Dominate the Country

Time is like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, half of 1811 has passed.

The war in the world disappeared, and peace was restored in America. The Portuguese signed a peace treaty with China after paying a huge price. They lost half of Brazil. The dividing line between China and Portugal is certainly not 15° south latitude, but 13° south latitude. The Portuguese swallowed their anger.

Then came the Americans. They gave up the Great Lakes region, the southern region - that is, Alabama and Georgia, and the southwest of the Mississippi River. The country's land area shrank by 25%, but the prime areas were still maintained. The Lighthouse Country reached a ceasefire agreement with Chen Han at this cost.

The Americans still had a certain resistance. After another batch of reinforcements from Chen Han arrived, they launched another fierce attack on Detroit in the Great Lakes region, but still failed to make gratifying progress. Chen Ming had to adjust his arrangements in the next period of time and shift his energy to Europe and Tsarist Russia, so he let the Americans go.

The British have been mediating between China and the United States. When they suddenly received the notice from Chen Han's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they were stunned.

The Chinese were determined to destroy the United States half a year ago, so why are they giving up now?

The British asked Chen Han's diplomatic department directly, and Chen Han told the British the truth without hiding anything.

Europe is gathering, and there is a high probability that a big war will be fought again. And the participating countries are likely to be the ones led by Napoleon, attacking the Russian Empire at the northern end of the European continent, which has certain historical conflicts with Chen Han.

Chen Han needs to divert his attention. After all, there has always been a strong sense of hostility between Russia and Chen Han. No matter from which angle you look at this war between France and Russia, it will inevitably attract a lot of Chen Han's attention. In this case, it is also possible that Chen Han "can't care" about the United States.

Although Chen Han took the opportunity to take Detroit, which they never got in the war, at the negotiating table.

Materials from the Caribbean were continuously transported to Europe. Ships from China and North American vassal states frequently traveled between here and Europe, passing through the Iberian Peninsula again and again, but no interception occurred. Everything was as if the South American War had never occurred.

Is this really peaceful?

No, it's not!

Portugal and Spain just temporarily suppressed their anger. They will never forget the hatred of the colonies, but compared with the colonies, they value their homeland more. In 1810 and the first half of 1811, the number of French soldiers on the Iberian Peninsula recovered to 230,000, and the pressure increased greatly.

Especially on the Portuguese battlefield. With the withdrawal of Arthur Wellesley in his early years, British Army Lieutenant General John Moore became the commander of the new British Expeditionary Force. He was a veteran with 30 years of battlefield experience, but the British Expeditionary Force stationed in Portugal did not only listen to his orders.

In 1809, when Austria once again launched an anti-French war, the anti-French Volunteers on the Spanish battlefield also swarmed up. He was ordered by London to lead his troops to reinforce. But on the way, he received the news that Napoleon had won the war against Austria. The shrewd and calculating man decided that retreating to Portugal was the best strategy. However, under the order from London, he still went north from Salamanca to attack the French Corps commanded by Marshal Soult on the Carrión River west of Burgos, and defeated it on December 21. Then he learned that Napoleon had led troops from Paris to help him quickly, and a French army had cut off his way back to Portugal. He decided to cross the snow-capped mountains and retreat to another port, Corunna, 400 kilometers away. On the eve of boarding the ship, the French army, reinforced by the reinforcements led by Michel Ney, approached Corunna under the leadership of Marshal Nicolas Soult. John Moore repelled the French charge with a fierce counterattack, but he himself died in that fierce counterattack.

Without Arthur Wellesley, there would be no British army's return to Portugal, no victory of the Allied forces in the Battle of Talave and the Battle of Bussaco on the peninsula battlefield, and no famous "Torres Vedras Line" across the Lisbon Peninsula.

What is the "Torres Vedras" Line?

It is a 19th-century "Maginot Line" built by Arthur Wellesley in the original time and space. Although he won many victories in the repeated tug-of-war with the French army, he also realized the strength of the French army.

The victory of a tactic is short-lived. If the British want to be invincible, they must build a solid line of defense in Portugal.

Wellesley decided to strengthen the defense force in Portugal, organize militias, implement a scorched earth strategy, and adopt a dragging tactic against the French army that was bound to come.

The Torres Vedras Line is named after the town of Torres Vedras at the forefront of the line of defense. It consists of three fortified defense chains to block the northern defense line of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Each fortified defense line was built with forts at regular intervals, and trenches and fortifications were built based on the natural terrain. The terrain where Lisbon is located is easy to attack, with the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest and the Tagus River to the east, and water on three sides. The north is the only road access, and there are also two long hills in this area that serve as natural cover. The function of the defense line is mainly to control the access and strategic points along these two hills with hundreds of fortresses, kill and consume the attacking enemy, delay their attack, inform and cooperate with the main force in the rear to finally defeat the enemy. This line of defense made Lisbon an unbreakable barrier.

In the Peninsular War in history, Arthur Wellesley relied on this line of defense to protect the safety of Portugal. French Marshal Massena once led 65,000 French troops to Portugal, and finally suffered a bloody head in front of the line of defense, losing a full 20,000 French troops. To a certain extent, it guaranteed the safety of Portugal and allowed the British to gain a solid bridgehead on the European road.

