Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

"With the fall of Johannesburg and the heavy casualties in Stedton, our troops withdrew to Maputo to recuperate, without fear of any dissatisfaction or suspicion ...... the Boers." Zhao Liewen pondered: "However, in this case, will the Boers surrender?" After all, the Boers were too small to stand up to the European coalition. ”

Will the Boers surrender? Yi Zhishu secretly laughed in his heart, he didn't think about this at all, the Boers have few troops, the total population is not large, but the bones are hard, and they will not surrender easily, in history, because of the British invasion of the Anglo-Boer War, fought for two or three years, the British invested more than 400,000 troops, as far as the current strength of the European coalition army, how could the Boers surrender?

"Huifu is too worried." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "The total population of the Boers in South Africa is only five or six hundred thousand, and the strength of the National Defense Force is indeed limited, but it can be said that all the people are soldiers, even if they are temporarily put together, they can organize a force of 180,000 troops, plus the Boers are naturally good at guerrilla warfare, even if we don't send troops to fight, they will not give in easily, it can be said that it is a rare hard bone." ”

A rare hard bone? No wonder the other party did not consider annexing the Transvaal before, Zhao Liewen thought for a moment, "The Boers are so tenacious and difficult, will the European coalition retreat?" Will the Boers be left and right in order to seek self-improvement and survival? ”

"Man dies for money, and so does the nation. With hundreds of tons of gold produced a year, anyone who swallows it will not easily spit it out. Yi Zhizhi laughed and said: "Fort John was lost, tens of thousands of our citizens were trapped in it, and in the battle of Sanderton, our army suffered more than 10,000 casualties. ”

Help? Zhao Liewen glanced at him and said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper has long expected that there will be big casualties in blocking the German army in Stedton?" ”

"I didn't expect it to be that big." Yi Zhishu sighed lightly, "The German Army has experienced a series of baptism of unification wars, and its combat strength is strong, which is expected, but it is not expected that heavy weapons will develop so quickly and with so many equipment." ”

Rapid-fire guns, mortars, light and heavy machine guns and other land warfare weapons, according to the real historical trajectory, were born after one or two decades, but Yuan Qi concentrated manpower, material and financial resources to give priority to the development of the military industry, and with the deliberate guidance and guidance of Yi Zhi, they were developed in advance and equipped with troops, which also prompted European countries to catch up and actively develop the military industry, which can be said to have started the arms race in advance. For Yi Zhifen, this is both unexpected and expected.

Seeing that he was undisguised, Zhao Liewen was speechless for a while, and the other party was clearly looking for an excuse to withdraw the troops, so he deliberately wanted to inflict heavy damage on the German army. Yi Zhishu seemed to be able to see through his thoughts, and continued: "The heavy damage to the German army is also to show strength, if the European coalition forces do not want to give up the Transvaal gold mine, they will inevitably increase their troops in South Africa on a large scale, since they are determined to fight this battle, they will naturally have to fight a big battle." ”

Before the words fell, Yan Yangtian walked in quickly and reported: "Headmaster, Maputo is calling, the main fleet has arrived. ”

"Call back." Yi Zhisuff said without thinking: "Xiao Mingliang took the initiative to attack, and Li Hongzhang made an appointment to meet President Transvaal ........" ”

A train spewed white smoke slowly on the highlands of South Africa, and the stuffy tank cars of the train were crowded with all kinds of people, men and women, young and old, regardless of race, occupation and status, all tightly packed together, squeezed like canned sardines, and there was no way to care more.

The carriage was packed, and the roof was packed with people, all of whom now had the same identity – refugees, all lucky enough to have escaped from Pretoria and Fort John. After the Franco-Austrian forces occupied Fort John, they originally planned to divide their forces into two routes, besieging the Transvaal capital - Pretoria and reinforcing Stedton, but before they could put it into action, news came that the German army had been completely annihilated in Sanderton. In the absence of the true strength of the Qing army, and in the case of ambush and harassment by the Boer cavalry, the Franco-Austrian army simply held on to Fort John.

The inhabitants of Pretoria fled like frightened birds, and soon joined up with the refugees who had escaped from Fort John, and fled all the way to Maputo along the railway line, where the railway company sent a large number of trains to rescue them.

