"Captain, next month it's our turn to go to the 6th and 3rd companies to change guards on Great Hanish Island, but I heard that someone else has been replaced, is this unreasonable?" Lieutenant Li Yong said in a humming voice.

He knew that the initiator must be the chief in front of him, but if he didn't come to complain, he always felt very angry in his heart.

Great Hanish Island is located in the most critical part of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and due to the limited area, it is impossible to put the entire contingent of more than 1,700 troops on board, so the method of stationing in turns is adopted, and the defense is changed once every two months.

Although it is only 137 kilometers away from the town of Xi'an, Great Hanish Island is located at the top of the southeast of the Red Sea, surrounded by abundant water vapor and abundant products, rich in all kinds of marine fish, each of which is large and fat, and the island is stationed on the island to eat all-you-can-eat seafood.

In addition, the forest vegetation on the island is luxuriant, raising a large number of pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks and other poultry and livestock, and the food is not as good as usual, much better than here in Xi'an Town.

Therefore, the soldiers wanted to go to the Great Hanish Island to garrison, which was 100 times better than eating sand here.

"Hey...... Is there still room for bargaining to execute the order? After Lei Xiaopeng sneered, he reprimanded with a serious face; You are all officers, you should have your own opinions, don't listen to the wind or the rain and mix with those soldiers, they have a bullshit insight? Is it good to eat big fish and meat, the task of garrisoning Great Hanish Island is highly dangerous, once the French are furious, the warships will come and there will be a fierce bombardment, and there will be no place to cry when the time comes. ”

"Captain, don't fool our brothers, I don't believe that the French warships dare to fire at the St. George's flag, and lend them a dog's guts."

Lieutenant Li Yong glanced at Second Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong beside him, with a look of obvious disbelief on his face, the two of them were officers who came down from the personal guard of the Earl's Palace, and they were first-class in terms of knowledge and courage, and they couldn't be easily bluffed.

Alas...... I complained that I didn't have the concentration, and when I came to this ghost place with a hot head, I didn't say anything, it was all tears!

Lei Xiaopeng was speechless at this time, staring at the two young officers in front of him, seeing that their originally fair and ruddy faces were tanned and thin by the sun near the North Equator, and his heart was a little unbearable.

This thing was originally done by myself, which was not authentic.

That one...... It happened that several old subordinates in the camp got together to drink, and after some begging, Lei Xiaopeng still cared a lot about the old brother who followed him from birth to death, so he nodded and agreed.

In Somalia (including Djibouti), Africa, Lei Xiaopeng is the emperor of the soil, and the rules are all set by himself, of course, he can change them.

"Don't talk to me about these useless things, the French are not blind, and a group of black-haired, black-eyed and yellow-skinned soldiers can help with Her Majesty's crown on their heads?" Lei Xiaopeng forcibly defended, and then his tone changed to reassurance; "Two months have passed in a flash, and someone who follows me will definitely not treat you badly, and there must be the names of the two of you in the first batch of merit lists at the end of the year, and you can be promoted and raised in the next year."

"This was originally planned, is it useful for us to say regret now?"

"Don't complain, the troops have been here for more than half a year, you guys still have the opportunity to enjoy it on Dahashni Island, haven't I stayed in Xi'an Town all the time to eat sand, who will feel sorry for me?"

"That'...... But it's a matter of going to the top. ”

"Roll the calves for me, although the weather here is a little hotter and there is more sand, but there are Arab women and black women in the taverns in the town, which is not comparable to the Great Hashni Island, if you have endless energy, vent it on women."

Arab women and black women?

Lieutenant Li Yong and Second Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong showed disdain on their faces almost at the same time, which made Lieutenant Colonel Lei Xiaopeng even more upset, and drove them away like flies.

The town of Xi'an is located in a fjord, near a steep mountain about 100 meters above the sea, stretching for dozens of kilometers along the coastline, with a stark contrast between the desolate and barren earthy yellow tones and the blue sea, as if there is vitality in the silence.

On Djibouti's hundreds of kilometres of coast in the Gulf of Aden, the town of Xi'an is not the best wharf, but it is the most habitable, with Lake Asal just to the left, which overflows during the rainy season and flows along a dry river to the Gulf of Aden.

For thousands of years

The indigenous people never thought of building a dam on a river that had dried up for most of the time to widen Lake Asar and retain the precious rainfall of the rainy season.

After Lei Xiaopeng and his team arrived, the construction team immediately built a barrage dam, no matter where the lake of Asar Lake spreads in the rainy season, it can nourish the nearby Gobi Desert, and not allow a drop of water to flow into the Gulf of Aden.

More than half a year down

Xi'an Town has formed a small town inhabited by more than 3,000 Chinese, the wheat waves near the town are rolling, and the industrious Chinese are building aqueducts here to irrigate the fields, raising cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and vegetables, and it will not be long before the first batch of grain will be produced, and the harvest will be enough to be self-sufficient in agricultural and sideline products.

