Make France Great Again-Chapter 918 - 909: Britain’s Response

After the successful uprising in Delhi, the rebel army quickly established a military committee consisting of 10 people. After unanimous discussion by the military committee, they decided to use the uncut telegraph lines in the Delhi region to convey the success of the uprising to surrounding regions of India.

Although this decision would expose the Delhi region to the British Army’s sight, it would also accurately inform other armies wishing to revolt that they were not alone.

It is known that there are 300,000 hired Indian troops throughout India, while the British army monitoring them numbers only 45,000.

Some of the British army had already set off for East Asia, while another part was still battling with the Kaiji Kingdom in Persia.

After excluding these parts, only about 20,000 troops were left in India.

Controlling 300,000 hired troops with only 20,000 troops is an impossible task in any imagination.

Of course, the leaders of the rebel army also understood that the Britons, who lost control of India, would not let it rest and would certainly summon a powerful army from their homeland to suppress them.

Therefore, the rebel army must expand its successes in the Indian region as much as possible; only then could they recruit more soldiers to fight against the Britons.

Of course, the rebels at that time did not know that their joint resistance against the English was just wishful thinking!

Once the telegram of the uprising in Delhi was sent, indeed many armies followed them in rebellion; however, the nearby Punjab region suppressed the troops attempting to rebel immediately after receiving the Delhi uprising telegram.

Nearly 4,000 people from two regiments were massacred by the princely states’ armies under British control.

Calcutta became the most important stronghold against the Indian uprising. After the initial shock, Governor Canning quickly took action.

As Governor, he ordered soldiers from Calcutta and the Punjab region to go to Delhi to suppress the rebellion, while also sending people to Persia (about 20,000 British soldiers were still in Persia and had not returned) and to Britain for assistance.

The message for assistance departed from Calcutta, drifted on the sea for a month, and finally reached the Ottoman Embassy in Britain.

It was already the end of June. When the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire received the news of the Indian rebellion, his face immediately changed dramatically. He quickly inquired about the situation in the Indian region from the British officer responsible for seeking assistance.

The British officer, following Governor Canning’s instructions, exaggerated the real situation in the Indian region and told the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, "Mr. Ambassador, according to estimates from the Governor’s Mansion of Calcutta, nearly 100,000 people have participated in the rebellion, and there are 60,000 to 70,000 troops still on the sidelines of the rebellion stage, who could join the rebellion at any time.

Worse still, the villages in the Indian region have entirely fallen into the hands of the rebels.

The only places under our control for now are Calcutta, the north of Delhi, and Bengal!"

[The reason Canning instructed the officer to report in this manner was to urge the British Cabinet to quickly come up with a plan.

If they reported the real information to the British, the British Cabinet would think India was not in serious trouble.

Then the Cabinet would debate how many troops to dispatch, which would waste a lot of time.]

The British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who was not familiar with the situation in India, frowned upon hearing the officer’s response and said to him: "Can you write down all the information you’ve gathered so I can pass it on to Britain?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The British officer immediately handed over the letter he had already prepared to the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, "Your Excellency, the specific situation in India is all in this letter!"

The British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire took the letter, nodded in response, "I will immediately send a telegram to Britain!"

After saying this, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire arranged for the British officer to stay in the lounge on the first floor of the embassy, then went alone to the telegraph room on the second floor to send the telegram.

The sound of ticking was heard from the telegraph room and only stopped after ten minutes.

The telegraph operator told the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire that the telegram would be sent to Britain in forty minutes.

The British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire patted the telegraph operator on the shoulder, then turned and left the telegraph room.

...

Forty minutes later, in the London Foreign Ministry thousands of miles away from Constantinople, they received a telegram from the British Embassy in the Ottoman Empire.

After reading the telegram, the telegraph operator’s face immediately changed dramatically, and he quickly found his superior to hand over the telegram.

After reading the telegram, the superior’s face also turned grim, and he quickly instructed the telegraph operator to keep the contents of the telegram confidential.

[In fact, the British Foreign Ministry is the organization least adept at keeping secrets.]

Then he turned and ran to the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ office. When the telegraph bureau chief arrived at the office door, the Minister’s secretary stopped him.

"Sir, I have something very important that I need to discuss with the Minister!" The telegraph bureau chief anxiously said to the Minister’s secretary.

"Do you have an appointment?" The Minister’s secretary asked unhurriedly.

