Eritrea is located on the south coast of the Red Sea, bordering Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, Djibouti in the southeast, and the Red Sea in the northeast, with an area of 124,000 square kilometers and a coastline of 1,200 kilometers.

In particular, the Queenslander-controlled area of Assab and Ede, adjacent to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the strait fortress of Great Hanish Island is just northwest of the town of Assab, just 21 kilometers away, within the blockade of large-caliber shore artillery.

Occupied here

If you want to break the blockade, it is not enough to break only one of them, and the difficulty of winning has skyrocketed.

Eritrea is about 1,200 kilometers long along the southwest coast of the Red Sea, most of the territory is plateau and mountainous, the central plateau occupies one-third, with an altitude of 1,800~3,000 meters, and the western lowland, with an average altitude of 1,000 meters, the above areas are currently occupied by the Italian colonial army, with a coastline of about 840 kilometers and a total area of about 89,000 square kilometers.

Eritrea looks like a funnel on the map, with the western part of the country and the Central Plains occupied by Italian colonial troops as the main part of the funnel, almost more than 70% of the country's land area.

The lower end of the funnel shape is sharply narrowed to the eastern mountainous hills, with an average altitude of 600~1200 meters, this section is about 360 kilometers long along the coastline, and there are three main towns, which are lined up along the shore of the Red Sea, namely Molghada, Ede and Assab, from which Assab continues southeast to reach Xi'an-City.

Among them

Morghada was under Italian control, while Ed and Assab were under the control of the Somali garrison, and the dispute between the two sides was over the fine pastures in the valley outside Ed.

Here is a rolling hilly area, about 800 ~ 1000 meters above sea level, every year from December to February of the following year for the cool season, the temperature is 15 °C, the hot season is from May to June, the temperature is 25 °C, the average precipitation here is 800 ~ 1200 mm, it is a very good plateau pasture.

The only perennial river in Eritrea is the Saidit River, which is 180 kilometres long and flows from the mountains near Morghada to the Ede region, before eventually flowing into the Red Sea on the outskirts of Assab.

Such a perennial river is extremely precious in arid northeastern Africa, and its significance for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry is extraordinary.

Large herds of cattle, sheep and horses must have sufficient and clean water, which is also a prerequisite for the development of agriculture, and the Cedit River basin covers an area of about 6,800 square kilometers, although it is not large, but it is the essence of the region, and it is the natural choice for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Ed Town

It was originally home to a large tribe of 33,000 black indigenous Tigrayans, built in a valley next to the Saidit River, surrounded by beautiful scenery and abundant water and grass, making it a rare and good place.

After the Queenslands occupied this place, they drove the original black indigenous tribe into the mountains on the border between Morghada and Ed Town, and built houses, roads, commercial shops, and gradually formed a small town of about 3,300 people, with a large number of pastures and private farms scattered around, with a population of more than 10,000 people.

There was no regular garrison in Ed, and the only defensive force was more than 400 armed militiamen, led by Major Mo Zhenxiong (militia reserve), who was also the largest private rancher and plantation owner in the area, with a team of more than 80 mercenaries for smuggling and other armed escorts.

After Li Yong led more than 1,000 cavalry to help in the starry night, the strength of Ed Town quickly increased to more than 1,500, which gave the local Chinese more confidence to resist and was warmly welcomed.

In the face of the Italian colonial army and the local black natives, the Chinese immigrants chose to believe in their compatriots and took up swords and guns to defend their homeland.

On the hill

Li Yong observed carefully for a while, put down the monocular in his hand and was silent, Mo Zhenxiong stood next to him and couldn't help asking; "Master Yong, what do you think?"

"The Italians are menacing, and the soldiers are pressing the border, so they are definitely not here to enjoy the mountains and rivers." Li Yong put the monoculars into the horse bag, tidied up the saddle, and then turned over and said coldly; "When a friend comes, there is good wine, and when an enemy comes, there is a shotgun."

Mo Zhenxiong touched his nose but was not annoyed, he was also an officer from the pro-guard team, and he was also one of the first partners to follow Li Yong in the smuggling business.

So he immediately turned on his horse and leaned over again; "Master Yong, tell me about it, the first time I dealt with a large-scale regular army in a European country, my brother has no bottom in his heart!"

"Zhenxiong, did you think the British would come to mediate for us?" Li Yong asked rhetorically.

Mo Zhenxiong thought about it and replied with a frown; "After the conflict broke out, we reported it as soon as possible, and it has been more than 10 days now, and there is no shadow of the British until now, I think this matter is suspenseful.

