153 Pressure Diplomacy(1)
An unexpected visitor came to California, the capital of Easterfield Commonwealth.
It was the chieftains of Hawaii.
They have expressed their desire to establish diplomatic ties with the Easterfield Confederacy for faster development.
Hawaii is currently operating a sugar cane plantation and is experiencing rapid economic expansion, but recently a problem has arisen.
High inflation has occurred inside Hawaii and has reached a point where economic activity is no longer possible.
“Do you want to establish diplomatic ties?”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Hmm.”
For the expedition to the East, the need for the Hawaiian Islands was so important that it was not necessary to stress.
However, he could not annihilate the Hawaiian Islands.
This is because byeongtan inevitably has side effects.
“If you want to establish a relationship, do it.”
“thank you! Then, my majesty, may I ask you one more thing?”
“Something?”
“At present, the Hawaiian Islands are not united. If possible, please unite us and allow Hawaii to be absorbed into the Federation of Easterfield.”
Originally, Hawaii should have leapt into a kingdom by unifying the tribes that had acquired firearms by the British.
Hana Easterfield became the strongest player in Europe, so Britain was imprisoned in Europe without even going to Hawaii.
“Are the tribes going to join our federation after consulting?”
“I hope to exist as a state in the Kingdom of Easterfield.”
“You’re not just joining the Federation, you’re going to become the territory of the kingdom?”
“Yes, it is.”
Lee Hwan, who knew all too well the importance of Hawaii, agreed to grant the request.
However, there were only a couple of things to change.
“As you know, Easterfield is a democracy. No matter whether chieftain or king, nobility cannot exist. If you want to make a chieftain or a king, you must realize democracy as a constitutional monarchy. Can you do it?”
“of course!”
“As it develops into a strong economic policy, some of the underlying industries are managed by the state, but most enterprises are privately owned. Are you still okay?”
“Of course you can!”
“Okay, then I will allow you to join us.”
“thank you!”
In this era, double taxation was almost standard, and from the point of view of Hawaii suffering from inflation, it was best to be absorbed as a province in Easterfield.
This led Easterfield to absorb Hawaii.
***
In the spring of 1836, the Federal Army’s private fleet was organized with a size of 30,000 water and prepared an expedition to the East.
They were armed with ships capable of landing elite Marines with faster maneuverability than large-caliber cannons.
The combat power of the private fleet that had been trained for over a year was truly the highest level.
They led a stable life in the Easterfield Federation, receiving the same remuneration and treatment as regular soldiers.
However, since they had lived as pirates for a long time, the Atlantic Ocean had no choice but to be narrow.
“Your Majesty, it is said that the Private Fleet has finished preparing for its deployment.”
“Then shall we meet the commander?”
“I’m still waiting at the royal palace to report the deployment.”
“Listen.”
The launch of the private fleet was to be made in California, the heart of the Federation.
Joao Fernandez bowed down to Yi Hwan.
“See you, Your Majesty!”
“Get up.”
“It is an honour!”
“By the way, Maria II made a very firm decision.”
“He warmly welcomed Soshin to the East for the benefit of the Federation.”
“You really are a girl. He may have been afraid of losing his position in federal politics.”
No one wants to leave the Union.
It is now possible to measure the magnitude of ambitions by who wields more influence within the Federation.
Since Maria II was also a politician, she wanted to gain as much influence as possible in the Federation Council.
Because he was well aware of her ambition, Lee Hwan thought it was a surprise.
In any case, it was very satisfying to have the head of the Federation Forces, who could create a strong cohesion, lead the private fleet.
“There are already some private fleets stationed there. Do you know that friction with them can happen?”
“Yes, my lord. Haona, one of the commanders of the private fleet stationed there is the one who shared life and death with the minority.”
“Oh, was it?”
“I had a relationship in the past.”
“Then it won’t be a big problem.”
The unity of power is the most important virtue for the military.
Through this, it was possible to distinguish the strength and weakness of the army, so it was important for the local troops to follow the new commander.
However, Joao Fernandez was not too worried if he did not have a comrade.
It was precisely because of the existence of this angle.
“I heard that the Grand Duke was leading an expeditionary force. If that’s the case, I think it’s enough to entrust me to the Archduke.”
“Um, yes. My uncle was there.”
“We will make the private fleet huge as much as we are indebted to the Grand Duke.”
The character Lee Gak had a really great charisma.
He knew well what it took to unite forces, and he knew very well how to give them a sense of belonging after uniting them.
Above all, he was flexible, full of discipline, and had a flexible mind.
He was not greedy enough to wish for the disappearance of the Joseon Dynasty and a republican government to be established.
A more perfect leader would never come again.
Lee Hwan decided to go on an expedition to Asia to hear from Joao Fernandez about his plans for where and how he would settle down.
“What is the outline of the operation?”
“The operational outline of the expeditionary private fleet will first go through Hawaii and take the first supply near Suva Island in Oceania.”
