One day in late April 1895, the weather was gloomy and dark clouds rolling.

On the mountain road not far from Humen Pass, a long cavalry team marched in a circle, and in front of the team was the famous mercenary leader Baron Li Yong, with a pair of deep eyes as sharp as an eagle falcon.

He rode on a sturdy pure black Arabian horse, with a wide-brimmed Australian cowboy hat on his head, a beard on his face that was disheveled and full of vicissitudes, one hand casually resting on the revolver at his waist, and the other hand steering the horse on a leash and slowly moving forward.

A fierce mercenary leader rode up from behind, nimbly controlled the steed steed to slow down, and then said with a flattering smile; "Master Yong, can my brother ask, how long can we rest when we go back this time?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just that I haven't fought much in the past few months, but I ran a few times back and forth from the east to the west of the Ethiopian plateau, and the brothers' war horses have lost weight seriously, and they can't be raised back in two or three months."

"Big Black, you can't be a moth, right?"

"How can you be Yongye, don't dare to lend me a gut!"

"You and your men will remember me, this time go back to rest, let the brothers vent the fire, treat the wounds, up and down for me, no matter how long the rest lasts, I will set off again at the first order, I ask to be full of screaming soldiers, who dares to give this lord a belt to pull the hind legs, bad for this lord's big business, I let him charge at the machine gun position of the Italians by himself, do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Yong, our brothers will never dare to delay your big event."

"If you don't want to do it, let me know in advance, there are many people on the side of the mountain wolf, a leopard, and mad dog, and there is no shortage of you people."

"Don't mind, Master Yong, how many years have we been with these old brothers, and I have never frowned in birth and death, I promise you, whoever dares to pull his hind legs, I will twist his head off and kick it as a ball."

"Hmph, that's the best."

Hearing the buzzing whisper behind him, Li Yong glanced back with a stern expression, and the cavalry in the long horse team were instantly silent as if they were strangled by their necks, which showed that the ferocious reputation of the "African Lion King" was not covered, which was enough to deter a group of mercenaries.

Li Yong took over the employment of the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II at the cost of 30,000 square kilometers of land immediately west of the city of Humen, which he wanted to offer to His Majesty as a tribute.

If the plan succeeds, a hereditary title of nobility will certainly not be a problem.

Therefore, it was Baron Li Yong's big plan, for which he paid all the expenses of 2,000 mercenaries, and no one was allowed to pull back.

Experienced Chinese mercenaries were quite expensive, and under a contract with the envoy of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, Baron Li Yong was responsible for organizing no less than 2,000 mercenaries to fight for a year.

At that time, no matter who wins or loses, this land will belong to Baron Li Yong.

The area is now in the hands of the Italians, who in recent years have spent huge sums of money on roads, bridges and railways, irrigation facilities, and Italian-style towns and cities, which have migrated more than 70,000 Italian immigrants (only 30,000 square kilometers) to settle in the area.

Compared with the inland areas, the narrow plains along the Red Sea belong to the Eritrean region, which has abundant rainfall, abundant water and grass, suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry, and has a large area of fertile land that can be cultivated.

It is precisely this that the Italians have taken a fancy to this and have spared no effort to carry out key construction in the area.

Menelik II was a very discerning African monarch, he naturally knew the fertility of this land in the central region of Eritrea, but he also knew the shortcomings of the army of the Kingdom of Ethiopia, there was no shortage of soldiers, nor lack of weapons and equipment, and the most lacking experience in fighting with European armies armed with muskets, and this was made up for by experienced Humen mercenaries.

If the greedy Italian colonizers could not be driven out, the entire kingdom of Ethiopia was in danger of falling.

Which is more important, Menelik II can still weigh it clearly.

What's more, he can't afford to hire 2,000 Chinese mercenaries, according to the current market conditions, to hire an experienced Chinese mercenary for a year, he has to pay 600~800 silver dollars (one silver dollar is worth one German mark), which is equivalent to 30~40 pounds, and if the battle is frequent, it will cost about 50~60 pounds.

With the poor finances of the Kingdom of Ethiopia, it is simply not possible to afford this huge sum, and the best way is to cede the territory to pay off the debt.

The ferocity of the Humen mercenaries is well known in North Africa and the entire Arab region, but no one dares to repay their debts, and those who want to do so have already been reduced to nothing.

In the past, Arab tribes could not afford to pay the high cost of hiring, and as a result, entire tribes were slaughtered, young women were trafficked, men were executed, and tribal camps were reduced to death.

Humen was heavily guarded, with only a dozen or so Italian carriages waiting to be checked before the checkpoint, ready to enter the city of Humen to seek refuge and escape the war.

Many young Italian women will marry local wealthy Chinese, and these low-level people who are struggling to survive in Italy have many skilled leatherworkers, shoemakers, printers and dyers, tailors, blacksmiths, stonemasons, and craftsmen who make all kinds of utensils, which are exactly the talents that Humen City urgently needs.

The long convoy of mercenaries arrived, and the ranks burst into the sky with heartfelt cheers and indescribable joy.

