During the time when the "Voyager" sailed back to New York Harbor, Qin Lang began to think about a question: where should he go next? Washington or Boston?

Originally, this wasn't a problem. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 The target of the info was Washington, where he was to exchange views on the situation in the Far East with a few old and new friends, and Boston was just a stop-by after all the plans had been successfully completed - however, the situation had now changed, and Morgan suddenly offered to make a loan to Japan, which he agreed, and made a new plan - which meant that he had to make some preparations.

However, there was only one person who could help him with those tasks, Szeto Meitang. Although it is not completely certain, in the power that Qin Lang can use, only he can establish some kind of contact with the anti-Japanese elements in Taiwan. Qin Lang needed to meet with Situ Meitang, and he was in Boston.

The importance of that city had suddenly increased, so much so that Qin Lang hesitated about which of his plans should be prioritized.

Although it was not the first time, it had never been as strong as it was now, and Qin Lang felt that it was not a good thing to have too many plans at the same time; Unfortunately, now that he's got the situation to where it is, the only thing he can do is get it going.

Or rather, he has to make a choice.

Thankfully, he still had plenty of time. It will take a few more hours for the Voyager to return to New York, and, even if she returns, he will not immediately leave for the next target.

Something else awaited him: a few soires and cocktail parties, a few appointments that had been booked - and surprise visits without an appointment. In addition to this, there were two highly formal academic presentations, one at Columbia University and the other at West Point, and despite the opposition of many, the management of the Army Military Academy still wanted a brigadier general to have a meaningful exchange with future officers.

As a public figure, Qin Lang had to accept invitations from all sides to participate in some activities that he was originally unwilling to attend.

He had to stay in New York for a week.

There's still plenty of time.

However, more or less time is always a relative conclusion. Qin Lang thought he still had a lot of time, but for the British immigrants living in Leddy Smith, an important transportation hub and military stronghold in the Natal colony, they were running out of time: the Boers besieging the city were advancing several heavy guns of at least six inches in caliber into the positions they had built the day before, and in a few hours, they would be able to celebrate their victory at Leddy Smith.

Of course, at such times, as enemy civilians, the British immigrants in the cities would certainly be in "trouble" - although the famous German military strategist, the founder of the General Staff, Helmut. Cal. Bernhardt. Feng. Marshal Moltke did not think that the war between the two countries would necessarily involve civilians, but which army would take his assertion as a creed and a code of conduct?

Moreover, even if the Germans really believed in this code and were able to persuade the Boers to act according to it, the British inhabitants of Ladysmith would not have the courage to do so. After all, they and their compatriots loved to rob the civilians of the defeated countries, and did not care in the slightest whether these people were barbarians or civilized people like the British.

"Come out and run, sooner or later you will have to pay it back" - of course, none of the English immigrants in Ladysmith had heard of it, but they still feared and prayed that God would bless them and their possessions......

There were also British troops guarding the city.

In fact, it was the British army of Ladysmith who was the real guardian and object of invocation of the British immigrants here, and God was not - God was always on the side of the victors - and it was regrettable that the British immigrants could not trust their troops.

Because George. Lieutenant General White, along with the officers and soldiers he commands, are nothing more than a bunch of straw bales that can do nothing but suppress the indigenous niggers.

They can't save the city, and they don't know how to save it.

"It must be said that the inhabitants here have utterly despaired of you and your troops, Lieutenant General."

"Of course I know, Mr. Reporter, I don't need you to tell me personally." Lieutenant General White glared at the Morning Post reporter and retired lieutenant who had slipped into his headquarters at the wrong time and in the wrong way, and tried to order the guards to kick him out, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, he finally gave up.

Getting into a clash with a popular journalist is never fun. White was reluctant to see anything bad for him in any of the newspapers, and the vitriolic comments that went with it. To make matters worse, although the journalist standing in front of him did not have a noble title, he was born into a noble noble family, the grandson of the seventh Duke of Marlborough, and was not easy to deal with......

The lieutenant general shook his head secretly. He didn't want to fight a journalist with a background, but he wanted the gentleman to leave his command as soon as possible - and, if possible, to send him to Durban or some other safe place at once.

