Shen Tao said disapprehantly: "Isn't it just arson?" What's so hard about it? ”

Zhang Hua sighed, and said to Shen Tao like he was teaching an ignorant child: "Arson is a profound knowledge, for example, what do you use to start a fire, how much do you need to start a fire, you can't push a cart of firewood to set fire, so that it can be seen at a glance, and there is also the problem of wind direction, I just need you to burn the British embassy, you don't burn the people around you." ”

Zhang Hua said solemnly: "The most important point is: I want you to set the fire, and I want the British to believe: no one set the fire, the fire was purely accidental, can you do it?" ”

Shen Tao pondered for a while, didn't speak, Zhang Hua said: "I also know that Lu Dao is not easy to do, there must be many people guarding a place like the confidential room, no matter how high your kung fu is, it is impossible to avoid them, and even if you can enter the confidential room, do you know what documents Lu Dao wants to take?" ”

Shen Tao blushed and said embarrassedly: "I don't know much of this word." ”

Zhang Hua said with a smile: "In the confidential room of the British, the documents must be written in English, do you know English?" ”

Shen Tao shook his head.

Zhang Huazhi said that it is not easy for people in this era to recognize their own names, let alone understand English, and said: "Okay, let's find another way." ”

Shen Tao asked, "Brother Zhang, if I can put the fire on it, what plan do you have?" ”

Zhang Hua said: "I know that there are not many British soldiers in the embassy, and the buildings in the embassy are all made of wood, and it is winter, the weather is dry, and those British people will definitely not be able to extinguish the fire, they will definitely have to ask for help from the Qing soldiers who are guarding the embassy nearby, so I will pretend to be a member of the Qing army, sneak into the embassy, and act at the opportunity." ”

Shen Tao saw that Zhang Hua was smoking a cigarette, and suddenly had an idea, and asked: "Then what if it catches fire and the British soldiers don't leave the confidential room?" ”

Zhang Hua smiled: "No, those documents are more important than the lives of the British in our eyes, but in the eyes of the British, which is more important than the paper with the words written and the lives of the British?" ”

Shen Tao said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, I have a way, you and I go to the camp of the Qing army and wait, one of the leaders there is a defeated general under my men, we don't know each other if we don't fight, and now we are good buddies." ”

Zhang Hua asked, "How are you going to set the fire?" ”

Shen Tao said: "There are few British soldiers in that embassy, so they focus on guarding those places where British live, I can mix in, I light a cigarette and put it on the cotton curtain, so that the fire can burn, and even if the British find out the source of the fire, they will think that someone is smoking and accidentally caused the fire." ”

Zhang Hua put down his cigarette and said, "You can give it a try." So he and Shen Tao came to the camp, which was stationed in a big mansion at the corner of the street, which was originally a royal mansion, but later abandoned.

Shen Tao got Zhang Hua a Qing soldier's clothes, at twelve o'clock in the evening, when people were asleep, I saw a sudden fire in the British Embassy, the wind helped the fire, the fire borrowed the power of the wind, and for a time the flames flew up, and the voices of the people were boiling.

As soon as the Qing army saw the fire, they immediately ran to help extinguish the fire, Zhang Hua mixed in the crowd, just entered the embassy, Zhang Hua was pulled aside by Shen Tao, the two found a path without people, all the way to the building that was used as a confidential room, the British soldiers in charge of guarding the building went to put out the fire, and the whole building was empty.

As soon as Shen Tao entered the room, he saw a cabinet next to a cabinet, and the cabinet was full of document boxes, and asked Zhang Hua at a loss: "Brother Zhang, there are so many documents, which one is what we want to use?" ”

Zhang Hua whispered: "You just let me wind at the door." ”

After a while, he saw Zhang Hua coming out with a bag containing documents, and Shen Tao couldn't help asking, "Brother Zhang, how did you find it?" ”

Zhang Hua said: "Let's leave quickly, I'll tell you when we go back." ”

The two of them found a place where no one was, slipped out of the embassy over the wall, returned to the Qing army camp, changed their clothes, and returned to their residence at night.

Shen Tao saw Zhang Hua take out the documents in the box and asked, "Brother Zhang, how did you find these from so many documents?" ”

Zhang Hua pointed to a string of numbers on the box and said: "This is the full number of this file, I can read the date of this file filing from this number, we only need to look at the files of the last few days." ”

Shen Tao nodded, and asked again: "Then will there be a British battle plan in this?" For example, how many of them are there and where they are attacking, so we can set up an ambush on their offensive line! ”

Zhang Hua smiled dumbly and said: "This kind of military documents at the campaign and tactical level, don't say that the embassy doesn't have it, even if the embassy does, it won't be stored in the confidential room. ”

Shen Tao looked at the crooked English letters and said, "Brother Zhang, you can teach me to recognize these English words." ”

Zhang Hua laughed a few times and said, "You go and read all the Chinese characters first." With that, he lowered his head and began to look at the information.

Shen Tao laughed dryly, thinking that he must learn both Chinese and English characters well, and then asked, "Brother Zhang, what do we have to see from these telegrams?" ”

Zhang Hua said: "We have to analyze from the inside, whether the British are determined to start a war, and if so, what is the possible strategic purpose? ”

Shen Tao nodded, and Zhang Hua pulled out a telegram, on which was the news of the assassination of the British embassy to the government of his country, and the government's reply: Be prepared to evacuate the British in China at any time.

Evacuation is usually a prelude to war, and it seems that the British are going to play real this time.

I read a few more copies, all of which had nothing to do with the matter, and then a telegram caught Zhang Hua's attention, which was a piece of intelligence from the British mainland: Quickly notify the consulate in Guangzhou that 4,500 tons of high-quality coal should be prepared in Hong Kong.

Zhang Hua stared at the telegram and pondered for a long time, and Shen Tao asked, "Brother Zhang, what are you staring at it?" ”

Zhang Hua said: "It seems that the British are really going to do it, you see, the British Royal Navy in order to protect its trade in the world, the world's waters are patrolling, Hong Kong is an important supply station for the British patrol fleet, why do you want to suddenly prepare such a large amount of coal, you know, these coal, can be used by four Sovereign-class battleships at a speed of 10 knots for 5,000 nautical miles." ”

Zhang Hua read several telegrams about the tidal situation in Guangzhou Bay and the situation of the residential buildings in Guangzhou City, and Zhang Hua came to the conclusion that the British were very likely to occupy the city of Guangzhou, collect the situation of Guangzhou Bay, and it was very likely that they would land in Guangzhou and collect the residential situation of the residents of Guangzhou City, and it was very likely that they were preparing for the occupation of Guangzhou City.

Zhang Hua thought to himself: "If the British really want to do it, then when will it be?" ”

Their marines can be mobilized from the colonies, India is a very good choice, but the fleet must be driven from the mainland, after all, the Qing Dynasty also has a very powerful Beiyang Fleet on paper, warships from the British mainland to Guangzhou, if the speed is fast, it should take about 20 days, it is now December 10, twenty days later is the beginning of January, January 26 is the most important traditional festival in China, the Spring Festival, will the British choose to do it at this time?

Zhang Hua looked through the useful information again, and the intelligence analysis work was never 100% accurate, and he made up his mind to send the information back to the Beijing ship: Britain had a great possibility of going to war against the Qing court! The time could be January 1895! The strategic goal could be: to occupy the city of Canton.