After passing the Humen Pass, you will enter a peaceful and stable world.

Even the fierce mercenaries who lick blood from the knife all year round need to return to the warm and quiet harbor from time to time to soothe the tense nerves, lick the wounds, soothe the scarred bodies, and prepare to start again to meet the wind and rain.

Seeing the return of the mercenary horse team, the soldiers guarding Humen Pass drove more than a dozen Italian carriages aside and opened the road for the mercenary horse team to pass.

The Chinese faces in the team are the best passes, and the soldiers and mercenaries in Humen Pass are the same thing, and many of the team are retired veterans, so they can't be more familiar.

Baron Li Yong rode his horse and stood for a while, and saw that most of the team had entered the Humen Pass, so he knocked his feet on the horse's belly and instigated the horse that sat down to move forward slowly, preparing to enter the Humen Pass.

That's when it happened

In the Italian carriage parked next to it, the curtain of the window was lifted in one of the carriages, revealing a very beautiful face, a white Italian girl with black hair and black eyes, who was looking out with novelty.

Baron Li Yong casually glanced at it as if he had been struck by an electric current, and his expression was a little sluggish.

Even though there are thousands of female slaves handled, Yan Feihuan is thin and beautiful, but none of them can compare with this girl, how can you say that kind of gap?

As long as you stop there, the other beauties have all become vulgar fans, setting off the girl more noble and extraordinary, and the beauty has a fluttering fairy spirit.

"Mad Dog, inquire about the origin of the girl in this carriage, and send her to my house." Li Yong reined in the horse's reins and commanded, thought about it and added another sentence; "Remember to be courteous and never reckless."

"Knowing the lord, it's a trivial matter."

"And what...... Don't scare anyone, or I'll skin you. ”

"Ah...... Oh...... We put her in our hands like a young grandmother, do you think? ”

"That's pretty much it."

Li Yong led the men on horseback, and the sound of the knights shouting and shouting spread far away, full of the excitement of returning home.

Humen City

It is as clean and tidy as other cities in the Ocean Kingdom, with tall green trees planted on both sides of the road, a well-developed sewer network, and the city will not be flooded when heavy rains come, and the tall buildings on both sides of the road stretch far away, showing the prosperity of the city.

Judging by the ornate buildings on both sides of the street and the attire of its residents, the city is far more affluent than the average farming and pastoral city.

In Humen Port, there are hundreds of large and small ocean-going fishing vessels moored.

Every evening, a large number of fishing boats return to port, and the fresh fish caught are sent to the fish processing plant one by one, where they are scaled, chopped off, entrailed, bone spurs, skinned, salted, starched and food additives salted, starched and food additives are salted and processed, and then canned fish is sent to cold storage through a series of processes, where it can be stored for a long time.

Although the process is cumbersome, canned spineless fish, canned shrimp, canned braised fish, and canned stewed fish are widely welcomed by European countries, and are also the designated supply products of the British Army units stationed in the Suez Canal Zone, and officers and soldiers love to eat.

This is an industrial chain worth tens of millions of silver dollars, from marine fishing to processing, transportation, warehousing and other industries, related employees account for one-fifth of Humen City, is one of the important economic output.

At that time, Humen did not rely on fishery processing and animal husbandry, but the real profiteering was the smuggling industry for the entire Arab region, where gold, jewelry, saffron, women and Arabian horses were hard currencies that could be shipped out to make a fortune.

The Arab region has a strong demand for spices, wool products, guns and ammunition, cloth, ceramics and various industrial products, which strongly supports the prosperous two-way smuggling trade.

Most of the first batch of mercenaries who followed Baron Li Yong to smuggle are now making a lot of money, with wives and concubines, shops in the city, pastures and plantations in the countryside, so they quit their careers as mercenaries licking blood and live a stable life.

The power of example is endless, and following in the footsteps of their predecessors, a new generation of retired soldiers joins the ranks of mercenaries and embarks on their own adventures.

It is located in a sprawling castle-like building on the street side of the center of Humen

Li Yong's body was already refreshed, and he sat on a luxurious seat in the style of the Persian court with a ruddy face, holding the "World Journal" in his hand but not reading, but thinking about what was in front of him.

He returned to Humen City this time to rest and recuperate, and secondly, the old prefect, Viscount Lei Xiaopeng, was about to be transferred, and he returned to the mainland to take up the post of a high-ranking officer of the Royal Praetorian Guard, and he was replaced by Brigadier General Friedman-Kopf.

Whether it is Xi'an or Humen, if the smuggling business wants to continue in the long run, it is inseparable from the protection and blind eyes of the garrison commander.

As soon as he thought of Brigadier General Friedman-Kopf's inaccessible appearance, Li Yong felt a splitting headache.

No, he is going to gather a few henchmen to discuss how to conquer this German soldier.

After being in a daze for a while, Li Yong sighed before he put his eyes on the "World Journal" in his hand, which was already a newspaper published more than two months ago, and the huge black font on the front page immediately caught his attention;

The tragic bloody battle, although the defeat is still glorious, the Beiyang Navy has been destroyed since then!