May 1, 1878, Labor Day in the Chinese Empire. On this day, the hard-working and unpretentious Chinese people thanked the Emperor for the great gift he had given them - and those who were still working on this day were paid three times their wages, even for prisoners serving hard labor in prisons and correctional facilities everywhere. Compared with the toiling masses abroad who are still fighting for their rights, the working people represented by the working class in China have basically lived a good life. This is the main reason why many foreigners come to China to work and the reason why the first Congress of the Communist International is held in Shanghai, where there is still exploitation but no oppression, and it is still a capitalist country but has a foundation.

On this day, when the Chinese celebrated the joy of labor, at the end of March 1839, British troops arrived in Quetta, crossed the Pollan Pass, and set off for Kabul. The army marched through rugged mountainous terrain, through desert and over mountain passes up to 4,000 meters above sea level, but the progress was still rapid.

On April 25, 1839, the British army had arrived in Kandahar. On May 1 of the same year, the British launched a surprise attack, repeating the pattern of the previous war with more than 70 guns: seizing the impregnable fortress of Ghazni, which monitored a plain to the northwest frontier province to the west. And the fall of the Ghazni fortress meant that Kandahar was effectively under the control of the British.

Kandahar, the capital of Kandahar Province, is the second largest city in Afghanistan, located in the south of Afghanistan, with an important geographical location, connecting the capital Kabul to the north, to Herat, the third largest city in Afghanistan to the west, and only 100 kilometers to the Pakistani border in the east. The majority of the population is Pashtun and Tajik, with a small number of Balochs. Kandahar has always been a commercial center and a military hub in southern Afghanistan. In addition to being rich in fruits, Kandahar is also an important supply base for Afghan beef and sheep meat and a wool distribution center.

In fact, the control of Kandahar has actually completed the first step, which is still a very critical step, the British and Indian troops have begun to rest, and the Drought special forces have now arrived in Kabul, what they have to do is to rush to Kandahar and Kabul as soon as possible to carry out special operations. All right! The difference of 200 to 20,000, a hundredfold, once made the domestic military circles and the Afghan king feel speechless, and they all thought that it was a joke, and the Afghan king Shir Ali even thought that China had actually given up on itself, but fortunately, the Imperial Officers' Volunteer Aid Corps and arms aid did not disappoint him.

As in the Sino-Japanese War, the Afghan army was a frontal battlefield, while the Imperial Special Forces were behind enemy lines.

The main languages in Afghanistan are Pashto and Dari, which belong to the category of ancient Persian, and the problem of language communication, which is quite different from Chinese characters, is the main problem encountered by the Imperial Official Volunteer Assistance Corps in the training of the army in Afghanistan. In fact, Afghanistan's army has always been under the influence of the empire, after the Russians withdrew from Central Asia, China's influence began to fill the gap in this region, as early as 1866 when the empire began to "aid" Afghanistan, Afghanistan's army is only 20,000 people (standing main army) all equipped with the empire at that time just retired 1862 rifles, in addition to Afghanistan no artillery, This time, the empire finally transported more than 30 small-caliber infantry guns (ranging from 40 to 45 mm caliber) from the northern mountains to support the Afghan brothers, and of course, the most important thing is the 400-member officer volunteer assistance group that entered Afghanistan this time, and these more than 400 people will be trained in the Afghan army in Kabul as soon as possible and they will be integrated into the Afghan army as middle and high-level officer commanders. Afghan King Shir Ali valued these officers more than the so-called special forces, and although he was afraid that the Chinese would use them to control the Afghan army, he preferred Chinese terms to be ousted by the British. Language communication can only be done with simple gestures and translations.

On May 16, 1878, according to the previous plan of the Imperial General Staff, the Afghan army abandoned Kandahar after a little resistance, and the General Staff decided to launch a large-scale guerrilla war in Afghanistan with good intentions, but retreats often often turned into routs. The Afghan army, which had withdrawn from Kandahar, turned the retreat to the north into a rout without effective moderation.

