As he led his troops out of Sauria, General Baratieri had promised his soldiers that he would end the war before Christmas and hold a grand celebration in Adua. www.biquge.info Now, his promise has come true, the war is over, and the Italians will celebrate Christmas in Adua...... It's just in a prisoner of war camp.

Abyssinian soldiers were driving their Italian captives together. When they began to charge, the fellows laid down their arms and surrendered without any decent resistance. More than 20,000 Italian soldiers, including Baratieri, became prisoners of war, but they were still lucky enough because the rest were dead, or were dying.

Together with the Eritrean soldiers, the Italian army lost about 13,000 men in the short battle, and of those killed, at least 6,000 died in front of the mercenary positions - including Brigadier General Dabauel Mida, who was also the highest-ranking officer killed in the battle - whose bodies almost filled the entire trench.

So on the battlefield, this creates a rare, strange and terrifying sight, with thousands of corpses piled up in a not-so-wide trench, like a warning dividing line.

"A 'death line.'" Butz stood next to the trench with his submachine gun in his arms, watching as the Abyssinian soldiers dragged the bodies out of the trench and then piled them together for burial.

A formal funeral ceremony is being prepared at a rapid pace, and Menelik and his duke are still trying to choose the right person to carry the coffin of Brigadier Dabauel Mida at the funeral. Although, judging by the nature of the war and their performance on the battlefield, the Italians had nothing to do with "honor", the emperor decided to let them enjoy the honor that the soldiers deserved.

To a large extent, of course, this was due to a need for Italian propaganda and a little influence from religious beliefs, rather than because Menelik thought the Italians were commendable in their performance.

The Emperor still hoped that a peace agreement could be reached with the Italian government, so he was not prepared to irritate the nerves of the Italians who had become so fragile as a result of successive defeats on issues that seemed unimportant, but were actually quite sensitive...... Even if he already has the biggest chips to achieve his goal.

The emperor was to do his best to show a friendly gesture to Rome.

That's politics.

Politics is not a complex issue that Zhang Biao's brain can understand. Regardless, although he felt very incomprehensible about the actions of the Abyssinians, on the surface, Zhang Biao did not even show it; He just stared silently and wordlessly at what Butz called the "death line", staring intently at the corpse of the Italian for a moment, and then looking into the distance.

Saulia, Adigrat, Asmara...... Zhang Biao thought back to the terms he had heard during this time. Now, although Baratieri and his army have been wiped out, the Italians still occupy these places. Zhang Biao hoped to capture them; As was done in Assab and Makalay, attack, and then take those strange cities.

It's not for Menelik, it's for himself. Just now, when he began to fire at the Italians, Zhang Biao felt something hidden in him reactivated—an irrepressible urge to kill others, and the pleasure and excitement of this urge when it was transformed into action; He had such an experience a long time ago, when he killed for the first time, and this is the second time.

At the time, he didn't know why, but now, Zhang Biao understands that the fierce battles and the killing frenzy in the battles are exactly what he needs - but for him and the other mercenaries, the war is over.

"Gentlemen." Smith's voice interrupted Zhang's musings and shifted Butz's attention from the Italian's corpse to him. "Pack your bags, gentlemen, and we're heading back to Addis Ababa."

"Why, sir? Don't we have to go on the offensive? "Butz's mouth is always the fastest, and he asks questions before Zhang Biao." I don't think this war is over......"

"For us, it's over." Smith interrupted him, "Don't ask why, it's the Emperor's order. ”

"Did he think that our performance was so good that he stole the limelight from the Abyssinian army, so he wanted to drive us out of the battlefield?" Of course, there is some truth to this speculation, but it is not even a minor factor. Between winning honor and preserving strength, both emperors and dukes preferred the latter option.

"Don't think of the Abyssinian nobles as simple-minded as you are, Mr. Butz." Smith said sarcastically.