At the front of the train was a stuffy tank car with only a dozen people, a thick green canvas split the carriage in two, and the Transvaal President Pretorius Jr. sat cross-legged on the floor against the carriage, opposite Vice President Paul Kruger and Defense Minister Paul Kruger. The three had been on their way to Maputo under the escort of the Wehrmacht, but when they saw a train coming to meet them, they naturally abandoned the horse and boarded the car.

"The Qing army almost wiped out 40,000 German troops at Stedton, but it also suffered heavy casualties and has withdrawn to Maputo one after another." Little Pretorius muffled, "What do you think about this?" ”

Kryugel said slowly: "The original plan of the Qing army was to break through each one, first concentrate on ambushing and annihilating the German army in Stedton, and then recapture Johannesburg by rail. Half a day before the start of the battle, General Feng explained the plan in detail to Delalay, who was stationed in Steadeton.

This is an impeccable plan, with the combat power of the Qing army, it is fully capable of this, but I didn't expect that its own casualties would be so large.

Delalay had sent a telegram confirming that the Qing army had suffered more than 11,000 casualties, and that only about 1,000 of the 30,000 German troops had escaped from ....... The Qing army was originally only more than 20,000 people, and more than half of the casualties were lost to Maputo, and we can't blame it. ”

Blaming the Qing army? Why blame the Qing army? Kruger glanced at him, not to mention that the Qing army annihilated 40,000 German troops, and they paid a huge amount of casualties, that is, there were no casualties, that is, the Qing army fled without a fight, what can they blame? Besides, is it useful to blame? They must now also rely on the Qing to defend themselves against European aggression.

Slowly lit a cigarette, and then he slowly spoke: "China's gold reserves are large, the output is high, the world's major powers are very jealous, do not want the Qing State to occupy alone, this time the four European countries jointly invaded, it is for the gold mine."

It is impossible for the Qing State not to be aware of this, so it immediately sent two additional brigades, although the casualties at Standton were large, but it should soon increase the number of troops from the country, I think, for our country, this is a rare opportunity, an opportunity to expand our military strength. ”

Little Pretorius nodded slightly, this war is indeed a rare opportunity to increase military strength for the Transvaal, the Qing army usually refuses to export a large number of new heavy weapons to them under the pretext of technical secrecy, this war provides them with a rare excuse.

Kryuger said: "Actually, we are not short of money now, there is no need to rely completely on the Qing State, and we can buy new weapons from European countries, Delalay reported that the German army has more heavy weapons and equipment, and its performance is not inferior to that of the Qing State." ”

Because of the large-scale mining of gold mines, the Transvaal has become rich like nouveau riche in recent years, and it is indeed not bad for money, but buying weapons is not something that can be bought with money.

Kruger glanced at him a little speechlessly, "China has no port, it is a completely landlocked country, if you want to import arms on a large scale, there are only two options, through the port of the British or the port of the Qing people......." ”

"Even if the Qing people do not want our country to purchase a large amount of arms from other countries, there is no legitimate reason to refuse." Kryuger said without hesitation: "As for the British, I believe that they are also happy to see our country get rid of the control of the Qing State, and will not refuse our country's large import of arms. ”

Kruger was a pro-Qing faction, and when he heard this, he immediately retorted: "The Qing State does not control our country, and it never interferes in China's internal affairs and foreign affairs, and all the Qing State cares about is the golden ........" ”

Seeing the two of them pulling away, little Billtorius coughed lightly and said: "Our country has a close relationship with the Qing State, if we can purchase a large number of new weapons from the Qing State, it will naturally give priority to importing them from the Qing State, and if the Qing State does not sell them, we will think of other ways." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The Franco-Austrian coalition should know that the Qing army has withdrawn to Maputo and believe that it will attack Pretoria soon. ”

Kryugel said: "The Qing army suffered too many casualties in Stedton, and if there is no reinforcement from the country, I am afraid that it will not send troops easily." After all, the Franco-Austrian army also had 40,000 troops, followed by 20,000 Italian troops. ”

Kruger said: "This is better, the Qing army will not refuse us to buy arms if it does not send troops." ”

"If the Qing army does not send troops, what good can it be?" Little Pretorius said coldly: "The Franco-Austrian alliance is openly recruiting mercenaries, haven't you heard?" ”

Durban Bay. Port of Durban, Temporary Command of the Allied Navy.

