Asmara. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"Gianmacol Chiarini, you damned drunkard, fool, coward, disgrace to the Italian soldiers, I'm going to take you to court-martial!"

General Bharatieri was furious in his office. Just five minutes earlier, he had received the worst news he had heard since he became governor of Eritrea: that the Abyssinian army had attacked and captured Assab. And what was even more intolerable was that the defenders resisted for only thirty minutes before surrendering under the command of their commander, Major Chiarini.

The news is reliable and by no means a rumor. The commander of the Abyssinian army released some of the more seriously wounded soldiers and some of the Eritrean natives and asked them to bring a warning to Baratieri: to withdraw his troops immediately from the occupied Abyssinian territories, to compensate Abyssinian for all losses, to pay a ransom to the prisoners of war, otherwise his army would be wiped out - these soldiers were now in front of him, interpreting the threat of the Abyssinian commander with their tragic image.

But Baratieri only cared about Major Chiarini's cowardice. A major of the Italian army, an officer...... And it was his subordinates who actually led the troops to surrender to the Abyssinians...... Not only will Italy's international image be hit, but his reputation will also be dealt a serious blow, and even his future will be affected. There were countless generals in Rome who coveted the throne of the Eritrean governorship, and Baratieri always remembered this, and he did not want to be replaced by any of them.

And, more importantly, he also wants to climb higher...... Marshal, this is his ultimate dream.

And Chiarini's actions threaten to ruin all this.

"I'm going to take this bastard to court-martial!" Baratieri roared in rage, "I swear that as long as he and I are alive, I will definitely take him to court-martial." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor," his lieutenant interjected cautiously, "how we should place them. ”

He was referring to the wounded soldier who was still in the office. Of course, it was only at this time that the enraged Governor of Eritrea realized that he had lost his temper, and that he should not have shouted in front of the soldiers that he was going to take a certain coward major to court-martial, which would become gossip among the soldiers and bring many negative effects.

Baratieri calmed himself down. "Captain." He gestured to the adjutant. "Take them to the hospital and ask our best military doctor to take care of them...... Let them enjoy the treatment of officers. ”

Let ordinary soldiers enjoy the treatment of officers? The adjutant thought he had misheard. "Your Excellency the Governor—"

"Do as I say, Captain." Baratieri accentuated. "These soldiers fought tenaciously like true warriors, and that's the honor they deserve."

The adjutant was still confused. Let ordinary soldiers enjoy the treatment of officers...... Perhaps the general was overwhelmed by Major Chiarini's disgraceful behavior. The captain guessed. But one way or another, an order is an order, and he must carry it out scrupulously.

"Yes, Your Excellency." He turned and walked to the door of the office, called in a few guards, and left with the wounded soldiers.

Baratieri was the only one left in the room.

He began to think about a few things. After he had calmed down, Baratieri suddenly realized that he could not bring Chiarini court-martialed, and at the same time he could not mention his surrender to the others...... At least not yet. It is not yet possible to report to Rome about the fall of Asab. Although it is not completely certain that those who covet his position will definitely impeach him when they know the news, he does not want to risk it.

Balatieri didn't want to leave any stain on his record, even if it was caused by someone else.

Of course, there was something more important that he had to do at once: to send an army to recover Assab before Rome could get any news. As long as the work can be done as soon as possible, the loss of Assab is no longer a grave fault - yes, the city did, but it was only a minor mistake, and it has now been corrected.

It's not a perfect justification, but it's the most appropriate, and Baratieri's purpose is very clear.

So now only the last question remains, which force should be sent to the city of Asab; Alberto, Alimonti, Dabauermida and Irenna, four brigadier generals, four brigades, but who to go?

Baratieri felt that it was difficult to get a decision right away. The difficulty lies in the present situation and the ambitions of the four brigadier generals, and preparations for a full-scale assault on Abyssinia are being prepared in an intense and orderly manner, and soon the army will go to the fortress of Makareal and from there march to Addis Ababa, the main battlefield and the place where the Italian soldiers have performed great feats.

