Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

October 20, 1857, Hong Kong Island.

As a colony of the British Empire in the Far East, and also a bridgehead for the British Empire's invasion of the East, the docks of Hong Kong Island were filled with warships at this moment.

Not only were there warships of the British Royal Navy flying the St. George flag, but there were also warships flying the tricolor flag of the Gallo-American Navy.

In addition, a large number of army troops from the British Empire and the Gallo-British Empire have landed and begun to rest and recuperate.

In addition, many sailors from both navies also took turns disembarking to rest.

For a time, Xiangjiang Island was almost entirely filled with these foreign devils with red eyebrows and blue eyes.

Sir John Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong, hosted a banquet at the Governor's House for the high-ranking Allied troops who had come to visit.

This included the Allied Commander-in-Chief, Sir Elgin, Minister of the British Empire to the Qing Empire; Admiral Seymour, Commander of the British Empire's Far East Fleet and Commander of the Allied Navy; General Grant, Commander of the British Empire's Expeditionary Force; and Harry Parkes, Consul General of the British Empire in Guangzhou.

Baron Gros, plenipotentiary representative of the Gallic Empire; General Montauban, commander of the Gallic Army Expeditionary Force; and Admiral Deszeiri, commander of the Gallic Fleet, among others.

This time, the British Empire and the Gallic Empire joined forces, preparing to teach the Qing Empire a lesson. They then used this opportunity to extort more benefits from the Qing Empire.

Originally, according to the plans of the British Empire and the Gallic Empire, they intended to launch a direct attack on the Qing Empire.

According to the British Empire and the Gallic Empire, the Qing Empire was becoming increasingly corrupt and backward.

The two countries didn't need to use many troops to defeat the Qing Empire.

For both countries, this would be an easy victory.

However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's attack on Songjiang Prefecture, or more precisely, its attack on the concessions of various countries, greatly angered both the British Empire and the Gallic Empire.

In particular, Count Elgin and Minister Gu Si threatened the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It was originally thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be afraid of the powerful forces of the two countries and thus submit to them.

But to their surprise, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom showed them no respect whatsoever.

Therefore, the two men made up their minds to deal with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom first.

Then, leveraging their overwhelming victory, they forced the Qing Empire to accept their various harsh conditions, thus achieving their goals without bloodshed.

"Welcome, everyone, to the beautiful East. Although it is poor and backward, it is also very rich. As long as you find the right methods, you can obtain great wealth here. I hope everyone can achieve their wishes."

"Now, please enjoy the wine and food to your heart's content!"

Sir John Bowring addressed the crowd.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Excellency!" Everyone raised their glasses.

The banquet was a resounding success, with both hosts and guests thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Having spent too long on the ship, these foreigners were already exhausted.

Having finally managed to disembark and rest, they certainly wouldn't miss such an opportunity.

On Xiangjiang Island, there are also many people who specialize in serving these foreign devils.

It could be said that for these foreign devils, the colonies were simply like paradise.

The following day, a group of high-ranking Allied military officials held a military meeting in a conference room provided by the Governor's Palace.

"Gentlemen, the country has agreed to our request, allowing us to first crush the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, curb their development, and prevent them from becoming even stronger."

Then, deal with the corrupt and backward Qing Empire. Completely extinguish any possibility of this country and nation rising again!

"The Allied Commander, Count Elgin, addressed the crowd."

The high-ranking officers of the allied forces all agreed.

To them, they came from the powerful West. Neither the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom nor the Qing Empire were taken seriously.

Even if they were to launch a long expedition from the West to the East, they would still possess an overwhelming advantage.

"Your Excellency, there is a very obvious problem. That is, even though we have an absolute advantage in the navy, neither the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom nor the Qing Empire has a decent navy. We already have control of the sea. However, both the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Empire have a large number of ground troops."

The combined ground forces of our two countries are not many.

In particular, according to intelligence, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army was equipped with advanced firearms and artillery. Could our ground forces guarantee our victory?

Harry Parkes, the British Empire's Consul General in Guangzhou, asked.

Apart from naval warships, the number of ground troops dispatched by the British Empire and the Gallic Empire this time was indeed not large.

The British Empire's army deployed only about two thousand troops, while the Gallic Empire sent just over a thousand.

The combined ground forces of both countries numbered only a little over three thousand.

"Your Excellency, we have already reported the situation in the Far East to the homeland. The homeland has decided to send reinforcements to us. However, this will take time. It is expected that our reinforcements will arrive in about six months. The Empire will also send another 20,000 army troops to reinforce us!" Count Elgin said.

"Your Excellency, the Empire also has tens of thousands of reinforcements on their way," replied Baron Gros, the plenipotentiary representative of the Gallic Empire.

Consul Parkes nodded and said nothing more.

The British Empire dispatched another 20,000 troops, while the Gallo Empire dispatched another 10,000 troops.

In total, that's a whopping 30,000 people.

Even in the Western world, this is already a very powerful military force.

It should be noted that during the Crimean War, the combined ground forces deployed by the British Empire and the Gallo-British Empire amounted to only about 100,000 men.

Even though the Russian Empire deployed as many as 700,000 ground troops in the war.

But he was still beaten to a pulp.

No matter how powerful the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was, could it still compare to the Tsarist Russian Empire?

It can be said that almost all white people believed that the British Empire and the Gallo Empire could defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by deploying 30,000 ground troops.

"Gentlemen, this is my plan. We will sail north from Hong Kong Island, using our overwhelming naval superiority to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's fortifications at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Then, our army will land, capture Zhonghai County, and rebuild the concession."

Once our main force arrives, we will engage the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in a decisive battle and defeat them in one fell swoop!

"That's what Count Elgin said."

"Your Excellency, this is a very prudent approach. We can secure a foothold at the mouth of the Yangtze River. When the Yangtze enters its high-water season, our fleet might even be able to sail upstream and reach Jiangning City, just as we did more than a decade ago!" Admiral Seymour, Commander of the Royal Navy's Far East Fleet, proposed.

This brought smiles to the faces of many British people.

More than a decade ago, they easily defeated the Qing Empire, forcing it to submit and gaining enormous benefits.

Many people hope that this time they can replicate the victory from last time.

They might even achieve a level of glory far surpassing their previous one.

"Well then, gentlemen, if there are no objections, let's do it this way. We'll rest and recuperate on Hong Kong Island for another two weeks. Let the soldiers relax properly. Once everyone has finished their rest, the fleet will head north to the mouth of the Yangtze River!" Count Elgin ordered.

"Yes, Your Excellency!" the high-ranking officers of the allied forces replied in unison.

Although the allied forces were not numerous.

But everyone was full of confidence in this battle.

They believed victory would be within their grasp.

If they can win this battle, they will be able to do whatever they want. The entire Eastern world will be completely plundered by them. Everyone will make a fortune.

On November 5, 1857, the allied forces of the British Empire and the Gallo-British Empire set off from Hong Kong and began their northward march along the coastline.

The fleet was enormous; the British Royal Navy's Far East Fleet alone deployed 44 warships, and the Gallo Navy deployed 10 warships.

In addition, there are many transport ships carrying ground troops.

The entire fleet consisted of over a hundred ships.

The mighty fleet sailed toward the mouth of the Yangtze River.