Part II - The War In The East
The Indies
The Crown Jewel of the Empire and it's surroundings were some of the most important holdings of the United Kingdom at the time, both economically and politically. The prestigious position of Empress of India, attained by Queen Victoria in the 1870s, plus the tactical importance of those provinces for the Empire, and one can argue that, for UK, 'winning' in real life depended more than anything in holding India under british control.
The goals for Asia and Oceania are:
- Colonize New Zealand and Australia as soon as possible.
- Acquire Hong Kong from China before 1842 and put them in my SoI before 1860.
- Annex Panjab before 1849, and release Kashmir as a puppet state.
- Annex Burma, if they revolt.
- Annex Johore before 1886 (can't remember if they star in your SoI, if so, only if they revolt).
- Acquire Northern Borneo before 1888.
- Annex or sphere all the others western/eastern Indian Minors, Kalat specially, with focus in annexing Baluchistan before 1876.
- Try to prevent chinese expansionism anywhere, except Tibet.
- Release Australia as a dominion in 1901.
- Stablish a large fleet presence in Bombay/Calcuta.
As you see, despite some standard regular-game goals like colonization, there's some aggressive annexing and some diplomacy ahead. First, the troops and navy must be updated; some artillery should added to the Indian Armies and enough Steam Transports must be built to move the british armies around. Around 40 Transports will be built, along with over 50 Commerce Raiders. Most armies will consist of 6 brigades of infantry and brigades of cavalry and artillery, 2 of each. That'll allow that only one transport squadron - with 10 transports - is necessary to move them, facilitating transportation.
In early December, the transports are ready for moving. They are assembled in Southampton, and must be sent south no later then January, 1837. Acquiring Hong Kong is the most urgent goal in Asia, so all forces must be concentrated in a 'all or nothing' campaign for Guangdong; after the region is occupied, a favorable peace deal probably can be achieved.
But, before that, there's one stop to make on the way to Asia:
The middle east, despite having a really greater importance later, when oil reserves were discovered and the resource had shown it's significance, they had some strategical importance on their own back then. The Aden region (in southwestern Yemen), acquired by the british in 1839, was used mainly as a station for fleets and as a preventive against piracy in the region.
Along with acquiring territory for that colony, the goals for the region are:
- Sphere Abu Dhabi as soon as possible.
- Sphere Oman as soon as possible.
- Acquire territory from Yemen to form the Aden Protectorate before 1839.
- Try to dismantle the Ottoman Empire no later then 1920, and sphere/annex Iraq and Palestine no later then the same year.
- Try to prevent european colonialism through alliances.
On a side note, and as noted by Tanzhang, at first, the Ottomans must be made an ally of the UK; that was achieved in January of 1836 through an agreement. If british hegemony is to be asserted in the east by force, the Ottomans shall be the ideal ally (given their general incompetence in V2, they are more like cannon fodder for the Russian hordes, but they are useful nonetheless). For now, the main task is at hand: establishing the Aden Protectorate.
AS it can be seen in this map, Taizz, Hodeida and the capital Sana are not part of it; but since the game does not fracture regions in peace deals, only what composed Aden originally cannot be acquired individually. Yemen must be annexed, unfortunetelly. In May of 1837, war is declared - it's allies Hedjaz and Abu Dhabi do not honor their alliance. The Calcutta Army arrives on the 15th, the occupation of Ghayda begins:
The attrition is massive; the british forces must be divided, so they don't suffer so harshly the conditions of the desert. Occupying low supply and high attrition provinces such as these is a long and difficult endeavour; the campaign lasts for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Gwalior is sphered and the spread of influence in Asia continues. By July of 1838, the last remnants of the yemeni resistance are dealt with in Hodeida and the occupation of their last province follows.
While the campaign advances to its final moments, the early months of 1839 are eventful: against what was believed earlier, the dutch recognize belgian independence; in February, Queen Victoria marries the Prince of Saxe-Colburg-Gotha; the Texan War of Independence ends in America, with the state being incorporated in the USA; and finally, after the lengthy Siege of Hodeida, in May, a favorable peace deal is signed with Yemen and the Aden Protectorate is founded on schedule.
The First Eastern War
The Conservatives manage to win the election in 1840, contrary to all expectations, and no doubt to the dismay of Her Majesty. That does not, however, changes any plans for the upcoming campaign for Hong Kong. After the somewhat costly war for Aden, the british forces continue on their route towards the East Indies. Most of the brigades stationed in India also board the transports headed for Gauzhou and Hainan, and in November, war is declared between UK and China.
In reality, since this conflict had to do with the opium trade between UK and China and also some very specific diplomatic situations, the game doesn't have what is required to fully emulate this conflict. Since this is an attempt at an historical game, we could argue that the reasons for war were economical and strategical. Soon after the news of the declaration of war reached the Forbidden Palace, there's british soldiers disembarking in the southern most coast of China.
Chinese troops scrambled around, but only minor battles take place, without any threatening battles. By January, Zhaoqinq is occupied without much resistence. The attrition has taken it's toll - from the original 90.000 men that arrived late in 1840, only 75.000 remain. After a few smaller skirmishes, the bulk of the chinese forces gathers around Naning and Canton, and they eventually outmaneuver the british troops, forcing them into battle at Gauzhou: the almost 200 thousand strong chinese army engaged Lord General Leopold Smith-Dorrien and his men in March. Outnumbered almost 10 to 1, he managed to hold ground until reinforcing armies from Hainan and Zhaoqinq arrived.
A massive defeat for China, the Battle of Gauzhou helped pave the way for other significant victories in the campaign, like the Battle of Canton in June, and the 2nd Battle of Ganzhou, in August. Even with these victories, some decisive victory must be achived
fast; in early September, almost 400 thousand chinese troops were gathering around in the surrounding provinces, and it was just a matter of time before they were organized enough to strike; those 'psychological' victories were the only chance of achieving the needed war score before that fateful attack. Then, before the worst could happen, in October 12th of 1841 a peace offer came from China, ceding Hong Kong to the Empire.
This war, despite being successful, showed that in order to subjugate China under the UK sphere of influence, a much larger force is needed and a lot more careful planing is required; the war score needed is much higher, and it's amazingly difficult to effectively occupy large stretches of chinese territory without massive armies. Everything will be done to prepare the british forces when the time comes, but, for now, a brief respite can be enjoyed before turning all attention to the Indian Subcontinent.
Next: The Panjabi Subjugation and the 'Sphering Wars'