Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 65

Especially after Britain unified various parts of India under a single British government, a unified Indian nation began to emerge. The intellectuals of this nation began to examine the history of British rule in India and demanded that Britain loosen its constraints on the Indian nation.

For ordinary people, the three major famines in the last 25 years of the 19th century alone, which resulted in the unnatural deaths of 1500 million people, were enough to fuel their deep resentment towards British rule. Even the Indian elites who acted as accomplices to the British had to publicly criticize British rule for being too violent, completely disregarding the local customs and traditions of India, leaving farmers impoverished and without any savings to cope with potential natural disasters.

Robert, who served as Commander-in-Chief of British India from 1885 to 1892, believed that invasions of any country would typically encounter fierce resistance from all classes of its inhabitants… However, the situation in India was entirely different. The best-case scenario in India was simply hoping for a passive attitude from the local population. A disastrous defeat in a foreign war would trigger a storm throughout Hindustan, making the troubles of 1857 seem insignificant in comparison.

British India's Forward Policy was based on this assessment: India could not withstand even a small invasion, so British India needed to build a high wall outside of India. This was the strategic factor behind British India's continuous invasions of the southern foothills of the Himalayas and northwestern India. Except for Afghanistan, the British Forward Policy was generally successful.

However, in the 20th century, Britain became even more fixated on India's security. In 1901, a secret document from the British Ministry of Defence outlined India's strategic position within the British Empire:

Frankly speaking, as long as the navy accomplished its mission, the British Empire was unbreakable against the powerful ground forces of continental nations, with one exception: India.

Only here can deliver a fatal blow, causing us to lose India through conquest, and dealing a fatal damage to our prosperity, prestige, and power. Even the mere approach of a hostile force would bring incalculable consequences.

If India was Britain's purse in the Victorian era, then in the 20th century, it had become the cornerstone of the British Empire. A segment of the British Empire thus placed even greater emphasis on India's security, bordering on obsessive. Sir John Curzon was one such figure. This distinguished and physically challenged British nobleman once told his colleagues, "...we must not only control the high walls, but also the gentle slopes outside them, to prevent barbarians from crouching on those slopes and launching an attack."

During his first term as governor, he had already made preparations for war against Tibet. Whether it was building a road along the Teesta River to the Zelila Pass after controlling Sikkim, or sending people to scout the road to Lhasa, his aim was to turn Tibet into a buffer state between British India and China, and to control this gentle slope outside the high wall.

However, the Tibetan expeditionary force had not anticipated such a major setback. After receiving the report from Commissioner White, Sir Curzon already knew that the expedition to Tibet was likely doomed. When the Chinese announced the capture of Brigadier General MacDonald, it was merely the final nail in the coffin.

The defeat of the Tibetan Expeditionary Force had a profound impact on Indian intellectuals, as they found it hard to believe that a group of savages wielding stones could have defeated a British army equipped with Maxim machine guns and cannons. Descriptions of Tibet's backwardness and the Tibetans' barbarity came directly from British war correspondents.

The failure of the Tibetan Expeditionary Force spurred the struggle faction of the Indian National Congress and further fueled the expansion of the Anushlan Samiti organization. The Anushlan Samiti organization was a radical group that emerged in 1902 among Bengal youth, advocating for a violent revolution to end British rule in India. It had two semi-independent branches in East and West Bengal: the Dhaka Anushlan Samiti, centered in Dhaka, and the Zugantar group (also known as the Jugantar), centered in Calcutta.

To combat the radical elements among these Indian youths, the British Indian government established a special branch of the Calcutta Police in 1903, led by British police in Indian police and intelligence operations against the Sarmiti organization. It should be said that until this year, the Sarmiti organization had not achieved much. After all, these youths, aside from inciting violence and nationalist sentiment, had not put forward any political theories that could appeal to workers and peasants, and naturally could not gain the support of the Indian people. Moreover, most Indians still believed that the British Empire was invincible and that violent resistance was a dead end.

The largest protests by the Indian people against the partition of Bengal amounted to rallies, petitions, and boycotts of British goods, far removed from armed struggle. However, after newspapers reported that Tibetans armed with stones had captured British troops through armed resistance, the Indian people's thinking began to shift.

This is why British newspapers rewrote their reports, emphasizing that it was one or two heroic figures, rather than the Tibetans themselves, who defeated the British army. The implication was that India had no such heroes, and that any armed struggle by the Tibetans would be a dead end.

But such lies could not solve the current Tibetan problem, and Sir Curzon could not allow himself to suffer such a defeat. In order to save the Tibetan expedition he had promoted, he chose to bow to the Commander-in-Chief and, on the condition of supporting him in military reforms and other matters, asked Kitchener to send a force as soon as possible to rescue the Tibetan Expeditionary Force.