Maybe it's because of the abundant sunshine, don't look at the yellow sand on the Gobi Desert here, the melons and fruits that can be grown are particularly sweet, crisp, and delicious.

As the base camp to support the front, the garrison of Xi'an Town is less than 1,000 people, and the remaining more than 2,000 Chinese workers are the main body of town construction, they have built wharves, warehouses, and towns dominated by brick and stone buildings in more than half a year, and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land have been opened up in the oasis, and a large logistics base has been initially built.

On the high terraces near the wharf, workers built several open-air forts out of reinforced concrete, which are now empty and covered with plenty of firewood and grass to prevent prying eyes.

The main firepower for the defense of Xi'an Town was 6 95mm Miss Australia guns, plus 12 Maxine machine guns from the fire company, which were more suitable for arid African regions, and were easy to carry, powerful and easy to use.

The entire expeditionary task force is a regimental establishment, with eight infantry companies, one artillery company, one firepower company and one headquarters company under its command, and there is no battalion-level establishment.

Among them, two infantry companies defending Great Hanish Island, plus a platoon of the fire company, totaled more than 360 people, which rotated every two months.

The artillery company and the headquarters company are stationed in Xi'an Town, and four companies of soldiers are on standby at all times, mainly for patrolling the perimeter and replacing the island's defenses, driving away small groups of enemies and unscrupulous forces, and asserting territorial and colonial rights and interests in the area.

The remaining two infantry companies set up a foothold in Mogadishu, a northeastern Horn of Africa, more than 2,900 kilometers from the town of Xi'an.

in a small town

There are Arab merchants wearing veils and leading camels, African women selling fruits and vegetables on their heads, farmers who come to the town to drink tea, soldiers on leave who are not on duty, and some coquettish women in taverns and green houses are working hard to attract customers, and the market is very lively.

As an African transit point connecting the Eurasian ocean trade routes, the 19th-century ocean-going ships of the United Shipping Company have begun to enter the port one after another, where freshwater vegetables and food are replenished, and the crew stop by the tavern to relax and find a woman to have fun.

As a result, the town has quickly prospered, with no shortage of goods on the streets, and many savvy Chinese and Arab merchants have set up shop here to sell their own specialties.

The wool tapestries and carpets produced in Australia are woven by machines, with bright colors and high textures, and although the price is not high, they are still very popular among Arab merchants.

Milk candy, cocoa, spices, machine-made knives, farm implements, high-quality flour and sausages were also popular, and were shipped by ship to Yemeni ports and sold to West Asia by caravans of Arab merchants.

Arab merchants brought camels, cows, horses, silver tableware, handicrafts and, of course, Arab women.

Today's West Asia is in turmoil, the once mighty Ottoman Empire is gradually losing its dominance over the Arabian Peninsula, strongmen from all over the country are swarming to occupy a territory and fighting endlessly, German and British forces have infiltrated the Kingdom of Iran, Saudi Arabia has no leader, and the situation is like a pot of porridge.

This chaotic situation has led to the displacement of people and the hardship of life, and the Arabs have a long tradition of slave trade, so fair-skinned Arab women have become the most popular product in Xi'an.

The local Chinese construction army does not look down on dark-skinned African women, but they have a soft spot for fair-skinned Arab women, and many farmers who cultivate in the local area will buy one or buy a few female slaves to go back, usually helping to work and farm, raising chickens, ducks, sheep, cattle, milking and feeding pigs, and at night they can also hey and pass on the ancestry, in one fell swoop.

In order to encourage Chinese immigrants to settle down in Africa, the policy of the Red Fort is that no matter how much land is cultivated, the ownership is privately owned, and the bank will give preferential loans of no more than 50 pounds to support the creation of private farms and plantations.

Of course, taxes still have to be paid.

This most favorable policy to date has encouraged a large number of land-hungry Chinese immigrants to come to the Horn of Africa and put down roots to thrive.

In the 19th century, the United Shipping Company set up an office in Xi'an, with two 3,500-ton freighters running between Yemen and Oman, and has now established contact with powerful families in the Kingdom of Iran to sell more goods to the densely populated valley of the two rivers and expand the market for their products.

A Queenslander settlement, the town of Xi'an is heavily guarded, with heavily armed patrols passing by from time to time, and high lookout posts and checkpoints on the outskirts of the town, shining bayonets standing out in the sun.

This level of force is unparalleled in the entire Horn of Africa region, and security is high enough.

This is exactly the place that Arab merchants liked, the towns run by Queenslanders are in good order, there are even royal police and sheriffs, there are Shangri-La Bank and Huitong Bank offices, legitimate business practices can be protected, there is no need to worry about personal and financial safety, and the ocean freighters from north to south bring an abundance of goods, it is simply the best place to do business.