March 17 at one p.m., northwest London, on the banks of the River Thames, in the university town of Oxford

“…… Boom-"

A flash of lightning pierced the hazy March sky in southern England, and the deafening sound of thunder buzzed in the ears.

Wang Qiu, whose clothes were wet, hugged his arms, frowned, and hid in an idle and unmanned sentry box on the bank of the Thames, watching melancholy as the lead clouds rolled in the sky, the thunder rolled, the wind was fierce, the turbid waves were surging, and from time to time there was a trace of cold drizzle splashing down with the wind.

Although it was only afternoon, the sky was already gray and black, the water was even darker, and the low-pressure dark clouds were constantly tumbling against the church spires in the distance, accompanied by bursts of lightning and thunder, and the gloomy sky began to rain bean-sized drops, and the cold wind carried the withered yellow leaves whirring on the riverside. Although the rain was not heavy and was barely enough to wet the clothes of pedestrians, the violent winds still caused a great obstacle to the trip.

――In such a stormy and rainy weather, I am afraid that even the birds have to fold their wings and return to their nests. The magic broom is not a jetliner after all, and cannot climb above the clouds to fly. And, even if it's a real jet, isn't it just as impossible to land in bad weather?

So, looking at the ancient Gothic buildings and church spires on the other side of the Thames, remembering the current war situation, Wang Qiu couldn't help but feel depressed.

-- The University City of Oxford, a historic city in the Upper Thames Valley, about an hour's drive from the city of London, is a paradise for hard-working students from many countries because of its status as a first-class university and the monuments scattered throughout the city.

By Western standards. Oxford is an ancient city. As early as the 7th century AD, people began to live in the city of Oxford. By 912 AD, it had become an important place in England. "Tsu" means ferry. The Thames and Chewell rivers meet here, and at that time the river was not deep enough to be crossed by ox-drawn carts, hence the name "Oxford". As the years passed, the Thames and Chaiwell still flowed, but the traces of ox carts wading across the river have long since disappeared. However, the Oxford Bridge continues to attract more and more foreign tourists from all over Shijie.

Next. From about 1096 A.D., lectures were given at Oxford. In 1167, the University of Oxford was officially established here. Since then. With more than 1,100 years of history, the city of Oxford has become the cradle of countless scholars, politicians and celebrities. The university city of Oxford has no walls or gates, and only more than 30 historic colleges scattered around the corner, thus making it the oldest academic temple and the most scholarly city in the United Kingdom. The fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland" is set in this place. Many scenes from the Harry Potter film series were also filmed inside Oxford University. Oxford is full of beautiful Gothic minaret buildings. Therefore, it is known as the "City of Spires".

However. In the midst of the turmoil that has swept the entire island of Great Britain, Oxford, a famous academic city not far from London, has naturally not been immune to the spread of war - as early as the "Nelson Knights" had just succeeded in the coup d'état, it had sent 1,000 mercenaries to Oxford, preparing to take control of this important town on the upper Thames. However, with the invasion of the French Foreign Legion, the mercenaries had to retreat hastily before they could go on a killing spree, only to loot some ancient silverware preserved at Oxford University. He turned around and headed for the Kent battlefield southeast of London.

As a result, the university town of Oxford fell into a state of chaos and anarchy. What's worse is that. As an academic mecca, Oxford itself is a quintessential microcosm of today's British society. The university town is filled not only with many white supremacist Anglo-Saxon ethnic extremists, but also with many black, Indian-Pakistani, Hispanic, and North African immigrant teachers and students, as well as a large number of foreign students from all over Shijie. As we all know, college students are already emotional and easily incited. Stimulated by extremist ideologies, they were directly bewitched by the propagandists of the "Nelson Knights" and took up their weapons to kill foreign students with different skin and hair colors...... But the victims, of course, were not to be outdone, and they also gathered together their organizations to make it clear that they would return a tooth for a tooth and blood for a blood -- arson, robbery, rape, murder, theft, ...... All kinds of crimes were ignored in the context of the war-torn era, and the scene was as tragic and fiery as the Red Guards fought in China in the late sixties of the last century! It wasn't until this violent wind and rain suddenly fell that the intensity of this melee was slightly reduced.

Wang Qiu and Harry only had a cursory glance at the outskirts of Oxford, and they saw many old houses that had been charred and broken, as well as corpses lying in the mud...... Then, as soon as he landed and stepped out of the flying broomstick, a large number of bandits in fancy clothes appeared and swarmed towards Wang Qiu and them, trying to loot them. Wang Qiu had no choice but to quickly take out the AK47 and various weapons, and forced back the invading enemy with a strafing shot.

