"Uncle Aziz......" A very childish voice sounded behind an Arab man sitting in the courtyard smoking a cigarette.

Hearing someone call to him, the man turned his head. I saw that he had an angry expression on his whole face, and his eyes were fierce enough, to scare the child into taking two steps back.

"What's the matter?" Aziz asked in a vicious and unfriendly tone.

“…… My dad invites you to dinner. The child said timidly.

"Tell your father, I'll go right away!" After Aziz finished speaking, he turned his head and continued to smoke, it seems that he had no intention of moving until the cigarette was finished.

From the time he arrived in Khartoum to begin negotiations with the Chinese, Lord Mahdi's subordinate Mohammed 61 Aziz had been in Khartoum for nearly 10 days. Nearly 10 days ago, Muhammad 61 Aziz was a handsome Arab with a determined and capable countenance. Now, the handsome Arab man is in a state of unease and frustration.

In the experience of Muhammad 61 Aziz, when a city is besieged from the outside, it is when it is in great internal chaos. However, the facts disappointed Mohammed 61 Aziz. Khartoum, a city that does not even have walls, was besieged by the Mahdi's huge army, not only did it not become chaotic, but it even kept the Mahdi's army far outside Khartoum while ensuring stability and order in the city.

Mr. Aziz had never been in such a bad situation, and as the war progressed, the residents of Khartoum became more and more stable. And those who showed a high degree of submissiveness in the first few days were even more accommodated, either by cleaning up the streets or by joining patrols. The number of patrols has increased, and the patrol density has also been strengthened, which forced Lord Aziz, who could have been able to sneak out, to hide in the house and not go out.

This was because Master Aziz was very lucky, and he was about to go out when suddenly there was a noise outside. Aziz was lying on his stomach and looked out through the crack in the door, and saw a team of men catch a guy wandering alone in front of the house where Aziz was hiding. Now the rules in the city allow people to act collectively under the command of the Chinese, and if they see people who are single and without military uniforms, they are immediately arrested.

Aziz listened to the man at the door and waited for the pleading and explanation before he realized that the Chinese had given such an order, and the man at the door was fine, he had a local resident certificate. If Aziz is caught, he will not be able to prove it. The owner of the house showed Aziz the household register. The book contained all the information about the family members. It's impossible to get by. So Lord Aziz, while lamenting his luck, also found that he was no longer able to go out again, and the whole person was imprisoned in this small courtyard and could not move.

Thinking of Lord Mahdi who was fighting outside the city, Aziz only felt that everything was burning, but he really didn't dare to act rashly. If he is caught, who will be responsible for causing a riot in the city? As he snuffed out his cigarette butt, Aziz stood up and looked up at the sky, all he wanted was to shout at the sky, "This is not the same as saying yes!" ”

Just when Lord Aziz was restless like a tiger in a cage, Wang Mingshan greeted Zhong Sheng, the representative of the Gem Wine Company, at the dock. Zhong Sheng first took a boat to Port Sudan, then took a train to get off at a place more than 50 kilometers away from Khartoum, and then transferred to a boat to enter Khartoum. Although it was hard along the way, he did not encounter any substantial threats, which made Zhong Sheng's mood a lot more stable.

Wang Mingshan shook hands with Zhong Sheng first, and then said with a smile: "I heard that you sent a very harsh telegram to the navy?" ”

Zhong Sheng immediately remembered what happened a few days ago, he never thought that he would be angry with the navy one day, but Zhong Sheng shouted to the telegraph operator in his impatient anger: "Tell the navy that you can't just reap the fruits and not work hard." Our troops have to go north, what can be the problem with the Navy temporarily sending people to Mozambique to maintain order?! ”

Of course, after shouting, Zhong Sheng felt regretful later. It's not that he thinks the Navy's decision is acceptable after his anger dissipates, but that he doesn't think that such a shouting will solve the problem at all. The telegraph operator probably saw the change in Zhong Sheng's expression, and he asked, "Representative Zhong, do you still want to send this order?" ”

"Fat! Of course! Zhong Sheng replied without hesitation. Now after listening to Wang Mingshan's words, Zhong Sheng didn't expect the navy to sue Wang Mingshan.

"Secretary Wang, why doesn't the navy go to Mozambique?" Zhong Sheng asked angrily.

