The battle was interrupted by the intervention of the old chieftain, and Decis's loyal hoplites were sent to work as slaves on the old chief's farms and ranches, and Decis himself was driven out of the tribe.

Of course, Prince Savida also suffered heavy losses, as Wickham and his musket team lost two-thirds of their men, a considerable part of whom were killed by the indiscriminate onslaught of the Xhosa cavalry.

However, these people who survived were the elite who dared to fight, and they were the backbone of the expansion of the musket team in the future. In particular, the ordinary soldier named Darby, who was recommended by Wickham and appreciated by Prince Savida, will become the commander of one of the companies when the new Musket Battalion is formed.

As for Wickham himself, it was time to say goodbye, because the old chief had promised him that after all the training of the muskets and muskets, he would cross the river of big fish and take the initiative to attack the Dutch!

Wickham was not worried that the old chieftain would not be able to speak, and if the Xhosa people did not move, the next British arms aid would be temporarily interrupted. In this way, Wickham has completed the task assigned to him by Lord Magalny. Having been in the Xhosa tribe for more than a month, it is time to go to Calcutta to visit the Qing mission to make peace.

At this time, Wickham was in the tent counting the diamonds he had collected during this time, and he was almost bubbling with joy! In addition to the diamonds given to him by Prince Savida that day, Wickham has been wandering around the Xhosa tribe a lot these days, and whenever he sees the diamonds in the hands of the Xhosa people, he will exchange them for some gadgets. For this reason, in addition to the clothes on his body, Wickham's other things, including daggers, pocket watches, shirts, hats, and rings, were all exchanged for the Xhosa.

Of course, the harvest was also huge, and Wickham received 50,000 pounds worth of diamonds one after another, but unfortunately they were all small diamonds, and there was no such thing as the one given to him by Prince Savida. Wickham carefully considered the harvest this time, in addition to the 400-carat diamond and the original blue diamond, Wickham has collected about 200,000 pounds of diamonds, and after the British process these diamonds into jewelry, the value will be even higher!

As for the blue diamond, Wickham definitely made a diamond necklace for Georgiana when he returned home, and her blue eyes matched the diamond. And that big diamond, Wickham will definitely find a suitable opportunity to give it to the British royal family after returning home, preferably mixed with the knight's title. Wickham feels that the birth and death of the past month have not been in vain.

As a time-traveler, Wickham has all kinds of money-making ideas in his head, but he doesn't have the capital to realize them. Taking the Industrial Revolution as an example, Wickham knew how profitable investing in the textile industry and the arms industry would be in the next two decades, but unfortunately he didn't have enough capital, so he could only think about it in his head.

Limited by financial resources, Wickham has been in this world for almost half a year, except for a position as an officer and a genius poet, but he has not made any special career. But with this wealth is different, and Wickham believes that when he returns to England, he will be able to put his ideas into practice, and wealth, fame and status will be at his fingertips! That's when the Darcy family changed their minds and willingly married Georgiana to him.

As soon as the prince of Savida entered the tent, he saw Wickham holding the shiny stones and making silly amusement, and saliva was pouring out. Savida jokingly nudged Wickham's shoulder and joked, "I said George, these stones are so fascinating to you?" ”

The experience of fighting side by side twice established a special friendship between the two, and Prince Savida has long let go of his prejudice against white people and has become a true trusted friend with Wickham.

Wickham knew that the Xhosa people didn't know the value of the diamond, so he let him pick it up. But he didn't want to hide anything from Savida, who was a friend of life and death, so he said with a straight face: "Your Royal Highness, let me tell you the truth, these shining stones are very valuable in our Europe!" The stones you have collected for me are enough for me to buy a large estate in our country and live a prosperous life! ”

Prince Savida was stunned for a moment, and then smiled calmly: "George, these things are just beautiful stones in our place, they are worthless, you can just take them." I also hope that these stones can help you and give your son a better life in the UK. ”

Thinking of the musket unit, Savida was a little reluctant to let Wickham go, so he said to stay: "George, have you ever thought about staying?" In a few years I will be the chief, and then I will give you a big pasture and these beautiful stones, what do you think? ”

Savida was more concerned about Wikeham than the diamonds, and he genuinely hoped that Wikeham would help him build a truly European-style army and then drive the greedy Dutch out of Cape Town.

Wickham shook his head and said apologetically, "I always have to go, Your Highness, and I hope you can understand." There are people in the UK who care about me, people who love me, and I still want to go back to them. Remembering Georgiana's slightly shy smile, Wickham smiled knowingly. For her sake, he will definitely return to England!

