"How's our customer doing?"

"I'm already asleep. Pen Fun www.biquge.info" Kildena laughed, "If I leave the door open, you should be able to hear him snoring." ”

"Obviously, this life on the run is not for Mr. Churchill." It only took five minutes. Moritz looked at his watch. Only five minutes had passed since Churchill had left the dining room and gone to his bedroom, and he had fallen asleep. "He's tired."

"We're the same."

"We have to work hard until the mission is over." Moritz shrugged his shoulders and said nothing more, instead pushing the cutlery in front of him, took out a map and spread it on the table, and gestured to the mercenaries in the dining room. "Gentlemen, come closer, and now let's discuss the next course of action."

The mercenaries all moved, but slowly, with obvious reluctance - as Kildener put it, they were just as tired as Churchill and needed rest rather than a combat meeting - but Moritz was just as right that they needed to work hard before they could complete their mission.

Fortunately, this life is coming to an end.

"We have been walking west for four days, and we are already far from the control of the Boers, and possibly even under the control of the British." Kildener pointed to the map, his gaze slowly swept over the faces of the mercenaries who were approaching, and continued, "According to my surmise, there is a high probability...... Although not one hundred percent, but at least ninety-nine percent, the Boer army pursuing us has abandoned its mission. ”

He tries to create a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, expecting to see some changes in expression. To his disappointment, however, none of the mercenaries' expressions changed even the slightest, as if they hadn't heard what he had said at all - of course, in fact all the mercenaries in the dining room had heard him, but they were so tired and exhausted that they needed a bed and a pillow more than a combat meeting. Although due to the rigorous military training they received before, these people could stay here and wait for new instructions, they could participate in the discussion of the next course of action, and even exchange fire with the sudden appearance of the enemy, but other than that, they did not want to do anything.

Kildener sighed and turned his gaze to Moritz who was looking at the map—only he might have more reflexes than anyone else. "What do you think, speculation about me?"

Moritz looked up slowly. "I'm afraid things aren't as rosy as you think, Commander." His finger tapped lightly on the map, "The Boers who are chasing us...... The commander of that prisoner of war camp, he was like a mad dog that had lost control. Unless he catches us or is killed by us, I don't think he'll give up the pursuit. ”

"That's right." Someone screamed mechanically.

"Yes, that madman got us hooked." The other mercenary nodded a little numbly, "We'll have to find a way to kill him." ”

"Or get rid of him." The third man muttered, so low that almost no one could hear it.

"That Boole officer......" Kildener paused abruptly and began to recall the name of the commander of the Leddy Smith POW camp - though it had only been four days and he had almost completely forgotten it, and it would take a little time to recall - was it Pierre, Piertte, or Pierre? Oh! Finally, he remembered the name, Piette, Elbers. Captain Piet. "The mad Boer officer," said Kildena restarting, "Captain Piette, I have no doubt in the slightest about his resolve. But I doubted that the soldiers with him would be willing to risk running into British troops to continue the pursuit. ”

Kildener was confident in his judgment: for a well-known reason, there were not so many soldiers, the Boers were rather weak in their administration of the Natal colony, controlling only a few major towns and an extremely narrow area of about twenty miles along the railroad, and even then their defensive line was still riddled with holes, and the Boers would not have been able to stabilize their area of control at all if it had not been for the fact that the rigid and stupid British army had not launched a counterattack so far, or had sent cavalry to attack the railway, Of course, they didn't have the guts to run out of the zone of control......

At least theoretically, the Boers would not run out of their zone of control. Captain Piet proved that there were some daring ones, but even such lunatics could never have been too far removed from the control of the Boer army.

There is no doubt that this will be the case.

Overly optimistic thoughts. Moritz shook his head. "Maybe Piette's soldiers would object to continuing the adventure, but it is also possible that they won't. Now that they have left the area of de facto control of the Boers...... The last time they caught up with us, it was about twenty miles. I don't think they would mind going another twenty miles, or thirty miles. Of course, more importantly," he said in an accentuated tone, reminding Moritz that this was the key part, "the Boers know that we are too exhausted to move on, that we must stop somewhere to rest for a few hours, and that they still have a chance to catch us before we can actually escape." Commander, I don't think they will let this opportunity go. ”

"The likelihood of such a scenario arising is much lower than the likelihood that the Boers would abandon the pursuit." Kildener insisted strongly, "It's too risky! If Piette really intended to do so, his soldiers would definitely abandon him and retreat on their own. ”

"Nothing is 'absolute,' Commander." Moritz's tone hardened, but he realized it didn't help solve the problem at hand, and slowed it down. "We can't afford to lose anything, so even if my speculation only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of coming true, we still can't take it lightly. Commander, we must be ready for every eventuality. ”

Kildener lowered his head and thought for a few seconds. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"I propose to first count our ammunition." Moritz said. "I still have four magazines and eighteen pistol rounds."

