Whatever Milner thought, at least one thing was clear: he provoked Buller to the knees. Stimulated by the flames that burned in his heart and could not be extinguished www.biquge.info, the Admiral, upon his return to the headquarters, summoned every senior officer of the South African Expeditionary Force and announced to them: "Let the troops go immediately." I'm going to send all those damn Boolean mongrels to hell! Kill them all! ”

The high-ranking officers present at the meeting were so frightened by the hissing sound of Buller that not a single one of them considered whether his order was justified or not, but immediately went into action, almost in a mess.

So the 22,000 British soldiers of the South African Expeditionary Force - belonging to four infantry brigades, four light cavalry regiments, three squadrons of lancers of colonial cavalry, and five field artillery batteries - boarded the transport ships again and set off for their intended destination, Durban.

They will defeat and destroy the Boer army that had captured Leddy Smith in Durban, and wash away the humiliation of the British Empire and the British Army......

This was Bühler's plan; And in his eyes, it was simple and easy to achieve: the use of 22,000 British soldiers against a few thousand improvised Boer militia was like crushing a poor puppy with a steam roller. For victory, the admiral was confident.

It's a pity. He doesn't know his opponent, but his opponent knows all of his hole cards.

"Redfuss. Admiral Buller had the advantage in numbers, but his army had only thirty field guns, sixteen naval twelve-pounder guns, and four-point 7-inch guns, and we had a clear advantage in artillery firepower. And he doesn't know what we're really doing. So," Bedholt said. Coster let his gaze sweep over each officer, "The plan is simple, first crush Bühler's expeditionary force, and then take Durban. ”

"Why not first take Durban and then defeat Buhler?" The Supreme Commander of the Boers, Piette. General Joubert asked, confused.

"If Durban were to be captured first, Buller would probably abandon the landing, retreat to East London and await reinforcements from the mainland, and then launch a counterattack. Or he will open up a new battlefield, like Orange. "At the same time, there is a possibility that British naval warships will shell Durban and destroy its port facilities." ”

"And what about following your plan?"

"If we defeat Buller's expeditionary force first, London will send a new commander to replace him, whether or not we can capture him in battle, and it will take a lot of time, weeks or months, to choose a suitable man and send him to southern Africa, enough for us to build a strong defensive line." Coaster made a gesture and continued, "A prisoner of war camp in Durban would prevent the British fleet from firing at us with impunity." ”

"You mean...... Set up a prisoner of war camp at the docks and let the British prisoners of war act as our human shields? Joubert thought for a moment, then shook his head, "This doesn't conform to traditional rules of engagement. ”

"Our only goal is to win, General." "So at some point, we can modify the rules of engagement to give us a tactical advantage." ”

He paused and continued to conceive a new reason, but before he could find it, Joubert had changed his attitude - he was not resolute. Between victory and the rules of engagement, Joubert is equally inclined to the former - of course, in fact, no one would regard man-made "rules" as inviolable and sacred.

In particular, the various treaties signed between States - in fact, as a joke, the sole purpose of signing a treaty is to tear it up at some point in the future.

Whenever necessary, politicians will not hesitate to discard those treaties and rules, or bypass them in a more ingenious way - a typical example is that the Hague Convention prohibits the use of extended warheads, so the British designed a new MK.VII. rifle cartridge, using a lead-aluminum composite core, to increase its instability after hitting the target, making it extremely easy to roll, far more powerful than the original dummy and MK.V. air tip rounds, and did not violate the Hague Convention, so the politicians were happy, The army was also glad - the British would do it, and so would the Boers.

Moreover, Joubert needs to win his war and save the Transvaal and Orange in crisis. In order to achieve this goal, he does not care which means are used.

"Only the result is the most important, the process and the means are insignificant." He nodded, "Colonel, just follow your plan." ”

"Thank you very much, General." Coaster returned the standard German military salute.

Soon, the combined German and Boer forces, which were advancing towards Durban and were already very close to the port city, slowed it down, releasing smoke and creating the illusion that the British were in the city, while making all sorts of preparations for Buller and his expeditionary force.