But in this time and space, Arthur Wellesley was sent to Canada by London after defeating Junot in his early years. For two whole years, he was like a very mediocre colonial government general, attacking military supplies for Americans, Spaniards, and Portuguese, and facilitating all their conveniences.

This did not bring out the ability of the Duke of Wellington at all, and any mediocre British officer could do this. Without the glorious military exploits, Arthur Wellesley is still an ordinary knight, and he is not Viscount Wellington yet. Chen Ming now doubts whether he can eventually become the Duke of Wellington.

The British were almost driven into the sea by the French in Portugal. London might use Wellington to put out the fire, but is Wellington really that strong? Chen Ming expressed doubts.

Of course, the Portuguese and Spanish will definitely cooperate with the British one hundred times. The wave of resistance to the French army on the Iberian Peninsula has never subsided. There is a strong anti-French tendency among the people. Arthur Wellesley wants to succeed, and this is the most favorable factor for him.

To be honest, even if Chen Ming sees a little personnel change in the military and politics of Europe now, he thinks it is more interesting than the United States.

The Lighthouse Country is too weak now, and the victory is not fair.

Now Chen Han is fighting the Lighthouse Country, which is completely like a strong man hitting a baby. Although he hits one accurately, Chen Ming doesn’t feel much accomplishment, right?

It’s like he is dealing with Japan now, which is definitely not as good as dealing with Japan in the 21st century.

To be honest, Chen Ming also wants to say now, I will crush Europe. But such thoughts only occasionally arise in his mind. In reality, he is more like a tiger hunting, hiding in the backlight of the woods, quietly waiting for the prey to make a mistake..., instead of confronting all the prey head-on.

Any discerning person can see that something is wrong. The whole of Europe is like a pot of boiling water, which is forcibly covered with a lid - the alliance between France and Austria. This force that puts the lid back on the boiling water is invincible in the Western world. The steam power generated by the boiling water was not enough to open the lid before, but they are slowly increasing, and have been increasing.

When time is delayed a little bit, when the pressure in the pot gradually crosses the red line, the condensed power will one day erupt like a volcano, which can make the entire pot lid fly out of the sky, or the iron pot will burst!

The British Empire, the French Empire, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal, and countless small vassal states of Napoleon. The whole of Europe is already in a tense stage before the outbreak of war, just like the calm before the storm. Every country is manufacturing military supplies, guns and cannons, and consuming a large amount of steel and wood in Europe.

No one will bow their heads and admit defeat. British ships shuttled day and night on the route from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. No one would leave their sharp swords in vain. In addition to scaring people, holding the sword in their hands also means fighting for their own interests.

Napoleon wanted to split St. Petersburg with his long sword, and then completely block the continent, so that the British would have nowhere to sell their products. And Russia also hopes to use its long sword to earn benefits for itself.

As for the British, there is no need to say more. They are also worried about China's rise, and they are also worried about Chen Han's constant erosion of European interests. Just like Napoleon used to integrate the power of the entire Western world to compete with Chen Han, London also has a dream of leading the West in his heart. It's just that the British are self-aware. They know that it is impossible to truly rule the entire European continent with their population and geographical location, so the Anglo-Saxons cannot be led by others.

A substantial difference, the British dream becomes a reality more like a "leader", while Napoleon wants to be Caesar. He knows that Western society does not allow him to be an Eastern-style emperor who has the final say, so he wants to be Caesar.

Moreover, with the rise of China, Chen Han has taken a large piece of territory from the European sphere of influence. How many years has it been? There is not much sphere of influence left in the Western world.

Let alone Canada, what about the conflict of interests in India?

Britain at this time may not have the ambition to swallow up India. They can even accept the reality that their sphere of influence will no longer continue to expand, but they will never allow their cheese to be touched by others.

China is the largest trading partner of the British on one side, and the most powerful enemy of the British on the other. How can it be possible for China and Britain to do business peacefully on the one hand, and London is determined not to let China get any more extra benefits on the other hand! ?

This is an unsolvable paradox!

Now the whole of Europe knows that despite the existence of China, a war lasting twenty years broke out on the European continent. The world hegemony that the white people had enjoyed for hundreds of years has been seized by the Orientals and can never be found again.

Now that the Austrians have firmly sat on the French side, the Russians are under great pressure. Their friendship with Austria cannot withstand the test of real interests. Under this European situation, it is very likely that Napoleon will declare war on Russia as scheduled and launch a mighty death expedition.

Chen Ming did not ask the European Office to remind Napoleon to be careful of the cold and snow in Russia in winter. He did not think that Napoleon would not know how severe the Russian winter is. Napoleon chose to launch a war against Russia in late June, which was almost the same as the time Hitler chose to start the war. There must be a reason for this.

Even if Napoleon is reminded again, he will not be able to make much change.

The logistics supply of hundreds of thousands of troops, in this era without railways and trucks, in this era with only horse carriages and ox carts, can make people collapse.

Napoleon in the original time and space established some military stations west of the Russian border. Each military station had sufficient food and grass, enough for the French army to consume for many days. Then they used hundreds of horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts to transport food and supplies to support the army. Chen Ming vaguely remembered that there were hundreds of thousands of large draft animals in this huge transport team, which was incredibly large. I just don't know if Napoleon can still do this in this time and space...