"One drum, twenty shotguns, and thirty pistol rounds." Kildena checked his gear, then looked at the others, "Your situation?" ”

"Three magazines, thirteen scattered bullets, six pistol bullets."

"Two drums, no bullets for the pistol."

"Two magazines are full, and one has nine rounds left, and the pistol has only four rounds."

"A ......"

One by one, the mercenaries reported the ammunition they had. Of course, it was a quick process, and after only a few minutes, everyone was done with the exception of the mercenaries who were on guard outside, and Butz, who still hadn't returned, and the two guys he had taken with him, and Moritz and Kildener's eyebrows furrowed at the same time.

"There are only enough bullets for one battle, maybe two." "We should bring more bullets," Moritz said. ”

"We had enough ammunition with us when we set off." This time, Kildener knew he was right: when they left Lorensmarques, most of the mercenaries were carrying at least twenty magazines, eight drums, or three hundred shotguns. Butz, also with dozens, if not hundreds, of loose rounds, and all of them with more than sixty pistol rounds. So much ammunition almost caused the Boer border inspectors to seize everyone's luggage - Kildena remembers the situation now, when the inspector stared at Butz as dumbfounded as he saw Kaiser Wilhelm, and asked him, "Is it for your own use?" Here are six hundred rounds of ammunition "......

No, by no means not carrying enough bullets. Kidelner shook his head secretly. The lack of ammunition now was only the fact that the troops were caught in the battle and that the ammunition consumed in the course of the battle was far greater than initially expected, but the main reason was that no one expected the madness of Captain Piet and his tremendous energy: the madman mobilized at least four hundred Boer soldiers and about fifty Dutch farmers who supported the Boers in the pursuit. In the face of this situation, the special operations forces simply could not comply with the new rules of engagement, and could only fight constantly, and twice used the "Hellfire" tactic...... The situation is too bad, not ill-prepared.

"It's not someone's fault." Kildener shrugged.

"No, we did make a mistake." "If we hadn't thrown away the Mauser rifles and bullets we had swindled from the Boers, the situation would have been much better than it is now," Moritz sighed. ”

"At least when we threw away those Mauser rifles and bullets, it wasn't a mistake."

"But in reality it is. Now, though, is not the time to discuss this. Moritz turned his attention away from the omission in action, "Since we only have so many bullets, we can only pray that God will not cause us any more trouble." ”

"May our prayers bear fruit." After a pause, Kildener continued, "What about tonight?" ”

"Leave a third on guard, rest for rest, and two hours to be replaced by a second group." Moritz then returned the ball to Kildena, "It's up to you to assign personnel and guard positions. ”

Kildener nodded. "Now there are eight men outside on guard, and in that case, I suggest that everyone here go and rest, and in two hours Butz will ......"

"Butz hasn't come back yet." A mercenary said suddenly.

Kildener had already noticed the problem, and had spent a moment thinking about what Butz and the two guys he had taken with him were doing - it wouldn't take that long to tie up the five men and find a rag to put them in their mouths. But Kildener later decided not to bother with the three guys for the time being - whatever they wanted to do, there was no need to care.

Now, of course, he has to care. "Who's going to call him in the basement?"

A sound of heavy footsteps sounded just right, and after a while, the two mercenaries that Butz had taken with him walked into the dining room and found a random place to lean there, and then everyone waited for another ten seconds before Butz finally appeared. Despite noticing that everyone in the room was looking at him, the guy looked like he didn't care, and sat down at the table with a big grin.

"Problem solved." He said lightly.

"It's too slow." Kildener stared at him and smiled without warning, "I'm sure the people here are curious about what you're doing down there." ”

A suppressed laugh rang out among the mercenaries. Apparently, everyone had taken a moment to guess what Butz had done in the basement, and they all thought he had done what they thought he had done - and the two lucky guys who followed him down, and they must have been involved.

