Jensen's expedition was defeated at about three o'clock in the local afternoon, that is, at about nine o'clock in the morning of New York time, and as soon as the battle ended, the first message was delivered to Fort Duck just a few minutes later.

"Uncle, the Boers and the British clashed, as you might expect. Cecil Rhodes was the first to stir up the trouble. Donald said to Scrooge.

"So, Donald, what do you think should be done next?" Scrooge asked with a smile.

"Well. You shouldn't have asked me, uncle, that this is a matter for Greystone's brother. "If it's about direct warfare, I might know a little bit about it, but if it's propaganda warfare or something, Gladstone is the expert." ”

"Dad, I think first we need to know the details of the situation, and how much evidence the Boers already have, and then send out the news before the British can react. In one fell swoop, the tone was set. Greystone replied immediately.

In order to gain the upper hand in the war of public opinion, it is also very important to be fast, to use the fastest speed to burst out the key information, and to explain it in a direction that is favorable to oneself. And what do other media outlets that don't have a direct stake do when they report on it? Will they send a reporter to the field first, and then wait for the reporter to send back a credible manuscript to report? When faced with this problem, the editors of those newspapers don't even need to bring their brains, they only need to bring a ganglion to make judgments - how is this possible? News is time-sensitive, for example, if this incident happened in South Africa, if you wait for European reporters to spend half a month running over, then investigating for half a month, and finally sending back the news, the daylily will be cold. Readers' interest in the news has long since passed. So at this time, for the sake of timeliness, in order to win more attention and more sales, they will definitely choose to reprint the news of the first reporter. In this way, the first newspaper to report on the matter would have an overwhelming advantage in its coverage, because most of the media would naturally be on his side. And the first time most readers see this news, they will see your report. With preconceived notions, they will naturally be more inclined to believe you. This is what Greystone calls "getting the news out and setting the tone in one fell swoop."

Donald had done a great job in the past, bringing tens of millions of dollars to the family in South Africa. This naturally made his appeal in the family greatly increased. It even made Catherine, who was very depressed because of Dena's disappearance, quite happy. Although she knew that Donald was not her son, but Scrooge's illegitimate son. But the point is that Donald doesn't know. Moreover, considering Donald's identity, if he doesn't want to be disqualified from inheritance, even if he knows his origin, he can only honestly recognize Catherine as his mother. It was even up to Catherine to keep it a secret from him, because if Dorothea or Greystone knew about such a thing, Donald must know very well what the consequences would be.

Donald's excellent performance in the previous period put a lot of pressure on Greystone. He knew that his father was very fond of Donald, and that the MacDonald family was too young and not deep enough. Therefore, Mr. Scrooge MacDonald will definitely be very, very 'selfless' when choosing the next generation of successors for the family. Don't look at himself as his son, and Donald is just a nephew, but if his appearance is obviously inferior to Donald, this small advantage in identity is almost useless. Therefore, in the following matters, he must be very good.

"The British would not have thought that we would intervene in such a hand, and there are many things about this that are difficult for the British to explain. So the British naturally don't report on this matter too quickly. They don't have a sense of urgency, and there's too much to do. So, we're sure to grab this first report. "Allow me to begin to lead directly in South Africa, except for the real technicians, in order to quickly launch a public opinion offensive." ”

"Okay." Scrooge glanced at Donald, then said slowly.

"Thank you, Dad." "I'm going to the New York Tower right away, and tell my mom that I'll be there for a few days, and she won't have to wait for me at dinner." ”

With that, Greystone turned and walked out of Scrooge's office.

"Donald." Scrooge said, "You opened the situation of this matter, and now the follow-up is Greystone taking over, you don't have any ideas, right?" ”

"Uncle, no." Donald hastened to declare, "You taught us early on that for a family to thrive, it must be united within itself. There can be competition within the family, but this competition must be benign and must not undermine the cooperation of the family. When it comes to dealing with propaganda warfare, Greystone is inherently more capable than me, and it is best for the family to maximize their interests by having him take over this matter. How could I have any idea of such a thing? ”

……

More than an hour later, at eleven a.m. New York time, four p.m. London time, and five p.m. Paris time, the Associated Press suddenly sent a message to the world:

Johannesburg, an hour earlier, Britain had launched a surprise attack on the Transvaal Republic, with which he had an alliance. According to Johannesburg, the attack was carried out by Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony of Great Britain, with the cooperation of British expatriates living in Johannesburg.

Cecil Rhodes is known to have a huge share of Johannesburg's gold mines, with which he earned a net profit of more than £8 million last year, but he has been accusing the Transvaal Republic of collecting too much tax on his gold mines to make it unprofitable to develop them. Analysts believe that Mr. Cecil Rhodes launched the attack with the aim of overthrowing the Transvaal Republic and making it a direct British colony. Just like he did in Rhodesia.

However, his venture is believed to have failed, and the police in Johannesburg thwarted the attack and the rebellion of the British diaspora. And has succeeded in stabilizing the situation. However, many residents of Johannesburg feared that the British would wage war against them for gold mines in order to take away their land and wealth, and this incident would serve as a pretext for the British to start a war.

'No matter how strong Britain is, I will fight to defend my land. Until victory or death. On the streets of Johannesburg, an old man with gray hair told reporters.

-- J.D. Douglas, Associated Press, Johannesburg

It is a very short report, which seems to be a statement of the truth, but in introducing the contradictions between Cecil Rhodes and the Transvaal Republic, it deliberately advertises that he has made a profit of up to eight million pounds but does not make enough money, and deliberately mentions the affairs of Rhodesia, reminiscent of Cecil Rhodes's despicable actions in the process of annexing Rhodesia. With these so-called "correlated backs. I am afraid that any reader will conclude that the insatiable British are responsible for this attack. The last sentence, in particular, is even more convincing that this is not just Cecil Rhodes' personal act, but also the war plot of the British government.

Immediately after, McDonald's radio broadcasts, especially those in Europe, interrupted their programming and interjected the news, citing the potential impact on global gold markets.

Then other media outlets, even those outside of MacDonald, began to follow suit, even in the UK. Before the British government reacted, there were already relevant reports on the streets, and they were based on reprints of the Associated Press's information.