“You mean where the 8th Fleet is stationed?”
“Yes, it is. I heard that the area has recently joined the Federation. So, if I can fix up the soldiers there and recruit more troops, I will.”
After the complete integration of Australia, Easterfield planned to unite Oceania and expand to a vast area from the South Pacific to the South China Sea.
Of course, even if all of them did not join the Federation, it was intended to maintain a smooth supply route by establishing a macroeconomic sphere.
“After finishing the primary supply like that, we will start the secondary supply in Ryukyu immediately. After that, we plan to occupy Taiwan and Hainan Islands and use them as the second base for the privateer fleet.”
“Taiwan and Hainan.”
“The Grand Duke has already occupied the area, and recently the 9th Fleet’s trade ships have been frequenting it, so I know that he is familiar with the terrain and culture.”
“Then how do you plan to establish yourself in Taiwan and Hainan?”
“For now, I plan to gather pirates here.”
“Are you gathering the pirates? Not in Japan, but in the southern Qing?”
The number of waegu has never fallen below a certain level from the past until now.
Even in recent years, the Japanese shogunate’s policy of isolation has made life difficult, and the number of Japanese people is gradually increasing as a result.
If so, wouldn’t it be right to build a pirate base in central Japan? Lee Hwan thought so.
However, the Private Fleet had a different idea.
“The reason we are settling down in the south of Qing is that the Qing pirates are getting bigger and bigger in recent years. In addition, I know that pirates from Southeast Asia are running all over the South China Sea. We don’t know yet exactly how big it will be, but hopefully our private fleet could be much larger than planned.”
“iced coffee! right. I forgot for a moment that there were also blue pirates.”
“After forming a pirate group like this, we plan to advance to the inland and archipelago to integrate thieves and thieves by visiting Joseon, Japan, and Qing.”
The picture was drawn quite well.
If this painting could be completed properly, I thought that Asia could fall into the hands of the Federation earlier than expected.
“If you succeed in organizing a private company by uniting pirates and thieves, then you must divide the minority.”
“To say that it is a minority… … .”
“Since Qing and Japan are multiracial countries, national unity is not as easy as one might think. Countries that have been in war for a long time have a much more severe conflict.”
“Ugh!”
“I think integration will be much easier if we take advantage of that division.”
“After all, the wisdom of His Majesty cannot be followed at all!”
Except in mono-ethnic countries, racism was bound to be ubiquitous.
If well stimulated, the money and time to occupy Asia can be saved much more than expected.
In addition, Lee Hwan gave me one more homework.
“After occupying the island, come up with a plan to occupy land bases to advance inland.”
If it was assumed that the occupation war started from the south, the most necessary was a land base.
He colored Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhanjiang, Hong Kong and Macau on the map.
“It will be a strategic point. If possible, it would be better to occupy the neighboring islands at once.”
“Sir Hao-na, will you be able to conquer so many areas at once… … .”
“If we can’t take it, it’s very likely that our plans will fail in the first place.”
In fact, we did not know in detail how wide the Central Plains continent was and how wide the whole of Eurasia was.
I was only vaguely aware of the vast expanse of Russia and Qingdao, because few people had seen it with their own eyes.
As Lee Hwan said, advancing from southern Qing without a proper land base may be a dream come true.
“If the supply route is not improved early, it is impossible to know how many years it will take to advance to the Forbidden City. Other than that, what can we do with such a large piece of land and such a terrifyingly large population?”
“No matter how advanced the weapon is?”
“Unless we move the entire military factory, it is impossible.”
“iced coffee… … !”
“However, it will take less than two years to unify the Jungwon land if we move the entire military factory and provide a base where we can supply it smoothly.”
“After all, my thoughts were too short!”
“not. There is a saying in the East that there is a saying that a hundred gates are undisputed. Without seeing it in person, it is natural that the calculation does not start.”
Joao Fernandes, who doesn’t know the details, unconditionally agrees with Lee Hwan’s words.
After hearing about Lee Hwan, he made a suggestion.
“Then, His Majesty, how about simultaneous occupation while occupying the island?”
“Island and land together?”
“Our Easterfield battleships are strong enough to win against the Blue Fleet in a one-on-one battle. I think that having two such flagships would be enough to capture it.”
“So let’s go for a speed fight?”
“Isn’t it possible to engage in speed warfare and pressure diplomacy against the Qing?”
Pressing Cheong is a more important strategy than you might think.
Because if they start to think of Easterfield as an object of fear, they will never make an unreasonable number of sending a fleet again or deploying tactics because of it.
Lee Hwan agreed to his plan.
“Okay, then do it.”
“thank you!”
“I will support two battleships, two destroyers and two frigates. Also, the fleet will be merged with the Private Fleet and named the 10th Fleet.”
“The castle is doomed!”
This marks the birth of a new fleet in the Easterfield Navy.