Kitchener remained remarkably calm in front of Sir Curzon. He carefully analyzed the situation for him and concluded: "There are approximately 70,000 British soldiers and 135,000 Indian soldiers in the whole of India. These troops are stationed at various strategic transportation points in India and cannot be easily drawn from elsewhere."

In particular, Tibet's unique terrain makes it difficult to transport large numbers of troops to the plateau region due to logistical constraints. Furthermore, the division of Bangladesh necessitates the deployment of an army to garrison the region, which cannot be easily mobilized. In the northwestern border region, to guard against tribal rebellions, we also cannot easily deploy troops.

Therefore, we need time to rebuild a lean and capable army that can fight on the plateau. Now is not the time to immediately send troops to Tibet, but rather to buy time through negotiations. We won't be ready to return to the plateau until at least next March.

Sir Curzon was dissatisfied with Commander-in-Chief Kitchener's reply, but he now knew that he couldn't argue with the commander-in-chief on military matters, and British India couldn't afford another defeat. He ultimately agreed with the commander-in-chief's view to negotiate with the Chinese first, giving the army time to rebuild the expeditionary force.

However, in front of his own men, Kitchener angrily reprimanded Brigadier General McDonald, one of his former comrades, for leading eight battalions that couldn't defeat a newly formed Chinese battalion. News from China clearly indicated that the army entering Tibet was mainly the Huguang New Army, totaling just over 500 men, equivalent to a single British battalion.

Information available to the British was also available to other countries, which is why Germany, Russia, and France were beginning to harbor suspicions about the British Empire's military strength. It is said that the Germans once again hinted at building a railway from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, a clear indication of their loss of respect for British land power.

Although he explained the army's difficulties to Sir Curzon, Kitchener still asked Kalimpong to inform Major Philip Whitley that it was essential to hold the Gyantse outpost so that subsequent troops could establish a foothold in Tibet.

Of course, when Kitchener sent the telegram to Kalimpong, not only was Major Philip Whitley's body already cold, but the two battalions he had brought into Tibet were also walking into the Chinese encirclement.

As Major Philip Whitley's second-in-command, Captain Williams led nearly three thousand men through a grueling three-day trek into the Nyangchu River Valley, only to find four machine guns pointed at their troops. The sight was devastating; even with a British battalion in the force, it was impossible to hold out any longer.

After half an hour of negotiations, Captain Williams surrendered his weapons. More than a thousand soldiers and nearly two thousand porters became Wu Luzhen's prisoners without firing a single shot. This was exactly seven days after Major Philip Whitley was killed.

On November 1st, Wu Luzhen arrived at Banjulunbu village, 4 kilometers from Gyantse, which was also the seat of the Gyantse Military and Political Committee. Lin Xinyi was quite pleased with Wu Luzhen's easy annihilation of the two British reinforcement battalions. He said to Wu Luzhen, "We need to find someone to interrogate them and find out the geography and troop situation of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and the area below the mountain. Then it will be our turn to attack."

While the two men were talking, Longsha Dorje Tsering and Chimen Lobsang Wangyal came to report to Lin Xinyi that the British troops in Gyantse had agreed to release the Tibetans in the city in exchange for their wounded. Lin Xinyi then said to the two men, "Next, we should negotiate with the British. On humanitarian grounds, we suggest they repatriate the porters from Sikkim and Nepal. They had no connection to this war, and now that the war is almost over, there isn't enough food to supply them on the plateau. Therefore, letting them return home as soon as possible would benefit both sides. Of course, the repatriation costs must be borne by the British Indian government..."

Watching the two leave, Wu Luzhen couldn't help but ask, "Are you really planning to make peace with that Commissioner White?"

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "No, but we need to clear out any unrelated personnel from the battlefield first..."

Chapter 225 Anglo-Russian Actions

The defeat of the Tibetan expeditionary force dealt a direct blow to Britain's prestige, most directly felt by Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, and Sir John S. Satow, the British Minister to China, as official documents were delivered to them by the authorities in Hubei and Hunan provinces at the end of October.

The official document sent to British Minister to China, Sir John S. Satow, stated that the British Indian invasion of Tibet had caused immense losses to China, and the British government should provide compensation. However, before discussing war reparations, the British government should first pay for the food expenses of captured British soldiers and transport personnel, as well as the losses suffered by civilians during the British army's advance into Tibet.

