Six thousand forwards perished, and the sentinels had gone and had no return, and Frederick had ordered. Karl was frightened and suspicious, and naturally did not dare to take the enemy lightly, but adopted a steady and steady strategy, step by step, slowly advancing forward, waiting for the follow-up main army to catch up, and after resting for two days, the German army began to advance, and advanced to Standton 20 kilometers away to set up a large camp, build a position, and put on a defensive posture.

Qing army battalion, headquarters.

A staff officer walked quickly to the sand table and reported: "Fort John has called, the Franco-Austrian army has significantly accelerated the speed of the march, and the 10,000 vanguard troops are less than 50 kilometers away from Fort John...... ”

"No wonder the Germans were in no hurry to attack." Yi Zhengxing sneered: "This is to ask us to send troops to reinforce Fort John?" ”

"It is reasonable that the Germans have become cautious after being cleanly knocked out of 6,000 strikers." Feng Zicai set his eyes on Fort John on the sand table, "Once the Franco-Austrian forces easily capture Fort John, it will form a two-sided attack on Stedton...... ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhengxing hesitated for a moment before he said tentatively: "What does General Feng mean, let's take the initiative to attack?" ”

Feng Zicai picked up the hand stick and pointed on the sand table: "Whether it is the German army or the Franco-Austrian army, the logistics supply lines and communication lines are very long, cut off their logistics supplies and cable telegraphs, let them fight separately, maybe they can get good fighters." ”

"It's a task that the Transvaal Wehrmacht is up to and happy to accept." Yi Zhengxing nodded, he had carefully understood the Wehrmacht in the Transvaal, although there were not many troops, they were almost all excellent cavalry, and they were extremely good at attacking supply lines and destroying communication lines like this.

German positions, headquarters.

"The cable telegraph line was cut?" Frederick. Carl was shocked, and hurriedly asked, "Is there any loss of transported materials?" ”

"Nope." The staff officer hurriedly said: "The convoy also suffered a small-scale attack, but it was equipped with small-caliber mortars and machine guns, and easily routed the opponent. ”

"Restore communication as soon as possible and ensure the security of communication lines." Frederick. Karl commanded softly, saying so in his mouth, but in fact, he knew in his heart that if the other party deliberately sabotage, it would be difficult to ensure that the communication was normal, after all, the communication line was too long, and they lacked cavalry, it was impossible to prevent the other party from coming and going like the wind.

waved his hand and sent the staff officer away, he took his pipe and lit a pot of cigarettes, no surprise, the Franco-Austrian army should start attacking Johannesburg today, but the cable telegram was destroyed at this juncture, what is the intention of the Qing army? Disguise the division of troops to reinforce Johannesburg?

For the Qing army in Stedton, has it been divided to reinforce Johannesburg? It is difficult for him to judge that there are many trains coming and going on the railway line from Standton to Johannesburg every day, and he cannot make a judgment, but he can be sure that once Johannesburg is in an emergency, the Qing army in Standton will inevitably send reinforcements, after all, Johannesburg is the most worthy city for the Qing in the Transvaal.

In the past few days, he has stood still and put on a defensive posture, that is, he is waiting, waiting for the Franco-Austrian army to attack Johannesburg, so as to mobilize the Qing army in Sanderton, according to the plan formulated before the war, this battle must be quickly resolved, and Johannesburg must be captured before the Qing army is greatly reinforced.

If his previous task was to contain the Qing army, now he is to capture Standton as soon as possible, and then move westward to cooperate with the Franco-Austrian coalition army to capture Johannesburg in one fell swoop, without giving the Qing army a chance to breathe and a chance to break through.

However, he did not mind waiting for a day or two for the main force of the Franco-Austrian army to arrive and surround Johannesburg, and wait for the Qing army in Standton to withdraw in a big way and then attack, he did not believe that the Qing army in Standton would sit back and watch Johannesburg fall.

"Your Highness——。 Chief of Staff James walked in and handed over a plan, "This is the plan for tomorrow night's night attack, Your Highness will see if there is any additional ......." ”

The night attack was proposed by the General Staff, because judging from the huge craters left on the battlefield and the remaining artillery, the Qing army had long-range and powerful heavy artillery, and the train from Standton in the past few days was not loaded with heavy artillery at all, so it was certain that Standton still had a large number of heavy artillery.

