Towards noon, Yi Shui decided to let the troops return to the barracks after the demonstration, rest for a few hours and then resume a new round of operations. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 But before he could give the order, Commander Philip told him that Admiral Mahan had asked his group to board the ship immediately.

"Why?"

"You can ask the Colonel directly, sir." Philip turned sideways, "He's over there, chatting with Miss McBride." ”

Yi Shui looked in the direction the commander was pointing, and under a large tree, the Colonel was talking to Rachel about something, mixed with some gestures of emphasis. Although he could neither hear nor see expressions, he felt that the situation might not be very good.

Mahan was the supreme commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Canton Bay Concession, and the mercenaries were at least nominally required to be fully under his jurisdiction, and any large-scale operations had to be approved by the colonel. But in fact, most of the time people automatically ignore this, and this time is no exception.

Yi Shui never submitted an application to him, nor did he report or ask for his consent, nor did Rachel, Philip, or Kiplin. There is no doubt that this is a contempt for Mahan's authority, and even if Yi Shui has a good relationship with him, there is no guarantee that he will not be angry.

Perhaps, now he is here to reprimand them - but what about moving troops?

Confused and worried, Yi Shui sped up to Mahan and Rachel, and then he soon realized that he had guessed at least one thing: the Colonel had indeed come to teach him a lesson.

"It's not good for you to do that, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Mahan said solemnly, "If you just let your troops hold a grand armed parade in the concession, the people you are going to intimidate will sooner or later realize that you are just putting on a show, and then they will no longer be afraid." Friend, you need to take practical action. ”

"Colonel—" Yi Shui was tempted to explain—except for Qin Lang's orders to the two commanders—but Mahan made a gesture to stop him for the time being.

"Listen carefully to me, friend, I know it is difficult for you to give orders to attack your compatriots, but there are times when it is the only way to solve the problem." He leaned forward so that only Yi Shui and Rachel could hear, "It's not just the Chinese officials who are watching, but the representatives of the consortium, if you make them think that you are just a fool who is a powerful outsider, they will no longer cooperate with you, and they will find a way to push you out of the rental world." ”

"That is, things have gotten complicated?" Rachel looked at him worriedly.

"When you decide to demonstrate to the Chinese, things get complicated." The Colonel finally warned: "If you mess things up, Washington will get you in trouble." ”

"So I have to give the order to attack?" Yi Shui was still reluctant to give this order, which was against his personal wishes on the one hand, and against Qin Lang's instructions on the other. After thinking about it, he decided to be perfunctory for the time being. "Colonel, my army has only two brigades, less than 1,800 soldiers, and I can't occupy the city of Guangzhou with this little force...... Although we have threatened the governor of Liangguang that he will use this force to attack Canton. ”

Perhaps that's why Tan was indifferent to the warnings. Although the Italians may have mentioned, and in the ultimatum Rachel boasted that 3,000 Umbrella mercenaries had killed 30,000 Italians, and that the meagre garrison of Canton was only enough to keep them in their mouths, the Doge probably thought that his men could do a little better than the Italians by relying on the strong walls......

He shouldn't have thought that way, unless the Italian said something else.

Who knows? Yi Shui shrugged his shoulders secretly and focused his attention on the Colonel.

"You should have faith in your troops, friend, and there is no need to capture Canton, or Suixi." Mahan smiled and shook his head, "As long as a force appears outside the city of Guangzhou and fires a few shells into the city, that Mr. Governor will have to retreat." ”

"What do you mean......"

"As I said earlier, if you're going to threaten someone, you have to let him know that you're going to shoot him, not swing it in front of him with a pistol." After a pause, he continued, "Of course, this is a little bit harder for you, so I've decided to let me do this work for you. ”

"That's right. Yi Shui, we should not refuse the kindness of the colonel. Rachel hastened to speak, emphasizing Mahan's remarks. There was no doubt that as long as she could solve the problem before Qin Lang's arrangement took effect, she was willing to try any means—but she also didn't want to be embarrassed by easy water.

So it was a real surprise that Mahan was able to offer to help.

But her words silenced Yi Shui. Mahan's request was something he could not refuse: he was a chief, and he did so with good intentions. But he was also unwilling to go against his will and Qin Lang's instructions at the same time...... It's too difficult to make a decision.

