"No, it can't be, absolutely impossible!"

Redfuss. Admiral Brown's hysterical roar came almost unmuffled from Sir Milner's office—his voice was so loud that the heavy wooden doors of the office were rendered useless. The two guards outside the pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info moved a few steps to the sides in unison to avoid the next round of noise, and at the same time speculated with interest what exactly had angered the army general who had been normal a few minutes ago.

It was not an easy task: no one could hear Sir Milner; No one knew what Sir had said to the Admiral. Luckily, they can find clues in the admiral's roar.

"I would never agree with letting those insatiable Yankees into the Cape Colony...... Yes, I know, someone is putting pressure on you, sir, I understand your situation, but that's the job of the British Army...... No, sir, I will lead the troops to free that Mr. Reporter from the Boer prisoner of war camp, and by the way destroy all the Boer militia. ”

Then there was silence, perhaps Sir Milner was explaining something to the Adjunct, or making a request of him. A few minutes later, the roar returned.

"Difficult? Sir, I do not think that it will be a difficult job to rescue the honorable Mr. Journalist, who will be freed as long as my troops defeat the Boers...... The Boers had no idea who he was at all...... They don't think much of an ordinary journalist is ...... Yes, a large-scale military operation may reveal our intentions, but if my army is unable to complete the rescue mission, the Yankees hired by the Duke can't either. ”

Silence again. And when the admiral's voice sounded again, its decibel level was drastically reduced, making the sentence a little slurred. The two guards had to listen more intently to discern the admiral's speech.

The Duke insisted that the Yankees be in charge of the rescue...... I must say that I regret and indignation at his distrust of the Imperial Army...... Well, since he insists, let those damn Yankees take care of this, but I'm definitely not going to give them any assistance. They don't want to...... The duke demanded that the colonial government bear most of the costs? Because that Mr. Journalist was captured by the Boers and was the responsibility of the Army? It's shameful...... What the! ”

Almost instantly, Admiral Buller's voice rose again, and even higher than before, startling the two guardsmen—but the roar also made them hear it more clearly.

"Seventy thousand pounds?" The admiral was visibly very angry, "Blackmail! This is naked blackmail...... What the! ”

"What" again, and this time, it no longer represents anger, but surprise, expressing disbelief at Sir Milner's statement.

"You actually agreed?"

※※※

As the two guards outside the door had guessed, Buller couldn't believe what he had just heard: at first, Milner told him that Duke Marlborough had hired a group of American mercenaries to rescue his cousin Winston. Churchill, who could only express regret and indignation at this attitude of distrust of the British servicemen; Milner went on to say that because Mr. Churchill was the responsibility of the British Army for his capture, the Duke demanded that the Government bear most of the mercenary commissions, seventy thousand pounds, and that he began to resent the Duke with the almost blackmail of the Americans; In the end, Milner declared that he had acceded to the Duke's request, and he could not have found a better response than to be incredulous.

How could the colonial authorities accept the blackmail of the Duke of Marlborough? Because the Army needs to take responsibility for the capture of Mr. Churchill? There is no doubt that this accusation is absurd and unjustified.

Of course, Bühler admits that Winston. Churchill's becoming a captive of the Boers was indeed related to the Army: George. White and his troops failed to hold Leddy Smith. But that doesn't mean the Army is to blame for what happened to Mr. Churchill: no one forced him to become a war correspondent; He does it voluntarily and the responsibility should be borne by himself.

Neither the Army, nor the Imperial Government, nor the colonial authorities had to bear the cost of the rescue. At most, only a little symbolic support was given to the Duke of Marlborough for moral and humanitarian reasons, as was the case with Mr. Churchill's employer, the Morning Post.

Bühler thinks Milner should know this better than he does - he is a career politician. This meant that Milner would not have accepted the Duke of Marlborough's offer - but he did.

"I am puzzled by your decision, Sir Milner." The admiral exclaimed, "But I must stress that this is a grave mistake. ”

Not accepting the Duke's request was an even more serious mistake. Milner thought wryly. According to information from London, the Ladysmith affair put enormous pressure on Lord Salisbury, the War Secretary and the Colonial Secretary: both the military defeat and the unbridled propaganda of the Germans irritated the nerves of the British. All were harshly accusing the government and the army, believing that the incompetence of the army had brought humiliation on the British Empire, and demanding immediate retaliation to punish the Boers and restore the glory of the empire - at such a time when the Lord obviously did not want to see the nobles of the Upper House of Parliament cause him new trouble.

And the Americans. Lady of the Duke of Marlborough and Randolph. Mrs. Churchill both came from high society in the United States, and if the two ladies used their connections to trumpet in the United States the calamity of the incompetence of the British Government and the Army to their loved ones - as risky as it would have put Mr. Churchill in danger and at the same time influence any plan to rescue him - Lord Salisbury would have been in a much more difficult position if they were willing to take the risk.

If the Lord's luck wasn't so good......

Of course, Milner can't guess how far things will eventually go, but what is certain is that the Lord is by no means willing to be subjected to more serious political pressure than he is now; There were also the War Ministers and the Colonial Ministers. They are under as much pressure as Lord Salisbury, and their political lives are more threatened than the Lord.

Therefore, the Lord and the two ministers will do everything in their power to avoid the repercussions to their political lives - they will accept the request of the Duke of Marlborough. Why not? It wasn't their money that was spent, it was the government's money, the taxes of British citizens - it would be foolish and unwise to refuse such a reasonable deal.

