Fox of France

As many people in the city hoped, Governor Prima was indeed negotiating with the French and Dutch outside the city. To delay time, or to seek a surrender plan "that can guarantee the lives, property, and personal dignity of the British in Cape Town".

The reason for the delay was that just after the night battle in the Gulf of Saldanha, Governor Prima realized that the loss of sea dominance was inevitable. And he learned that the other side still has a transport ship alive. At that time, Governor Prima judged that the prospects for this battle were not very good. From then on, he began to find a way out for the British in Cape Town.

After the night battle in the Gulf of Saldanha, Governor Prima immediately issued a new order to the frigate "Miracle", which had just returned from the battle, and immediately went to India to get in touch with the Indian side and ask India to send personnel and Ships came to support, or came to evacuate overseas Chinese.

Theoretically speaking, a great war broke out on the European side, and the Indian colony might get news earlier than here. Those with ulterior motives might take the opportunity to make trouble. So at this time, it stands to reason that the East India Company needs reliable and easy-to-use immigrants. The East India Company also has enough capacity to transport the British here in Cape Town, along with their property.

But considering the distance is too far, it will take at least a month to send the distress message from here, and then it will take another month for the ship from the East India Company to arrive. If you consider the response time of the East India Company, it is really terrible.

Governor Prima knew that although the East India Company was a company, it was hardly inferior to the British government when it came to bureaucracy. And they are a little Indianized in many places under the influence of Indians. Well, Joseph Napoleon said: "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares at you."

This sentence is put on the guys of the East India Company, that is: when you are always dealing with those Indians who do not have a sense of time, you will also become a member of the East India Company who has no sense of time.

For example, when a guy from the East India Company tells you that he can come to you immediately, he has already walked to your door and is about to knock on the door, so generally speaking, you still have time to light a Havana cigar , Enjoy it for a while, and then you can hear the knock on the door; if he tells you, in ten minutes, he will appear in front of you, well, you can take a bath with confidence The female companion goes out together to watch a Shakespearean play, and then comes back, and after a while, he should be there; if he tells you that it can be there in an hour at most, then you can wash and sleep. At least today, he won't bother you. As for tomorrow, um, tomorrow's affairs, who can say clearly?

Therefore, the official document for help fell into the hands of the uncles of the East India Company, and then let them spend a few days discussing it. It is really like a monkey going to Li Tianwang to discuss Li Tianwang’s daughter forcing a good home. The question of the responsibility of the man, and then Taibai Jinxing reminded him of the sentence: "Great Sage, you have to know that the official document runs for a day with us, and it may be a year in the world... This matter, you Do you really want to be a male?" Then the monkey immediately chose to be private, and the male can't afford to wait!

Therefore, Governor Prima must prepare with both hands. The first hand is to prepare to transfer to India. If the guys from the East India Company can know the priorities and send the ship in time, they will retreat to India. But in case, in case the official documents were discussed on the East India Company for a few more days, well, it was a few days when the East India Company time, then he must be prepared to really surrender to the French.

But no matter what the situation, they must delay time through negotiation.

Since it is necessary to delay time, there are naturally some tips for delaying time. And the most important trick is to dig out the details.

"First, question the other party’s qualifications for negotiation and require them to issue a legally valid identity certificate. In this process, it can be delayed for a period of time, and then it can be pricked in other areas. Anyway, it is to constantly use details and continue to create details. Just avoid substantive issues. In short, you must take proper measures to delay time and not let the French and the Dutch feel that we have no sincerity in negotiations. Um...do you understand?" Governor Prima Said to Bona, who was preparing to go out of the city to negotiate with the French and Dutch.

"My lord Governor, I'm not quite sure about this." Bona replied honestly.

"Ah, Bona, never know how to pretend to understand, this is really your best quality." Governor Prima said, "We can emphasize that there must be a very reliable way to ensure the personal and property safety of British citizens in the city. For example, the document signed by Napoleon, the first ruler of France, and asked them to allow us to take possessions and weapons to leave. In short, it is to show that we know we can't fight, but we can't trust you, we want to keep The look of money and fate.

They actually have difficulties. Their artillery can destroy our cannons, but it is impossible for them to destroy our fortresses with cannons alone. They cannot have so many cannonballs. Of course, without the cannon, they could still rush in with rifled guns and blasting devices. But a bastion is a bastion after all, and it is impossible for an undead person to rush in, and there are no one or two people who die. Therefore, they also need to talk.

In addition, this is a fringe battlefield after all, the outcome is not decided here, neither us nor them can actually delay. If they win on the European battlefield as they said, sooner or later we will be theirs here. If we win in the European battlefield, even if they conquer Cape Town, Cape Town will eventually be ours. So, why did they die in order to break into the fort a few days earlier? Well, in addition, you can observe whether they are in a hurry to enter the city. "

"Is there anything special about it?" Bona asked again.

"In theory, they don't need to be anxious. If they behave extra anxiously, it means that what they previously advertised that they won a decisive victory in Europe is false. Most of the war in Europe is still very anxious. There is a possibility that there will be no difference between us and them in the end. In this case, it makes sense to defend Cape Town. If it is true, the bloodshed may be avoided. But we still have to delay as much as possible . Well, you have to pay attention, there is still a difference between verbal anxiety and actual anxiety. Understand?"