A character like him should never have been in this place now, when Ladysmith was on the verge of falling.

"It's very dangerous here." The lieutenant general advised, "I think you should get out of here immediately." ”

"I'm a war correspondent, and wherever there's fighting, I'm there." The grandson of the seventh Duke of Marlborough replied, as if he did not care about his own safety, even though he had always cared about his own safety.

He just pretended not to care. On the one hand, he did not think that the Boers were about to occupy Ladysmith, as the British immigrants here did, and on the other hand, he had made the necessary preparations.

"Don't worry, General, I have a very good horse. And," he patted the case with his hand, "I bought the latest Mauser semi-automatic pistol, as well as special bullets, before coming here. ”

"If I were you, I'd throw away all those special bullets, as far away as possible." The lieutenant general knew what a "special bullet" was, a soft-tipped bullet made by the Mauser company, which was not as effective as a .357 caliber pistol bullet made by the Americans, but if the Boers found it on some prisoner, they would have shot the guy immediately.

"This is not India, Mr. Journalist." He finally reminded.

"And I'm not a soldier, just a journalist. But I still thank you for the advice you gave me, General...... By the way," I remembered a second ago, when the Morning Post reporter told the lieutenant general very formally, "you can call me Winston." ”

But White didn't want to take his affection. "Thank you, Mr. Reporter...... Winston. He spoke in a cold tone, and then an eviction order—with a hint of inquiry, "If nothing else, sir, may you leave my headquarters?" ”

"I'm afraid not, General." Not caring about White's expression at all, the Morning Post reporter took out his small notebook and said frankly, "I have a few questions for you to answer, about the two defeats that your troops have suffered. I wonder how the mighty British Army was defeated on the battlefield by the Boers. ”

"That's not much to say." The lieutenant general bluntly refused, but he still couldn't help but think of the defeat of his troops.

Two failures. The first defeat had been ten days earlier, when an infantry brigade defending the outer line of Leddy Smith at Mount Tarana had been suddenly attacked, but unfortunately the infantry brigade had been defeated in the early morning and the Boers had occupied the favorable terrain on the battlefield, losing about seven hundred men and losing that important outlying position, so he could only lead four thousand men back against the Boers......

At Nicholson Canyon, however, his troops were defeated again.

"So, what is the reason for this defeat, General?" The journalist interrupted the reminiscences of the lieutenant general, "Do you blame the previous defeat on the surprise attack of the Boers in the early morning and the favorable terrain they occupy, and this time too?" ”

"No, it's an intelligence error." White suddenly became angry, "I have received information that the Boer army that invaded Natal had only three thousand five hundred soldiers and no heavy weapons, but I encountered at least seven thousand men in the Nicholson Gorge, armed with thirty of the latest field guns. That's why I'm stupid enough to lose 2,600 people in that damn canyon! ”

Undoubtedly, this was a very heavy loss, which led to a significant drop in the strength of Ladysmith's defenses - of course, since the Boer army had doubled in size, and had thirty of the latest field guns, and, as everyone now saw, heavier guns, even if White had not lost the two thousand six hundred, the final result would have made no difference—but what really angered the lieutenant general was that he would not have organized a counterattack at all without that erroneous intelligence.

The thought that he might well have been killed or taken prisoner by the Boers had it not been for the timely timing of the order to retreat, White's anger began to spiral uncontrollably.

He stood up and shouted: "In the name of God, if it is possible, I will definitely send the head of the intelligence department to a military court!" I'm going to put him on the gallows—"

"Wait a minute, General," the reporter who was taking the record stopped, "what kind of artillery did the Boers use?" ”

"What else could it be?" White rolled his eyes, "Krupp in Germany." Who else but those hateful Germans would supply artillery to the Boers! ”

"I'll emphasize this in my reporting." However, because his voice was too low, he would not be heard in his next sentence.

What he said was, "Bitch German." ”

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Note: In the battle of Nicholson Canyon in real history, the actual losses of the British army were 1,272 men (to be continued.) )