Heavy rain, rain and strong winds, a cavalry company of more than 300 men galloped in the torrential rain, the sound of wind and rain could not hide the sound of hurried and dense horses' hooves, in his early thirties, the strong and strong Draley from time to time whipped and urged the horses, his battalion's task was to destroy the railway of Klepan before dark.

About 100 kilometres south of the Kimberley, Claipan is a small station on the railway connecting the Kimberley with Cape Town, and is not a strategic point, but only a target station for the Transvaal Defence Force to sabotage the Cape Town-Kimberley Railway.

The rainstorm came and went quickly, and the rain dispersed in less than half an hour, and a sentry quickly greeted him from the front, "Report——, is less than ten kilometers away from the target, safe!" ”

"Rest in place." De La Raley then lightly pulled the reins and gave a loud order, and the sentry slowed down his horse, "The Klepan garrison is about one hundred and thirty men, and there are three machine guns ........ ”

Klepin, a small station, with only more than 30 troops stationed in Pinsuri, and now more than 130 defenders suddenly appeared, needless to say, it must have been the European coalition that strengthened the protection of the railway.

Dralay's face suddenly became gloomy, three machine guns, even the Gatling machine gun, was not something that his more than 300 cavalry could compete with, and he knew very well how amazing the lethality of the machine gun was, for the cavalry, the machine gun was simply a nightmare.

Jumping off his horse and examining the map, he moved his target to three kilometers south of the Klepan station, which was close to where they were now, not too far from the station, and his mission was to sabotage the railroad and not fight hard with them.

All along, the Boers have adopted flexible and mobile tactics, but their forces are too limited to fight or consume. Of course, if he could attract the enemy stationed at the station to come and pursue, he would not mind destroying some of them, as long as the enemy did not carry heavy weapons such as machine guns and artillery, with the fighting qualities of the Wehrmacht, he really did not take any European coalition forces seriously.

After eating and resting for more than half an hour, Delalay raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and saw that the short hand had already pointed to four, so he ordered aloud, "Let's go." Now that they were in British territory, he had to be more careful at any time at the risk of being discovered.

Soon after urging the horse forward, a railway was in front of Delalay, the railway connecting Cape Town to Kimberley was newly built by the British in recent years, the Transvaal gold mine has large reserves and high production, and the diamond of Kimberley is also large in reserves and high in production, and now it is the world's largest diamond producing area, in order to promote diamond mining in Kimberley or to guarantee the safety of Burleigh, the British can't wait to build this not short railway.

Several cavalrymen in charge of reconnaissance gathered from several directions, and when they heard that no trace of the enemy was found nearby, Delalay waved his hand decisively, and more than 30 horsemen immediately urged their horses to rush the railway, and skillfully placed explosives on the railway.

In less than a quarter of an hour, I heard one after another thunderous explosions, and the two kilometers of railroad in front and behind were completely destroyed by the sound of a huge explosion.

Since someone rushed onto the railroad to check the effect of the destruction, Draray held a telescope with a cold expression and watched Klepan's movements, to his disappointment, Clepin's defenders just came out to watch for a while and then retracted, obviously, the other party did not have the courage to come out and chase them, which made him slightly disappointed, but he also relieved himself, and immediately waved his hand, "Don't be stunned, harvest the telegraph line." ”

Since the Crimean War, the use of wire telegraphs in warfare has become more and more extensive, and battlefield communications have also received more and more attention, and cutting off collection wires has become a very common task.

"Uhh

Delalay asked in a loud voice, "How much is left in the explosives pack?" ”

"And seven."

"Stop the train!" Delalay ordered succinctly, since he took the initiative to send it to the door, he had no reason to let it go, he planned to force the train to stop, and burn the materials loaded on the train, whether it was food or munitions, he had to burn or blow it up, he had already torn his face, so naturally he had nothing to worry about.