After that, Wang Qiu and Harry have been standing in the idle sentry box in the green space on the banks of the Thames, waiting for the wind and rain to subside quickly...... It's just that, no matter which angle you deduce, this storm will last at least until the night.

However, Wang Qiu and the others couldn't wait so much time -- the big game of "racing towards London" forced them to race against time.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

“…… Dear Mr. Gordon, the most powerful wizard in the UK, can you cast a spell to make the weather clear? ”

Seeing that the stormy weather couldn't stop for a while, and flying on a broom in this weather was simply playing with his life, Wang Qiu, who had no choice but to scratch his hair in distress, and then said to Harry, the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic. Gordon said with a smirk.

“…… Alas, little fellow from China, please don't be strong, these days, I'm afraid only God can freely manipulate the wind and rain. And for me, it's summoning a meteorite. It's easier to smash Oxford than to manipulate the weather! ”

For this whimsical of Wang Qiu, Harry. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon just shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “…… Remember, I'm just a wizard, not a god, and I can't do God's job! Please don't expect too much......"

However, the focus of Wang Qiu's attention at this time is obviously related to Harry. His Excellency Permanent Undersecretary Gordon highlighted a different point in his words, "...... Huh? Mr. Gordon. You can actually summon meteorites? Tell me what's going on? ”

“…… Well, with my level of mana, I probably have to set up a magic circle in advance. Chanting the incantation for three days in a row is only possible, and can only bombard fixed targets. "Harry. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon replied calmly, "...... However, the operation of the summoning magic circle is not always successful. And this summoned meteorite. In terms of power, it is probably about the same as a medium aerial bomb, but the price of raw materials to build this magic array is enough to buy the latest main battle tank - note that this magic array is a one-time thing, and it burns out as soon as a meteorite is summoned......"

-- It turned out to be a typical chicken rib that looked mighty but flashy...... Wang Qiu pursed his lips and complained silently in his heart.

Spit is spit out, but since it is affected by wind and rain. Unable to continue flying low on a broomstick, Wang Qiu and Harry must come up with another way to march into London - after another day of fighting by the French Foreign Legion. It's getting closer and closer to the city of London!

And they had to get ahead of the French and plant the flag on the Westminster Houses of Parliament, the largest Gothic building in all of Shijie!

In fact, according to Harry. In the opinion of Permanent Undersecretary Gordon, the university town of Oxford is about a hundred kilometers away from the city of London, and it is entirely possible to release troops from the wormhole here, and to march straight to London with the banner of war held high - the road leading to London is at the foot, and there is no danger of getting lost.

However, Wang Qiu, a student who has several practical experiences in Yishijie, insisted on vetoing this unimaginative idea, and the reason is very simple -- the task of their gang is not just to enter the city of London and occupy a few blocks at will, but to go deep into the core of the city of London, and to snatch back the core urban areas where landmark buildings such as Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Houses of Parliament are gathered.

In this case, there are several troublesome problems - first, the distance from Oxford to London is not far away, but it is not very close. If you can take a car, it will only take you more than an hour to get there. But now there is a lot of chaos around London, and the roads are full of damaged abandoned vehicles, not to mention where so many cars are collected, and the road conditions alone do not support Wang Qiu and their rapid advancement.

Secondly, if 2,000 soldiers were allowed to march on foot from Oxford in the rain, endure ambushes and harassment from all armed forces along the way, withstand cold guns and roadside bombs that would sound at some point, forcibly march 100 kilometers to London in just a few hours, and then plunge into the city without taking a breath to attack the rebel forces with a total strength of no less than 50,000 or 60,000 men...... That's a legendary feat far more difficult than flying over the Luding Bridge!

Wang Qiu humbly admits that he did not let this rabble be reborn in a short period of time and become the ability of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army during the Long March. Not to mention that they were forced to march for 100 kilometers in a row, that is, they only ran 20 kilometers, and these people would definitely not have the physical strength to fight in the city street battles in the future.

Zuihou, and the most important point, is that entering London does not mean that victory is immediate! Because from the map, Whitehall, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Houses of Parliament are all located deep in the heart of the London metropolitan area. If the orthodox offensive line was to advance slowly from the outskirts, it would be like breaking bamboo shoots layer by layer, bulldozing and suppressing several neighborhoods that were fighting fiercely along the way, and destroying many barricades and strongholds controlled by the "Nelson Knights" -- Wang Qiu and his army of more than 2,000 Strangers may sound like, but to put it bluntly, in the midst of the brutal street fighting meat grinder, it is just a group of light infantry lacking heavy artillery fire and armored support. With such a rabble, it only took a few hours to penetrate half of the city of London and plant the military flag on the roof of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster...... Wang Qiu was really not sure.