Another reason for the German night attack was the hot air balloons of the Qing army. During the day, the hot air balloon of the Qing army was always hanging in the sky, and every move of the German army within a radius of twenty or thirty miles was under the control of the Qing army.

It was with this in mind that the General Staff would propose an offensive plan for a night attack, Frederick. Carl knew that such a large-scale night attack could not be effectively commanded, and it might be a chaotic battle, but after weighing the pros and cons, he still agreed to the attack plan of the night attack.

After a careful look at the plan, Frederick. Karl pondered for a while before he spoke: "Artillery cannot be concentrated, it must be dispersed, it is not clear how many heavy artillery and how many land artillery there are in the Qing army, once exposed, the consequences are unimaginable." In addition, the Qing army was equipped with machine guns and mortars for a lot of ......., and I suggested that the battalions should still be used as units, with one on the left and right flanks of the four artillery battalions, two in the middle, and the left and right flanks should advance as far as possible ........ ”

After thinking for a while, James said: "Johannesburg is in an emergency, the main force of the Qing army should go to reinforcements, and the defenders of Standton should only be five or six thousand, not to mention the night attack ........" He didn't finish his words, but the meaning was clear, there was no need to be so careful.

"Standton is a railway junction, and once it falls, it will directly threaten the safety of the railway line from Maputo to Johannesburg, and the Qing army will not dare to give up easily." Frederick. Karl said slowly: "The Qing army did not transfer the heavy artillery, which is enough to show the importance of Sanderton, I think the Qing army's remaining strength should be about 10,000, not too light on the enemy." ”

This judgment is not unreasonable, after all, I don't know much about the situation of the Qing army in Sanderton, and there is no harm in being cautious, James nodded, "Then I'll revise the ....... again." ”

"Where are the 6,000 vanguard troops who were captured being held, and have they found out their whereabouts?" Frederick. Karl asked in a muffled voice, in the past few days, the sentinel has searched the vicinity of fifty kilometers, and only found a battlefield full of blood, six thousand cavalry died, and the other officers and soldiers did not ask whether they were captured, more than five thousand prisoners, and he dreamed of rescuing them in the past few days.

James shook his head bitterly, although Standton is not big, they are seriously lacking in cavalry, and the small force of sentry cavalry sent is not the opponent of the Qing army's sentry cavalry at all, and they can't even rely on Stagton's side, and they can't find out much about the situation of Stedton's Qing army, let alone where prisoners of war are held.

"Tomorrow night, let them take more prisoners." Frederick. Karl instructed that there was no other way but to exchange prisoners.

The City of Gold – Johannesburg.

With the arrival of 10,000 Franco-Austrian vanguards, the two remaining regiments of Qing troops fled without a fight, and the Transvaal Wehrmacht and police followed, the whole of Johannesburg was plunged into unprecedented panic, chaos, and terrified crowds fled along the rail and road to Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal.

The Franco-Austrian coalition army was a little incredulous to occupy this city with the reputation of "Golden City", and the commander of the coalition army, French lieutenant general Federeb was also incredulous when he received the report of the fast horse, but he quickly reacted that the 40,000 German troops in Standton were afraid that it was dangerous, and the Qing army could not abandon Johannesburg for no reason, there was only one possibility, and it was only possible to concentrate forces to solve the German army in Standton first.

The Qing army and the Boers who fled without a fight drove all the trains and blew up Johannesburg's external railway, even if he had the intention to reinforce Stedton, he was powerless, not to mention, he was very happy to see the Qing army annihilate Sanderton's 40,000 German troops, not only because of national enmity, but also because the arrogant Germany wanted to occupy forty percent of the shares of the Transvaal gold mine.

Now not to mention sending reinforcements, even if they want to send a message to remind the German army in Stedton, there is no way, the cable telegraph from Johannesburg to Kimberley has been completely cut off, even if it is to send fast horses to Kimberley to report the news, it must be too late, he is sure that the Qing army must also cut off the cable telegraph line from Standton to Diresmith.

"Herald ——。" Federeb ordered in a loud voice, "Hurry up and report to the Kimberley, and at the same time warn that the Qing army may concentrate its forces to attack the Germans at Stedton." ”

"The order is that the vanguard intercept the fleeing miners along the way as soon as possible and resume the production of the gold mine as soon as possible."

