince far exceeds the Russian fleet. Mobilized ground forces.

What's more, there are also the black citizens of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding villagers. In fact, these people cannot be offended by Seniavin's fleet.

But if an artillery battle breaks out, the Russian army's artillery fire far exceeds that of the Haitian army. If it fires directly at the fort, even the Haitian defenders will not be able to resist at all.

Pétion conveyed the news back to Dessalines. After the Haitian governor considered it, he agreed to the ceasefire request and even called Boiron to tell him not to cause trouble during the negotiations.

Boiron was not satisfied with this. He went out of the city and mobilized nearly 3,000 people to directly take orders from his armed forces, and he was still ready to carry out his plan.

This fact made Petion a little worried.

"Governor, the current situation is that if we let those white people go, they can leave their property that they can't take away. In addition, we can also get cash from the Russian fleet, as well as checks that can be cashed in banks in the United States and Britain. This deal is not a loss. Moreover, our soldiers are also insurgents and revolutionary troops after all, and they should not have the blood of civilians on their hands. You should also be very clear about this."

"Christopher wrote that he only planned to target those celebrities in Cape Haitien and occupy their property. Civilians have no power to resist us."

"Yes, there are no more than 10,000 white people left in our country now."

Dessalines knew that Petion still counted Poles as whites, and Boiron even wanted to count all mixed-race people as whites, but then again, Dessalines himself regarded the Poles and mixed-race people who came over as black brothers. The three people also had different perceptions in this regard.

"Well, write a letter to Christopher. Although I can read, I can't write much. You should write it. It should be concise so that his adjutant can understand it and read it out loud."

Dessalines knew that if his hands were clean, if Europe was at peace in the future, there might be room for maneuver to make peace with the French.

If he really wielded the butcher knife, it would not end easily.

But he did not expect that Boiron actually wanted to go it alone and directly clean up the white people in Port-au-Prince.

From Cape Haitien to Port-au-Prince, the messenger could run back and forth in one day.

Christopher did not take action on his side. The two largest military groups in Haiti were Dessalines as the "Grand Governor" and Christopher as the "Little Governor".

Both sides had their own armies, but Dessalines had the foundation laid by Toussaint Louverture, so these people knew what was right and what was wrong.

As for Christopher, he was able to restrain his subordinates. Although they were all bandit-like, he had the final say, and the subordinates did not dare to act rashly.

Even in this situation, Boiron found that the soldiers he had gathered were unwilling to take action.

Perhaps this was the last legacy left to them by the late leader, but it only existed during the founding stage of Haiti. It was only after Petion's death that his successor was driven out of office by a military coup, and it disappeared.

"Sir, if you ask us to kill French soldiers, we will do whatever we want, but we can't do it to civilians."

"But these white people used to let the supervisors whip you with whips. When they were domineering, you were beaten. Is this true? If those white women can still have white children in their bellies, they will come to deal with you when there are more people."

"Sir, you are wrong to say that. My previous master never used a whip."

"As someone who has been beaten like me, sir, I also say that killing people who cannot resist and are unarmed is wrong."

Anyway, no matter how Boilen instigated, these black soldiers would not fall for it. If they were asked to kill white men, they would only kill French soldiers in office.

What's more, among the white people who stayed, many still sympathized with the blacks, and some of them even helped them.

The royalists who exploited them most cruelly were almost wiped out by the Spanish army and the Jacobin army, and most of the remaining people fled to New Orleans.

Boiron saw that this was not going to work, and even if he gave an order, it would not be executed, so he left angrily.

You know, Haiti has just gained independence. Although voodoo came from West Africa with the blacks, it is still necessary to emphasize that some ideas passed from the French Revolution and the American War of Independence did let the uneducated black soldiers know what is good and what is bad.

So they refused the order, and Dessalines laughed when he heard about it.

"Oh, this is thunder and lightning. If I don't give an order, he can't do anything. Petion, if you can avoid killing people, try not to kill people. You are right. We can set a price for every white person. Except for those doctors and people with skills, and the Germans on Christopher's side, the rest of the people, those Russians can be taken away."

He was very happy, and he could make a lot of money for free.

"However, the Russians also have their own explanation. The ransom fee for every adult white person, regardless of gender, is equivalent to a 'loan'."

"Don't make it so complicated. What is a 'loan'?"

When Petion said this, he remembered that Dessalines knew nothing about banking and had to explain it to him again, so he changed his words.

"It means borrowing money to redeem them. Of course, the debt of this money is on their own heads. If they go to Rossburg, Russia, this debt can be forgiven, and they will be given a resettlement fee, and they will also be provided with housing and farmland. But if they go to New Orleans or other places, then this money is what they owe to the Russian government. They must pay it back within a certain period of time, and they will invite Americans to supervise and use their personal property to pay off the debt."

"Ah, then I understand. Although these Russians came to save the French, they would not come in vain."

Dessalines was also clear in his mind. In this case, he would send all these white people away.

As for what Boiron said, it was none of his business. He just had to wait for the Russians' money to arrive.

So in February 1804, the Governor of Haiti also issued an order that all French people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns and villages should bring their personal belongings to the dock of Port-au-Prince, where there would be ships to take them out of Haiti.

If someone did not leave, he also thought of a way to scare people, that is, if they did not leave after the deadline, all their property would be confiscated and thrown into the black prison.

This iron-fisted method also sent all the French people who had been registered to the Russian transport ship.

As for Christopher, two Russian frigates would escort the transport ship, and the garrison in Cape Haitien also received the order.

Christopher also knew that each of the people he evacuated was still worth some francs and pounds, especially since they did not need to be redeemed in banknotes, but were directly paid in gold coins and checks, which really made him very satisfied.

All the ransom paid in Cape Haitien went into Christopher's own pocket.

And the situation on Dessalines' side was roughly the same.

Because of this order, most of the white people in Haiti boarded the ship. Only the Germans who settled in the north and the Poles near Port-au-Prince remained here.

After these French people arrived on the ship, Duke Enghien could reveal his identity.

Since a Bourbon prince came to serve as the Russian governor of the Rossberg Territory, their personal safety was more or less guaranteed.

But the next problem was more troublesome.

There were a total of 4,399 French people on the ship. Fortunately, the French have always had a low birth rate. If there were too many children, it would be a big problem to place them.

If the fleet went around Cape Horn, it would obviously not be in line with the original intention of this operation.

Instead, it would be faster to pass through New Spain and rent Spanish ships on the west coast of Mexico.

It would be safer to go over on land.

Solovyov also planned this. The Duke of Enghien still needed to deal with the Governor of New Spain. Although he was a French Bourbon, the Grand Prince of Condé had been exiled in Spain. Regardless of the fact that the ruler of Spain was the King of Jellyfish, he could still do things in Spain.

You know, if the French nobles made small moves in the country, the first choice for escaping was not the nearest Britain, but Spain.

In this regard, in fact, in the story of the Three Musketeers, Aramis, who survived to the end, ran to Madrid.

It is still necessary to talk to the Governor of Spain about the pros and cons.