Make France Great Again-Chapter 917 - 908: The Great Indian Rebellion

Meanwhile, across the ocean, the British Newspaper also published news of the peace treaty between the Kingdom of Britain and the King of Kaiji.

Unlike France Daily, which uses various methods to praise the Emperor and the Imperial Government’s great achievements, the British Newspaper focuses more on criticizing the Kingdom of Britain for concluding a treaty with the Kaiji Kingdom.

Newspapers inclined towards the Conservative Party (generally the right wing) criticize the British Government for being too lenient with the Kaiji Kingdom, claiming that the Kingdom of Britain gained nothing from this war and still lost a large sum of money for no reason.

Newspapers inclined towards progressivism (the Left Wing) go all out to criticize the British Government, with a small portion even blaming Jerome Bonaparte.

Among them, none are more enthusiastic about criticizing Jerome Bonaparte than Dr. Ma.

However, these criticisms have little effect on Jerome Bonaparte.

He is now accustomed to being criticized and cursed, as the saying goes: "Bad publicity is still publicity!"

As the "top influencer" of all Europe, Jerome Bonaparte naturally possesses "top-level" detractors.

In any case, Jerome Bonaparte does not expect to be as beloved as the franc.

No matter how much those who curse and criticize him do so, they cannot bring down his Empire.

The only ones capable of bringing down this Empire are the residents of Paris and Jerome Bonaparte himself.

The wave of criticism lasted several days and eventually subsided quietly amid the British Government’s silence.

...

Time passed quickly, and soon it was April 24, in the period leading up to the Indian uprising.

On this day, far from the European Continent in Mira, India, Lieutenant Colonel George Kemble Smith, commander of the Bengal Third Light Cavalry Corps, whimsically conducted a military parade. He first gathered his soldiers and then selected 90 soldiers, threateningly ordering the 90 Indian soldiers to demonstrate new rifle shooting.

However, unexpectedly, 85 out of 90 soldiers refused to use the Minie Bullet, and the infuriated Lieutenant Colonel George loudly threatened to throw all 85 soldiers into prison for a military court trial.

[It was later discovered by the English that the oil used in the oil-coated paper wrapping of the Minie Bullets was beef or pork tallow.

Neither Muslim soldiers nor Indian soldiers were willing to bite it.]

The soldiers remained indifferent. In the end, under the watchful eyes of their companions, they took off their uniforms, donned shackles, and walked towards prison, awaiting trial.

Imprisoning the disobedient soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel George triumphantly announced in front of the Indian soldiers’ hateful stares that these soldiers would face severe punishment.

At this moment, Lieutenant Colonel George could never have imagined that this seemingly insignificant "trivial matter" would become the trigger for the Indian soldiers’ uprising.

In the following days, Indian soldiers and officers of the Third, Eleventh, Twentieth Cavalry Corps, and the Eleventh Infantry Legion, which rarely collaborated, united in an attempt to rescue the imprisoned soldiers.

After discussions among four corps officers, it was decided that the Indian officers from the Third Corps would find the highest military official in Mira to plead for the soldiers’ release.

After much effort, the Indian officers finally found the highest official in Mira and pleaded for their pardon.

To their surprise, the Mira’s highest official not only refused to pardon but also threatened them with harsher punishments for the soldiers.

Only by doing so could the purpose of punishment be achieved, and the highest official in Mira issued a severe warning to the Indian officer.

After returning to the barracks, the Indian officer immediately shared this news with them.

The soldiers of the four corps immediately became agitated, but at this time, they did not take action, still holding out hope that the English would be lenient in the military court trial of the 85 soldiers.

On May 9, the military court officially tried the 85 soldiers. Most were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment and hard labor, with only eleven relatively young soldiers sentenced to five years.

Regardless of five years or ten years, it was a long time for a soldier.

Not to mention the hard labor on top of it.

This was equivalent to sentencing the 85 soldiers to death. Upon receiving the military court’s verdict, the soldiers did not react as they had before; instead, they quietly returned to camp and cleaned their rifles.

On the early morning of May 10, the uprising officially began. The first shot of the uprising was fired by soldiers of the Eleventh and Twentieth Cavalry Corps. They secretly infiltrated the tents where English officers resided at night, ambushing and killing the English officers.

They then set fire to the English officers’ tents while shouting, "The heretics are killing! They want to slaughter us all with bullets soaked in pork and beef oil!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Soldiers unaware of the truth quickly rushed out with their guns upon hearing the shouts, and upon seeing the burning tents and chaotic crowd, they immediately made a choice. Many soldiers began to voluntarily head to the English officers’ tents to kill the officers.