The telegraph bureau chief shook his head and said to the Minister’s secretary, "Sir, I do not have an appointment!"

```

"I’m sorry! I can’t let you in!" The Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs said while flipping open the schedule on the desk to the Director of the Telegraph Bureau, "The Minister’s schedule is already full, there’s simply no time to meet with you!"

"Your Excellency, please take a look at this!" The Director of the Telegraph Bureau handed the telegram to the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (also known as the Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs) took the telegram and bowed his head to read its contents.

After a while, even the calm expression of the Secretary changed upon reading the telegram. He looked up at the Director of the Telegraph Bureau and said, "I will pass the telegram to the Minister right away; you may leave now!"

The Director of the Telegraph Bureau had no choice but to follow the Secretary’s instructions and turned to leave.

The Secretary also turned and went to the door of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ office, gently knocking on the office door.

A few seconds later, the voice of Earl of Clarendon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, came from inside the office: "Come in!"

The Secretary opened the door and entered the room. At this time, Earl of Clarendon was handling documents on his desk, and the Secretary’s arrival did not stop Earl from his work.

"What’s the matter?" Earl of Clarendon asked casually.

"Your Excellency, please take a look at this!" The Secretary approached Earl of Clarendon and placed the telegram on his desk.

Earl of Clarendon paused, raised his head, and then picked up the telegram to read.

After a moment, Earl of Clarendon’s expression turned serious. Upon finishing reading the telegram, he promptly got up and ordered the Secretary, "Postpone or delay the remaining schedule immediately; I need to go to 10 Downing Street to meet with Prime Minister Palmerston!"

"Yes!" replied the Secretary crisply, then further asked, "Your Excellency, do you need me to prepare a carriage for you?"

"Yes!" Earl responded immediately, "Make it quick!"

The Secretary jogged out of the Minister’s office, leaving Earl of Clarendon alone in the room; he first sorted and categorized the documents on the desk, planning to continue processing them later on returning, then took the telegram in hand and left the office.

When Earl of Clarendon arrived at the entrance of the Foreign Ministry, a carriage was already parked outside.

Earl of Clarendon opened the carriage door and entered the compartment.

The carriage advanced with Earl aboard, taking less than 5 minutes to reach 10 Downing Street.

Descending from the carriage, Earl of Clarendon headed straight for the Prime Minister’s office door; both the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister’s Secretary showed surprised expressions upon seeing Earl’s arrival.

The Prime Minister’s Secretary glanced at the Prime Minister’s schedule and noticed there was no meeting arranged with Earl of Clarendon.

The Cabinet Secretary quickly understood; Earl of Clarendon must have important matters to discuss with the Prime Minister.

Indeed, upon arriving before the Cabinet Secretary, Earl immediately said to them, "I have urgent business to report to the Prime Minister!"

"Your Excellency, the Prime Minister is currently with..." The Prime Minister’s Secretary began to say to Earl of Clarendon.

Before the Secretary could finish speaking, Earl of Clarendon spoke again, "I must see the Prime Minister now!"

"I’ll open the door for you!" The Cabinet Secretary did not hesitate for a moment, swiftly opening the Prime Minister’s office door.

At that moment, Prime Minister Palmerston was conversing with the Minister of Internal Affairs about the security issues in the London Region; the sudden opening of the office door interrupted the conversation between Prime Minister Palmerston and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

As Palmerston and the Minister looked on in confusion, Earl of Clarendon entered the office, "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, please allow me to interrupt your discussion!"

"I have a very urgent matter that requires your immediate decision!"

"What matter?" asked Prime Minister Palmerston.

Earl of Clarendon approached Palmerston’s desk and handed him the telegram paper.

Prime Minister Palmerston picked up the telegram and began reading the content; the Minister of Internal Affairs, sitting beside him, watched and prepared to say goodbye to Palmerston.

"You don’t need to leave now!" Palmerston said with a furrowed brow.

The Minister of Internal Affairs looked puzzled and directed his gaze at Earl of Clarendon.

Earl of Clarendon also shook his head slightly, indicating the Minister need not leave so soon.

Because the Prime Minister must convene a Cabinet meeting shortly to discuss this crucial issue.

After reading the telegram, Prime Minister Palmerston raised his head and passed the telegram to the Minister of Internal Affairs, "You have a look too! Anyway, we’ll need to discuss it soon!"

The Minister of Internal Affairs took the telegram from Palmerston’s hand and examined it; after a while, he showed the same expression as Palmerston.