"Combat report. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"German troops, killed: one thousand one hundred and sixty-seven; Captured: 1,425 ......"

"Boer army, killed: six hundred and ninety-three; Captured: 1,084 ......"

"Our losses were slight, ...... killed"

"British Army, killed: 1,989; Missing: 384; Wounded: 1,659 ......"

"The main cause of losses for the British troops was that an infantry brigade ordered to carry out a pursuit mission was ambushed by the remnants of the retreating German-Boer coalition forces......"

"According to reports, the Germans began to try to imitate our tactics, hiding soldiers in foxholes......"

"We have reason to believe that the Germans intend to prove by this ambush that they are still stronger than their British counterparts......"

David. When Webb's battle report was delivered to him, Qin Lang was watching a fierce football match in the mercenary training camp - American football, with San Diego's Navy soldiers pitting against Umbrella's mercenaries. This is another of his inventions that will be considered creative: the introduction of the well-established rules of American football into the United States, which was in the last year of the 19th century.

And it's not just "introduced", training mercenaries and naval sailors to play football, organizing a match between the two teams is the first step in the plan, and next, Qin Lang is ready to promote the new rules throughout the United States, and of course Tsinghua University and the Zhanjiang branch of the Virginia Military Academy. It was a cheap little way to further enhance his reputation, after all, less than twenty-five years before the birth of American football, the favorite sport of the American people was far from perfect, the pitch was not ideal, the scoring rules were flawed, the offensive and spectacle were flawed, and the worst thing was - and really did, tactics such as "chain offensive formations" made it dangerous, causing many casualties to athletes every year - even if some precautions had been taken, Eighteen people still died in 1905. There is no doubt that such a dangerous sport will not be universally welcomed, and although college students love it, the serious safety hazard makes Theodore. Roosevelt hated it so much that he even threatened to force Congress to enact a law that would make American football a federal offense.

And he was prepared to do so, and Roosevelt's threat would never be just a threat, if no one heeded his warnings.

So, making American football better, safer, and more enjoyable is a natural thing that people like to see, the president is happy, the athletes are happy, the spectators are happy, and finally and most importantly, the businessmen are happy.

Qin Lang knew what he might get.

Walt. Kemp, the player and coach of the Yale football team and, more famously, the "Father of American Football," first led the offensive defense in 1880, then reduced the number of players to 11 in 1883, and established a standard formation of seven-man offensive line, a quarterback, two central defenders, and a guard -- it was because of his exploration and change of the rules of American football and the transformation of the sport from the colors of English football that it became a well-known historical figure and a pioneer in the United States. Qin Lang wasn't ready to take his glory, and it wasn't possible to do so now, but he wanted to be able to share a portion of the honor that belonged to him.

Needless to say, his personal bad tastes flare up again, only this time it fell to an athlete and coach, and not at the same pace as before; Of course, when he talked to others about his new football rules, Qin Lang would always declare to them in a serious manner: "I like this sport very much. ”

With the exception of a handful of people, Elizabeth, Rachel, O'Connor, Duncan and Yi Shui, as well as Fisborne and Messerschmitt, and possibly Morgan and Rockefeller, no one knows if he really likes the sport. But the vast majority of people will nod their heads in the same seriousness, give a little bit of their opinion on American football, and then praise his new rules either genuinely or perfunctorily, and then take the conversation elsewhere – and they do, always.

However, there are also people who do not answer in this way. A non-standard response that Qin Lang recently heard was, "This is not the football I know." ”

"Yes, Mr. Liu." He smiled, "It's American football." ”

After a few more seconds of confusion, his interlocutor, his guest, Liu Xuexun, a Cantonese who claimed to be Li Hongzhang's aide, shook his head slowly, and then asked the interpreter to convey his opinion. "No matter how you look at it, I don't think it's like football. Mr. Qin, according to my understanding, football should be kicked with the feet, but your players are holding the ball......"

Qin Lang motioned for the translator to stop and said, "That's the British way of playing, and this is American, and it's for this reason that we call it American football." ”

"Ahh Liu Xuexun let out a meaningless exclamation and turned his head to other places - he had seen enough of this American football game, which was not at all like a football game.

His reaction made Qin Lang laugh again. However, before he could say anything, a burst of fanatical cheers attracted Qin Lang's attention to the arena.

The mercenary gets a six.