And Assab, this is only a secondary battlefield, an inconspicuous little place, and recovering it will not bring any honor and promotion to the brigadier generals, so Balatieri is confident that at this moment, no brigadier general will be willing to lead his troops to Assab. Even Dabaulmida and Irenna, even if they were against a rash attack on Abyssinia, they would never agree to carry out this task.

And they can't be forced to carry out orders.

"Whoever is ordered to lead the troops to Assab, if he reports to Rome what is happening here, it will become quite a thorny problem." Baratieri muttered under his breath, worried about the possibility.

He pondered. Or...... Ordered troops to advance towards Addis Ababa as soon as they recaptured Assab...... But it's too risky to do so, maybe ......"

"Your Excellency the Governor."

Baratieri turned to look at his adjutant. "What's the matter, Captain Guttuso?" Then he remembered the order given to the captain a few minutes ago. "Have the wounded soldiers been laid down as I have commanded, Captain?"

"It has been settled, Your Excellency the Governor, and as you have commanded, the treatment of an officer."

"Good." He waved his hand, "You can leave, Captain." ”

But Guttuso still stood still. "Your Excellency," he asked, "you are preparing to send an army to retake Assab?" ”

"Of course. Of course I'm going to send troops to retake it. Balatieri did not hide his concerns to his adjutant, "I must recapture Assab before I get any news from Rome." ”

"May I make a comment, Your Excellency the Governor?" The captain then asked, cautiously and hesitantly.

"Yes."

Gutuso took a deep breath, then straightened his chest and said, "Maybe we should abandon any idea of recovering Assab for the time being. ”

"Why?" Baratieri felt strange and a little unhappy. He reminded loudly, "Captain, I want you to understand where we are now. ”

"I know our situation, Your Excellency." The captain became nervous, and he explained: "It's just that I think that the Abyssinians' attack on Assab is a plot against us, just to lure you to send an army to regain Assab, and they have set a trap for this force. Your Excellency the Governor, we all know that one brigade acting alone is easier to eliminate than four brigades gathered together. ”

Baratieri thought about it for a moment. There is some truth to Guttuso's speculation, but it is only a speculation. The Abyssinians, knowing that a full-scale attack was coming, would not weaken their forces further at such a time, and sent large numbers of troops to the troops of the Assab ambush, far from the main battlefield, to retake the city—the general was so confident in his army that he believed that to ambush a complete Italian brigade, the Abyssinians would need to commit at least ten times as many warriors, which was almost a third of the army that Menelik had.

It was impossible for the Abyssinian emperor to do this, he could not have sent a third of his army to the secondary battlefields, otherwise his army would have become even more vulnerable in the main ones.

But Baratieri did not directly contradict his own adjutant. "Captain, do you have any evidence to support your inference?"

"No, Your Excellency." The captain replied.

"Then we cannot conclude that the Abyssinians have prepared a trap for us." Baratieri shrugged, "Of course, there's also the possibility that Menelik is luring us to weaken the troops that will be brought into the main battlefield so that he can have a better chance of winning. But I will say that he was only dreaming, and three Italian brigades could wipe out his army just as much. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor."

"So I'm going to send an army to retake Assab. I can't let those guys in Rome cause me problems. ”

In the days that followed, Baratieri had been thinking about whose troops should be allowed to go to Assab. In the end, the task fell to Brigadier General Dabaulmida - half of his troops were Eritreans, so the loss of his troops would not unduly weaken the forces on the main battlefield; Despite his confidence, Baratieri appeared cautious.

It then took him several days to convince the brigadier general to accept the task, and in the end he succeeded. Despite his reluctance, Dabaulmida left with his troops.

However, Balatieri thinks he made the right choice, but it was a huge mistake. When he sent a quarter of his troops to a place that was not even a secondary battlefield, Menelik published the Edict to the People. Immediately, all the forces loyal to the emperor were mobilized, and the army began to assemble and form a powerful force.

It has one goal: Makalay, the capital of the Principality of Tigray, the birthplace of the former emperor, father-in-law of the current emperor, His Majesty the great Johannes IV. (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.) )