With a few loud explosions, another section of the railway was blown up, and the train began to slow down and brake when it was still far away, and slowly stopped, Delalay raised his hand, "Go and take a look in the third row, pay attention, there must be escorts on the train." ”

More than 30 cavalrymen approached the train, and Delalay saw through the binoculars that some officers and soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition jumped out of the iron carriages one after another, and they were actually troop carriers! Kicked to the iron plate! Shocked, he hurriedly fired a gun to signal retreat.

The sound of gunfire on his side did not subside, and the dull and creepy machine-gun sound of "Da Da" rang out, and the cavalry squad that had not had time to turn was on their backs.

"Withdraw!" Delalay ordered without hesitation.

On the same day, more than a dozen Boer cavalry squads crossed the border and wantonly sabotaged the railway, severely damaging the 200-kilometer railway line south of Kimberley, and the cable telegraph erected along the railway line was also harvested.

Kimberley, French Army Battalion, Headquarters.

Lieutenant General of the French Army, about sixty, severely bald, thin-faced, bearded Louis Léon Cezal Federbe, pacing back and forth, slow and heavy steps, he was the main founder of the French African Empire, and during his tenure by force and negotiation, with only a small number of troops, France obtained almost equal colonies in Africa and laid the foundation for French colonies in West Africa.

Later, he was transferred to the commander of the Constantine Division, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, he was called back to China, promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, in Ponde and Saint-Quentin once curbed the German First Army's attack on northeastern France, is a French army general with outstanding achievements, this time to send troops to South Africa, he is the best choice for France to lead the army, and is also the commander-in-chief of the Franco-Austrian-Italian trilateral forces.

The Boers were so rampant that Federeb was a bit of a surprise, which made him realize that the logistical supply of the army would be a serious problem, and that the advance of the army would not go smoothly, and that the harassment of the Boer cavalry must be strictly guarded against.

Of course, the surprise action of the Boers also signaled that the Germans should have invaded the Transvaal. Although Italy's 20,000-strong army had not yet arrived in Kimberley, he knew that he could not delay any longer, and if it dragged on, it might be broken by the Qing army.

In fact, the French army arrived in the Kimberley earlier than the German army landed in Durban, however, he used the excuse that the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies had not arrived, and he did not move, without him, he just wanted the German army to attract the Qing army, although he did not participate in the Eastern Crusade, but the detailed battle situation of the British and French allied forces in Tianjin was clear, and he knew very well the combat strength of the Qing army, and would not be inferior to the German army.

From the very beginning, he made up his mind to let the Germans go first to attract the attention of the Qing army, so as early as when the army set out, he asked the British to blockade the cable telegram in Cape Town ten days before the scheduled landing date of the army, and tightly sealed the news, and after the landing arrived, the British troops stationed in Kimberley were put on strict guard, in order to achieve the purpose of surprise.

"Pass my orders." Federeb stopped and said in a calm tone: "The army will advance to Johannesburg early tomorrow morning, and the Italian army is responsible for the security of the railway and communications from Kimberley to Cape Town, and it is necessary to ensure the smooth flow of logistics and transportation, transportation and communication!" ”

Sanderton, the Qing army camp.

Report ——。 The communications officer saluted and opened the folder, "The 40,000 allied troops of France and Austria were dispatched early this morning, and the target should be Johannesburg.

The operational staff officer quickly marked an arrow on the combat map, Yi Zhengxing glanced at Feng Zicai, and said slowly: "Kimberley is more than 400 kilometers away from Fort John, and it will take at least ten days to march normally?" ”

"Tens of thousands of troops march, under normal circumstances, forty kilometers a day, can be regarded as extremely fast." Feng Zicai said: "However, the other party may not move normally in a proper manner. As he spoke, he tapped on the map with his hand, "This is obviously a two-way attack, and the other side may march in a hurry, at least a force will be divided into a rapid march ........" ”

Yi Zhengxing's heart was tight, the Franco-Austrian army only needed to divide 5,000 troops to march quickly, which could directly threaten the safety of Fort John, and at present, Johannesburg was defended by only one regiment.