"That's it, lads. Sink the navy. Qin Lang shouted, stood up and applauded the players, causing a "buzz" among the nearby military advisers watching the game.

"Sink Navy", the slogan was undoubtedly welcomed by military advisers from the Army, but Umbrella also had a number of military advisers from the Navy who frowned, put their heads together and muttered, and kept the corner of their eyes secretly watching their elated colleagues. Then these retired officers from the Annapolis Naval Academy decided to hang up the "Beat Army" sign if the Umbrella team played against the Army's team.

That day won't be waiting long. The military adviser from the Navy thought. Wait and see.

Qin Lang didn't know what his military advisers were thinking. Of course, if he puts a little effort into thinking, he can easily come up with the right answer. Only now, his attention returned to Liu Xuexun. This man is not the kind of superficial fool who knows nothing about the West. Agents of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as Wang Zhen and Hartmann, spent a week investigating all the information about him, both publicly and confidential—less than an hour after his secretary told him that a member of the staff of the Chinese Minister Li had requested a meeting with him. In the end, the results of the investigation surprised even Qin Lang: unlike his self-introduction, in addition to serving as Li Hongzhang's staff, Liu Xuexun was also a Jinshi, a gambling giant in Guangdong, and a funder and partner of Dr. Sun.

Moreover, he is the political enemy of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. Of course, Dr. Sun was also a political enemy of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, but he would not spend his days thinking about assassinating them or destroying their ancestral graves, and Liu Xuexun and Li Hongzhang's other aides confirmed that he wanted to do so.

He was radical in this matter, but not as radical as anything else he did: several of Li Hongzhang's important aides also confirmed that when the Eight-Nation Coalition attacked Beijing, Liu Xuexun had suggested that he use the opportunity to declare the independence of Guangdong, and it was almost successful; Then, when Li Hongzhang finally decided to go to Beijing to preside over the peace talks, Liu Xuexun contacted the British minister in Hong Kong, planning to detain his boss if necessary, and eventually bring about the formal independence of Guangdong......

He was a very radical guy, in a way, an extremist.

A dangerous element.

Then Qin Lang remembered that when he was in Guangzhou Bay, he had in fact heard others mention Liu Xuexun three times, once to denounce and twice to joke - almost ten years ago Liu Xuexun had done something that seemed offensive even now: he had hired four Englishmen from Shanghai to be his sedan drivers, and then he had been swaggering around Guangzhou all day. At first, all the white men in Canton felt humiliated, and then, when the nationality of the four palanquins was figured out, the British became a laughing stock, and at last the consul had to come forward and get the four fellows back, and then kick them back to England - so that ten years later, the British were still full of anger; And the Americans and the French took it as a joke.

Either way, one thing is certain: it's only because he's in Canton Bay that Westerners there mention it again. However, at that time, Qin Lang didn't care about it at all, let alone its client-he had many more important things to care about at that time. This seems to be an oversight, and perhaps at that time, he should have ordered the intelligence officers to collect information about Liu Xuexun, conduct a comprehensive analysis of him, and figure out what kind of person he really was.

Because people like him must not be taken lightly.

But don't take it too seriously: according to intelligence, Liu Xuexun has amassed a lot of wealth through the gambling industry, has close ties to many officials, and can manipulate the results of the imperial examinations in Guangdong, but Dr. Sun's plans for several riots have not been successful, and he has to seek military assistance everywhere because his organization lacks the funds to procure arms...... It doesn't seem like Dr. Sun is alone.

It seems that, as a radical, Liu Xuexun has the same problems as Dr. Sun, or that he has other ideas, some plans that are not entirely in line with Dr. Sun's goals.

A plan that belongs to him alone.

Qin Lang thinks that the second guess is highly likely, because the possibility of someone like Dr. Sun becoming a gambling giant in Guangdong is similar to that of George. The likelihood of Washington becoming emperor of the United States, almost the same.

However, no one at Umbrella knew what Liu was thinking - so he spent the evening thinking about his intentions in asking to meet with him. It can't be on behalf of Li Hongzhang, it may be on behalf of Dr. Sun, but the most likeliable, he is only representing himself - of course, no matter who he represents, Qin Lang wants their meeting to be related to a business, because business is the only reason why he is willing to spare a little time to meet.

It doesn't matter what kind of business it is.

There was another cheer, and the mercenary scored another six.

The conversation can go to the real thing. (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.) )