The Great Lakes of North America is the world's largest group of freshwater lakes, that is, the general name of five connected lakes in North America, including Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe Great Lakes region is arguably the richest and most beautiful place in North America, with fertile and vast lakeside plains, complex and diverse terrain, abundant resources, beautiful natural scenery, and developed economy, dense coastal towns, concentrated industrial and agricultural production, and the Great Lakes are not only connected to each other, but also have many natural waterways and canals connected to the sea. It is also of great shipping value that makes it so important that the economic development of the Great Lakes region is largely due to the convenience and inexpensive transportation of water.

Because of this, hundreds of thousands of tons of inland river merchant ships from the United States and Canada operated on the Great Lakes, and Duluth, which is located on the shores of Lake Superior, was only immigrant until ten years ago, and has always been developed as a timber exporter, which is why the first port to develop in the city.

For the past few days, Frank had been looking for suitable shippers in Duluth, and he had come here because there were plenty of merchant ships, and all he needed was to buy them, in the name of a Canadian company, of course.

Money is always everything, and after paying the right price, Frank easily bought more than thirty river steamships, and it was at this time that he received a telegram from his partner from Chicago - because the Illinois-Michigan Canal, which connects Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, passed through Chicago, there were more merchant ships there, and the partner bought 57 river merchant ships there.

It's easy to buy a boat, but it's hard to recruit a crew. It was also when Frank was doing everything possible to find the crew and sign a contract with them, and the news in the newspapers about the Chinese occupation of Nipigon let him know that he had to complete his work as soon as possible.

Nipigon, a small town on the shores of Lake Superior, with only a few dozen families compared to Thunderbay, fundamentally changed the course of the war.

"Damn the Chinese guys!"

When Colonel Neil of Sandbay learned that Nipigon, hundreds of miles away, was occupied, he immediately cursed loudly that the Chinese did not attack Sandbay as planned, but directly crossed the city and appeared in another place.

This completely ruined his plan, which was originally supposed to rely on a strong fortress to resist the attack of the Chinese, but now the Chinese skipped here.

"What now? They went to Nipigon, should we leave here and attack Nipixiang and cut off the retreat of the Chinese? ”

In order to prevent the Chinese from occupying Upper Canada, the British army defending Canada made a series of plans, and strengthening the defense with the help of fortresses was only part of the plan, if the Chinese crossed the fortress, then other fortresses would attack the rear of the Chinese army from the opportunity, thus cutting off their rear roads and cutting off their logistical supplies.

For General Hank and his staff officers in Toronto, all this is just a plan on paper, but for Colonel Neil, to realize this plan, he needs to leave the relative safety of Thunderbay, perhaps Thunderbay is not an extremely strong fortress, but in Neil's opinion, he can hold on here for at least a few months, when the Chinese will definitely take the initiative to withdraw their troops.

As for the initiative to attack...... For Neil, unless he was crazy, he would never want to attack the Chinese in the wilderness, even if it was an ambush, and he had several friends who had fought with the Chinese in Ireland, Cape Town, etc., and their letters all mentioned that fighting the Chinese was like fighting the devil.

"The devil still knows fear, but the Chinese don't know what fear is, for them, death is far less important than honor, on the battlefield, they don't know where death is, for any army, fighting the Chinese army, will be their lifelong nightmare!"

Thinking of the words in his friend's letter, Colonel Neil only felt a chill in his back, as a soldier, he would not attribute defeat to the sneak attack of the Chinese or their weapons, such as breech guns, poison gas, etc., on the battlefield, more often, courage is decisive, and the Chinese on the battlefield without exception put life and death aside, which is the root cause of Britain's defeat.

"Colonel, General Hank has sent a telegram from Toronto, in which he orders us to make a plan to attack Nipigon as soon as possible, and he has reason to believe that Nipigon has a bearing on their next move......"

"Attack Nipigon?"

Neil looked at Mills and shook his head.