The demands from the Hubei and Hunan regions were as follows: before the end of the war, the expenses for prisoners of war would be £5 per day, and the expenses for Tibetan civilians affected by the war would also be £5 per day, totaling £10 per day, starting from October 10th. In addition, the British government should pay a one-time sum of £50 to compensate for the houses, temples, and historical artifacts burned by the British army, and to return the precious artifacts looted by the British army and taken back to India.

At the same time, the Hubei and Hunan authorities used the official document demanding compensation from Britain as a pretext to send a letter to Hart requesting the deduction of principal and interest payments on a series of indemnities owed to Britain, and to supervise and manage the Hubei and Hunan, Sichuan customs, and salt tax, powers that had previously fallen into the hands of the British.

The language used by the British in Hubei and Hunan was very polite, but their demands left no room for negotiation. In the eyes of Satow and Hart, this was not a demand but a declaration of war. However, they were powerless to do anything about it, as a large number of British troops were now in Chinese hands, and the Chinese held the upper hand. They couldn't even order a naval attack on Hubei and Hunan, because Chinese nationalism was running high at the time, and trying to intimidate the Chinese with a few gunboats could very well trigger a full-scale conflict between China and Britain.

Under the assessment of British diplomatic officials in China, the Hubei and Hunan provinces have now completed the organization of two divisions of the new army and are forming a third division. Meanwhile, the Hanyang Ironworks and Hanyang Arsenal, with German support, have achieved initial self-sufficiency in weaponry. The arrival of British warships in Wuhan might teach the Chinese a lesson, but British commercial interests in China could be completely unprotected. If the Hubei and Hunan new army's combat effectiveness reaches the level of the new army deployed to Tibet, it will be beyond the capabilities of British forces in China.

As a British ally, Japan has stated its complete non-intervention in the Anglo-Chinese conflict, as Japan is also now an ally of China. Although the Japan-China alliance is based on the security of Manchuria, siding with Britain to attack China at this time would be tantamount to helping Russia occupy Manchuria and Mongolia, which is clearly not in Japan's interest.

Therefore, both Japan and the United States advocated that Britain and the Qing government reach a compromise on the Tibet issue as soon as possible so that they could focus on dealing with Russian actions in the Far East. The French similarly disapproved of a conflict between Britain and China in the Far East; in fact, France opposed any actions by Britain and Russia in the Far East to avoid facing the Germans alone in Europe.

While Russia certainly wanted to partition China, it also disagreed with Britain's plan to directly bring Tibet and the Yangtze River basin under its protection, deeming Britain's ambitions too great. Of course, Russia did not directly side with the Qing government, but instead eased relations with Hubei and Hunan provinces.

Since the establishment of the Hubei-Hunan Economic Development and Urban Committee, Russia's commercial interests in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have been impacted, particularly in the tea industry. The Chinese now control tea production and prohibit direct trade between individuals and Russian merchants. This has prevented Russian tea factories from purchasing raw tea at low prices, forcing them to accept Chinese grading and pricing, leading to a one-third increase in the price of tea bricks produced in Hankou.

Russian merchants initially attempted to retaliate with economic measures, such as reducing loans to tea plantations, decreasing purchases of tea from Hubei and Hunan provinces, and increasing purchases of tea from Fujian province. While this tactic was quite effective for individual merchants, it was less useful for an economy, as the Economic Commission could itself provide loans to tea plantations and expand tea sales channels.

In fact, tea exports from the Hubei and Hunan regions accounted for only one-fifth of the total. Russians made up the majority of the exported tea because the British had started importing Indian tea. The United States, Germany, and France are now coffee lovers because these countries have a large emerging bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. Brewing tea is not really suitable for the new rich in industrial society because the procedures are too cumbersome and require a good tea set.

Another reason is that the United States and Germany have their backyards in South America, and France has its colonies in Africa, all of which are suitable for growing coffee. Therefore, importing coffee was the fastest way to recoup cash when trading with their colonies. Consequently, these countries levied heavy taxes on tea but light taxes on coffee. For example, in Germany, a kilogram of coffee cost only a little over 3 marks, but a kilogram of tea cost more than 5 marks, nearly 80% more.

However, the Economic Commission had now forged close trade ties with Germany. With China importing large quantities of German machinery, Germany began to significantly reduce tariffs on Chinese tea, bringing them on par with coffee. Furthermore, after the Hubei and Hunan provinces began grading their tea, they started producing tea bags suitable for quick brewing by the working class and commissioned German laboratories to research techniques for extracting caffeine from tea leaves.