"I see, Lord Governor." Bona replied.

So Boehner, the representative of the British, left Cape Town with a few cavalry, and started the first negotiation between the two sides in Babel's farm not far from Cape Town.

After the two parties met, they first introduced their identities.

"I am the plenipotentiary sent by the plenipotentiary Governor of the Colony of Cape Town, Sir Bowen Prima, appointed by His Majesty the King. I am responsible for negotiating with you to cease hostilities in order to seek a peaceful plan. This is my authorization certificate." Na first showed the power of attorney in his hand to Philip Treville and Babel representing France and the Netherlands respectively.

The two looked at the power of attorney. This was just a walk away. Then Babel nodded and said, "Then, we can start. Although your country is still not a party to the Paris Declaration until now. However, as long as you lay down your weapons to us Surrender and abide by the obligations in the "Paris Declaration", we will follow the principles of the "Paris Declaration" between us and the Holy See, and treat the officers and soldiers of your country, as well as the peaceful residents, in accordance with humanitarianism and the charity of Christ.

Seeing the triumphant look of the Dutch bun, Bona couldn't wait to slap him directly and tell him not to daydream. But he took a deep breath and held it back.

"Before officially starting the negotiation, I would like to confirm your authorization status and find out whether you have been authorized by your government and can therefore negotiate with us on behalf of your government..."

Of course, neither Babel nor Treville can have a certificate of authorization that fully meets the requirements. So the two sides got involved in this issue.

Bona insisted on seeing valid documents that can prove the identity of the other party, preferably an authorization document signed by His Excellency Napoleon, the first ruler of France, in order to conduct effective negotiations.

"Otherwise, even if we talk about something, if your government says that you are not authorized at all, and the documents you signed are completely illegal, what should we do? Would you return the weapons and Cape Town? Give it to us? Then we call again and talk again? No, no, you must have sufficient authorization documents, otherwise, we can't talk. I suggest you get in touch with China as soon as possible to obtain authorization."

"We have authorization, Governor Babel has authorization from the Dutch government."

"Yes, but Mr. Babel’s authorization states that he is the interim plenipotentiary governor of the Cape Town colony appointed by the Dutch government. However, Cape Town is still in our hands, that is, the Netherlands The colony of Cape Town in the Netherlands does not yet exist, so the status of Governor of this non-existent colony of Mr. Babel is naturally problematic. At that time, you said, the Cape Town colony in the Netherlands did not exist at that time, so The agreement signed by the governor of the Cape Town colony of the Netherlands is naturally invalid, and then refuses to implement the agreement we reached. Then we were not fooled in vain?" Bonner shook his head and replied.

So the two sides argued for more than a week on the issue of representative status. During this, Babel repeatedly slapped the table and threatened to let "cannons and rifled guns debate", but in the final analysis, the French and Dutch coalition forces did not really launch larger-scale operations. They still feigned artillery attacks every day. , Feint shelling. The infantry pretended to attack the artillery, and the artillery finished the infantry pretend attack. Even when the Dutch infantry pretended to attack, the British did not fire at all, and planned to put them closer and fire them with muskets. Then the Dutch returned to the story by themselves. Of course, Babel said, this shows "the sincerity and forgiving spirit of the Dutch people towards negotiations."

After talking about it for more than a week, the British were finally willing to admit the other party's qualifications for negotiation, and then new problems appeared. That is the seats on both sides and the national flag on the table.

Bona found that the sizes of the seats behind the negotiating table were different. The backrests of the Dutch and French seats seem to be higher than those of the British delegation. So he made a strong protest about this, and everyone quarreled all day for the height of the seat back. On the second day, when Bona came to the negotiation site again, he brought a high-backed seat by himself. The backrest of this seat was obviously higher than that of the French and Dutch seats. cut.

Then, everyone got caught up in a competition to make the backrest of the seat higher and higher. Soon, the seat had to be divided into two parts and moved into the negotiation room, and then installed in the room on-site. The height of the backrest has exceeded the height of the door. If this situation continues~www.readwn.com~ I am afraid that the day when the seat back against the ceiling is also near.

So everyone had to spend another day to reach an agreement on the standard of the seats everyone used. Further negotiations were able to continue.

However, after only two days of talking, Treville discovered that the national flag that the Englishman put on his table was larger and higher than the national flags put on the table by the Dutch and French. So the national flag on the table replaced the seat back, and it began to grow wildly, and it grew faster than the seat back... So everyone spent another week to carefully discuss the various layouts and arrangements of the negotiation venue , And reached an agreement on the dress standard of the personnel of both parties. Then, this savage comparison was suspended. Otherwise, it is estimated that next week, everyone will have a higher hat on their head or a higher heel.

In short, it took almost a month, and everyone finally achieved the first major result of this negotiation, "Agreement on the Disposition of Related Matters in the Negotiation."

It took more than a month for the French cannon to land on land. After landing on land, it also shelled the British for more than half a month. Then it was more than a month about what kind of seat should be used and what kind of flag. And the negotiation of what kind of hat to wear. Governor Prima felt that India should have received a call for help, and they should also respond.