Wild North America 1846

more than a month later

palembang

A large luxury cruise ship docked at the pier. A large group of luxuriously dressed upper-class gentlemen, ladies and senior generals surrounded His Highness Prince Tang-Li Xin of Pingxi, who was preparing to return to the empire, and were saying goodbye on the pier.

As the commander-in-chief of the expedition, Prince Pingxi has basically completed his mission, and it is time to return to the Kingdom of Ohio.

Accompanying them were some officers who had been transferred back to the country. Some were entering military academies to prepare for promotion, while others had received new appointments and returned to North America with their families.

"Seventy-one brothers, I have heard about Banda Arch. It is an area that has been unstable for a long time and has caused headaches for the Dutch." Prince Tang Lixin of Pingxi had a strong aura and held the marshal's The precious scepter is being entrusted to Brigadier General Tang Li Yi with a serious expression.

As an imperial brother, he still took great care of this lower-ranked imperial brother and continued to explain;

"It is my king's wish to arrange armored divisions to guard Banda Aceh. Although that place is chaotic and the native Acehnese are wild and untamable, it is a good place to make achievements.

What the Imperial Armored Division has done proves that you are a thoughtful person and will not let down my king's arrangements.

Even if the methods are harsher, they will benefit the present and serve the future. This is also a necessary measure to completely integrate the Aceh region.

I have told Commander Liu Guozhong to be more tolerant of Aceh affairs, and your armored division can just go ahead and do things without looking forward or backward."

"Thank you for your care, Brother Huang. I'm very grateful, my foolish brother." Brigadier General Tang Li Yi bowed and clasped his fists in reply.

The emperor's brother did not call Wei Wei after his position in the military, but affectionately called him "Seventy-one Brothers". Naturally, he followed the good example and called him "Emperor Brother", which made him appear closer.

actually

During this Tang-Dutch war, the two had more interactions.

In the past, we had only met from a distance a few times at grand royal events, and we had never even had a conversation.

His Highness Tang Li Xin, Prince of Pingxi, is the legitimate prince born to Queen Lin. Compared with their concubine princes, his status is many times more noble.

In addition, Prince Pingxi has been fighting in the north and south for decades. He is one of the few giants in the imperial military. His military rank and status are even more distinguished. He has nothing to do with him, a small colonel or even a brigadier general.

There is a 17-year age difference between the two, almost the same generation.

But this time they were both in the expeditionary force, and Prince Pingxi gave the Armored Division a lot of special care, which made Brigadier General Tang Li Yi feel very warm.

After saying goodbye at the dock

His Royal Highness Prince Tang-Li Xin of Pingxi led a group of attachés to board the luxury cruise ship. The military band played a majestic movement and the beautiful melody echoed on the pier.

The luxury cruise ship blew a long air whistle and slowly left the pier. His Royal Highness Prince Pingxi, standing on the side of the cruise ship, waved frequently and said goodbye to everyone waiting to see him off.

"Master, His Highness the Prince has left, shall we go back too?" Colonel Pan Zhixin came over and said.

Brigadier General Tang-Li Yi stood by the pier with a lost expression. He could feel the deep concern of his royal brother for him.

Now that His Royal Highness Prince Pingxi has left, I feel a little empty and uncomfortable in my heart.

Hearing Colonel Pan Zhixin's gentle words of advice, he looked back.

on the pier

Many senior generals and upper-class nobles and gentlemen who were seeing him off had already dispersed. They got into their cars and left the dock in a hurry.

This time I came to Palembang, firstly to see off His Royal Highness Prince Pingxi. Secondly, to attend the high-level military meeting of the Sumatran Corps, where adjustments will be made to the next step in the deployment of the army.

As the situation on the island becomes increasingly stable, the Corps is about to begin the process of decommissioning veterans and recruiting new recruits, which is a routine matter every year.

The veterans who retire this year will definitely be placed on Sumatra Island. Most of them will work in the military and police, major docks and grassroots government departments. This is the practice of stabilizing society in new colonies. Needless to say.

"Let's go, let's go back." Brigadier General Tang Li Yi looked at the back of the cruise ship in the distance before saying.

Got in the car

The black car was driving on the flat and wide new road. The transplanted street trees on both sides of the road were like soldiers lined up in order, revealing the new atmosphere everywhere.

Palembang is the place where the Imperial Legion first landed. Construction here also started relatively early. Most of the highways on the outskirts of the city have been built, but only a few roads are still under construction.

This gave Palembang a completely new look. In addition, cement factories, oil presses and other factories were built one after another, bringing a large number of job opportunities to the local area, and many new Chinese immigrants became part of the workers.

It is generally impossible for these factories and enterprises run by Chinese capital to recruit local indigenous people, but they will recruit unemployed white people.

This was a well-established rule in the multi-ethnic society of the Tang Empire, and it was the same whether in the empire itself, overseas provinces or new colonies.

As the car drove into the city of Palembang, from time to time we could see teams of white prisoners of war working hard, building houses and bridges under the scorching sun, and their skin turned red.

"Sir, I always feel that the Dutch have their heads caught between the door panels and they actually sued for peace. Why do they have to set preconditions for the return of Sumatra and Kalimantan?" Colonel Pan Zhixin shook his head with a wry smile, obviously

I can't figure it out.

