Declare war directly on the British? Yi Zhizu glanced at the two of them and said, "If you declare war directly on the British, the British will definitely attack the port of Maputo first, and if we don't declare war, the British can only fight the Transvaal first." ”

"What's the difference between the two?" Yi Zhengxing asked with some confusion.

"It's a big difference." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The Transvaal is far away from Poole Town and Victoria Harbour, and there is no railway, so it is difficult to transport heavy artillery, and in terms of light artillery and light weapons, we have an absolute advantage, and the war broke out in the Transvaal first, which can cause great casualties to the British army!"

The situation in Maputo was different, there was no shortage of large-caliber heavy guns on the British naval warships, and in the event of a war, Maputo was afraid that it would be difficult to hold ....... ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen had already reacted, the Transvaal started to fight first, then the Qing Dynasty had an advantage, and Maputo started first, the British army had the advantage, one first and one later, there was not much difference to the war itself, but it had a big impact on the country, because Yuanqi also had to deal with the domestic financial war!

As long as the Qing Dynasty took the lead in the Transvaal battlefield, the domestic financial war would be much easier, on the contrary, if Maputo was captured by the British army as soon as the war began, it would be even worse!

"It's still the big shopkeeper's thoughtfulness." Zhao Liewen said sincerely.

"It's not that I'm thinking about it, it's because I want to take advantage of this opportunity to get more gold." Yi Zhicontent said with a smile: "The British took the initiative to send gold to the door, so naturally we can't be polite." ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Yi Zhengxing and said: "As for the shares given to the imperial court for two percent of the gold mine, this should be given, if it is not in the early stage of constitutionalization, at least forty percent of the shares should be given to the imperial court, and then slowly increase in the future." ”

Give forty percent of the shares to the imperial court? And should it be? Not to mention Yi Zhengxing, even Zhao Liewen couldn't react for a while, "Why?" ”

"What else? Naturally, it is to make the court or the country rich as soon as possible. Yi Zhishu took out a cigarette and lit it with a cigarette, and said slowly: "At present, Yuanqi is rich and strong, and the court is poor and weak, this is not a blessing for the country, and this status quo must be gradually changed, and the Transvaal Gold Mine is a good opportunity." ”

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said: "Isn't the big shopkeeper in urgent need of gold to implement the gold standard?" ”

"Give shares to the imperial court, and the imperial court may not be able to get gold." Yi Zhizhi said quietly: "A new round of economic crisis is about to break out again, and my country is afraid that it will be difficult to stay out of it this time." ”

Another economic crisis? Yi Zhengxing hesitated before saying: "Didn't the economic crisis break out after the American Civil War, and it was only a few years apart?" Isn't it an average of only once in a decade or so? ”

"Economic crises have regularities and cycles, but they are not static, but will be prolonged or shortened as the economic situation changes." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "Whether it is a constitution or a republic, they all belong to the capitalist system, and they can't avoid the economic crisis. ”

Find a way to defuse or avoid an economic crisis? Yi Zhengxing couldn't help but be stunned, is this too difficult? He had some doubts in his heart, could it be that it had something to do with the shares of the imperial court gold mine?

South Africa, Transvaal, Pretoria, southern suburbs, Qing army camp.

More than a dozen horsemen galloped into the camp, the riders were dressed in a messy manner, and they knew that they were Boers at a glance, and the sentries at the camp gate did not even raise their eyelids, allowing these Boers to enter the camp directly, with the arrival of the British advance troops in the Kimberley, the atmosphere in Pretoria became tense day by day, and the Boers came and went to the camp frequently, and there were orders from above, and the small Boer cavalry did not need to be reported, and could directly enter the camp.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Feng Zicai stood in front of the large Transvaal map with a small purple sand teapot and muttered, and the translator hurriedly came in to report: "General, Paul Kruger is out asking to see you." ”

"Please ——。" Feng Zicai turned around and strode out, Paul Kruger was the commander of the newly established Wehrmacht in the Transvaal, and he came in person, he didn't want to slack off.