But neither Lord nor the two Chancellors will come forward in person. The Duke of Marlborough did not ask the Imperial Government to pay commissions for American mercenaries, he demanded from the colonial government, the Cape or Natal. Therefore, it became very clear that the person who had to come forward to announce the acceptance of his request became very clear.

It was none other than himself, and though there were no clear instructions yet, Milner could guess what orders London would eventually give him.

In that case, there is no need to waste time waiting for that telegram.

"You have to understand the situation I am in with the Prime Minister, Admiral Buller." He told the angry commander of the expeditionary force, "Now we must consider first and foremost the threat of the Boers, and as for the rest, we can only choose to compromise as far as we can afford." ”

After a pause, he added, "And it's only seventy thousand pounds." ”

"Just £70,000?" Buller snorted, "It's not as simple as you think, Sir. Have you forgotten about Mr. Rhodes? ”

Cecil. Rhodes, former Prime Minister of the Colony. Milner's head was starting to hurt again. The South African mining magnate has caused far more trouble than the Duke of Marlborough in England: he is clamoring for the army to immediately recover the Kimberley, which is still unfounded, and at the same time he is recruiting mercenaries, openly declaring that he will personally lead them to defend his diamond mines...... Wait, mercenaries?

"You should understand. If the colonial government accepted the Duke of Marlborough's request, Mr. Rhodes would make the same demand, and the authorities would have to accede to it. Because the crisis in the Kimberley is also caused by the incompetence of the army. Bühler sneered, "Do you still think it's only seventy thousand pounds?" ”

Undoubtedly, no. Rescuing Mr. Churchill would require a few dozen mercenaries at most, but rescuing the Kimberley would require at least a regiment, and possibly even a brigade......

Milner's eyebrows were completely twisted. "This is indeed a serious problem." He pondered, "If Mr. Rhodes makes the same request...... the question" made him think for nearly five minutes, and then Milner looked up, "I'm afraid I can only choose to accept it." ”

For a moment, Bühler thought he had a hearing problem - but he soon realized that it was Milner who had the problem. "You're not kidding, Sir Milner?"

"What else could you do? Mr. Rhodes has more influence in London than the Duke of Marlborough, and if he protests to the Prime Minister, then I will have to say goodbye to my current position. Milner said, with a bitter look on his face, "Not absolutely, but very likely." ”

"So you can only accept his blackmail?" Bühler's voice was raised again.

"Is there any other way you can do it?" Milner asked rhetorically.

"Of course." The army general waved a clenched fist, "As long as my troops defeat the Boers, there is no need for Mr. Rhodes to recruit mercenaries to go to Kimberley to defend his diamond mines, and of course, Duke Marlborough no longer needs mercenaries to rescue his cousin......"

Milner shook his head to himself. Bühler still believes that he can solve every problem, but in reality, he can't solve anything. "As I just said." He said, "The Duke does not believe that the Imperial Army will be able to rescue his cousin, and Mr. Rhodes will not fully believe in your promise. Admiral, I doubt that any of you will be able to solve our troubles until your troops have achieved a single victory. ”

"Of course I'm going to win, that's what I'm here for." Buller jumped up from his chair - as if he had run out of it...... Finally.

"My troops will defeat the Boers, soon, in Durban." "Heroic British soldiers will send all the Boers who attack Durban to hell," he declared. ”

"I hope so, Admiral Buller." Milner also stood up, still grimacing, "You'd better be able to make good on your promise." Otherwise, the colonial authorities would have to let the Americans come here to deal with the mess. ”

"You'll see, Sir Milner." With that last sentence, Buller grabbed his hat and strode out of the office, leaving Milner looking at his secretary with a sad face.

Then, after a few minutes, Milner slowly sat back in his chair, let out a long breath, and then made a gesture to his secretary. Seeing his call, the secretary immediately walked over and stood in front of Milner. "What do you command, Sir?"

"Go to Mr. Rhodes immediately and ask him if he intends to hire mercenaries from the United States." "If he intends to hire that army," Milner said, "tell him in my name that the colonial government is willing to bear most of the costs." ”

"Jazz?" The secretary did not understand what he meant: even just now, when he was talking to Buller, he saw as a nuisance that Rhodes might ask the colonial government to bear the commission of mercenaries......

"Do what I say." Milner's voice was low, but more indisputable than any shouting.

"Yes, sir."

The secretary could only go and carry out his orders, with doubts. Milner's intentions, however, were simple: the best way to hide a tree was to hide it in a wood. The Duke of Marlborough's claim is the tree: if the populace found out that the government was using their money to satisfy the Duke's private demands, it would be a catastrophic problem - not now, perhaps, but one day the matter would become a stain.

So, it must be hidden in the woods: the populace will strongly oppose the government paying the bill for the duke, but they will definitely not object to the government paying the bill for Rhodes, even if the second bill is a hundred times that of the first, even if Rhodes's actions are equally for private purposes.

Because in the eyes of the people, a city is far more important than a journalist.

Of course, this must be attributed to Admiral Buhler. Milner smiled inwardly. Thankfully, the Admiral made him aware of Rhodes' needs, otherwise, it might have taken him a lot of time to find a way to hide the tree at a time when he was already overwhelmed by the situation.

Thank you, Admiral Buhler. (To be continued.) )