Therefore, Russia's reduction in tea purchases from Hankou did not have a significant impact on the tea gardens in Hubei and Hunan. In addition to transferring this production capacity to Germany, the Economic Commission absorbed it through production-sales cooperatives. China is a tea-loving country, and as long as ordinary people can afford it, they will also buy tea. The Economic Commission increased farmers' income, which in turn stimulated domestic demand.

After exhausting economic means, the Russians naturally attempted to break through the Economic Commission using political or military means. However, the political pressure was shared by the Germans, who, with significant interests in Hankou, were clearly unwilling to let the Russians ruin the favorable situation there.

Unlike customers who only buy a few machines, the EEC is a highly desirable client for German industry. This is because the EEC's purchasing plans are typically in three- to five-year cycles, which are ideal production contracts for industry – once signed, they don't need to worry about the market for three to five years.

The procurement plans issued by the Economic Commission were not simply a waste of money; they were all interconnected with a larger plan. For example, the establishment of the Hubei-Hunan power grid was a plan that Siemens could not afford to miss, which in turn led to the future construction of power grids in central China and other regions.

Once these power grids were built, they provided cheap electricity to the emerging factories, making it possible to recoup the investment. Siemens' planned hydroelectric power plant on the upper reaches of the Han River was also related to a non-ferrous metal smelting plant. Cheap electricity was converted into cheap non-ferrous metals, thus providing cheap raw materials for German industry—wasn't this precisely the purpose behind Germany's pursuit of overseas colonies?

Just as the German Emperor was unwilling to provoke Russia in Europe, Russia was also unwilling to provoke Germany in the Far East. As news of the British expedition's failure in Tibet spread, the Russians chose to make concessions in the Hubei and Hunan regions, prioritizing resolving the northern issue first.

Left with no other option, Satya Nadal suggested to London that they verbally reject the proposal from the Hubei and Hunan regions, but in reality, they should not oppose it. This was because Hubei and Hunan were not currently trying to extract money from Britain, but rather withholding payments due to Britain. Unless London intended to wage a full-scale war against China, Satya Nadal did not believe that a localized conflict could force Hubei and Hunan to submit.

In assessing the military and political strength of Huguang, Sadaoyi had already separated it from the Qing government's jurisdiction for evaluation. Because Huguang's independence tendencies were already quite obvious, the Qing government's command of the Huguang New Army entering Tibet was completely sidelined by Huguang, and the Governor-General of Huguang, Duanfang, had clearly lost control of the political situation in Huguang.

Before the Boxer Rebellion, the actions of the people in Hubei and Hunan provinces would have been tantamount to rebellion and would have inevitably been met with strong suppression by the Qing government. However, after the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing government's authority actually relied entirely on the support of local powerful governors-general, and its own prestige had dwindled, especially given the difficulty of reclaiming Manchuria.

Empress Dowager Cixi, through her political maneuvering, transferred Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Huguang, to Beijing, then appointed Yuan Shikai to take over the Huai Clique, while continuing to appease the Hunan Clique as the Governor-General of Liangjiang. Simultaneously, she replaced the Governors-General of Sichuan and Liangguang, thus re-establishing a balance in the domestic political situation. However, the Huguang Economic Committee, supported by the Germans and gaining prestige for protecting Tibet, leveraged popular support to sideline Governor-General Duanfang, becoming another force difficult to balance within the empire.

Zhang Zhidong's indifference to the situation in Huguang was undoubtedly a sign of his dissatisfaction with Empress Dowager Cixi's manipulation of power. Currently, Beijing has only two options for regaining control of Huguang: either suppress it by force or transfer Zhang Zhidong back to Huguang.

However, with the Russians occupying Manchuria and advancing into Outer Mongolia, using force to suppress the local power in Huguang was clearly a gamble with lives; failure would mean the end of the Qing Dynasty. Yet, Empress Dowager Cixi was unwilling to simply release Zhang Zhidong back to Huguang. Her purpose in bringing Zhang Zhidong to Beijing was to dismantle his power base while he was away, but now Huguang had become a united front; how could she dare release him? A snake cannot function without a head, but once it has a head, it will soar to the heavens.

Satow naturally opposed a civil war in China at that time, as it would completely destroy the empire's strategic layout in the Far East, only benefiting the Russians. London's policy towards China was also quite chaotic at this time. The British government's position was ambiguous, showing both a desire to save face and a desire for a peaceful resolution, making it difficult for London to make a decision.

But one thing was certain for London: Britain could not afford a full-scale war with China at this time, because China was not even a third objective for Britain. To waste resources on China would be like a bull charging into a red flag. Sadao's request received a vague response from London.

