It was already around 10:00 a.m. on May 21 when the transoceanic relay telegram from London was received, and the Expeditionary Force Command stationed in Africa finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately issued an order to prepare to board the ship and sail away.

On the sea near the port of Xi'an Town, six ocean-going freighters of about 5,000 tons have been ready to go, and two Seagull II warships are moored on the trestle, ready to carry out the task of escorting the ship group.

The ocean-going passenger ship responsible for transporting the horses of the cavalry battalion docked at the dockside and began to lift the horses, artillery, ammunition, tents and other materials, and the whole operation would last a full sixteen hours until the early hours of tomorrow.

On the eve of the swearing-in expedition, all the officers and men of the advance detachment of the African Expeditionary Force bathed and changed their clothes, checked their weapons, ammunition, and personal equipment, and went to bed early after a sumptuous dinner, recuperating and preparing to board the ship.

From Xi'an Town on the shore of the Gulf of Aden, along the sea route of the Horn of Africa to Mozambique in the middle of East Africa, the sea route is about 4,600 kilometers, and it takes about nine ~ ten days and nights to arrive according to the slowest freighter speed of the ship group.

January 22, 1886

Silkworm Niangniang's birthday, Baifu Day

It is advisable to move, move the grave, accept the color, buy a house, travel, go on the expedition, celebrate the birthday, housewarming, go on the beam, travel the boat, sacrifice, build a house, take the field, go to the post, and enter the wealth.

Taboo, recruitment, open the stove, take livestock, sell the field, pawn.

This day is the auspicious day of the zodiac calculated by the Red Fort Taoist masters, which is suitable for the army to go on the expedition, and the advance team of the African Expeditionary Force set off on this day in accordance with the Chinese tradition

6:00 a.m

The blue ocean skyline has just revealed the white of the fish's belly, and a round of red sun has loomed under the sea, and a new day has arrived.

The heavily armed soldiers of the brigade entered the dock in a neat queue, with guns like a forest and knives like a sea, with a strong killing atmosphere, and soon split into one neat square queue after another, accepted the captain's review, and swore to go on the battle.

At the beginning of the rising sun, it symbolizes a brighter and brighter future.

The commanders of the African Expeditionary Division stepped on the wooden platform that had been erected long ago, ready to pray to the heavens, praying for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas and the Earl, and the surrounding 10 monks and Taoists chanted scriptures, and had already warmed up this altar.

Then the division commander Mo Rufeng took the stage to recite the sacrificial text, led the crowd to pray for heaven and earth, and then burned the sacrificial text in the copper basin, with a wisp of green smoke curling into the air, the monks and Taoist priests worked hard to chant the scriptures, each showed their mana to invite the gods in the sky to pay attention, all the way to protect the army This trip went smoothly, and all the wishes came true, probably Qi is what it means.

Then slaughtered a few prisoners to sacrifice the battle flag, the military band drums sounded in unison, the division commander Mo Rufeng personally awarded the flag, and awarded the African Expeditionary Force advance team battle flag to the deputy division commander Huo Xiaohu......

People are in the flag, people are dead and the flag is burning.

Tens of thousands of people in Xi'an Town rushed to the dock early in the morning, and the black crowd could not see the end at a glance, witnessing all this with their own eyes, the majestic army, the mighty soldiers, and the strong military strength, so that the pride in the hearts of overseas Chinese immigrants reached the climax at this moment.

After the division commander Mo Rufeng gave the order to board the ship and set out for the expedition, firecrackers rang out at the scene, gongs and drums were noisy, and the cheers of the masses were deafening and resounded in the sky.

The confidence and confidence of every overseas Chinese immigrant comes from a strong backing, beyond the Buhua civilization and thousands of miles of waves, the emotion of moving at this moment is sublimated into a strong cohesion and centripetal force, from the heart to identify with the powerful Queensland authorities, identify with the Earl of Queensland, who is comparable to a god, and sublimate it into a monument to worship in the heart.

The soldiers sang war songs in high spirits and lined up in a neat queue to board the ship.

The onlookers sang in unison, blending this blood-linked Chinese emotion, melting into one, eagerly watching the soldiers who opened up the territory embark on the journey, looking forward to their victorious return.

The status of Queensland soldiers is very high, because they have laid down a large territory with fearless sacrifices, which has led to a good life for all overseas Chinese immigrants, so they are admired by thousands of people, and it is also a very honorable thing to join the army.

Soldiers can receive a stable salary, about the level of the average low-paid worker, but this does not represent the full income of the soldier.

In accordance with Red Fort policy;

Soldiers who perform well during their service have excellent service allowances, remote area allowances for serving in remote areas with harsh environments, combat allowances, overdue allowances for soldiers who have served for extended periods, heatstroke prevention expenses in hot weather, and cold protection expenses in cold weather, and meritorious service awards in the war will also be awarded meritorious fields.

It wasn't until about 9:00 a.m. that all four passenger ships in charge of immigration had boarded the ship and slowly left the dock to the deep blue ocean to the sound of drums.

Tens of thousands of people witnessed all this, many of them couldn't help but shed tears, this one of their hearts was surrounded by excitement and pride, Queensland's strength is the pride of everyone, which awakened the iron-blooded gene in the hearts of Chinese children.