As soon as he got out of the big tent, Feng Zicai caught a glimpse of Paul Kruger striding over, this guy looked in his early forties, with a beard, quite burly, majestic, and unsmiling, the two had already dealt with each other a few times, and they were also familiar with each other, and when they arrived, Kruger didn't even say a word of greeting, and said straightly: "The sentry came to report that about 22,000 people from the four brigades of the British army have arrived in Kimberley and are advancing north. ”

Listening to the translation, Feng Zicai stretched out his hand with a relaxed expression and politely said, "Enter the account to talk." ”

Entering the big tent, Kruger continued: "The Kimberley is actually the border between our country, Orange and the British colonies, and after the discovery of the diamond, it was forcibly occupied by the British. ”

After receiving the information that the British army was advancing towards the Kimberley, he advocated taking the initiative to attack and catch the British army by surprise, after all, Britain had declared war on the Transvaal, but the other party repeatedly prevaricated, and insisted on waiting for the British army to enter the Transvaal before sending troops.

Feng Zicai ignored him, walked to the map and stopped, "Where is the British army on the other side now?" ”

"Advancing toward Bloemfontein, Orange, with about sixteen thousand troops."

Feng Zicai pointed his finger on Bloemfontein's position, and slowly shook his head, this place is not far from Kimberley, the two British troops can be said to echo each other from afar, and take the initiative to attack, his little strength is really a little less, and he groaned slightly, he said: "Don't worry, get closer, and wait for the two British troops to open up enough distance." ”

Kruger said coldly: "What if the British army doesn't pull away? ”

"Then stay put!" Feng Zicai said in a deep voice.

"Still?" Kruger thought he had misheard.

"Yes, hold still." Feng Zicai nodded, "The other part of our army has been stationed as an ambush at the Lebampbo Pass, let's be the bait, if the British army besieges Pretoria, that part can go south to cut off the retreat of the British." ”

Is this to annihilate these two British troops, nearly 40,000 British troops? Kruger couldn't help but gasp, are these Qing people crazy? He clearly knew that the Qing army stationed at the Lai Bangbo Pass had only 8,000 troops, a total of 14,000 troops, and even if he added 8,000 of them, it was only 22,000, and he wanted to annihilate the 30,000 British army?

After hesitating, he said: "Our Wehrmacht is a cavalry, but we are not good at fighting field warfare. ”

"You don't need to fight positional warfare." Feng Zicai said: "You are responsible for containing the British army from the side, as long as you can contain the British army in Pretoria, it is enough." ”

Kruger looked at him with a strange expression, he really couldn't figure it out, where did the other party get the confidence, Pretoria is not like the Qing country with strong walls, just with this newly constructed position of the Qing army, in the face of six times the British army, can it hold on for a few days?

Feng Zicai said slowly: "Since the British army has stepped into the border, your army might as well go out to block and harass, of course, if you can insert behind the enemy and harass or cut off the enemy's supply line, it will be better." ”

Kruger was stunned for a moment, "Deliberately delay the opponent's marching speed and let the two British armies converge to attack?" ”

"That's what it means." Feng Zicai nodded with a smile, and then changed his head, "My country has a cloud in the art of war, knows each other and knows his confidant, and he will not be defeated in a hundred battles, who is the commander of the British army, let's inquire about his situation in detail." ”

Kimberley, British Army Battalion, Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Robert Napier, in his early sixties, sat in front of a large map of South Africa with a pipe in his mouth and stared at Bloemfontein's position, intending to make a steady advance towards the Transvaal after the two divisions converged, but received an urgent telegram telling him to attack as soon as possible to test the reaction of the Qing army, but he was not in a hurry, but sent two brigades to slowly advance towards Witwaters, the site of the Transvaal gold discovery.

Although judging from the information obtained so far, the Qing army has only one brigade in the Transvaal - 6,000 troops, but he does not dare to be careless about the Qing army at all, the British Empire's two crusades were beaten in disarray, and none of the British army, from generals to soldiers, dared to despise this opponent, even in the case of absolute superiority in troops, he did not dare to be the slightest rash.

He was originally the commander-in-chief of the British army in India, and was transferred to South Africa as commander-in-chief, when he learned that the main opponent was the Qing army, he was a little worried, he was born as an engineer and experienced countless battles, and it can be said that he was promoted to lieutenant general step by step, but he was inexplicably uneasy about the Qing army.

He has been in Asia and Africa around the Qing army than those generals in the country know more about the Qing army, the Qing army has not only maintained a leading position in weapons and equipment, but also has been ahead of European countries in the way of hot weapons of combat, weapons, mini guns, rear-loading guns, metal bullets, grenades, mortars, rear-loading artillery are the first Qing country to invent the column, tactics, skirmishers, trench warfare, infantry artillery coordination, etc. are the first Qing army to use in actual combat.