Prince Savida looked regretful and said, "Well, my friend, I will respect your choice. I'll go with you to Drago Bay this time, after all, your legs are not very convenient, and those tribes in the north are not very friendly to whites. With me by my side, the people of North Xhosa can also be a little more restrained. ”

Wickham nodded, agreeing to Prince Savida's help. To be honest, with that injured leg in tow right now, it wasn't realistic for him to ride to Drago Bay alone. After agreeing to go together tomorrow morning, Prince Savida told Wickham to get some rest, and left the tent.

The next morning, Savida took thirty horsemen with him as an escort and set out with Wickham for the port of Drago Bay.

Drago Bay is the largest trading port on the east coast of South Africa and one of the few ports still under the control of indigenous Africans. Because of the popularity of ivory products in Europe, the ivory trade in Africa also began to flourish. Especially after the Gold Coast's ivory production can no longer keep up with European demand, the Port of Drago Bay has become even more important.

The strong intervention of the three maritime trading powers, Britain, France and the Netherlands, has complicated the situation in Drago Bay. The forces of the three kingdoms are intertwined and intricately intertwined here. It is precisely because of this that in order to maintain a certain balance, the three countries tacitly let the indigenous Africans continue to control the port. But the local chiefs had largely lost control of the port, except for the power to collect taxes.

It was because of the mixed presence in Drago Bay that Jeff, who worked for the British Special Division, chose to dock the Rose "Rose" here to wait for Wickham's return.

Wickham looked at the bustling crowd on the street and couldn't help but feel like he was back in the civilized world. Although the grasslands on the banks of the Big Fish River are beautiful, they are only suitable for the most tourist attraction, not a place to settle down. The lack of entertainment there was insane, and everyone went to sleep in their tents as soon as it got dark, and there was no nightlife at all.

At that time, Wickham even began to miss life at sea on the Jackal, and at least in the evenings the officers could gather in the captain's quarters of Major Blair William, sip fine wine, and enjoy Ensign Burt's not-so-clever violin playing.

Sending Wickham to the door of the British Merchant House, Prince Savida gave Wickham a big hug and said reluctantly: "Okay, my friend, I didn't expect the moment of separation to come so quickly, I hope you will have the opportunity to come to our tribe in the future." Of course, it's best if you can bring a whole ship of weapons. With that, he winked at Wickham.

Ever since that battle with the Descists, Prince Savida has become obsessed with the volley tactics of the infantry and the powerful and reliable French smoothbore rifles, and the boy even wants to expand the size of the musket team to the size of a regiment.

Wickham patted Prince Saveda on the back and said, "Your Highness, I will find a way to send you a shipload of arms when I return to England, but you have to prepare those shiny stones for me, don't let my brother and I run in vain." ”

Prince Savida smiled, punched Wickham in the chest, and said, "Don't worry, can I make you suffer?" Remember what my father said, that we Xhosas never treat our friends badly, and this is what my father gave you. ”

Savida took a sheepskin envelope from the soldier behind him and handed it to Wickham, saying, "You enter the merchant house and open it." With that, Prince Savida turned on his horse and left.

Wickham walked into the business management, a little curious about what was inside, although there was a bank run by the British in Drago Bay, but did he believe that the big brother in Africa learned the financial tools of the Europeans, and put a few cashier's checks in it? But what would it be if it wasn't a high-value thing like a cashier's check?

Waiting for the parchment envelope to be opened, Wickham found that it was a bill of lading from the British Merchant House in Drago Bay, and the goods stored on it turned out to be a full ten tusks! Rub, this old chief is too tyrant, this is to hunt five adult elephants to get these tusks.

You know, it is not easy to hunt an adult elephant, after all, elephants are too large for humans, especially when the Xhosa people are outdated in weapons. Wickham was not stupid, he understood what the old chief meant, this should be a gesture of goodwill, this ivory is not worth mentioning compared to the continuous flow of free weapons aid from the British to the tribes of South Xhosa.

Just when Wickham sighed at the old chief's generosity, Jeff, who had not seen him for almost two months, had already walked down the steps with a smile on his face, and then gave Wickham a big hug: "Welcome back, Lieutenant Wickham." The women of the Xhosa tribe are the passionate flames of the steppe, and I think you must have had a good time there. ”

Although Jeff did a good job of hiding his surprise, his blue eyes betrayed his true thoughts. In Jeff's mind, Wickham was just a depressed petty officer who had offended his superiors, or Lord Margarny would not have sent Wickham to such an extremely dangerous place.