As the sun set, Vice Admiral Marie Jules du Beaulet sat idly at the window, drinking red wine and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the bay. Carl was killed or captured, and the guy escaped back to Diresmith.

The 40,000 German troops were almost wiped out, but the Franco-Austrian army captured the "gold city" Johannesburg, to see what kind of face Germany had to occupy forty percent of the shares of the Transvaal gold mine, and the news came back to Europe, and the old German thing was only afraid that it would jump straight to its feet in anger, and if nothing else, it was afraid that it would immediately increase its troops in South Africa.

"General——。 An officer walked over quickly, "The main fleet of the Qing Navy has arrived in Maputo, with thirty-two ironclad ships and six main battleships........ ”

So soon? Du Bailei was a little surprised, and groaned slightly, and he said: "Forward Cape Town, and add an additional sentence, if you don't want Cape Town to become a battlefield, all the warships had better come to Durban to gather immediately." ”

After taking a sip of the red wine in the cup, Du Bailei stood up and moved, and then walked to the beach, seven or eight years have passed since the naval battle of Mozambique, I don't know if the combat power of the Qing army's ironclad ships has been greatly improved, in recent years, the ironclad ships of Britain and France have been significantly improved, especially in terms of speed and naval gun firepower, unfortunately, the two countries have not developed torpedoes with actual combat value.

However, with the great increase in the firepower of the naval guns, the torpedoes no longer pose a serious threat, and this time it is necessary to see if the Qing army has developed any new weapons.

Maputo, the Qing army camp, the headquarters building.

For the arrival of President Transvaal and his entourage, Yi Zhengxing gave a high-standard reception, specially arranged a military band and a guard of honor, and after entering the meeting room of the headquarters building and taking a seat, little Billtorius first congratulated the Qing army on the victory of Stagton, and then after a few polite words, he asked with concern: "I heard that your army suffered a lot of casualties in Sanderton?" ”

Yi Zhengxing nodded, "Kill a thousand enemies and injure yourself eight hundred." In the first battle of Standton, although our army annihilated 30,000 German troops, its own casualties were not small, with casualties as high as more than 10,000, which can be said to be more than half of the casualties. ”

Little Pretorius then asked, "I wonder when your reinforcements will arrive?" ”

Yi Zhengxing said unhurriedly: "The four European countries jointly invaded, and my country underestimated the severity of this situation, so we only sent two brigades to reinforce it, but I didn't expect that the casualties would be so large in the battle of Sanderton." Follow-up reinforcements may not arrive until two or three months later. ”

Two or three months later? Little Pretorius was stunned, and Kryuger spoke: "The Franco-Austrian army did not dare to act rashly after the capture of Fort John, but after hearing that your army had withdrawn to Maputo, it has begun to march towards Pretoria, and I beg your army to send troops to help in time....... Our Defence Forces will cooperate fully to assist you. ”

"When our army fights a war, it has never cared about the gains or losses of one city or one place, but has always focused on destroying the enemy's living forces. If you save people and lose land, people and land will survive, and if you save land and lose people, people and land will be lost. Yi Zhengxing said slowly: "I took the initiative to abandon Fort John and concentrate my forces to encircle and annihilate the German army in Stedton, which is adhering to this idea.

Your country is a vast and sparsely populated country, with limited troops, and our army has suffered too many casualties and is in dire need of recuperation, so I suggest that your country abandon Pretoria for the time being and disperse. ”

Although he had expected it, little Pretorius was still greatly disappointed, and said very unwillingly: "In recent years, China's railways have developed rapidly, and if we do not contain them, the enemy can use the railways to quickly carry out a comprehensive occupation, and then send troops to recover them, and they will inevitably pay a greater price." ”

This is not unreasonable, but the purpose of taking the initiative to abandon Fort Johann and blocking the German army from causing casualties under the pretext of withdrawing troops is to make the Boers and the European coalition forces consume each other, and Yi Zhengxing will not agree to send troops to reinforce Pretoria.

Seeing that Yi Zhengxing was silent, Li Hongzhang took over and said: "Mr. President, there is no need to worry, your country's national defense force is mainly cavalry, which is conducive to mobile combat, and besides, the enemy's strength is also limited, and he does not dare or have the ability to carry out a comprehensive occupation. ”

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