Fortunately, the British were slow to respond to the news, and when the reorganized Afghan New Army (here the army with the reorganized officers and trained officers is called the New Army) arrived in Kalat to collect the remnants of the defeated generals, the British were still laughing at the incompetence of the Afghan army in Kandahar and had no intention of attacking. In the period from mid-May to early July, the British army did not take a single step north, and at most took Shahr Safa, an important town between Karath and Kandahar. This left enough time for the imperial officials to retrain the new Afghan army. The reason why the British did not continue to attack Kabul north was simple, the British were afraid of a bigger move by the Empire, so they decided to suspend military operations and wait and see the attitude of the Asian hegemon, especially the special forces of the Empire, who always threatened the supply lines of the British. The British also need to be wary of the Chinese threat and their ambitions for India.

On July 4, 1878, before the Chinese Empire had made a clear declaration of war or a clear decision to support Afghanistan, the British began their second step of attacking Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, northward.

The 17th Division of the Anglo-Indian Army, led by Major General Richardson Coutch, set out from Shahr Safa to attack Kalat, and the opinion of the Imperial Staff was that the British army's northward movement was a trial, and the total number of British troops in Afghanistan was only in the early 20,000s, and the reason why the British dared to divide their troops was that the British had now begun large-scale conscription in India, and three more divisions of the Anglo-Indian army were rushing to Quetta (the border city between India and Afghanistan at this time). The British want to test the current strength of Afghanistan, if the Afghan army that has been trained for more than a month is still unable to stop the British army, then the next Kabul is just a bag for the British army (here it is said that the Afghan new army has been assembled in Kalat after a month of training, and there are nearly 50,000 new Afghan troops in Kabul in the recruitment training), so it is very important to hold Karat, the idea of the imperial staff is to beat the British army in Karath, and it is best to cripple the 17th division of the British and Indian army, Let the British continue to send troops to Afghanistan, and get stuck in the quagmire of the Afghan war, sinking deeper and deeper.

"Zizhen, you said that the British sent the 17th Division of the Anglo-Indian Army this time, should we take him back or annihilate him completely." As the head of the officer volunteer corps, Heqi is now the commander of the Afghan New Army, and he is not clear about the instructions of the Imperial General Staff on dragging the British and trapping the British in Afghanistan, so like other commanders of the Empire, he is first-class in tactics, but strategically he asks himself if he is not the opponent of Zhang Guoqing, the chief of staff of the Afghan New Army, Zizhen is Zhang Guoqing's character, and this cultural tradition will continue forever.

Zhang Guoqing was born on the National Day in 1841, he was born in Shanghai, he had a better environment since he was a child, he was not a biochemical person bought by Lin Hong from the system, he grew up completely by himself, in 1862 at the age of 20, he was admitted to the strategic preparatory class of the Imperial Hangzhou Army Academy, and the people who came out here basically went to the Imperial Staff to serve.

In 1866, Zhang Guoqing graduated early and entered the staff of the Southeast Military Region; In 1868, he was transferred to Singapore as commander of the 67th Division; In 1870 he was transferred to the East African colonies as Chief of Staff of the East African Army Group, during which time he suppressed three rebellions and uprisings in Ethiopia (which felt evil!). Long live the Empire! ）。

In 1873, Zhang Guoqing was transferred to Egypt as the commander of the Egyptian Legion and the commander of the Red Navy, that is, the highest imperial armed commander in Egypt. In fact, the police power in the Canal Zone was divided between China, Britain, France, Ottoman and Egypt) and the international public trial system (which seized Egypt's judicial power and consular jurisdiction was no longer sufficient).

In 1877, when he was transferred back to China, the Ministry of Defense wanted him to teach at the Imperial Land University, yes. Because he rose too fast, becoming the top governor of Egypt in his 30s has already made him questioned by the government and Congress, and the Young Zhuang faction is not liked by the cabinet and Congress. So when the relationship between Britain and Afghanistan was tense, Zhang Guoqing asked to go to Afghanistan by himself, so he had his trip this time.

"Have you ever seen a millstone?" Zhang Guoqing asked He Qi rhetorically.

"Nonsense, what do you want to say? Lao Tzu is most annoyed by you literati grinding and chirping. Only He Qi, who has a good relationship and a higher official rank than him, can say this.

"Turn Carat into a millstone that drains the blood of the British."