On November 3rd, another contingent of Russian cavalry entered Kulun. On November 5th, the Russian consul in Kulun sent a notice to Pu Shou, the Qing Dynasty minister in Kulun, demanding that he leave Kulun with his guards. Although Russia's hasty actions did not gain the full support of the Outer Mongolian princes and lamas, the Russian side believed that Britain was already preoccupied with its own problems, and Russia no longer needed to consider the opinions of others in Outer Mongolia.

Chapter 226 Choice

Since entering the Sikkim Valley in 1887, John Claude White had encountered no formidable opponents; even the ruler of Sikkim, King Tudonanga, had been exiled to Darjeeling. But today he finally understood that his past self-perception of his competence was an illusion; others did not actually fear him, but rather the British Empire behind him.

Once the British Empire loses its power, he will be no different from ordinary people. At least, trapped in Gyantse, he has no way of escaping and has even been manipulated by the Chinese.

When the Chinese returned Major Philip Whitley's body to him and demanded to exchange the wounded and the corpse for Tibetans in the city, both White and the British officers below were bewildered. They could only passively accept the Chinese's offer. Their previous insistence was to wait for reinforcements from the rear, but the major's body told them that Calcutta was unlikely to receive any reinforcements, at least in the short term.

In fact, upon seeing the major's body, White believed he had no choice but to surrender. After all, he couldn't possibly use a few hundred British soldiers to force thousands of Nepalese, Sikkimeses, Bhutanese, and Indians to fight the Tibetans to the death, especially after seeing that the reinforcements had been wiped out.

At the army's request, he agreed to exchange wounded soldiers and corpses. However, he regretted it immediately afterward because the rescued soldiers were not grateful to him; instead, they constantly complained about being treated differently. White felt he hadn't done anything wrong. Prioritizing the treatment of British wounded soldiers and providing them with better rest conditions was standard practice. If he hadn't done so, he would have been condemned by his countrymen upon returning home.

However, the Indian soldiers, who had previously been submissive, started to riot this time, feeling that White was being too unfair. As a result, White had to whip two of the leading protesters, a fairly normal punishment. Rather than appease the Indians, it was better to give them a good thrashing to wake them up, and then the world would be at peace.

However, while this beating brought White some peace, the Indian soldiers in Gyantse began to harbor hostility towards their British officers and soldiers. Even the British officers who had always advocated a tough approach to military affairs advised White to be wary of the Indian soldiers' discontent, as they were now receiving no support from other outposts and had slipped out of British control.

With the possibility of a mutiny looming, White had no choice but to agree to the Chinese's new demands: the release of laborers from Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan. But this created new trouble.

White agreed to China's demands not to disband the available military force, but rather to get rid of the city's excess population. Therefore, he left behind Nepal's auxiliary troops and Ugyen Wangchuck and his guards.

At this time, Gyantse still had nearly 4000 people left after the Tibetans were released, about 1,000 British troops, about 150 of Ugyen Wangchuck's guards, nearly 1,000 Nepalese auxiliary troops, and the remaining nearly 2000 were laborers who transported goods for the expeditionary force. After retreating from the Karola Pass, White gathered the surrounding people in Gyantse, originally intending to hold Gyantse and wait for reinforcements.

However, now that the reinforcements had been wiped out by the Chinese army, and it seemed that the other side intended to continue the siege indefinitely, White had to consider the food problem in the city, and thus accepted the Chinese advice.

However, for the non-British and Indian people in the city, this war had nothing to do with them. Since the Chinese wanted to let them go home, they naturally didn't want to stay and fight for the British. The Nepalese auxiliary troops thought the same way. But now White wanted to send some people away and leave others to fight for the British, which aroused dissatisfaction among those who stayed.

So, within just ten days, starting from the release of the first batch of Tibetans, the once relatively united Gyantse garrison suddenly fell into disarray. Indian soldiers were dissatisfied with the British, the Nepalese and Bhutanese troops who had been forcibly detained were dissatisfied, and even the British officers began to doubt White's leadership abilities.

White was already planning to discuss surrender terms with the Chinese army representatives, but the Chinese made a demand that he found unacceptable: they asked him to hand over Uyan Wangchuck and Bar, the tax collector at the Zhuomu Port, because these two were Chinese officials, not members of the British army, and therefore could not be protected by the laws of engagement.

Bar was British, and Ugyen Wangchuck was the ruler of Bhutan, a country closely cooperating with Britain. White naturally could not agree to hand them over, but the Chinese were not making this request privately, but publicly, so this condition quickly spread throughout Gyantse. For the soldiers below, handing over these two men and then negotiating was not a big deal, and even the British officers thought that Ugyen Wangchuck could be handed over first.