What really unstruck him was not these known things, but that over the years, almost all European countries did not know the details of the Qing army, whether they had developed new weapons and ammunition, and whether they had new tactics? None of this is known.

And his previous proposal to let the navy attack the port of Maputo first, in the case of cutting off the supply of the Qing army, the plan of attacking the Qing army in the Transvaal on both sides was also vetoed by the country, the reason is very simple, it is impossible for the parliament to pass the declaration of war on the Qing state, unless the Qing state intervenes in the war in South Africa, the parliament cannot agree to declare war on the Qing.

Report ——。 Napier turned around and took off his pipe, saying, "Come in." ”

"Your Excellency, General." A liaison officer came in and reported: "General White is harassing a small group of Boer cavalry. ”

"Boers?"

"Yes, sure it's the Boers."

Napier groaned before he said, "What kind of guns did the Boers use?" ”

"Back to the general, there is no mention."

The absence of a mention was normal, and Napier muttered a little before he said: "They are on their guard, slowing down their marches, speeding up the laying of wired telegraphs, and trying to make contact with the Boers, with whom I hope to establish contact." ”

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Ren An walked into the study quickly, saluted and said loudly: "Big treasurer, the commander of the British Transvaal Expeditionary Force is the commander-in-chief of the British army in India - Lieutenant General Robert Napier, who is known for his agility ......and tenacity. As he spoke, he handed over a document.

Known for its agility and tenacity? Yi Zhizu raised his eyebrows, took the information and read it quickly, he didn't say anything for a long time, this Napier is indeed not simple.

In 1865, Napier was promoted to lieutenant general, and in the same year he was elected commander of the Abyssinian Expeditionary Force to rescue dozens of hostages held by Emperor Theodore II of Ethiopia.

Napier led 5,000 men on a grueling 70-day march through no-man's land and mountain perilous and 400 miles into the Ethiopian plateau, where he used shrewd diplomacy to declare that the British were not here to conquer, but only to rescue the hostages. Later, the future emperor Johannes IV was bribed with 5.27 million Austrian silver coins to replenish the troops.

In the end, he led his troops to meet the Ethiopian army at Anoki, and the Ethiopian army killed 9,000 men while the British only lost 2, and the finally defeated Theodore II committed suicide.

Pirna not only succeeded in rescuing the hostages and setting fire to the castle of Majdada, plundering a large number of precious historical and religious artifacts, and then led all his troops to a safe retreat.

For his merits, Napier received a commendation from the British Parliament and a £2,000 life annuity, and in 1868 he was made Baron Majdada and admitted to the Royal Geographical Society.

The Ethiopian Plateau is known as the roof of Africa, and its climate and geographical conditions are much worse than those in the Rand Basin of the South African Plateau, where the Transvaal is located.

"Forward this information to Feng Zicai and warn them to be wary of Napier's diplomatic methods." Yi Zhisuff commanded: "In addition, warn him again, don't underestimate the enemy!" ”

After Ren An retired, he lit a cigarette and got up and paced in front of the large map of South Africa hanging on it, the British army was 38,000, the Marine Corps was 14,000, and the Transvaal Defense Force was 8,000, which was on the surface, but in fact, the Boers were far more than that, and the adult Boer men could be said to be qualified soldiers, and the strength of the Boers could reach at least 12,000.

It is necessary to stabilize the Boers, once the Boers are persuaded by the British army to defect, the consequences will be unimaginable, and after a long silence, he walked to the phone and picked up the microphone and said: "Pick up the headquarters of the East China Sea Fleet and find Xiao Mingming." ”

After a while, Xiao Mingming's voice came from the microphone, "Principal——。 ”

"When will the Ironclad Fleet set sail?"

"Back to the principal, it will be until the end of February at the earliest." Xiao Mingliang seemed to have a premonition in his heart, and then said tentatively: "South Africa is at war?" ”

"It's coming." Yi Zhixiang's voice was a little dull, "Don't rush them, you go back to Shanghai first." ”

"The students obeyed." Xiao Mingliang hurriedly responded, but he faintly felt that the situation in South Africa might change.