The issue of chemical weapons has caused an uproar not only in other countries in Europe and the United States, but also in the United Kingdom.

The first to attack was the English dramatist George Bernard Shaw, who wrote an essay entitled "I accuse! article. At first, he sent it to The Times, but the Times did not dare to publish it because of the rhetoric, so George Bernard Shaw moved on to several other newspapers, and finally the article was published in a left-wing newspaper that had only been in operation for a few months before being shut down.

At the beginning of the chapter, George Bernard Shaw declared that he was ashamed of being an Englishman, and then he condemned the Boer War launched by the British government as a completely unjust war, and ridiculed the British dignitaries, from the queen to the bureaucrats and parliamentarians, and even unceremoniously called the British government a gangster and Queen Victoria a female bandit.

Such fiery remarks naturally caused an uproar, and his opponents denounced George Bernard Shaw as "rebellious", "disrespectful", "a traitor to the great fatherland", and even "immediately deported" or "hanged like a mad dog"; And those who supported him called him "the conscience of England" and "the child who spoke the truth......

Of course, the British government was not polite to such blasphemous remarks, and did not hesitate to declare George Bernard Shaw an "enemy of the nation" and "persona non grata", so he expelled George Bernard Shaw.

But this approach did not stop the debate, but became more and more strict. And this time even an established party like the Liberals jumped up.

"We feel that although Mr. George Bernard Shaw's rhetoric has many under-conceived and excessive aspects, the government's practice is suspected of suppressing freedom of speech. Moreover, the Conservative government's rash provocation of war, and then the extreme incompetence of the war, and the use of such inhumane weapons as chemical weapons without serious consideration, had a very negative effect on the reputation of the Reich......"

Of course, the Conservatives will not be honestly scolded, and they and their supporters behind them have begun to fight back. They raised the banner of patriotism and declared that the war was fought solely for the benefit of all the people of the British Empire. As for the reputation of the Empire, when did those Europeans and North American rebels say good things about the Empire? When did you have a good impression of the Empire? When will the glorious and isolated empire look at the faces of these countries?

In short, there was a lot of noise in the UK.

At this time, Scrooge's proposal for a complete ban on chemical weapons also spread to Europe, causing a huge repercussion in the European academic and literary circles, and many artists and other people, as well as the vast majority of ordinary people, expressed their support for it, however, except for the United States, governments of various countries basically did not react.

On the other hand, the Second International also stood up to condemn the barbaric use of chemical weapons by Britain and called on British workers to strike...... However, while the British Trade Union also expressed its indignation at the British government's use of chemical weapons, it showed little interest in organising strikes, and the contradictions within the Second International began to become more and more apparent.

……

After the capture of Johannesburg, the military situation facing the Transvaal Republic deteriorated considerably, and any fortifications, any fortifications, any holding out seemed meaningless in the face of the British army, which had already used chemical weapons. How to deal with the British army using chemical weapons became a major problem for the Boers. Under such tremendous pressure, many people began to waver. Even President Kruger is no exception, and some have suggested that perhaps capitulation is a better option.

"Your Excellency, the war cannot go on any longer, and we will not be able to win at all." One official said, "In the present, any position is undefensible, because there is damn gas!" Today, any large-scale offensive operation is likewise impossible, because the enemy will release poison gas. It's not that I'm not patriotic, but, Mr. President, the war really can't go on. ”

"Shut up! We haven't failed yet! "Our European friends are working on us, and our American friends have just sent us a boatload of gas masks urgently." And as far as I know, the British are also under a lot of pressure right now, and it will be difficult to use chemical weapons on a large scale in the short term. And our American friends gave them the information that they had gotten that there were not many chemical weapons in the hands of the British in South Africa, and I admit that now we have limited foreign shipments, and it will take some time to equip combat units with gas masks, but so many martyrs have been sacrificed, can't we hold out even a little bit of time, and are we in a hurry to surrender? ”

……

Lord Roberts was silently looking at the map. The great victory he had just won did not bring him any joy, not because it was not all compassion or anything, but because he also knew that his victory caused an uproar in the whole world. He also knew that such a victory would not bring him much glory - it was not a knightly victory, since ancient times, people have been extremely disdainful of those who use poison to solve their opponents, and in all kinds of dramas, novels and the like, those who use poison are despised scum. And Lord Roberts is now going to be counted in this. I'm afraid that it is now in the country.

