Chapter 1094: Undercurrents

Tianzhu, Calcutta.

At the time when Chang Wei was leading the army on a western expedition to Tianshan.

The Western Lands Allied Forces navy was holding a massive exercise in the waters off Calcutta.

The purpose was to allow the naval warships of various countries to form a tacit understanding when fighting at sea.

The reason this exercise was held was because the second batch of reinforcements for the Western Lands Allied Forces had all arrived half a month ago.

This brought the scale of the Western Lands Allied Forces' warships in Tianzhu to 580 vessels.

This included 72 steamships and 408 sailing warships.

Adding in the warships lost in previous engagements with the Great Song Navy, they had basically committed half of their respective countries' warships to the Dongtu battlefield.

If they still could not win this naval battle, it would mean they would no longer have the strength to organize a third expedition.

Regarding the Army, a total of 250,000 men had been dispatched this time, and they had all arrived as well.

Together with the remnants of the troops in Tianzhu, they of the Western Lands had amassed 400,000 ground troops in Tianzhu.

Of course, they also wanted to send more warships and troops, but this was already the limit of their power projection, having exhausted countless material and human resources.

If they still could not thwart the Great Song's invasion of Tianzhu this time, they would no longer have the strength to organize a third expedition.

"So many warships; one can only see this when the Queen reviews the navy."

On the shore, Hariman, Wesley, and Bolt each held a telescope, watching the warships practice formations at sea.

At this moment, Hariman could not help but sigh.

Wesley and Bolt nodded.

That moment was a moment worth being proud of for every British person.

Because it symbolized the naval strength of Britain, which was unrivaled in the Western Lands.

And the strength of a navy meant a country's control over the ocean.

It was just that they had not expected that one day they would suffer such humiliation in Dongtu.

It caused their British dignity to be swept into the dust.

"And these 400,000 ground troops; back when we British organized the coalition to resist the Frank, the number at its peak was only 700,000." Bolt lowered his voice so that Gaole'er would not hear, lest they be displeased.

"Such a scale of naval warships and ground troops is enough to destroy a country in the Western Lands; this time we must seize the opportunity to destroy the Great Song." Wesley almost bit his teeth to pieces.

He now hated the Great Song to death, and also hated the Great Song Emperor Zhao Xu to death.

It was this Dongtu country and the monarch who led this country that had caused him to lose face time and time again.

Even his personal ability had been called into question.

Otherwise, the Queen could not have sent Hariman to Tianzhu as well.

If he could not make a comeback this time, his military career would basically be declared over.

"We will definitely win." Hariman patted Wesley on the shoulder and comforted him, "However, we cannot continue to underestimate the Great Song army as we did before. One thing we must admit is that the Great Song army is more difficult to deal with than we imagined, and perhaps even stronger than us."

He paused, then continued, "Therefore, I believe that in the coming war, we must try every means to weaken the opponent's advantage in muskets and artillery in order to win. Simply put, we must learn to fight like the weak against the strong, use our brains more, and become as cunning as foxes."

"Are you saying I'm stupid, Hariman?" Wesley's expression immediately turned ugly, and he shook off Hariman's hand.

"Hahaha..." Hariman laughed, "I am not blaming you. At least you let us understand the true strength of the Great Song army; that is already no small contribution."

Upon hearing this, Wesley snorted, "While you can still laugh now, laugh a little more. When you truly engage with the Great Song army, you will understand why I failed. Before that, I will be a qualified adjutant."

When Hariman arrived, he also brought the Queen's commission.

Command of the Army fell into Hariman's hands, and he was responsible for assisting Hariman.

"Alright, alright, don't forget our mission. If we lose this war, none of us will have an easy life, so let's leave the arguing for after the victory." Bolt interjected.

Hariman and Wesley looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.

Then they looked toward the wilderness to the east of the port.

There, the ground troops of various countries were also conducting joint exercises, honing their tacit understanding with one another.

The content of the exercises was basically based on the Great Song army's methods of attack.

Aiming at the characteristics of the Great Song army's offensive, they had conducted many response drills.

They hoped that when the time came, they could reduce casualties on the battlefield, thwart the Great Song army's offensive, and perhaps even launch a counterattack in one stroke to defeat the Great Song army.

"By the way, how is the situation with the Tusman army?" Hariman remembered something and looked at Bolt.

This time, they had paid a high price to get the Tusman to join the war; they absolutely could not let the Tusman Empire take the benefits and then do nothing.

Previously, although the Tusman Empire had stationed troops on the border of Tianzhu, putting on a posture of supporting them, in fact, it was just for show.

Without receiving tangible benefits, they were still unwilling to put in the effort.

At present, handing over the Tianshan region to the Tusman was one of the benefits they had promised.

Another promise was that they of the Western Lands would provide the Tusman Empire with muskets and artillery, as well as provide steam engines, to help the Tusman Empire build a military factory to produce items like rifled muskets and artillery.

In the past, they would absolutely never have agreed to this.

Because an expanding Tusman Empire did not align with the interests of their Western Lands either.

After all, they of the Western Lands also shared a border with the Tusman.

But they, the British, had always pursued an offshore balancing policy.

Now that the Great Song had risen, they needed to support the Tusman to make it more powerful, while intentionally creating conflicts between the Tusman and the Great Song, causing them to be mutually hostile and mutually exhaust each other.

If the plan went smoothly, their support of muskets and artillery and helping them build a military factory would seem insignificant.

"They have already tasted the sweetness," Bolt said, "The muskets and artillery we provided have already been delivered to their hands. Although the quantity is not large, it is enough to make them excited."

"Since that is the case, they should fulfill their promise now, right?" Hariman asked.

"Of course, today I just received a letter from Grand Duke Faram. He finally promised that if we encounter a crisis in Tianzhu, his army will enter Tianzhu at any time to support us," Bolt said.

Hariman nodded.

In his eyes, the Tusman Empire was still a feudal slave state.

The entire country was ruled by the supreme ruler Anka and the Grand Dukes he enfeoffed.

Each Grand Duke was responsible for governing a region and possessed an army under their command.

This Faram was one of the most formidable Grand Dukes under the current Tusman Empire's Anka, holding twenty thousand troops in his hands.

His army was composed of numerous slave soldiers.

These slave soldiers were trafficked from various places since childhood and received military training; they were cold-blooded killing machines.

If it were not for the fact that the Western Lands' muskets and Artillery were far superior to the Tusman's, this Tusman Empire would truly be worth fearing.

Precisely because of this, they were also very cautious when arming the Tusman.

During the years of its confrontation with the Ross nation, they only provided limited support.

If it were not for the Great Song, they truly would not have opened such a wide gap.