Addis Ababa, the location of the Chinese Military Advisory Mission in Ethiopia.

The slightly dry and hot wind in the dry season on the plateau blew through the regiment leader's office, and the head of the advisory group, Wen Yu, and the deputy head of the regiment, Yin Tian, sat at both ends of the low table, and a pair of foldable wooden chessboards and glazed porcelain black and white chess pieces were placed on the table.

Major Li Ruishi and Captain Li Xiuping, members of the advisory group, sat quietly watching the chess, and no one wanted to think about whether it was really the time to play chess leisurely.

Suddenly, the office door was hurriedly pushed open, and everyone's eyes instantly focused on it.

Lieutenant Gu Dao, an intelligence staff officer, held a telegram in his hand, stood up and saluted as calmly as possible, and said word by word: "The intelligence has confirmed that by August 8, German Somalia had assembled two German divisions and a number of auxiliary units, organized into the East African Corps, with a total strength of about 40,000 troops, and about 15,000 indigenous troops; Italian Somalia assembled two divisions of the Italian Army and a number of auxiliary troops to form the Somali Army, with a total strength of more than 40,000 troops and more than 20,000 indigenous troops; Italian Eritrea assembled three divisions and one brigade of the Italian Army to form the Eritrean Army, with a total strength of about 70,000 troops and more than 30,000 indigenous troops. ”

"In addition, by August 7, Britain had increased the number of British Somali troops to more than 7,000 in the name of suppressing the Hassan uprising, and France had also increased the number of French Somali troops to about 8,000 in the name of maintaining local stability.

Deputy Regiment Commander Yintian put down his son unhurriedly: "In the past two months, we have struggled to speak, the Emperor of Ethiopia is unwilling to take the initiative to attack, and now the opponent's strength is two and a half times that of more than two months ago, and it is impossible to attack again." ”

Li Ruishi, who was on the side, said slowly: "I think the decision of the Emperor of Ethiopia is not unreasonable. If it takes the initiative to attack, it may not be suitable for the actual situation of the Ethiopian army to go on an expedition to attack the fortified fortresses of Germany and Italy, and it may be possible to inflict more serious losses on the other side by taking advantage of the geographical advantages to fight mobile defense and Boer-style guerrilla warfare. ”

Wen Yu nodded: "Li Ruishi is right, originally overestimated the strength of the Ethiopian army, and after last week's exercise, it was really miserable." With the exception of the 1st Royal Praetorian Brigade and the two Independent Janissaries Regiments, most of the regular teams performed well below the basic standards of the training syllabus. As for the private soldiers and local militia of the princes and nobles, the good and the bad were uneven, and the orders were different, and most of them were armed with spears and even farm tools...... Unreliable, unreliable. ”

"Even if we take the initiative to attack, pay huge losses or counterattack to the seashore, Ethiopia does not have a navy, and our country will not turn its face for Ethiopia and Germany and Italy, and it is impossible for Ethiopia to defend such a long coastline, and the enemy army can land again at any time. In addition, there is a high possibility of a total blockade, when the weapons and ammunition will be exhausted, and the elite troops will suffer heavy losses, and they will not even be able to hold the mainland. ”

After listening to the regiment leader's analysis, everyone nodded yes, and Li Ruishi asked the regiment commander about his next plans.

"What to do next, you ask me, I also have to ask the country. However, things have come to this point, the mountains and rains are coming, and it seems that Ethiopia will inevitably go through a difficult patriotic battle, whether the advisory group will stay or not, I hope that everyone will fulfill their duties, do the work at hand, and do not let the Ethiopian friends and the Westerners here look down on us together. ”

August 10, Beijing, Zhongnanhai Annex.

"Once the war starts, the mission can be evacuated, and the military advisory group and intelligence network should stay behind to assist the Ethiopian army in the war, this is my idea, what do you think?"

In less than three years, Liu Yun's old age and weakness have seeped into his bone marrow, manifested in every one of his life activities: breathing, talking, his fingers trembling subconsciously, and his eyes always look like they are about to doze off......

Since three years ago, members of the group in Beijing have held regular meetings every 10 days to report to the leaders of the group and receive instructions from them. On the other hand, in accordance with the Government Law, which came into effect 10 years ago, the Cabinet is required to submit a weekly report to His Majesty the Emperor, and the ministers are consulted and met with by the Emperor from time to time.

Liu Yun, who is also the leader of the group and the emperor of the empire, has shown an obvious trend of depletion in terms of physical strength and energy at this time.

More than a year earlier, on March 18, 1906, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Niu Jin, had died at the age of 50, having been determined to have suffered a heart attack.

Few would suspect that there was something else to do with Niu Jin's death, that he was a kind man, kind or gracious to anyone, a respectable scholar, an expert in industrial management who had never shown obvious political leanings. On the other hand, his illness is not a matter of a day or two, in the two or three years before his death, the elder in the group, who is second only to Liu Yun, spent at least one-sixth of his time in a hospital bed.

The chubby, always kind-looking Niu Jin disappeared, and at the same time, the old talk of shortened lifespans caused by space-time teleportation was revived within the group.

Niu Jin's death brought indescribable pressure to Liu Yun.

