Matilda is just across the river from Brazzaville, but Matilda is more than twice the size of Brazzaville and more than three times as populous.

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Congo, Lu Taitai still spent a lot of effort on Matilda, there are many more modern buildings in the city, and the urban infrastructure has been further improved.

In 1880, in an attempt to curb the expansion of the Congo Free State, the French-Italian explorer Pierre Savognnan de Brazzaville signed an agreement with the local King of Makoco in Brazzaville to place the kingdom of Makoco under French protection.

At the Berlin Conference of 1884, the French occupation of the French Congo was confirmed, and the French built Brazzaville on the other side of what was then Leopoldville.

Nominally, Brazzaville is not only the capital of French Equatorial Africa, but also the capital of the Kingdom of Makoco.

Standing in the attic of the castle of the Governor's Palace, Nivelle looked at the southern African destroyers that were proudly on the Congo River, with mixed feelings.

In order to protect the interests of the Kingdom of the Congo, Southern Africa also spared no expense, Niviler did not know how Southern Africa got a destroyer into the Congo River, compared to the destroyer, the French Equatorial African Marine Police motorboat is as non-threatening as a toy.

At this moment, the southern African destroyer may have crossed the median line of the Congo River, but two French Equatorial African motorboats bravely met it and tried to drive the southern African destroyer away from the waters of French Equatorial Africa.

The Southern African destroyer ignored the call of the French Equatorial African motorboat and continued on the north bank of the Congo River.

A motorboat suddenly made a startling move, speeding past the destroyer and stopping in front of the destroyer.

This action is more dangerous, the destroyer sailing at high speed, it is not so easy to turn, and the towering bow of the destroyer blocks the view of the bridge, and the destroyer does not seem to notice the motorboat in front of it, so it hits it straight and straight.

Seeing that the destroyer was getting closer and closer, the steamboat started urgently, and narrowly passed by the destroyer.

The moment the destroyer and the motorboat passed by, Nivelle felt his heart stop.

"Send a telegram to the Ministry of Defence of Southern Africa to immediately cease the provocation against French Equatorial Africa, otherwise we will recognize it as an act of war-" Nivelle was going crazy, and the dangerous behavior of the destroyer just now almost went off the rails.

The secretary took the order and went away, and after a while he brought back two telegrams.

One from Paris and one from the Kingdom of Congo.

The Kingdom of the Congo's telegram was worded more and more forcefully, this time demanding that the fishing boats and crews seized by French Equatorial Africa also demand appropriate financial compensation.

Paris, for its part, issued a clear warning to Nivel, demanding that Nivel immediately cease its support for the Mbandaka rebels and guarantee that similar incidents would not happen again.

"The destroyer of southern Africa has openly crossed the median line of the Congo River and entered our side, and now you want me to refrain from it, how can I restrain it, is it possible that the left side of the face has been slapped by southern Africa, and I still want to lean over the right cheek?" Nivelle was furious in his office, knowing that Paris did not want conflict with southern Africa, but forbearance would not bring peace.

It is time for the members of the three parliaments in Paris to come to the Congo and see how southern Africa is gaining ground.

Buckley Henry remained surprisingly silent, finally gaining a deeper understanding of the style of conduct in southern Africa, where French Equatorial Africa lacked adequate countermeasures in the face of southern African destroyers.

"We need destroyers, we need more troops, we need support from home—" Barkley Henry had a heavy face, he was a standard Frenchman, with a low eye, blind optimism, a knack for causing trouble, but no ability to calm the situation.

"Can't you see it? Paris will not give us a single soldier. "Nivelle roared that France had only plundered French equatorial Africa and had never carried out large-scale construction like Matilda.

It is also understandable that France colonized Africa not to give Africans a better life, but for the benefit of France.

So it's understandable why the gap between Brazzaville and Matilda is so big now.

"So how are we going to resolve this situation?" Barkley Henry was completely out of ideas.

Neville sat down in his chair for a while, and finally sighed, "Put the boat back and don't escalate the situation again—"

"If the Southern Africans demand reparations—" Buckley Henry did not think that Southern Africa would be satisfied with this outcome.

"Then compensate them, if they don't ask too much-" Nivelle looked depressed, the situation was stronger than the people, and Nivelle had to back down.

Two days later, the 6th Southern African Union Infantry Division, which had completed its assembly in Matilda, left Matilda and advanced towards Mbandaka.

The railway between Matilda and Mbandaka has not yet been completed, and the troops can only move along the Congo River towards Mbandaka.

With a total length of 4,640 kilometers and a basin area of 3.7 million square kilometers, the Congo River is the second largest river in Africa, second only to the Nile, but its flow is 16 times greater than that of the Nile.