It is indeed a fantasy for the Dutch to try to take back what they lost on the battlefield at the negotiation table.

Brigadier General Tang Li Yi sat in the back seat of the car with his legs crossed, looking at the receding scenery outside the window, and said calmly: "It comes from the self-confidence of white Europeans, especially the old colonists like the Netherlands and Spain. Although they

He is not good at managing colonies, but he is good at bargaining in diplomatic negotiations and fishing in troubled waters."

"Master, aren't they worried about the more than 50,000 white prisoners of war in our hands?"

"Brother Zhixin, armistice negotiations are not that simple. The East Indies are the crown jewel of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The spices and tropical specialties here are sold well in Europe, and the annual income from this colony is close to half of the Dutch government's finances. How?

Maybe give up easily?”

"By holding on till the end, you will be humiliating yourself!"

"Hahaha, Brother Zhixin sees it better than the Dutch. The recent military actions taken by the Royal Fleet against Java Island and the shelling of Batavia and Surabaya Port again must make the Dutch feel heartbroken, right?"

Speaking of this

Brigadier General Tang-Li Yi showed a look of pride on his face, which showed that he was sincerely proud of the empire.

The powerful fleet composed of five 12,000-ton Duke-class ironclad ships is an unrivaled naval force in the entire Pacific region.

Wherever the muzzle points, it is the unquestionable jurisdiction of the empire and no refutation will be accepted.

Even the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire in India is slightly inferior in strength as it is mostly equipped with second- and third-class ironclad ships that have been eliminated by the local navy.

As for the Fuso Navy, it is even less worth mentioning.

The Tang Empire was committed to encompassing the entire Pacific Ocean as a small imperial pond, and conquering the East Indies was part of this long-term strategy.

The purpose was to improve the colonial layout around the Pacific and further consolidate and strengthen the Tang Empire's dominant position in the Pacific region.

In the vast Pacific Ocean

The Imperial Royal Navy has occupied all the islands that can support human survival, and has set up various garrisons.

There are dozens of people at least, hundreds or thousands of people at most, and most of them are used to exile criminals from the empire.

This is a very deterrent policy, which has greatly reduced the crime rate in the empire.

Everybody knows;

If you commit a crime and are thrown into a hard labor camp, you will at least have some hope of returning to society. If you are exiled to an isolated island in the Pacific, your life will be in vain.

actually

These exiles from the mainland of the empire are not so bad. The local garrison uses well-behaved exiles to manage other exiles.

Let them cultivate fields, grow vegetables, grains and fruits, raise cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks, and even go out to sea to fish, trying their best to be self-sufficient in living materials.

Exiles who behave well can also have local indigenous women, give birth to children on an isolated island, and live a good life.

But unfortunately, from the day he was exiled to an isolated island in the Pacific, it meant that he could not return to the mainland of the empire.

Terrifying legends about the exile island have always been prevalent in the empire, which will make those hot-headed cowboys sober up and have a strong deterrent effect.

There are many Pacific Islands, such as Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu Islands, Vanuatu, etc., with a population of

The more there are, the better the natural conditions will be.

Some are on the Pacific immigration route, with numerous ships coming and going. Some are more remote, with cargo ships from the empire rarely arriving during the year.

It is worth noting that

All the exiles were of Chinese origin, which was obviously a deliberate move by the empire to increase the local Chinese population.

At the end of the 19th century, criminal laws in various countries around the world, including Europe, were very harsh. In the book "Les Misérables" written by the famous French writer Victor Hugo, the protagonist Jean Valjean was sentenced to serve 5 years in a quarry for stealing a piece of bread.

Years of hard labor.

Later, because he could not bear the torture, he ran away several times. After he was caught, his sentence was extended to 19 years.

In the UK, a teenager was sentenced to exile in Australia for robbing two pounds of cotton yarn.

There are countless similar examples. Basically, as long as the criminal law is violated, the sentence will be very severe. The same is true in the Tang Empire.

The so-called sneaking around is impossible to catch and release. Basically, if you are caught, you will be thrown into a hard labor camp or sentenced to exile.

The difference is what did you steal?

If you smoke low-value items such as chickens, ducks, and geese, you will have to serve hard labor for 2 to 3 years. If you are a repeat offender, the amount will be doubled.

If you stole large animals such as donkeys, mules, horses, cattle, etc., then congratulations, you will be given a ticket to be exiled to an isolated island in the Pacific, and you can basically say goodbye to this life.

No matter what, he will never return to the empire.

The most interesting thing is the Germans. Kaiser Wilhelm II always hoped to have a German colony in the Pacific, even if it was a remote island.

German expeditions have been wandering around the Pacific for many years, visiting almost every Pacific island belonging to the empire, but they have not found any island that can be colonized.

The reason is simple, these are owned territories.

Some early Pacific islands that belonged to the French were also bought by the Tang Empire for a small amount of money. Pacific islands that belonged to the Spanish were directly occupied, such as Oahu and Saipan.

The Germans arrived too late and couldn't even eat any leftovers. (End of chapter)