Upon hearing the news, Bar immediately rushed over to pester White, demanding to know if he intended to hand him over, while Uyan Wangchuck hadn't shown up for a whole day. White was getting a headache from Bar's nagging, but then thought that perhaps he should try to appease Uyan Wangchuck to prevent him from doing anything foolish.

White's judgment was actually sound, but his decision-making ability was lacking. To someone like Uyan Wangchuck, who had survived countless conspiracies and intrigues, White was like a delicate flower in a greenhouse, while Wangchuck was a king cobra.

Upon hearing the demands made by the Chinese, Uyan Wangchuck sent men to contact disgruntled officers in the Nepalese auxiliary army, offering to join them in persuading the British to surrender to the Chinese as soon as possible to resolve the current predicament. The Nepalese, who were just missing a leader, immediately responded to Uyan Wangchuck's offer.

So, around three or four in the afternoon, even under these circumstances, the British maintained their afternoon tea tradition. Ugyen Wangchuck, leading his guards, charged directly towards the Gyantse Dzong government headquarters, where White was located. The unprepared British troops didn't react until Ugyen Wangchuck's guards reached the Dzong government building.

While the British army was resisting and trying to recall the outer defense forces to suppress the rebellion, the Nepalese auxiliary army blocked the British troops who were trying to return to their aid. Meanwhile, the Indian officers and soldiers of several other armies refused the British officers' orders to return to their aid, thus ignoring the rebellion that was taking place in the city.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Uyan Wangchuk had already brought White and Bar to Banjulunbu village, bound and tied up. Faced with such decisiveness, Wu Luzhen couldn't help but praise Lin Xinyi, saying, "If he were in the New Army, he would definitely be an outstanding officer."

Lin Xinyi, however, was busy with his official duties without even looking up. After the establishment of the Military and Political Committee in Gyantse, he began to promote further land reform. Compared with other places, the ruling order here had been almost destroyed by the British. Therefore, he refused to restore the serf system of temples and nobles in the Gyantse area, and instead chose to establish a free people's commune. For this purpose, he did not hesitate to cut off the intelligence communication between Gyantse and Lhasa, making Lhasa think that it was still in a standoff with the British army in Gyantse.

The Free People's Commune, or Military and Political Committee, believed that the people of Gyantse had made enormous sacrifices during the British invasion. Therefore, all the people there were freed from serfdom. The Military and Political Committee carried out a comprehensive distribution of land in the Nyangchu River Valley. Neither nobles nor temples had the right to assign labor to the local free people. The land ownership rights of nobles and temples were established as fixed rents, which were confirmed and paid by the Land Committee. In addition to managing land distribution, the Land Committee also controlled the collection of rents for the entire parish.

In addition to liberating the serfs in the Gyantse region, Lin Xinyi also ordered the relocation of the families of Tibetans in the New Army to the Nyangchu River Valley, granting them land and establishing military-run reclamation communes. In fact, he also planned to make the Gyantse region the headquarters of the Tibetan Military and Political Committee, with Lhasa serving as a branch office.

Having distanced themselves from the influence of the four major forests of Lhasa, the Tibetan Military and Political Committee, which controlled Gyantse and Shannan, could easily send troops to quell any rebellions in Lhasa or Shigatse, as these two river valleys and plains were also suitable for agriculture and human habitation. Compared to this crucial task, whether the British troops in Gyantse would surrender was a minor issue.

However, he truly hadn't expected such a change to occur in Gyantse, forcing the Military and Political Committee to take over Gyantse ahead of schedule. After signing the last document, he flexed his wrists and said to Wu Luzhen, "It's not a good thing for someone from a small country to possess such talent, because his country can't support his ambition. Besides, Sikkim isn't even a country."

Just as Wu Luzhen was pondering, Lin Xinyi spoke to Chimen Luobuwangjie, who was standing beside him, in more fluent Tibetan: “Go tell Uyan Wangchuk that we have many options. I am considering who I should talk to. He can either help me make a choice or wait for me to make a decision.”

Chimen Lobsang Gyaltsen listened intently to Lin Xinyi's instructions, then agreed and left the room. He hurried to the village entrance, where a group of soldiers were monitoring several Sikkimese and the two bound British men they had brought. Uyan Wangchuck was squatting in front of White, explaining his reasons for doing so. Although he didn't speak English, White understood Sikkim.

Both Sikkimese and Dzongkha, spoken in Bhutan, belong to the southern U-Tsang dialect group and are mutually intelligible. Only Nepali has absorbed more Hindi elements and has become a separate language. As the commissioner for Sikkim, White naturally learned these languages ​​because he needed to communicate with people from Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet.

