Lorenço Marques is a busy port city - it is the capital of Portuguese Mozambique, and there is a railway to Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, where thousands of goods are loaded and received every day, and hundreds of ships of all types are always berthed in the port. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info And at this particular moment when the war between the British and the Boers had broken out in full swing, Lorens Marques became busier than before. Ocean-freighters flying different flags from Europe and the Americas frequently made their way to the port, bringing much-needed military supplies to the Boers, as well as volunteers from various countries.

Due to its special location, almost overnight, Lorenço Marques became an important port of world attention. However, there are always two sides to the story, and the unconventional rate of people and goods entering the city is not only stimulating the city's economy, but also fatigue port officials and dock workers.

These people quickly grew tired of the current situation, and even a little disgusted - although they were excited at first. So routine perfunctory reproaches replaced enthusiastic close attention. And when the passion and freshness of the vast majority of the city's inhabitants fade over time, of course, no one cares about the different flags of ocean freighters entering the port.

So, when the Star-Spangled Banner-flying Lightnings quietly arrived at Lorenzo Marques in the darkness of the night, and then dropped anchor in the most remote part of the harbor - of course, these actions were unnecessary - she did not attract any attention or a little bit of talk as her crew and passengers expected. In fact, no one gave her a second glance, even for a very brief moment, except for the dock officials and workers who had to deal with her because of their work.

"Again" came an American cargo ship carrying volunteers and military supplies. The inhabitants of Lorenzo Marques hastily came to a conclusion, and then stopped caring about the slightly suspicious cargo ship, which was apparently intent on hiding its tracks, and returned to the fresh and sensitive subject they had just begun.

Paul. Kildener was quite pleased with the unexpected result, but also regretted that throughout the voyage he had been worried that the "Lightning" would attract unnecessary attention, and had spent a lot of time and energy devouring strategies to avoid attracting attention, but now the Portuguese had told him that his worries were completely unnecessary, that all his carefully conceived contingency strategies were useless, and that his time and energy had been wasted......

"I have mixed feelings." Kildener sighed.

"But that's a good thing." He continued, but more like talking to himself, "At least for now, I don't have to worry about the mission being ruined by a few minor oversights." ”

"But what is our mission, sir?" A voice asked.

Kildener did not answer the question. Not because he was unwilling to answer, but because he couldn't. A ridiculous phenomenon that all the mercenaries who were selected to participate in the operation would not believe, but which actually existed, was that although he was ordered to select twenty-nine of the best mercenaries to form a covert operation force and lead it on a top-secret mission that was said to have been arranged by Qin Lang himself, Kildener, like his teammates, still did not know what the mission was.

Because it is the highest level of top-secret mission - top-secret mission has two meanings: A, those who participate in the operation can get medals, but may not be able to get them personally; B, only a very small number of senior members who are at the core of the company's leadership are qualified to know the full picture of the plan, as for the rest, they can only understand the part of the content that they should know, and act according to the latest instructions step by step, and complete the task step by step.

Everyone has his duties and authority. Kildener understands his position and is willing to stick to his authority, even if action could cost him his life. To a large extent, this was from his father's creed - and the mechanical education that had always been given to him: a soldier only had to carry out orders, did not need to ask questions, should not care about anything other than orders, and could not disobey orders.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't look at what you shouldn't see, don't listen to what you shouldn't hear." Old Kildener's principle was simple and brutal, "Whoever violates my rules, I kick his ass." ”

After more than twenty years of such education, Kildener inherited that creed, although not as authoritarian as his father. So, he'd rather wait than ask San Diego.

"Patience. Be patient. He used Qin Lang's often pleasing sentence to advise himself - and the mercenaries who like to speculate, "When the time comes, the Pentagon will tell us what the mission is." ”

Unfortunately, Kildener was not Qin Lang, so his advice did not work.

"I'm sorry, sir. But I'm curious to know, when will the time be ripe? The mercenary who asked the question asked.

"I can't tell you yet, Mr. Butz."

"And when are you going to tell me, sir?"

"When the time comes."

"There is no point in this kind of conversation, sir." William. Butz said impatiently, taking a step back, "Well, if you can't tell me now, then you can at least identify a time when you can tell me"

Kildener refused. "We're on a top-secret mission, and whatever you want to know, or want a deadline, you have to get permission from the Pentagon first."

"The Pentagon?" Butz snorted and turned to the others, "Can anyone tell me when the last time we were in contact with San Diego?" ”

"Two weeks ago." Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Kildener preemptively answered his question, and then emphasized in an accentuated tone: "However, the Pentagon has not yet sent new instructions. Because I will continue to carry out the original command. ”

"Then you'd better go and send a telegram to San Diego now." Butz's attitude became more aggressive, and he stood up and took a few steps towards Kildener, "I'm sure the company doesn't know we've arrived at our destination—"

"Mr. Butz, I suggest you return to your place. Get back to your place now. "A warning, but not a warning from Kildenner. Almost instantly, all eyes turned to the direction from which the voice came: the entrance to the liner restaurant. Under their gaze, Captain Hamilton of the Lightning, along with two strange men in black, walked in.

"Sir!" Kildener shouted, straightening himself and preparing to salute Hamilton, but the captain stopped him.

"Relax, Mr. Kildenner, we're not in the military." Hamilton laughed and said, "Also, call me Captain, not Sir." ”

"I don't think etiquette should be forgotten at any time...... Captain. Still, Kildener put his half-raised right hand back and stepped aside to give up his position to Hamilton.

However, Hamilton still refused. "I'll get out of here right away." He said, gesturing to the two men in black who had come in with him, "Mr. Balthasar and Mr. Moritz will relay to you the latest orders of the company. ”

Kildener's attention shifted to the two men in black for a moment, then back to Hamilton. "I'm sorry, Captain."

"Good luck to you." Hamilton nodded as well, and left.

The next moment, all eyes returned to Balthasar and Moritz. Once the crowd fell silent as expected, the two men in black exchanged glances, and the one on the left walked up to everyone.

"Now I convey to you the latest orders of the company." Without introducing himself, the man in black went straight to the topic, "Your mission is to go to the Boer-controlled city of Ladysmith and search for and rescue a man named Winston in the prisoner of war camp. Churchill's British prisoner of war, taking him to any safe area controlled by British troops. ”

"What!" It took a long time for the words spoken in a nonchalance tone to be reacted. Every mercenary, including Kildener, was taken aback: enter the Boer army's prisoner of war camp to search for and rescue a British prisoner of war? Only thirty people?

"It's crazy!" Butz, who likes to complain, was the first to jump.

"You can think so." The man in black said with a blank face, "But that's what you're going to do: save Winston. Churchill. ”

"I refuse." It's still Butz. "I ask to withdraw from this operation."

"And me."

"I also ask to quit."

"I'm ...... the same"

"You can get out of this operation." The man in black still didn't show any expression, as if he didn't care—but in reality, he just knew that none of the mercenaries would actually quit because they would be attracted to something.

"Before you make a formal decision," he said slowly, giving everyone time to think about it, "I must tell you that the mercenaries involved in the operation will be paid eight hundred pounds if the mission is successful. ”

The mercenaries, who could almost be called angry, immediately fell silent. Eight hundred...... Pound sterling? Everyone was seriously considering whether the price was worth the risk of going to Boer-controlled territory - and then everyone agreed that they could take the risk if the conditions were a little better.

"Can you elaborate on that...... Mr? "Butz once again played the role of leader.

The man in black smiled inwardly. "Yes." (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.) )