However, the Indian officers in the army were evidently not as decisive as the soldiers. The hesitant Indian officers attempted to restrain their soldiers.

However, in such chaos, how many soldiers were willing to obey the Indian officers’ orders?

After the chaos calmed somewhat, the Indian officers discovered that more than a dozen British officers had been killed.

Now, even if they wished to submit to Britain, Britain would only give them death.

The only path left for the 11th and 20th Light Cavalry Corps was rebellion, so the Indian officers resolutely declared an uprising.

Soldiers and officers of the 11th and 20th Cavalry Corps joined forces to march to the garrison of the Third Cavalry Corps. They "thoughtfully" helped the Third Light Cavalry Corps soldiers eliminate the British officers controlling the army, including the commander, Lieutenant Colonel George, of the Third Light Cavalry Corps.

Poor Lieutenant Colonel George was shot multiple times and died in bed, unable to believe until his last breath that he was killed by a group of cowardly Indians.

After eliminating Lieutenant Colonel George, soldiers from the 11th, 20th, and 3rd Light Cavalry Corps began searching for the 11th Infantry Legion. Upon reaching the 11th Infantry Legion, they discovered it had already left.

Finding no alternative, they convened an impromptu rebel meeting, which decided to seize the special target first before heading to Delhi to incite the Indian army in the Delhi region to join the uprising.

At 3 a.m., the three light cavalry corps fully infiltrated Mira, and the small unit led by Mira’s highest-ranking officer and a few British fled.

However, midway they were captured by a team of rebels sent by the Third Cavalry Corps to pursue them.

Mira’s highest-ranking officer and several officers were captured.

On the morning of May 11, the Mira special rebel army announced the capture of Mira to the citizens, while publicly executing Mira’s highest-ranking officer and several officers.

The cityfolk of Mira were indifferent when they heard the city was taken by the rebels, but when they saw the unpopular highest-ranking officer of Mira beheaded, they cheered, and the rebellion army completely seized Mira, cutting off the telegraph line between Mira and Delhi.

The army in the Delhi region was utterly unaware that Mira had revolted.

In the afternoon, the long-lost 11th Infantry Legion returned to Mira.

As soon as they stepped near Mira, they were already met with hostility from the other three corps, and the acting commander of the Third Cavalry Corps loudly rebuked the 11th Infantry Legion for being British lapdogs.

The representatives of the 11th Infantry Legion immediately argued, asserting that their legion was not British lapdogs, and they had come to join the uprising.

After hearing the explanation from the 11th Infantry Legion, the commander of the Third Cavalry Corps chose to believe them.

That night, the three cavalry corps and one infantry legion set out again to march toward Delhi.

For once, it was the capital of the Mughal Empire, where the Mughal Emperor still resided.

After a night of long marching, the four corps finally reached the vicinity of Delhi.

To gain legitimacy for the uprising, the Third Cavalry Corps dispatched a unit to the Mughal Imperial Palace to have the last Mughal Emperor stand as the nominal Commander-in-Chief of their rebel army.

Meanwhile, Delhi was already in a state of panic.

The Mira uprising had reached Delhi, deepening the rift between the Indian soldiers and British officers, who were already on uneasy terms.

The Indian soldiers hoped the Mira rebel army would soon attack Delhi, while the British officers feared that Indian soldiers might act against them, as their "predecessors" did in the Mira region.

The severe confrontation between soldiers and officers made it practically impossible to even consider counterattacking the rebel army or relying on Delhi for defense.

A vanguard team of the Third Cavalry Corps swaggered into Delhi, arriving before the Mughal Imperial Palace to request the last Mughal Emperor to assume the role of the rebel army’s commander and lead them against the despicable Western colonizers.

The Mughal Emperor, upon hearing the rebel army’s intent, did not choose to respond.

In his view, the rebels were nothing more than a motley crew, unlikely to accomplish anything significant.

However, the Mughal Emperor’s son, Mizar Mughal, was deeply interested in the position of the rebel army’s commander and urged his father to take up the role.

But he was harshly reprimanded by the Mughal Emperor.

With no other choice, Mizar Mughal, gritting his teeth, broke away from his father and ran to the Third Light Cavalry Corps, announcing that although his father was unwilling to be the Commander-in-Chief of the rebel army, he had appointed him.

The Third Cavalry Corps soldiers, upon hearing that the Prince was willing to be the Commander-in-Chief, also felt a connection.

Mizar Mughal was promptly appointed as the rebel army’s Commander-in-Chief.

Faced with Mizar Mughal as the rebel army’s Commander-in-Chief, the Indian Corps stationed in Delhi became more apprehensive, with some directly choosing to revolt and others opting to retreat.

On May 12, the rebel army successfully entered Delhi, further expanding their forces.