Li Yong stood in a position with an open line of sight and witnessed all this, and his heart was like an electric shock, which was the heat flow of emotions, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

He pointed to the distant group of ships on the sea, and said; "Whew, the eldest husband should be like this. The husband is not born with five tripods, and when he dies, he is five tripods! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked sideways.

"Brother Yong, why do you say this?" Mo Zhenxiong stood beside him and asked with a surprised expression.

Li Yong turned his head, his eyes flashed with a strange light and looked at the people around him, he could see the eagerness in the eyes of these brothers, and saw the ambition that was unwilling to sink, at this moment, his heart was settled, and he said with a smile;

"Brothers, look at this majestic team, originally we were also one of them, when we joined the army was to yearn for the bloody life of Jin Ge Iron Horse, but unfortunately we couldn't stand the temptation of money, don't mention these.

Money is a thing that you don't bring in life, and you don't bring it in death.

Our brothers are all shareholders of the smuggling syndicate, and to this day, they are worth more than 10,000 pounds, and no matter how much money they make, it is a number, and they can't eat it or spend it.

I think that in the future, I can only be a smuggler and live this life by drilling in the eyes of money, I am not reconciled!

I think I, Li Yong, have learned a military skill, and I once dreamed of following the Earl to do a vigorous career, but the sky did not fulfill people's wishes.

I'm still young, my blood is still boiling, and I'm not reconciled! ”

"Brother Yong, haven't we discussed recruiting 300 people to form a mercenary group?" Mo Zhenxiong was a little puzzled.

"Cut, what's that little fuss?" Li Yong pursed his lips disdainfully, pointed to the mighty fleet on the sea and said; "To have a big vision, a big pattern, the cowering will never become a big climate, you see......

10 years ago

The Earl set foot on the land of Brisbane, just a gold digger boy with no long things, and now he has developed a large scene across thousands of miles, which is really a heroic strategy that makes people feel excited, swallowing mountains and rivers!

Our current human and financial resources are far better than those in the early days of the Earl's development, and there is no reason why we can't do it well as long as we are united.

The town of Xi'an in the Horn of Africa is our natural nest, based here, we can radiate our influence to the whole of West Asia and North Africa, if you want to do it, you can do it big, I decided to use all my wealth to form a mercenary group of thousands of people, with well-trained combat effectiveness, enough to stir up a storm.

Now I ask you, would you like to do it with me? ”

"What else is there to say, what is there...... Of course I did. ”

"Let's also pull up a team and use swords and guns to fight a sphere of influence, and get past the lord's addiction."

"Hahaha, rob women, grab land, grab his grain land......"

"Hey, brothers, don't forget that we are all officers born in the regular army, don't be like those tribal chiefs who have never seen the world, and besides, do you lack women?"

"That's not lacking, it's just a mouthful!"

"Hahaha...... Refreshing! ”

These old young officers still had a lot of enthusiasm, and when they heard Li Yong's inflammatory declaration, they immediately became clamoring, and they joined in with little hesitation.

The Chinese boy contains the iron-blooded genes of his ancestors in his bones, eager for conquest, eager for adventure, eager for a life of iron and blood, eager to prove his strength with knives and guns.

The commotion here alarmed the high-ranking officials of the African Expeditionary Force not far away, and at this time, a staff officer quietly stepped forward and whispered a few words.

Drawing chuckles from several people, Deputy Division Commander Koch frowned and said; "Now it seems that it is much quieter to expel these black sheep in the army, so as not to spoil the morale of our expeditionary force, for for a true soldier, loyalty, dedication and sacrifice are the noblest virtues, and these people do not possess them."

"Deputy division commander, you can't overturn a boatload of people with a stick, I think they are still quite energetic, at least this blood is not cold." Division Commander Mo Rufeng helped Wen Yan explain.

"I beg your pardon, I don't agree with that." Koch stiffly pushed back, glanced at the group of smugglers not far away, and said coldly; "Mercenaries are war vultures, notorious even in Greater Germany, with no loyalty in their eyes, only money, a bunch of faithless war opportunists, who only make things worse."

"This is indeed an interesting phenomenon, let's take a cold look!"

Mo Rufeng had no intention of arguing with the deputy division commander, Colonel Koch, on this matter, and now that the sun was shining in the sky, the fleet sailing all the way to the depths of the Gulf of Aden had turned into a few small black dots and soon disappeared.

The rest of the army soldiers on the dock, under the whole line of the commander, were leaving in an orderly procession, singing war songs and returning to the barracks.

A senior officer of the Expeditionary Force Command needs to return to the garrison to study the next course of action, but he has no time to be distracted by some irrelevant trivial matters.

Mo Rufeng led a group of officers to leave, only Lei Xiaopeng, the head of the garrison area, looked not far away with a hesitant expression, and those old subordinates who had taken off their military uniforms were still discussing enthusiastically, all of them seemed to be dancing with their eyebrows, indulging in future fantasies.

"Alas...... These guys...... There's no time to stop. ”

Lei Xiaopeng sighed lightly, straightened out his military uniform and walked away quickly, he had to follow the drumbeat of the African Expeditionary Force, instead of continuing to mess around with a group of old subordinates.

He still knows which of the two is more important.