"General Hank doesn't know anything about this place, we're a hundred miles from Nipigon, it's going to take two days to get there, and we could be ambushed at any moment along the way, and losing even a battalion now would be a disaster for defending here! A real disaster! ”

As an officer, Neil has his own judgment on the situation in front of him.

"There is a fortress in Thunderbay to protect us, but if we leave Thunderbay, then in the next few days we will be in the wilderness, and Thunderbay's defenses will inevitably be weakened, I dare say, this must be the purpose of the Chinese!"

Yes, definitely!

Neil said this to himself in his heart, he trusted his own judgment, he believed that the reason why the Chinese crossed over here was only to induce him to leave Thunderbay and leave this fortress.

"In Thunder Bay, there is the protection of the fortress, and our army will never surrender even if it fights for half a year, but get out of here, Mills, how long do you think they can hold out in the wild? Two days? One day? Or a few hours? No matter how long it takes, the results are bound to be catastrophic! ”

After a moment's thought, Neil said to Mills.

"Mills, call the general immediately now, tell him about our analysis, tell him that the most important thing now is to hold Thunderbay, as long as Thunderbay is in our hands, the Chinese will not dare to act rashly, I believe that if the Chinese find that their plan has failed, then they will definitely attack Thunderbay, and when the time comes, the general's plan can be implemented!"

When it came to Neil, he deliberately emphasized.

"Well, tell the general in the telegram that I believe that under his leadership, we will definitely be able to defeat the Chinese attack, as long as we do not disrupt our plans with the Chinese's schemes!"

However, just over an hour later, in the British command in Toronto, Major General Hank, a British officer from an aristocratic background, did not show anything unusual after receiving the telegram from Colonel Neil, he just glanced at the telegram, walked to the map again, and continued to study the terrain of Upper Canada.

"If Chinese attack on Nipigon is just a decoy......"

Staring at the map in front of him, Major General Hank did not ignore Neil's speculation, maybe he was a noble officer, and even his rank was promoted through several purchases, but this did not prevent him from being a quite capable officer, just like he expanded the British army in Upper Canada to 30,000 in just a few months, two years ago, no one could believe that one day Canada could mobilize so many troops, but now he not only did it, but also did it very well, He then asked the troops to strengthen their defenses at various fortress strongholds and wait for the Chinese to attack, in short, he had been doing his best to formulate a plan to resist the Chinese.

Now the analysis in Neil's telegram makes Hank have no choice but to face another possibility, the Chinese are likely to induce nearby fortresses to attack through an attack on such an inconspicuous small place as Nipigon, so that the defense of those fortresses will be weakened, and at that time, naturally there will be no strength to stop the Chinese.

"General, will they get on the ship from Nipigon and attack other areas by water, our intelligence shows that some American businessmen have been buying ships here and there lately!"

As the chief of staff of the general, Colonel Fili took the initiative to remind.

"Nipigon also has a port, albeit on a limited scale, but that's not a problem, their army can land there!"

"It's a possibility!"

The Chief of Staff's reminder made Hank nod and stare at the map in front of him, his mind flashing with countless possibilities, and any of them would be fatal.

"They can reach anywhere by water, appear in front of any fortress at any time, and then attack, this probability is very high, but on the other hand, the army they send is also very likely to be bait, I have studied the Chinese, their combat is more strategic, which means that they are constantly taking some actions, confusing us, let's fight according to their vision, when we are tempted by him, then the result will definitely be disastrous!"

This is exactly why Hank is worried, and the reason why he hastily gives the order for Neil to enter Nipigon is precisely because he fears that his plan will be ruined, and Neil's reminder makes him realize that now, he is actually in an offensive dilemma, because he has no way to determine the next move of the Chinese.

Nipigon is the bait? Or is it a stronghold?

Now, that's all that matters, and if it's bait, what's next for them?

Was it to lure Thunderbay's defenders out of the fortress, or was it ...... With a frowning brow, Hank set his sights on Sault Saint Mary between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, which is also a key point!

Could it be that this is where they are targeting?

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