Wang Mingshan said with a smile: "The navy told me that they were afraid of the British raiding Mozambique. If it's just a military port, Mozambique still has gold factories and so many stocks. If something happens to this thing, the navy can't afford it. ”

Zhong Sheng's eyes widened, and he said angrily: "Did the British eat the bear's heart and leopard gall? If they dare to attack us, won't the navy dare to clean them up in turn? We didn't need more, we sent 100,000 people to Africa, and we washed the British Cape Town to the ground. ”

Wang Mingshan didn't want to scold the navy, and there were some things he couldn't say to comrades of relatively low rank. Britain did not go on a rampage in Sudan, but also through France, which had briefly colonial experience in some parts of Madagascar, to encourage the remnants of the local "Kingdom of Madagascar" to collude and try to make something happen there. The "private soldiers" of the gem wine industry have been operating in Tanzania and other East African places, and they are not aware of the local problems in Madagascar.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Wang Mingshan continued to smile and said: "Xiao Zhong, if you talk to the navy like this, you are not afraid of affecting the cooperation with the navy?" ”

Zhong Sheng snorted first, and then said: "I already thought that the navy would not be dispatched at that time. Since the Navy agrees to a zero chance of sending troops, that means I can't do anything to make the odds of success any lower. ”

"Hehe......" Wang Mingshan laughed dryly. He could understand the funny feeling of breaking the jar in these words, but Wang Mingshan couldn't resonate with the professional mathematical terms that Zhong Sheng said. These terms may be something that Zhong Sheng, who is less than 30 years old, is accustomed to, because there are preliminary explanations of these knowledge points in junior high school and high school textbooks. Learning and accepting these terms used to make Wang Mingshan work a lot, and he couldn't connect them with relaxed emotions.

After complaining, Zhong Sheng also plucked up his emotions, "Secretary Wang, I came with 5,000 troops this time, and some of the remaining 5,000 will continue to exterminate the local white manors in Mozambique, and send these gangs to concentration camps." If the number of people is too small, I really don't feel at ease. I've got to get things done. ”

Of course, Wang Mingshan would not ask too much, he said generously: "Xiao Zhong, I'm very happy that you can come." 5,000 people can make a big difference. ”

Of course, Wang Mingshan's words changed, "However, Xiao Zhong, I have already proposed to increase the strength of the East African Security Army. We must have 200,000 troops on such a large territory. ”

At this time, Zhong Sheng agreed very much with Wang Mingshan's suggestion, and he nodded again and again, "200,000 people are just an auxiliary, and if you rely on the East African Administrative Region's own strength to solve the problems encountered in Africa, 400,000 people is not too much." ”

Seeing the support of a young generation like Zhong Sheng, Wang Mingshan was naturally very happy. If several powerful units can have a common view, the central authorities will be more likely to pass it. Of course, the next thing to do is to make meritorious service and let the central authorities understand that Wang Mingshan and they have the ability to do a good job in East Africa.

Wang Mingshan was not in a hurry to get the 5,000-strong troops into battle, the word Khartoum means "elephant's trunk" in Arabic, and the narrowest part of the Blue Nile River meets the White Nile River, and the narrowest part of the angle looks like an elephant's trunk, so that the Arabs who arrived here would have given such a name.

Khartoum's troops had already controlled the navigation rights of the three waterways, and the Englishman who had surrendered to China had also made clear the question of British collusion with Mahdi, and the amount of British equipment that Mahdi had received was basically clear. Wang Mingshan took action. During the offensive, the Khartoum Defence Command made a strategy of using barbed wire. It is to send ships around the back of the enemy, pull up barbed wire, and surround the enemy in front and rear. Since the waterways are controlled by the Chinese, once the enemy is surrounded in front and behind, there is no way to escape.

In Port Sudan, negotiators sent by Wang Mingshan were haggling with Ottoman negotiators.

"Your Excellency, since the nickel ore is sold to the Chinese, and these slaves will be sent to the mines to work, these slaves cannot be paid by us, but by your country to give us money!" The Ottoman negotiators came up with a surprising claim.

The representative of China was momentarily speechless by such a brazen statement. After a while, the negotiator finally organized the language, and the negotiator said bluntly: "Can you ask for face?" "There is no need to say a thousand words, there is no need to knock on the side, the Chinese representative expressed his heart and fully expressed his thoughts.

After the heart was happy, the Chinese representative continued: "If a man enters the mine, can a woman also enter the mine?" If you chirp any more, we will sell the woman to the Egyptians. They're willing to pay for it. ”

"No, no, we're nothing, women. Now there are so many poor people who can't afford to marry wives, and we want as many women as we have. Now the problem of men is this, sent to the mine to mine, too many get sick, too many die. We still have to take care of the food. Lose money. The representative of the Ottoman Empire explained.

"It's not okay for us to pay the other way around, so you make an offer." The representative of China, of course, refused to accept such terrible conditions.

"So be it. 50% off. I took ten people and gave money to only five. And it must be to the port, on the ship to count. "The representatives of the Otiman Empire gave the final conditions.

"You have to send people to the camp to bring people, and if you Arabs don't see you, the captives, probably won't be at ease. We seem to them to be alien after all. ”

"This nature, if we can start watching from the camp, we will be more assured."

……

As soon as the news of the deal arrived in Khartoum, Wang Mingshan immediately ordered the troops to take action. On that day, the Mahdi Army, which was in the narrowest angle area, was in a position where there was no way to escape. The Mahdi army on the other side of the river also tried to get closer, but as soon as they did, they were hit by the ship's artillery and had to retreat.