"The order was given to the troops to speed up their march and enter Johannesburg within two days."

Stedton, Qing Army Battalion, Headquarters.

Feng Zicai put down the telegram in his hand with a look of regret, "John's Fort has fallen into the hands of the Franco-Austrian forces....... ”

"It's just changing hands temporarily." Yi Zhengxing said nonchalantly, and then turned his gaze to the sand table, "The German army on the opposite side should launch an attack in these two days?" ”

Hearing this, Feng Zicai suddenly cheered up, although he didn't understand why he took the initiative to give up Johannesburg, but he knew that now was a rare opportunity, and the German army on the opposite side would definitely not be able to hold back and take the initiative to attack, because the German army would never have thought that they would hit the other party hard at the cost of giving up Johannesburg.

"It stands to reason that an attack should be launched today, but there is no movement on the other side, which shows that the other party is very cautious." Feng Zicai said coldly: "No matter how cautious you are, you can't help but do it after all, but you have to see how long the other party can endure." As he spoke, he looked up, "When will the main fleet arrive?" ”

Yi Zhengxing shook his head slightly, "How can you say clearly on the sea voyage, if you encounter wind and waves, it is normal to delay for three or five days......." ”

If you really want to delay for three or five days, I am afraid that the daylily will be cold, Feng Zicai sighed secretly, in fact, he was quite worried that the German army on the opposite side would be in a stalemate with them like this, once the Franco-Austrian coalition army captured Johannesburg and quickly reinforced, they had no choice but to retreat, and the plan to inflict heavy damage on the German army would also be in vain.

It usually doesn't get dark until seven or eight o'clock, but today it was not yet six o'clock when it got dark, and a large dark cloud spread rapidly from the edge of the sky, and it was obvious that there would be a heavy rainstorm in the evening.

Frederick. Karl stood outside the tent and looked at the darkening sky, not knowing what he was thinking, Chief of Staff James walked over quickly, "Your Highness, I'm afraid there will be a rare heavy rainstorm at night...... ”

"Heavy rainstorms are better!" Frederick. Carl showed a rare smile, "A rainstorm night is more suitable for a night attack." As he spoke, he pointed to the sky, "Because of the heavy rain, the hot air balloon has already landed early." ”

James said, "Heavy rain will slow down the march greatly. ”

"But it's also the best cover." Frederick. Carl said and waved his hand, "Let's gather in advance." ”

Before seven o'clock, the sky was completely dark, and the torrential rain finally fell, and for a time the wind and rain were slanting, and 30,000 German soldiers were divided into three ways and disappeared into the night in the heavy rain.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

It was the middle of the night, the courtyard was still brightly lit, Yi Zhizhi had no sleepiness, and was alone in the study in a daze, Zhao Liewen opened the cotton curtain and came in, glanced at him, and reminded: "Big shopkeeper, it's been a little ......." ”

"Can't sleep." Yi Zhizu said softly: "Let them get some supper, and give one to everyone on the night shift." ”

"The student will tell him to go down." Zhao Liewen said and turned around and went out, because of the war in the Transvaal, there were really a lot of people who stayed up late in the courtyard, and when he turned back, he said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper is sad because he gave up Johannesburg?" ”

"Ci is not in charge of the army, there is nothing to hurt God." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Fort John gave up on his own initiative, and there will be no large-scale massacre after the occupation of the Franco-Austrian coalition, what they want is gold." ”

"So, I'm worried about the war in Steaton." Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "The time difference between Shanghai and Johannesburg is six hours, and it should be seven o'clock in the evening ....... Standton now, if the two armies are fighting, the telegram will come long ago." ”

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said, "I'm worried about the night attack of the German army." ”

"Night raid?" Zhao Liewen said in surprise: "Tens of thousands of troops attacked at night, what kind of chaos did it have to be?" ”

"The lesser of two evils." Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette and said unhurriedly: "If you are in a different position, I will also attack at night." The craters left by the 105-mm light howitzer could not hide from the Germans, and a night attack was undoubtedly the best option when they knew that the enemy had heavy artillery and hot air balloons, ......... ”

Zhao Liewen's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said: "The student immediately sent a telegram to remind Feng Zicai." ”

"No, you don't." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "Nangan is also an old soldier and has a lot of experience, how can he not judge this." I just want to wait for news. ”

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said, "It's better to remind you." ”

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