Then he began to think, what would Qin Lang do? Imitating Qin Lang's way of thinking has become Yi Shui's only and natural choice at a critical moment, he thought about it slowly, and finally felt that he had a way. "Perhaps...... I thought of a better way. He said.

"What's the solution?" Rachel asked, and Mahan looked at him earnestly.

Yi Shui's voice was lowered. "Colonel, please lead the fleet and a brigade to Canton, but not to attack but to stay in the sight of Governor Tan; I led another brigade to blockade the county seat of Suixi, and of course I would not attack. Finally, spread the news that we are waiting for reinforcements. ”

"That's it?" Mahan raised his eyebrows imperceptibly. He didn't like the idea - obviously, Yi Shui made this decision only out of his feelings for his compatriots, and did not think about how to deal with the many problems at hand effectively; The Governor would never be intimidated by such a bravado, unless......

"We happen to have two brigades going here," Yi Shui continued, "I will immediately send a telegram to Qin Lang and ask him to let them go immediately, and at the same time let Minister Yang Ru see it." ”

"And then let Mr. Minister inform that Governor Tan that an American army has begun to advance towards Canton?" The Colonel thought for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders as if Yi Shui's arrangement was illogical. But in the end, he still said: "Although I prefer to use force directly, I can try your method until then." He glanced at Rachel, who was not very pleasant, and then said, "When the fleet arrives in Canton, I will give the governor a hundred hours." ”

It was so decided, so everyone sprang into action. Commander Philip's brigade began to advance toward the Navy's docks, where a naval transport was waiting for them, escorted by the cruiser USS San Francisco and Mahan's new flagship, the USS Baltimore, a protective cruiser a year older than the USS San Francisco, had arrived in Canton Bay a few weeks earlier, and the Admiralty hoped that her eight-inch guns would enhance the maritime power of the Far East, but Mahan apparently intended to actually test her combat effectiveness.

The admiral had his own ideas. Yi Shui didn't want him to attack the city of Guangzhou, and asked him to wait for a while first, of course, this was no problem, but he could use other things, such as a deserted beach, to test the firepower of the battleship, and at the same time intimidate the Chinese governor in the city of Guangzhou with practical actions.

Mahan is not easy water, he has no psychological obstacles.

Yi Shui didn't know the Colonel's plan, and his attention was all focused on what was going on: the soldiers were enjoying their luncheon meat sandwiches, while the commanders were gathering to discuss specific arrangements; Everything has to be thought through, and it is not easy to blockade a county town with less than 900 soldiers.

"The crux of the matter is that the soldiers can't shoot at will, otherwise a squad can block a city gate." Commander Kiplin sighed, "But now a squadron is needed." ”

"Half a squadron." One squadron leader corrected, "We only have three infantry squadrons, but we have to work in four sections, so there are only three squads in each section." ”

"It's too troublesome, and there will be many problems in practice." The second squadron leader said, "The order is not reasonable. ”

Kiplin glanced at him. "In the army we will always encounter unreasonable orders, commander, and all you have to do is find a way to complete the order, not complain."

But even so, his actual thoughts were no different from those of the squadron leaders, and Yi Shui's order was too unreasonable. Noticing this emotion, Yi Shui coughed lightly, and then said, "The troops can still fight back when they encounter an attack. And the soldiers are in the fortifications, they are safe. ”

He believed that the fortifications built by the mercenaries would be able to withstand most attacks. Tests conducted in San Diego have shown that a standard civil structure can withstand a direct mortar hit, but there are no modern weapons in Suixi County - artillery or machine guns - on the contrary, Yi Shui is more worried about civilians, although ordinary people will choose to bypass or retreat when they see the American army fortifications, there are also some people who will rush forward to argue, entangle, and even fight with mercenaries, so that there will be bloodshed.

Yi Shui was really worried, but now there was no other more suitable option, Rachel was watching from the side, although the world was very big, he had no way out.

The commanders also did not.

"Anyway, you've given us a very difficult task, sir." With a salute to him, Kiplin and the squadron leader dispersed.

After a while, the mercenaries who had finished lunch regrouped and began to advance towards Suixi County. (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.) )