This concern of Lord Roberts is definitely not unnecessary. In fact, two days ago, when "Hamlet" was staged in the London theater, Hamlet's uncle Claudius was made very similar to Lord Roberts. Not only that, when Claudius handed the poison-coated sword to Ophelia's brother Leotis, the actor also changed his lines and came up with the following sentence: "The poison on this is bloody and sealed my throat, and I bought it from Lord Roberts, the king of poison, for a lot of money." ”

Carrying such a reputation, you must not think about any heroic treatment when you go back, although the possibility of being thrown out as a scapegoat does not exist, after all, he is not a soft persimmon that people can pinch casually, but the future of politics is still more or less affected a little.

However, this is also a choice that has no choice, because if you insist on not using chemical weapons, resist the pressure, or just don't use it, what will be the result? Of course, Johannesburg could not be defeated for months, or even a year, and there were more than 100,000 soldiers killed and wounded, and at that time, those media would never accuse him of being a demon, but of being an incompetent fool, right? So, poor Lord Roberts had to make a choice between the devil and the fool. Isn't it obvious what to choose at this time? Machiavelli said that the most tragic thing about those in high positions is not to be hated, but to be despised. Because the hated demon is at least terrifying, and the fool who is despised...... If he is really regarded as a fool and a fool by the people of the whole country, then he will really ruin his political future.

Just as Lord Roberts was contemplating his future, someone suddenly came to report that he had received the latest information.

"Tell me, what's the information?" Lord Roberts asked.

"The Boers are ready to ship all the gold to the United States in the shortest possible time. At the same time, the Americans will also urgently supply the Boers with a large number of gas masks. The officer in charge of intelligence replied.

"Is the message exact?" Lord Roberts asked.

"It was provided by the Dead Bird and should be very reliable." The officer replied.

"Let the Navy keep a close eye on it and intensify inspections of ships in the vicinity...... This includes ships coming in and out of ports in the Portuguese district. Lord Roberts ordered, of course he knew that doing so would definitely bring protests from Portugal or something, but since he had already done the devil, Lord Roberts could only do this demon to the end.

……

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Motherland has reached the most dangerous time. Now we must show a higher spirit of patriotism and sacrifice to save our country. Partisan Leader Epson said to her and his men, "Today our mission is to attack the British station, and there is information that in the warehouse of this station there is a new batch of gas masks brought by the British, and possibly even poisonous gas." So the British kept a very close watch over them. Our mission is to attack it, occupy it if possible, and take its contents. If you can't take it, then destroy it!

I know, of course, that it was very difficult, for the British had a garrison of three hundred men here, and relatively strong fortifications, and a battalion of the British army was stationed only an hour from the station. In addition, there may be an armored train in the station. And we only have more than 200 people.

However, we are not without a chance to win. You all know that this station was originally ours, so we are much more familiar with the station than the British. As early as the preparation period, we prepared a tunnel in the station......"

"Great, Waldner! We waited for the Englishmen to fall asleep at night, and then we went into the tunnel, and before we knew it, we entered the station, and then we killed all the British, and then we took our things and withdrew from the tunnel, and the British even ...... "One of the partisans said excitedly, and as he spoke, he slapped his hand on the MacDonald 1890 hanging on his chest, which was still the submachine gun called the hose gun.

"Hell yes, Persson! Beware of misfire! Waldner scolded, "Do you want us all to die!" It's not as simple as you might think. The entrance to the tunnel was actually very close to the station, just over a hundred meters away, within the reach of the British searchlights. It's about ten meters away from the barbed wire. So it can't be too many people going in from there. Moreover, the tunnel is very narrow, and only one person can bend over, so it is a dream to take things out through the guò tunnel! We can only ...... "R1058