After the local indigenous blacks of Tigray were suppressed by us, they were originally prepared to carry out a large-scale sweep to completely eradicate this scourge, but the small Italian army stationed in Morghada often came out to cause trouble, causing many indigenous people to flee into the mountains, numbering more than 20,000. ”

Speaking of this, Mo Zhenxiong shook his head with a wry smile, sighed and continued; "Losing the opportunity to deal with the indigenous black people of Tigray is a serious scourge for the nearby private ranches, so many private ranches drive their cattle and sheep to seek refuge near the town, which is not a long-term solution!"

"So...... Don't expect anyone else to solve the problem for us. Li Yong looked at the camp of the Italian army in the valley in his eyes, and said with a hint of fierceness in his eyes; Send a letter to the Italian commanders clearly warning them that they have invaded the town of Ede, and that according to the spirit of the Berlin Conference, the area is under the de facto control of the Somali Province and is internationally recognized, and that they must be evacuated within one day, otherwise it will be considered an invasion. ”

"Master Yong, will it make the other party embarrassed and angry if you make it clear like this?"

"Brother Zhenxiong, the Italians have made it clear that they are not good, but they are afraid of the British behind us, so they hesitate, if they can make the British sit on the sidelines through diplomatic channels, these arrogant Italians may not be able to bear it a long time ago, they think we are soft persimmons, and they want to take care of it, maybe they still have an attempt to invade Xi'an, never overestimate the moral level of the colonists, and do not underestimate their greedy appetite, since this is the case, I will simply help them make up their minds."

"I see, I see."

"Remember Brother Zhenxiong, abandon your illusions and prepare to fight, the Italians want to play Chen Bing's border tricks with me, I directly lifted the table and arranged to send them a serious warning, just to be polite, beneficial, and modest, so that Commander Thunder is not difficult to do, don't forget that we are mercenary leaders, when have you ever been afraid of war?"

"Well, I understand, I'll arrange for someone to deliver the letter when I go back."

Li Yong nodded approvingly, and as soon as his legs knocked on the belly of the horse, he galloped up and returned to Ed Town with his cavalry.

In order to prevent the army of the Kingdom of Italy from suddenly attacking, it is necessary to make good troop deployment and pre-battle preparations, and prepare a dog-beating stick in the face of barking wild dogs.

It was already dark when they returned to Ed, and another cavalry group of about 500 men had just arrived, all of them veteran mercenaries with loaded guns.

Ed's town was bustling with chickens and dogs, lighting dozens of bonfires to cook food, and there was a lively scene everywhere.

The town arranged for special people to take the horses away and feed them carefully, and the war horses were the lifeblood of the cavalry and the private property of the mercenaries, which was not sloppy at all.

Mercenaries brought their own horses and weapons, and carried with them dry food that could last for a week, mostly shelf-stable foods such as bacon, cakes, and canned fish, to ensure basic combat effectiveness.

In Xi'an, there are dozens of mercenary forces, large and small, with as many as seven or eight hundred people and as few as a dozen people.

generally speaking

The main business of these blood-licking mercenary leaders is smugglers, ranchers or plantation owners, and most of the mercenaries under their command are cowboys or hired laborers.

The situation is somewhat akin to the wild American West, in the barren land of the Horn of East Africa, Xi'an is an alternative to the growth of the demons, a gathering place for the export of smuggled goods and force, a thriving place of oriental food, wine and carnal depravity, and a favorite port of rest for ocean-going freighters.

As long as you have money here, you can buy almost everything.

If a large amount of mercenary business is received and the mercenary leader posts a wide range of heroes, Xi'an-City can quickly gather a considerable number of troops, from a few hundred to thousands of people.

Li Yong has a very large business, operating as far away as Lebanon and Syria, and he is himself the largest mercenary leader and one of the largest employers, often hiring people to travel to dangerous commercial routes.

Even when confronted by the Ottoman anti-smuggling army, these daring mercenaries dared to let go of the fire and fight.

This time, in order to deal with the army of the Kingdom of Italy, Li Yong decisively ordered someone to blow the call to gather, and in a short period of time, he gathered thousands of cavalry, which is the amazing appeal of the "African Lion King".

According to the established rules;

These mercenaries, who heeded the call to the call and enthusiastically participated, accepted a large-scale mercenary assignment, and Li Yong was the employer, and these soldiers would work hard under his command.

As for the remuneration, no one mentions it, what are you kidding?

It is not for nothing that the "African Lion King" can achieve the extremely high prestige that he has now responded to, he is always righteous, he will not treat his brothers badly, he is fair and open, and the mercenaries have no worries about following him.

Mercenaries are originally a very high-risk industry, and if they die on the battlefield, they can only blame themselves for their bad luck, and no one else is to blame.