“…… Our original plan was to conduct a special operation, or decapitation, in which you and I rode broomsticks straight into the center of London. Landing in Hyde Park or Regent's Park, just a few blocks from Whitehall, and then find a shelter where no one is around, and unleash the two thousand combat troops out of the wormhole on the spot. Suddenly appear in the belly of the enemy and take Westminster and Whitehall with lightning speed...... Otherwise, if we advance layer by layer in a conventional way of warfare, our 2,000 men will definitely not be able to gnaw at the whole of Greater London. ”

In the dimly lit sentry box, Wang Qiu pulled out a tourist map of the suburbs of London. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon explained.

“…… Hey, but judging by the current weather conditions. We obviously can't continue to fly at very low altitudes into the city of London. Moreover, the battle plan that was hastily formulated before may not be feasible now that I think about it. If the enemy had used Regent's Park and Hyde Park as a militant Liliang assembly area, or if we had just flown over London and been hunted by renegade wizards from the air, who had reconnaissance spells to confirm each other's locations, and invisibility and ignorance charms alone were useless, this aerial raid could be self-defeating!

In this case. I propose to turn an airborne sneak attack into a frontal assault. There's no way around it. ”

Harry. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon sighed with a wry smile, "...... We can't just stop the operation, or just sit here and wait until tomorrow! The French may have hit a spot where they could see London Bridge by this time! ”

“…… Well, Mr. Gordon, you seem to have misunderstood, and I have no objection to releasing troops here and attacking London. What I'm against is just advancing along the road and fighting a long siege in the traditional way. The Russians fought in the Chechen war in order to fight a Grozny. It almost bled out and took months. And we don't have that much time. There aren't so many warriors' lives to squander! What's more, no matter from which point of view, it is too much to let the soldiers enter the battle immediately after a forced march of a hundred kilometers! ”

Wang Qiu stretched out his hand and tapped the map, "...... So, we have to choose another line of attack that is more open and safe......"

“…… A more open and safe line of attack? Do you still want to take the train? Where can you find wagons and drivers now? ”

Harry. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon blinked inexplicably, "...... What's more, even if you could actually use the railroad to move troops, you wouldn't be able to bypass the blocks that surrounded Whitehall, you still had to gnaw them one by one. ”

“…… Hehe, when did I say I was going to take the railway? Isn't the Thames in front of you a wonderful offensive path? ”

Wang Qiu smiled slightly, and at the same time stretched out his hand to the Thames River in front of him, "...... Advancing along the road towards London, not to mention the inevitable harassment and attacks along the way, will certainly be followed by repeated entanglements with the enemy on the outskirts of the city, which will increase casualties and waste time. Instead, if you take a boat down the River Thames, you can avoid the outlying city blocked by fire and barricades and reach the Westminster Houses of Parliament (a Gothic building clinging to the River Thames) and land ashore! You know, it has only been two days since the coup d'état, and I don't believe that in such a short period of time, not only have the foreign migrant forces in the city not been cleared, but at the same time, they have to use the main force to resist the 'Nelson Knights' rebels of the French Foreign Legion in Kent, and they would actually think of placing fire points and mines along the Thames! And it's also a defense in the upstream direction! ”

“…… The idea sounds good, but there is one more question that needs to be solved, where does the ship come from? ”

Harry. Permanent Undersecretary Gordon rolled his eyes, then raised a hand reservedly, "...... You won't find a boat here in Oxford! ”

“…… Rest assured, the ship is already ready on the other side of the wormhole! Wang Qiu said with a smug smile, "...... In order to help Queen Cleopatra recover Upper Egypt in the future, I had collected a number of assault boats and stacked them in the Egyptian royal palace in Alexandria, ready to be used in the battle on the Nile...... Now it's time to move to the Thames! ”

So, in the evening of this day, a "river fleet" composed of more than a dozen small boats of various types appeared impressively on the surface of the Thames River where the turbid waves were rolling. Most of these ships are large fiberglass assault boats commonly used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army disaster relief forces, and the largest "flagship" is the "Cobra", a small yacht with a displacement of nine and a half tons, which Queen Cleopatra ordered for herself.

At this moment, Wang Qiu was wearing a body armor and standing on the "Cobra" and using a walkie-talkie to direct this "river fleet" down the river.

Obviously, the two thousand or so fighters Wang Qiu carried this time could not all be squeezed into these boats. So, he just selected an elite commando team of about a hundred people, boarded yachts and assault boats in full gear, and set off with him by water, while the others continued to stand by in ancient Egypt. And the task of this commando team is only to cover Wang Qiu's breakthrough into the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, or some other building near Whitehall on the banks of the River Thames, and occupy a small and stable landing field...... Then, Wang Qiu could take out the wormhole and fight on the spot in the middle of the battlefield. (To be continued......)