Who now does not know that the war between the Dutch and the Xhosa has entered a state of white heat, and if the Dutch catch a white man who serves as a military adviser to the Xhosa, the end will undoubtedly be tragic. Jeff was even prepared that Wickham would not return, because he knew better than anyone else the cruelty of being in this business for more than ten years.

Wickham vaguely guessed Jeff's thoughts, and laughed to himself, "The enthusiasm there almost left me there forever, I think you should feel it for yourself, Mr. Jeff." ”

Wickham is also venting his inner dissatisfaction, this trip to Xhosa can be said to be nine deaths, a small person like himself, in the eyes of a big man like Lord Magalny, it is nothing, right?

"Mr. Jeff, you should be familiar with the director of this merchant house, and I would like to thank you for helping me with the procedures for picking up the goods." Wickham remembered the ten tusks the old chief had given him, and handed the bill of lading to Jeff.

Jeff took Lin Zihan's bill of lading and found that the goods on it turned out to be ten tusks temporarily stored here by the people of South Xhosa two days ago, but he didn't expect that this was actually a gift from the old chief of South Xhosa to the young officer in front of him!

Jeff secretly sighed in his heart that Lin Zihan had lost his shit luck, not only picked up his life, but also made a windfall, but his face was silent, and he promised: "Of course, Lieutenant Wickham, I will ask the employees of the merchant house to send your things to the ship later." ”

After the two of them had returned to a secluded room on the second floor of the Merchant House, Jeff asked, "Lieutenant Wickham, Lord Margarny, and all the gentlemen of London, are very concerned about the affairs of Cape Town, and I am sure you understand this. Cape Town was like a shackle to the kingdom's way to the Far East and India, and such an important place could no longer remain in the hands of the scrap bars in Amsterdam. ”

After a pause, Jeff continued: "Lieutenant Wickham, you have been in the South Xhosa tribe for more than a month, and you should have a deep understanding of their military strength. I now wonder if the people of South Xhosa, having enough weapons, can cause a big problem for the Dutch? ”

Wickham knew that it was time to report on his duties, so he said solemnly: "Mr. Jeff, from an objective and fair point of view, the courage and combat skills of the warriors of the Xhosa tribe are not inferior to the soldiers of the United Kingdom of Britain. If they could be supported by sufficient weapons, the Dutch's meagre military strength at Cape Town alone would not have been able to take effective military action quickly. ”

Speaking of the merits of the Xhosa, Wickham changed his words: "But the Xhosa tribe is a half-farming and half-pastoral people, with low productivity, and the army is not well organized and trained, and even if it has received long-term free arms funding from the United Kingdom, I am afraid that it is no match for the Dutch." "How can a social organization with tribal clan overtones defeat a modernized country, even if the decline of the Netherlands is a fact.

Jeff shook his head: "Lieutenant Wickham, if the Xhosa drive out the Dutch, then we are the ones to worry about. We don't need the Xhosa to expel the Dutch from Cape Town, as long as there is a proper amount of trouble. Don't forget, the Netherlands is an ally of the United Kingdom on the European continent, and if something happens to the Dutch colonies that is detrimental to the Union, the United Kingdom has plenty of reason to intervene and protect them. ”

Rub, it turns out that the British are playing this kind of calculation! According to Wickham's knowledge of European history, two years later the British took over Cape Town from the Dutch East India Company on the pretext of preventing the French invasion of Cape Town. However, Wickham is not interested in any of this, he only cares about whether he can get the promotion he deserves after this mission.

"I'm not at all interested in what the gentlemen at the Palace of Westminster will do next, Mr. Jeff. My concern now is whether I can catch up with the Qing mission in Calcutta. Wickham was also helpless about the backward means of communication in this era, and communication could only rely on letters with little timeliness, if only there were telephones or radio stations.

Jeff didn't care about Wickham's indifferent attitude, and smiled: "Lieutenant Wickham is right, what to do is something that the council and cabinet of men need to worry about, we just do our duty." The Rose will depart tomorrow morning and, in addition to docking at Madras for supplies, will sail directly to Kolkata. According to the original plan, the fleet should still be in Kolkata at that time, and if it didn't make it, the Rose would send you directly to Penang, where His Excellency Lord Magalny would stay for some time. ”

Listening to Jeff's words, Wickham asked with some confusion, "Mr. Jeff, why don't you go with me to Calcutta to report to Lord Magalny?" ”

Jeff picked up the hat he had at hand, bent slightly to Wickham, and said, "I have to go back to London now to report this to the Cabinet Ministers, and as for His Excellency the Lord, I think Lieutenant Wickham is more than capable of doing the job." ”