"What are you guys thinking? Hell, we didn't do anything. Butz shrugged in disgust and replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial—but just as he began to twist the lid of the bottle, Moritz suddenly stood up and snatched it with lightning speed.

The laughter immediately disappeared. The mercenaries, who had just been relaxed, remembered again that the combat meeting was not over yet.

Mr. Moritz had not finished his sentence - of course, it was probably something he had suddenly remembered, after Butz had taken out the bottle.

"From now on, the use of amphetamines is prohibited for all." Moritz stopped Butz's prepared protest with a stern look, "You better remember that this thing is very dangerous, it is a controlled drug for emergency use, not candy for you to chew and play with." ”

"But I need it to focus." Butz said.

Someone shouted in agreement, and more than one. Moritz's ban is unpopular, after all, for the past four days, everyone has been taking amphetamine and relying on it to continue fighting and fleeing - they need it.

"No, what you need now is rest." "Now, let's all go to rest," Kildener announced, in no uncertain tone, and in two hours Butz's detachment will take over the guards. Disband. ”

Like oil poured out of a shallow jug, the mercenaries seated and leaning against the furniture stood up straight and flowed towards the exit.

※※※

A Boer cavalry of about two hundred men was marching slowly in the dark. This is no doubt a strange thing, as it is usually at such times that the vast majority of the army is already camped and rested, and only the troops on special missions act at night - of course, this group of Boer cavalry did perform a special task, but it was another reason that prompted them to march at night.

"How far are we from the farm you're talking about?" Piette tilted his head to the left and looked at the farmer who was leading the way. Two hours earlier, just as he was about to order his troops to stop and rest, the gentleman had claimed that there was a friend's farm a few miles away that could provide food and lodging, so he rescinded the order and let the troops advance toward it. And now, Piette is beginning to regret it: two hours have passed, but where is the farm?

"Captain, if your soldiers were moving fast enough, we would have arrived at the farm an hour ago." The farmer who led the way replied...... Or, complaining, "But if it's daytime or there's moonlight tonight, then you can see it." ”

Piette looked up at the sky, then turned his gaze straight ahead, but finally shook his head. "I didn't see anything."

"I told you, there's no moonlight tonight." "But I swear, we're not more than a mile from it." ”

"A mile? This is really good news. "Are you going to tell me that it took us two hours and only about five miles?" ”

"A little more than five miles."

"Hell!" Piette shook his head vigorously, then decided not to pay attention to the farmer. He doesn't matter. The captain thought. All that mattered was Churchill and the militants, and he had to catch them all, although it seemed a little difficult to get the job done, with a lot of trouble. It was clear to Piet that there must be a number of high-ranking officers now searching for the troops he had taken advantage of, all of them eight platoons of cavalry, and that, if all went well, he would have to return six platoons, for the rest were either dead or badly wounded, the work of the militants.

Piette is now full of hatred for his enemies. If you add his own soldiers, and the farmers who assisted in the pursuit, those hateful bastards have so far killed and wounded a hundred and fifty people, including four lieutenants, three ensigns, and a dozen farmers, with their new weapons that can spray bullets wildly, and these casualties alone could have brought him court-martialed, plus dereliction of duty, desertion, and unauthorized movement of troops...... Piette concluded that his sentence would last at least half a century.

"It's been too long!" The captain muttered to himself. But, unfortunately, this was an inevitable fate, even if he could catch Churchill and the militants. Of course, catch them, that's the only thing he can do now, and what he has to do. It's not just about loyalty to duty, it's also about revenge.

The culprits must not go unpunished!

"Captain," the farmer's voice suddenly reached Piette's ears, "I have a very bad feeling. ”

Piette came back to his senses and looked around. The troops had halted their advance, and a short distance ahead, the outline of a farm was visible in the darkness. The destination seems to have arrived, but ...... His gaze returned to the farmer. "What did you just say?"

"I have a very bad feeling."

"What is it?"

"The dog didn't bark."

"What?"

"Paul had some very ferocious hounds, and they had a keen sense of smell and hearing," the farmer explained, "and in the old days, whenever anyone came near the farm, the dogs would bark like crazy. But today they didn't move at all. ”

"Really?" Piette looked back at the farm. It was unusually quiet, without a single sound, like ......

"Surround this farm." He gave the order.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

PS: I have to say, it's too watery (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.) )