The Opium Wars: Exploring the Addiction of Empires from Beginning to End by Ramos Adrian & Compacted History

Author:Ramos, Adrian & Compacted, History
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

North to Amoy

The ceasefire continued in to July, as Qing commanders and British expedition leaders argued over what was to be done, or how. The Daoguang Emperor still wanted the goals of his Canton missive achieved, including reclaiming Hong Kong and driving the British out of China. Meanwhile, Superintendent Elliot wanted to end the conflict and reopen trade using their stronger position, while British military leaders such as Major General Gough wanted to press the attack.

The British stalemate was ended on July 29th, when Elliot was finally alerted to the fact that he had been removed from his post by Foreign Secretary Palmerston months ago. The news preceded his replacement, Henry Pottinger, who arrived in Hong Kong on August 10th.

Pottinger did want to negotiate terms with the Qing, but not for just the Pearl River. He wanted to give Britain a stake in all of China when the war was ended. So he sent away any Chinese diplomats who tried to speak with them, and made plans with the commanders to bring the fleet north and threaten the imperial capital of Peking—modern Beijing.

To do this, the British captured the city of Amoy on August 27th, by which point the city had been abandoned by its populace after word came of the British success up and down the Jiulong River leading to them. Palmerston had wanted Amoy to be another international trade city in China, so strict limits were put on how the army could behave in the city. Looting or destroying property was punishable by death.

Eventually, the British relocated to a nearby island so as to not damage the city during occupation. Unfortunately this left the city unguarded, and a frenzy of looting started as swarms of desperate peasants, Qing army deserters, and general outlaws flooded in. The Qing army returned and pacified the city before the beginning of September.

Naturally, this struggle to barely break even was reinterpreted by the governor of Amoy as a smashing victory in which five fictional British vessels had been sunk. The misinformation grew deeper.

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