Chimen Lobwang Gyaltsen calmly relayed Lin Xinyi's words to Ugyen Wangchuck, who had just stood up, and then immediately stepped back a few paces to observe the other's actions. Ugyen Wangchuck's expression was complex, but he quickly drew a dagger from his waist. The new army soldiers were about to raise their rifles, but Chimen Lobwang Gyaltsen stopped them.

Soon, the two Englishmen on the ground lay in pools of blood. Uyan Wangchuck dropped the dagger, wiped the blood off his body, and then respectfully said to Chimen Lobsang Gyaltsen, "Please tell your esteemed lord that I have made the choice for him."

Chapter 227 Adventurers

In his room, by the light of the lamp on the table, Lin Xinyi sized up the de facto ruler of Bhutan standing before him. Although his current title was the Eastern Governor, inherited from his father, his political enemies in the country had either been killed by him or exiled to Tibet. Another powerful figure in Bhutan, the Western Governor Paroben Lodawa Padrö, was his cousin. After Paroben sided with the British, Bhutan had effectively come under his control.

Uyan Wangchuck, in his early forties, was almost twice the age of Lin Xinyi, yet he appeared remarkably humble before him. It was hard to believe that just moments before, he had personally killed two British men. Lin Xinyi sighed and said to Uyan Wangchuck, "Wangchuck Tunsa, you've put me in a difficult position. You just killed the Sikkim commissioner, White, which means I now have no one left to negotiate with."

"If Beijing finds out about this situation, they will definitely push you out to apologize to the British, thus initiating Sino-British peace negotiations. Not to mention Beijing, even the Qing Dynasty's resident minister in Lhasa, if he knew about this, would order me to detain you first. So, how do you plan to resolve your troubles?"

Without even considering that it was the other party who forced him to make this choice, Uyan Wangchuck said respectfully, "Indeed, I was a bit rash in my actions. Thinking about how these barbarians destroyed Buddhist temples in Tibet, it was truly despicable, and I couldn't help but have the thought of avenging the Tibetans."

However, I believe it is better for White to be dead than alive. He spent nearly 20 years in Sikkim and had a deep understanding of the geography and customs of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Nepal. If he had lived, even if the British army had retreated this time, they would have begun preparing for the next invasion of Tibet. It was through such constant harassment and warfare that the British came to rule the whole of India.

With this man dead, no one will be able to control the political situation in Sikkim for a short time. I know that His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tudor Namgyal, is imprisoned in Darjeeling. If Your Excellency can go and rescue the Dalai Lama, Sikkim can return to Tibet. In this way, only Nepal will remain among the three kingdoms of Shannan. If we can persuade Prime Minister Rana to remain neutral and not side with the British, then Sikkim and Bhutan will once again become the bulwark of Tibet.

Rather than trying to persuade the British to abandon their invasion of Tibet, I believe it would be better to seize strategic locations to make it difficult for the British to invade Tibet. This is the best way to ensure Tibet's security.

Lin Xinyi leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and pondered for a while before saying, "What you say seems to make a lot of sense, but in reality, it's not you who are protecting Tibet, but us who are ensuring your safety. To do that, we need at least a pretext to send troops into Bhutan and Sikkim, do you understand?"

After a moment of silence, Ugyen Wangchuck tentatively said, "Bhutan could follow the example of the past and restore relations with Tibet."

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "Bhutan and Sikkim are in such important geographical locations that it's no longer appropriate to keep them under Tibet as before. I think it would be better to make them provinces of China. In the future, they can be on equal footing with Tibet. Since the Manchus could be emperors of China, there's no reason why you can't be high-ranking officials."

Uyan Wangchuck's eye twitched, but he calmly replied to Lin Xinyi, "I dare not accept such praise, sir, but I am willing to obey your orders..."

Lin Xinyi, satisfied, then shifted the topic to the geography and customs of Bhutan and Sikkim. Only then did Wu Luzhen have a chance to join the discussion. The conversation ended only after a significant amount of kerosene had evaporated from the lamp. Wu Luzhen and Lin Xinyi saw Ugyen Wangchuck to the door. Watching his figure disappear into the darkness, Wu Luzhen couldn't help but ask Lin Xinyi, "Is this man truly trustworthy?"

Standing at the door, Lin Xinyi yawned, then lowered his hand and said, "As long as the benefits of betrayal don't outweigh the costs, he's still trustworthy for now. As for the future, that's another matter. Our current targets are Kalimpong and Darjeeling, not Bhutan. It's late, you should go back and rest..."