Feng Zicai clearly knew what he was worried about, and immediately relieved: "Your Highness don't worry, the Boers will harass along the way and delay the enemy's march speed to the maximum. ”

These words did not make Yi Zhengxing calm down, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "Report to Shanghai, and ask Fort John if he needs to evacuate." ”

If he was still a little sure before, but now he is not at all, the survival of Johnburg is not only related to the safety of more than 100,000 people, but also related to the output of the gold mine, he dare not be cautious.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Yi Zhizu forwarded the telegram to Zhao Liewen, and said nonchalantly: "This Federeb is calm, and he only came out at this time. ”

"That guy just wants the Germans to exchange fire with us first in the east." Yan Yangtian said slowly: "However, since the Franco-Austrian coalition army has emerged, it must capture Fort Johann as quickly as possible to avoid being preempted by the Germans." ”

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said: "If Fort John does not evacuate, I am afraid that the casualties will not be small." ”

"There won't be many casualties, and whoever takes Fort John, the first priority is to mine the gold, not to kill indiscriminately." Yi Zhizhi said unhurriedly: "Just let them secretly withdraw some of the technicians, there is no need for large-scale evacuation." ”

"Does the Headmaster want to take this opportunity to deplete the strength of the Boers?" Yan Yangtian said tentatively, what Yi Zhixin had always revealed was not to annex the Transvaal, but this decision was obviously to induce the Boers to work hard.

For the two of them, Yi Zhixiang had nothing to hide, and nodded slowly, "Originally, I was reluctant to annex the Transvaal, mainly because I was worried that it would be too ugly, one was that the Boers would not agree easily, and secondly, I was worried that the European powers would attack."

Now it seems that not annexing the Transvaal will do more harm than good, and if the Transvaal has been incorporated into our territory, the five European countries will not dare to invade it lightly.

The Boers were already small in number, and it would be easier for them to understand their situation clearly by using this war to attrition, and it would be easier to annex them after the war was over. ”

South Africa, north of Glencoe, German battalion.

A large group of mules and horses came in a mighty way, and outside the gate of the barracks, Frederick was riding on horseback. A rare smile appeared on Karl's face, and an officer came to salute and reported: "Report to the general, a total of seven hundred mules and horses, and two hundred will arrive in Glencoe tomorrow." ”

"Good." Frederick. Carl said a clamp on the horse's belly and urged the horse to return to the barracks, this time to South Africa, his troops carried a large number of artillery, including heavy artillery, the demand for mules and horses is very large, England is not bad, a steady stream of transport of mules and horses to come, greatly guaranteed his marching speed.

Dismounted outside the tent of the headquarters that arrived, a staff officer hurried up to meet him, "General, the Boers have attacked the railway line two hundred kilometers south of Kimberley, the railway has been severely damaged, and the cable telegraph has also been interrupted........ ”

After taking the telegram and glancing at it, Frederick. Karl frowned, and then strode into the camp, this was not good news for him, what kind of two-way marching plan, he didn't pay attention to it at all, he was more happy to see Federeb in Kimberley, he asked as he walked: "The vanguard is still far from Sanderton?" ”

"About a hundred kilometers, you can get to Standton in three days."

"Order the march to be quickened, and they will be in Standton within two days." Frederick. Karl said in a deep voice, strode over to the map, and then ordered, "Five days, the main force must arrive in Standton within five days." ”

Frederick. Karl was a little anxious, he knew very well that the interruption of the railway and cable telegraph to Kimberley would inevitably force Federeb to send troops to advance towards Johannesburg, and he knew very well that Federeb's little caution was nothing more than to let his troops attract the Qing army and the Boers, and then take advantage of the weakness.

He did not care at all about this, but was happy to see the other side hold his troops in Kimberley, and he believed that with his absolute superiority in troops, even if the Qing army and the Boers were fully blocked in Sanderton, they would not be able to stop the progress of his troops.

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