The 6th Infantry Division is mainly composed of Congolese soldiers, with a total of 18,000 men, all of whom have participated in world wars and are experienced and brave in combat.

After the establishment of the Southern African Union, elite soldiers were transferred from the two Congo and West Africa to form an infantry division, the officers and non-commissioned officers were all professional soldiers from southern Africa, and the weapons of the troops were all provided by the Southern African Union, in addition to equipping Lee Enfield, it was also equipped with a large number of general-purpose machine guns and grenade launchers, and Andy Uston, the commander of the Sixth Division, served as the deputy commander of the 203rd Division during the World War, and just turned 35 this year.

"We are to advance along the Congo River all the way to Ireb, to establish an forward base after the landing of Ireb, to wait for the results of reconnaissance by the air force and reconnaissance units, and the Fifth Division will depart from Cabinda after us, and it is expected to arrive in Ireb in a week; Meanwhile, in Bukavu, a southern African army will accompany us in the fight to outflank Mbandaka. Xue Rui, chief of staff of the Sixth Infantry Division, also participated in the World War, serving as a senior staff officer in the Staff of the Expeditionary Force, and participated in the planning of a series of battles during the World War.

"Why can't you attack Mbandaka directly? We are fully equipped with this ability, along the Congo River, we can advance all the way to the heart of the rebels and give them a center to blossom - "Andy Auston was decisive in his troops, and during the Second Battle of Ypres, Andy Auston led his troops to advance 90 kilometers in a day and night, cutting off the German rear and making a great contribution to the victory of the battle.

"General, the Lord's purpose is to quell the rebellion without paying a major sacrifice - of course, our Sixth Infantry Division has the strength to completely annihilate the rebels, but the Lord wants more troops to be trained." Xue Rui understands that counterinsurgency is not the ultimate goal, and Roque hopes that the rebels can play a greater value.

"Lee, how long do we have to get to Ileb?" Andy Auston asked his lieutenant aloud.

"Sir, in about 12 hours—" The adjutant was a young man who had graduated from the Army Academy in Nyasaland, full of energy and energy.

Andy Auston sat in his chair, staring at the map on the wall in silence.

At this time, a burst of gunfire suddenly came from the shore.

Immediately, a patrol boat rushed over, and the machine gunners on the patrol boat ripped off the machine gun cover, aimed at the dense forest on the shore and began to fire wildly.

Andy Auston is used to seeing this scene.

In order to block the advance of the troops, the rebels arranged a large number of troops to harass and attack along the river, with the aim of slowing down the advance of the troops.

Andy Auston didn't care about the dispersal of these rangers, as long as they captured Mbandaka, these small forces would be defeated.

However, as they got closer to Ireb, the rebels harassed and fired, and yesterday the rebels even used mortars.

Although the mortars did not cause much damage to the troops, they still put great pressure on Andy Auston, the new soldiers were afraid of the artillery, the veterans were afraid of the guns, and the bullets on the battlefield were not long-sighted.

"Send troops ashore to encircle and suppress, we can't be beaten passively." Andy Auston was distraught, and although the rebel attack did not do much substantial damage, it was a great blow to the morale of the officers and men of the 6th Infantry Division.

"But sending troops to counterattack will definitely affect the speed of the troops' advance, and looking at the terrain around here, it is simply invulnerable." Xue Rui is also helpless, these harassing troops are as annoying as flies.

"Hmph, send the reconnaissance brigade to-" Andy Auston is confident, dealing with small forces, there is no need to make a big move, the size of the reconnaissance team is only one company, which is very suitable for such a small operation.

The reconnaissance brigade in southern Africa is actually the predecessor of the special forces, and its functions and roles are almost not much different from those of the special forces.

The officers and men of the reconnaissance brigade are all elite soldiers, and this is also the only army unit that has not been disrupted and retained since the establishment of the Southern African Coalition Army.

The captain of the reconnaissance brigade of the 6th Infantry Division is Captain Liu Yi, and in ordinary infantry companies, the company commander is generally a lieutenant, but the captain of the reconnaissance brigade is a captain, which is not a high match, and other units even have majors as the captain of the reconnaissance brigade.

Captain Liu Yi just turned 32 this year, graduated from the Nyasaland Army Academy, and also fought in the World War.

After receiving the mission, less than 150 kilometers from Ireb, Captain Liu Yi led a reconnaissance team ashore, their task was to clear the rebel troops along the Congo River, Andy Auston gave Captain Liu Yi enough authorization to the troops to fight the rebels by all means without prisoners.