Uyan Wangchuck originally thought that the Han people still needed him as their guide, at least for now. Without his help, they could not have passed through Bhutan so quickly and safely. However, he soon discovered that the Han people actually had more than just the plan he had described.

Starting November 12th, one hundred Gurkhas were sent back to Gurkhas every day, returning via the Shigatse route. However, Uyan Wangchuck discovered that the Han Chinese were not simply repatriating these Gurkhas. Before repatriation, the Han Chinese would register the Gurkhas' personal information, then provide them with education, and only then would arrangements be made for their dispersal.

During this process, the Han Chinese would first explain to these Gurkha porters or soldiers (non-British troops) that this British invasion of Tibet was an illegal military activity that brought great disaster and suffering to the peace-loving Tibetan people. However, this was not their fault, but the fault of the British imperialists who launched the war and the Rana family who handed them over to the British imperialist army.

The Han Chinese argued that the Gurkha porters and soldiers should not bear responsibility for the war, but their livestock, supplies, and weapons would be confiscated as tools of British imperialism's invasion of Tibet. However, considering the losses they suffered in the war, the Han Chinese insisted that they should apply for compensation from the British Empire and the Rana family, and provided them with the necessary documentation.

The Han Chinese also told these Gurkhas that if the Rana family refused to compensate them, they would go to Kathmandu to demand that the Rana family fulfill their responsibilities. Their tribal registration would be issued together with the compensation received.

This effectively provided a pretext for attacking Kathmandu and launched a psychological offensive against the Gurkhas. When the Han Chinese attacked Kathmandu, these tribes would inevitably hesitate and might no longer support the Rana family. This was clearly more radical than Uyan Wangchuck's advocacy of maintaining Nepal's neutrality, but it was also more likely to succeed.

Even Uyan Wangchuck himself couldn't be sure whether others would be willing to stand with him against the Han Chinese if they only saw him as an enemy. His cousin, Paro Pon Lodawa Padrup, and others had originally advocated standing with the Tibetans against the British. This was because Bhutan and Tibet had a long-standing subordinate relationship, and the British had occupied much of western Bhutan during their invasion of Sikkim. The British claimed this was to protect Indian territory from attack, but for Paro Pon Lodawa Padrup, it was an insult, as these were his territories.

However, Ugyen Wangchuck's other cousin, Ugyen Kharji, the Bhutanese representative in Kalimpong, argued to him, "Considering both the near and far perspectives, Britain is the most powerful country in the world, and Tibet cannot defeat Britain; if we support Tibet, Bhutan will surely be conquered by Britain in the future. Therefore, we should live in harmony with Britain and do our best to mediate between Britain and Tibet."

Although Ugyen Wangchuck suppressed the demands of Bhutanese nobles who supported Tibet, this did not mean they would hold him in high esteem. Given Tibet's victory, those opposition figures would likely quickly side with the Han Chinese, tearing his family to pieces. The Lha Na family now finds itself in a precarious position. The only thing Ugyen Wangchuck is unsure of is when the Han Chinese will launch such an attack.

As Uyan Wangchuck felt increasingly threatened, Lin Xinyi finally prepared for his expedition. However, Wu Luzhen was quite pessimistic about this campaign, shaking his head repeatedly and saying to Lin Xinyi, "You don't intend to lead such a ragtag army to attack Kalimpong and Darjeeling, do you? Do you know that more than half of your troops have already surrendered? Aren't you afraid they'll mutiny down the mountain?"

While handing over his tasks to Liu Tong and Longxia Dorje Tsering beside him, Lin Xinyi casually replied, "Don't worry, these people have all been vetted. Those officers are even more worried about their men betraying them than I am. There might be deserters, but a mutiny is unlikely. Besides, I still have a battalion of soldiers as backup, so there's nothing to worry about."

Wu Luzhen looked at Lin Xinyi, unsure whether he was simply recklessly bold or utterly unaware of fear. He could only suppress his own excitement and calmly advise Lin Xinyi, "I don't object to the plan to march down the mountain, but I object to your recklessness. Even though the troops in Kalimpong and Darjeeling have been largely redeployed, there are still many British residents in those areas. These British have military experience, and once mobilized, they will quickly become a defensive force. If they hold their ground in the cities, your makeshift army won't be able to handle them..."

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, “What you said makes sense. However, it’s already November, and most of the British have already come down from the mountain. Based on past experience, apart from tea plantation owners and some government officials, no one else will stay on the mountain for the winter because it’s too cold.”

We need to strike hard on the British before they can react; this is the best combination we can put together right now. What if we bring all the forces from the plateau down the mountain? What will happen to the plateau?