Liu Yun is 3 years older than Niu Jin, although the physique of soldiers and literati is not on the same level, Liu Yun can feel the erosion that spreads from the inside to the outside, from the physical body to the spirit, the whole body is dry and decayed, and every minute that passes is closer to the end of annihilation—it seems that it is not far away, not far away......

Soon after Niu Jin's death, due to the economic downturn and high tax burden caused by the reform of the gold standard and the post-war economic adjustment, anti-government demonstrations broke out frequently, and radicals dissatisfied with the withdrawal of troops from Chita and religious and immigration issues repeatedly created foreign-related incidents, storming the prime minister's residence, besieging British and American embassies, smashing foreign companies, and even killing missionaries, which constantly impacted the prestige of Zhang Zhigao's cabinet, and at the suggestion of Minister of the Interior Yang Zhengjin, Zhang Zhigao submitted his resignation to Emperor Liu Yun on April 30, 1906. Liu Yun accepted his resignation and appointed him as caretaker prime minister, and the second Zhang Zhigao cabinet finally came to an end after 15 months in power. On May 4, the former Foreign Minister Mo Ning was instructed to form a cabinet, and on May 8, the new prime minister's policy address was approved by the National Assembly, and the Mo Ning cabinet officially took over the power of Zhang Zhigao's guard cabinet, which has continued to this day.

The list of Morning's cabinet is as follows (age is calculated in 1908):

Prime Minister: Mo Ning (former Foreign Secretary, aged 43)

Minister of National Defense: Liu Bailiang (transferred from Chief of General Staff, Army General, 44 years old)

Minister of the Interior: Yang Zhengjin (retained, reserve army general, 45 years old)

Foreign Minister: Lu Zhengxiang (Former Minister-Ambassador to Russia and the Netherlands, 38 years old)

Chancellor of the Exchequer: Han Lang (retained, aged 44)

Minister of Commerce and Industry: Tian Masahiro (transferred to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, 46 years old)

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry: Ma Feng (transferred from Minister of Science and Technology, 45 years old)

Minister of Science and Technology: Jiang Wentao (transferred to Minister of Transport, 43 years old)

Minister of Transport: Sun Wen (transferred from Minister of Health, 43 years old)

Minister of Culture and Education: Lo Su-lan (41 years old)

Minister of Health: Kang Youwei (Transferred to Minister of Justice, 51 years old)

Secretary of Justice: Hook (General of the Reserve Army, transferred from former Secretary of State for Defence, aged 46)

……

Although Zhang Zhigao no longer holds a position in the cabinet, he is still the president of the Chinese People's Party, the prime minister of the party, and was re-elected as a senator and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.

What else has happened in the past 3 years?

Now is not the time to indulge in feelings to reminisce about something, at this moment, Liu Yun is stubbornly resisting wave after wave of invading tiredness, looking majestically at his comrades or courtiers.

Prime Minister Mo Ning respectfully opened his mouth first: "What the emperor said is extremely true, Ethiopia is not without a chance of victory, and even if Ethiopia loses at the last time, it should maximize the strength of the invaders and strive to create more acute contradictions between relevant countries in the region." ”

"But in any case, it is too strict to ask the advisory group to accompany the Ethiopian army to fight to the end, it is better to let them participate in the war first, and then let them choose to advance and retreat according to the development of the situation." Defense Minister Liu Bailiang suggested.

"Bailiang is right, so let's do it."

Liu Yun obviously didn't plan to ask anyone else's opinion anymore.

The weakness of the flesh and the apparent old age did not affect the authority of his will in the slightest, on the contrary, after so many years of ups and downs, the group's dependence and loyalty to him had reached an unprecedented level, and for the group, he was close to the realm of God.

However, the damaging effect of the time machine on the physical body is becoming undisguisedly obvious, which Liu Yun realized three years ago.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you have to pay for anything you want to get more or less. Come here, make history, and be the master of the fate of hundreds of millions of people – with this level of extravagance, it's not expensive to trade decades of life for it.

If you want to get it, you have to pay, and it is a matter of course that the members of the group who do not have this basic consciousness will be eliminated in advance.

"How's it going over there in Afghanistan? Are you confident that you can withstand a British counterattack? Liu Yun asked a new question.

Defense Minister Liu Bailiang, who is also the chairman of the Foreign Aid Committee, hurriedly responded: "Report to the leader, because the aid to Afghanistan has been prepared in advance, and it is summer at this time, the roads are easy to pass, and the progress is relatively smooth. The first shipment of 10,000 rifles and 4 million rounds of ammunition promised to King Habibullah Khan had all been shipped through the Uzberi Pass in July, and a second shipment of machine guns, mortars and mountain artillery had already been shipped from the Buren Pass. According to the Special Envoy to Afghanistan, the citizens of Kabul and the surrounding tribes showed unprecedented enthusiasm for the King's decision to become independent, spontaneously holding a number of large-scale processions and celebratory rally. The king, on the other hand, encouraged the people through military parades and public speeches, and was ready to defend the sovereignty of the country at any cost, and the glorious history of repeated heavy losses and annihilation of the British army over the past hundred years made the vast majority of the people highly motivated and confident......"