Butz's face flushed, and he seemed to be tempted to say something—but in the end, he didn't say anything, but stepped aside and was secretly angry. But Zhang Biao asked his own questions. "Sir, the Italians have not been completely wiped out. ......He wanted to continue, but he stammered and didn't know exactly how to name the colonies and cities, but Smith understood what he meant.

"The Dukes' army will deal with the Italians of Sauria and Adigrat, though I doubt they'll ever stay there - after they know that their main army is finished." He smiled.

"Don't you need to pursue?" Zhang Biao still looked very unwilling, "There is an old Chinese saying, cut the grass and eradicate the roots." ”

Several mercenaries shouted in agreement.

"Then we're going to attack Italy." Smith laughed again, then shrugged, "But in reality, the Emperor is not even ready to attack Eritrea. ”

"Why?"

"I don't know. And it's not something we need to care about. ”

But in reality, Menelik did not prepare to attack Eritrea for exactly the same reason as he buried the fallen Italian servicemen with a solemn ceremony. Eritrea is the last fig leaf for Rome, and if it is ripped off, then the emperor will get not peace negotiations, but a total war. The Italian government will stop at nothing to attack and will not stop until Abyssinia has fallen completely.

And Menelik, Empress Tetu, the Dukes, and O'Connor were more worried about the attitude of the Western powers. Although they do not support Italy now, and even laugh at it, they will not be like this forever. Once the Abyssinian army entered Eritrea and occupied the Italian colony, the attitude of the West would be reversed in an instant.

No country, whether in London, Paris, Berlin or St. Petersburg, would tolerate an indigenous country challenging the rules of the game they have set and the world colonial system of Western countries.

In the eyes of the Great Powers, Abyssinia was a ferocious beast, while Italy was a weak and lame hunter. The West can tolerate the beast to resist in some self-defense, laugh at the bite of the hunter, and sometimes cheer on the beast as a bystander, because it can add a little fun to their boring life - but if the beast tries to bite off a large piece of meat on the crappy hunter, then the great powers, who are also hunters, will take action to punish it.

So attacking Eritrea is undoubtedly an extremely stupid mistake. Unless Abyssinia is strong enough to defeat all Western countries, it will have to play by the rules of the game they have set.

So Menelik had no choice but to give up his territorial claims to Eritrea.

"Of course, I will do my best to keep Assab as a port for foreign trade." Of course, the Emperor preferred to transport weapons and ammunition through Asab, and this was the purpose of O'Connor's occupation of it.

"I am confident that you will grant this wish, Your Majesty. Rome was not going to continue the war for the sake of such a small port city. O'Connor smiled, "And no Western country would support it on such an inconsequential issue." ”

"You've given me many great gifts, Mr. O'Connor." "So I have decided to grant you and Mr. Sandy the title of Duke of Duke." ”

"Duke?" O'Connor was surprised, "Your Majesty......"

"Thank you very much for your generosity, Great Your Majesty." Duncan interjected suddenly. Of course, he was just worried that O'Connor would make some wrong, untimely remarks that would affect his work. "In return for you, I am willing to provide you with weapons at a discounted price of 10% from today onwards......"

"Duncan!" O'Connor secretly kicked Duncan - "always give you weapons at a 10% discount", and Rachel would strangle him to death.

And is now the right time to talk about business?

But Menelik burst out laughing. "You're a shrewd businessman, Duke Sandy." He shook his head, "It's just that when it comes to the price of weapons, I don't think you can completely decide yet." ”

That's true. Duncan thought depressedly. It was a bit difficult to convince Qin Lang and Rachel to agree to lower the price......

"But when it comes to weapons," the Emperor continued, "I am interested in the new weapon called the 'machine gun' that your soldiers use. He paused, then added, "Wait a minute, we can talk about this in earnest." ”

Menelik returned his gaze to the battlefield, was silent for a moment, and then let out a sigh of contentment. "Ah, victory." (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.) )