There were no Englishmen in Lord Mahdi's tent, and these changes did not impress Lord Mahdi's way of doing things, and he immediately ordered, in a holy voice, "Send men to preach the doctrine to these brothers." ”

At night, some priests who had escaped the search of Chinese ships and swam across the river to the other side gathered and chanted the contents of the Green Sutra.

There are about 30,000 people in this group, and most of them are men. These people had already fought against the barbed wire, and they knew how scary that seemingly slender thing was. Now that I see that my back has been surrounded, I know that I probably have no possibility of escaping. The Nile is a fast-flowing river, and the Arabs who are proficient in water are a minority. Moreover, there are Chinese ships patrolling back and forth, and those who are proficient in water have basically escaped.

In the midst of such despair, there are people who are willing to use chanting to appease the emotions of the people, which meets the needs of the people. According to tradition, in front of different priests, these people kneel in rows in the same posture, and all of them look at the priests with a pious expression.

The clergy then chanted: "Do not let those who believe be allies with other religions; Whoever violates this prohibition shall not be blessed by Allah......"

When they heard that the priest had brought Lord Mahdi's instructions like this, everyone had a look of disappointment or nervousness on their faces. They came in response to the call of Lord Mahdi, in obedience to the call of the Holy Doctrine. And the call to battle undoubtedly stirred everyone's emotions with the words "Allah has given all things in the world to the believers." If Allah really treats the believers like this, then the situation should be that Allah's warriors destroy the Chinese and then loot Khartoum.

As it turned out, this sweet dream did not appear. Not only did the dream not appear, but everyone was faced with the terrible reality of the nightmare. They in turn fell into the trap of Kafir and fell into the clutches of Kafir. And at this time, the priests actually asked everyone to fight for Allah again......

“…… Unless you are afraid of them. Allah has put you on guard against yourselves, and Allah is the final destination. ”

“…… Do not turn away from fellow believers and make allies with foreign religions, unless you are afraid of them......"

“…… Do not turn away from fellow believers and make allies with foreign religions, unless you are afraid of them......"

……

The priests told the scriptures to the people over and over again, read them in paragraphs, and then put them together and read them together. It is not possible to openly make the believers surrender, but it is the responsibility of the priests to let the believers understand Allah's instructions on their own while listening to the scriptures. Especially in times of despair like this. Let the believers understand that Allah is not the kind of God who has only one tendon to the end.

When a large part of the people understood the meaning of this passage, they were clearly divided into two categories, one felt that it was more effective to run on their own.

Regardless of the choices these people made, many of the clans or extended families in the vicinity of Khartoum began to say goodbye. There are indeed types of people who must fight to the end for Allah, such as Lord Mahdi himself and his direct subordinates. But most people gather because they believe that Allah can lead everyone to victory. Now everyone thinks that it is too difficult to pass the trial of Allah, that is, to kill all the Chinese, beyond their ability, then Allah's reward for those who complete the trial is also impossible. At this point, they had no choice but to leave.

This is how the people of Erdogan's village chose, because they looted a lot because of the breach of the castle. In addition to the slaughterhouse, the supplies in the supply and marketing cooperatives can make these people happy for a long time. Now that they have to leave, these people inevitably become more emotional.

"Is that Mahdi really the doomsday hero of the scriptures?" Some people couldn't help but question.

"Lord Mahdi is not a liar!" Someone immediately retorted.

"If he's not a liar, then why can't he win?"

"If you can't win, it must be because you are not pious enough to fight for Allah!"

The dispute quickly reached the height of the core idea, which is also helpless, since the fact of failure can no longer be concealed, except for this core idea, there is really no other factor that can be used as an argument at this time. It must be said that this argument is also very self-consistent.

Devout believers will be blessed by Allah, and devout believers are undoubtedly not afraid of death, and believers who are not afraid of death will of course stay on the battlefield and fight to the end. The problem is that the human instinct is to run away from death, to escape fear. So by defining a person with this kind of mind as not being religious enough, the logical chain can be completed.

"Not afraid of death = piety = blessing = loot"

"Fear of death = ungodliness = inability to receive blessings = inability to receive booty"

All the questions turn into accusations of whether the believer is religious or not, into accusations of normal human nature. Those who are normal have no right to complain about not being blessed by Allah, because the problem is not with Allah at all, but with the believers. Of course, this logic, in turn, proves that Allah has all virtues and never has non-virtuous ideas.

It is very difficult for these people with low abilities to break this logic on their own. But they all knew that they were greedy for life and afraid of death, and they all knew that according to the scriptures, they were at fault with themselves.

So in the denial of themselves, these people gave up arguing. Some of the more devout even think they need to go back and pray and ask Allah for forgiveness. It is a shameful thing that I failed to pass the test of Allah.

Under such emotions, everyone traveled more than 50 kilometers and saw the appearance of their hometown again. Also saw the castle. Almost unanimous, everyone headed in the direction of the castle. They plundered the castle and took Khartoum for more loot. Now that Khartoum can't be defeated, then spend more effort to search deep inside the castle, maybe you can get more. Cleaning the battlefield is like water in a sponge, as long as you are willing to squeeze hard, there will definitely be it.