A large-scale battle is about to begin.

At this time, Qin Lang was in Washington, D.C., meeting secretly with members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee - this meeting was postponed, twice: because Qin Lang did not arrive in Washington on time, he had to wait patiently for the senators to finish a lengthy and meaningless meeting before discussing with them the matter they were all concerned about.

The China issue -- Only on issues involving China does the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee think of asking Qin Lang for his opinion, even though it is only the background and not the core of the whole topic -- the Foreign Affairs Committee wants to know how to further enhance the influence of the United States in China without causing armed conflict with other countries.

"We're worried about Britain and Russia, and we're worried about Japan." Samuel. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Bush said, "It is clear that if the influence of the United States in China continues to expand, our contradictions with them will further increase, and eventually lead to an armed conflict......

"In fact, I don't think the U.S. is more likely to be at war with Britain, Russia or Japan than it is to hit the Earth with a meteorite." Qin Lang spread his hands with a nonchalant expression, "Britain has been locked in a war, and there will be no more energy to pay attention to the Far East until it is over, and our sphere of influence and direction of expansion do not overlap with Russia or Japan." ”

"You seem to have forgotten about your cotton business." Harriman reminded. "It has affected the economy of Imperial Japan."

"To be precise, it seriously affected the economy of the Japanese Empire." Qin Lang smiled for a moment, and then said, "However, my business will not affect the relationship between the United States and Japan. As long as the Japanese have not found a reliable and stable supplier of cotton outside the United States, they will do their best to maintain good relations with the United States and try to obtain cotton from other American consortia. ”

"Are you sure, Mr. Qin?" A senator asked.

"I'm sure." Qin Lang replied and smiled again, "And now, Tokyo is more concerned about its interests on the Korean Peninsula and the secret activities carried out there in St. Petersburg. ”

"Covert activities" seem to be of interest to everyone. Eyes immediately focused on him from elsewhere. "What clandestine activity?"

Qin Lang pursed his lips in contempt. "According to the information I have received, spies in St. Petersburg are secretly reaching out to senior North Korean bureaucrats, and the North Koreans are also planning to use Russian power against Japan, just as they used Japan against China a few years ago."

He lied again, but none of the senators could see it: they didn't know North Korea and didn't care about it; However, they knew about Russia, and the ambitions of the Russians for the territories of the Far East. In their eyes, St. Petersburg's attempt to enter the Korean Peninsula is undoubtedly a matter of course, and it will certainly conduct espionage there, secretly liaising with North Korean officials who are dissatisfied with Tokyo, and using their power to achieve its goals. Who cares if the Koreans really have the idea of using the Russians against the Japanese?

No one cares about the idea of a mat sandwiched between several great powers - of course, they will laugh at any of its ideas.

Moreover, Qin Lang's "intelligence" seems to be both logical and in line with everyone's understanding of the history and current situation of the Far East.

"It looks like those North Koreans are not learning their lesson at all." The senators all laughed - the result of the Korean maneuver between China and Japan was obvious: the Japanese drove the Chinese out of the peninsula and then turned themselves into the new masters there - and the situation did not get better, but worse.

This incident was supposed to be a lesson, but now the North Koreans have taken a fancy to the Russians again. Obviously, they did not know that if the Russians entered their peninsula, there would probably be no country in the world that would be able to drive these polar bears away.

Fool. Several MPs commented unanimously.

Qin Lang shrugged his shoulders and continued his speech. "St. Petersburg's activities on the Korean Peninsula will eventually lead to a large-scale war between Russia and Japan, but according to their actual situation, whichever side wins, it will lose the power to engage in an armed conflict with the United States for a long time. So, gentlemen, you have no need to worry about them at all. ”

"So we can continue to expand without worrying about anything?"

"Not really." Qin Lang turned his head to the senator who spoke, "Britain, Russia and Japan are not the problems of the United States, but the Senate should not ignore the most important issue, the attitude of the Chinese." (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )