Battle took Xu Xueying and Catherine into the makeshift tent. Henry's death made Catherine grief-stricken, and her tear-washed face was extremely haggard.

King Khan thanked Catherine and said, "We are all very touched by your willingness to risk your life today to save those dozen children!" Once again, we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts......"

Catherine didn't answer, just shook her head slightly.

King Khan continued with a smile on his face: "It is also because of your efforts that you have won the corresponding time and opportunity. These children are now saved! ”

Hearing this, Catherine jerked her head up, showed a smile of relief, and nodded at the Khan King.

Xu Xuegong comforted Catherine and said: "Henry was unfortunately killed, and we are all very sad!" But he gave his life for the sake of justice to protect his loved ones, and I believe he is happy! ……”

Catherine softly thanked her and lowered her head again.

King Khan wanted to ask Catherine about the poison, but when he saw Catherine's current state, he felt that it was not suitable, so he said:

"Just ask Xue Ying to take Catherine to rest first, and let's discuss some things after dinner......

Xu Xueying agreed, and took Catherine out of the big tent.

The king of Khan asked Bayinqing to call Ashankundu in and told him: "The front of Qingsong Village has been surrounded by us, and there will be no problem." But we still have to guard against poisons and explosives on the hands of these people. If they want to use these things to carry out their dying struggles and engage in 'fish and net breaking', they will not be able to get out of the two valleys in the east and west, and it will be possible to venture out from the back mountain of Qingsongzhai to break through and approach the big glacier...... The position of both you and Li Jie Kun is very important, not only to contain and monitor their machine gun position on the top of the hill, but also to observe the full movement of the enemy command post in the back hill. Now pay special attention to the possible surprise operation they can launch in the direction of the Great Glacier. You now bring a squad of men with more rifles and ammunition to strengthen the defensive and assault capabilities of this position. Put a few more guard posts in the jungle in the back mountain, and you can't leave dead ends......"

Ahsan Kundu was ordered to go out of the tent and organize people to go.

In the evening, in the command post of Shaman in Qingsong Village, the atmosphere of depression became even stronger. Because the water intake was blocked by the other party, it was impossible to get water to make food, so it could only barely maintain drinking by collecting the residual snow in the vicinity after melting; However, there are many impurities in this kind of water, some of which are turbid and difficult to swallow in the mouth. This made Cloun, who was accustomed to enjoyment, a little unbearable, and a few hours ago he had sworn that it would not be a problem to support him for three months, and his heart began to change.

"We wanted to control their glacier water, but now they control the water we eat on...... It's incredible that we're now about to become wild people in the primeval forest. If this continues, I wonder how long we can hold on? Cloun grumbled to Shaman.

Shaman's heart was also very depressed, and when he saw Crane talking like this, he complained angrily, "Isn't this all thanks to your Catherine?" ”

When Crawn saw Sharman snatching himself, he was very disgusted, and immediately retorted: "If you don't hide those children and exchange hostages normally, will things have developed to this point?" It's all you guys playing tricks, making small moves, and messing things up! Now turn around and blame me? It's inexplicable! …… Tell me, how am I going to explain to Sir Mike now? ”

The adjutant saw that the two had another dispute, and felt that this dispute would not be fruitful and would not be conducive to everyone's solution, so he changed the topic and said:

"Now that we have completely lost the mapping team, and our plan of action has been completely exposed, the task of poisoning the water and blasting the great glacier is no longer possible, so let's discuss what to do next."

Crawn was furious, and shouted loudly, "Deliberation? …… Discuss what? Now that the mountains and rivers are exhausted, it is better to surrender to the Chinese! ”

Sharman was shocked! He shouted loudly: "Mr. Cloun! Watch your words! …… Surrender? How many Chinese we killed, don't you know? Could it be that if we raise our hands and go out and surrender, will the Chinese be able to let us go? ”

Clone was also very excited, and said with a sneer: "That's what you Kokand soldiers did...... As a veteran of the British Empire, it is not a shame to surrender to a powerful opponent who defeated you! ”

Sharman was already a little hysterical and shouted, "Mr. Clanne! You were once a soldier of the British Empire, an artillery major of the British Empire; And now it's a mercenary of my 'Hongfu Khanate'! It is the 'Hongfu Khanate' who is paying for you to help us conquer this land. Although we are allies with the British Empire, we are the future masters of this land. Even if you die in battle now, the British Empire will never recognize your existence. You should understand who you are! ”

When Clone heard that Shaman didn't care about his dignity at all, and was poking his old bottom, he was completely enraged, and he also shouted loudly:

"My mission? …… My mission is to safeguard the supreme 'national interest' of the British Empire. Helping you is nothing more than treating you like a janitor dog in front of our Indian colony! To put it more bluntly, it's called 'cannon fodder'...... Cannon fodder! Do you understand? ”

After speaking, he turned his head and walked out of the command post angrily.

Shaman is already so angry that he is smoking! After a moment's pause, he instructed the adjutant: "Go and stop them, replace all the machine gun shooters with ours!" ”

The adjutant felt that something was wrong, a little hesitant, and just wanted to speak, but Shaman glared at him fiercely! He had no choice but to do so......

It's getting dark.

Catherine rested for a while in the company of Xue Ying and felt much better. She simply ate some of the food brought by Xiaomei, and then said to Xue Ying:

"It seems that the king of Khan has something to say to us, let's go quickly......"

Entering the big tent, King Khan, Xu Xuegong, Xu Xuezhong, and Battle were all relieved to see that Catherine was in a good state. Catherine's performance on the battlefield today made everyone awe-inspired! I didn't expect this weak blonde girl to have such courage and courage, and everyone already regarded her as a member of their team.

"The Khan and everyone want to hear about poisons and explosives. Can you tell us about it? Xu Xuezhong asked Catherine.

Catherine also estimated that everyone was worried about the whereabouts of the poison that could kill millions of people, and she was constantly worried about the existence of the poison. She introduced to everyone:

"This agent is a highly toxic powder that is colorless and odorless. It is usually stored in a special metal can, and when used, the metal can can be opened and thrown on the surface of the water to contaminate the entire water body. According to the estimate of the dose they carried this time, it can poison the water of rivers within tens of kilometers or tens of thousands of acres of lakes. Humans and animals can be fatal if they drink 10 milliliters of poisoned water...... However, the agent is only soluble in water and does not spread in the air. ”

"Where are all these poisons and explosives stored?" Battle asked Catherine.

"The poison canister was stored in Crowne's marching tent. Two of Cloune's guards focused on guarding; The explosives were stored about 30 meters below the main entrance of the cave...... Originally, these explosives should have been kept away from the artillery positions at the entrance of the cave, because the violent vibration of the artillery could have triggered the explosives. But when they were killing people in the Heavenly Wolf Valley before, they blew up half of the vault in the main entrance of the Tibetan Soldier Cave, and there was no way to clean it all out, so they could only store explosives dozens of meters away from the artillery, and the stored shells were also nearby. Catherine said.

Xu Xuegong asked Catherine, "According to your judgment, how many days can the rations they carry last?" ”

Catherine thought for a moment and said, "They brought a lot of military supplies such as grain, biscuits, and corned beef, which may not be exhausted in a few months, and the arms will be more abundant." However, drinking water cannot be solved, and can only be maintained by melting snow water. ”

Battle is also deeply impressed by Catherine's courage! He had a vague feeling that Catherine had a different kind of God-given wisdom and magical power; Perhaps this kind of wisdom and strength can unexpectedly solve the "dead knot" of this rat trap that plagues everyone. He tried to ask Catherine:

"We don't have heavy weapons in our hands. Judging by the strength of their defense, a strong attack must have caused heavy casualties; But if this stalemate drags on, it's not a good idea...... Think about it, put yourself in your shoes, and use your point of view to see if there is a way to get rid of them quickly? ”

Catherine pondered for a moment, and gradually revealed a mysterious smile...... She glanced at Xu Xueying.

Xu Xueying understood, and asked everyone a little mysteriously: "On our way here in the afternoon, we saw an enemy abandoned mountain cannon outside the mouth of the East Valley of the Heavenly Wolf Valley, which overturned in the ditch on the side of the road. Have you noticed? ”

Battle seemed to realize something, and quickly replied to Xue Ying: "See! I took a look at it several times, and I thought it was a pity, as if there was a box of shells scattered next to it......"

Xu Xueying said excitedly: "Yes! It's that mountain cannon! …… I accompanied Catherine down to the ditch to see the damage to the cannon. Because there is a lot of snow on the ice, this cannon is not heavy and can still be used! ”

Everyone's eyes were on Xu Xueying and Catherine......

Catherine nodded to everyone and said firmly, "Yes! It still works. ”

Everyone was a little surprised!

"Even if it works, none of us will be able to operate it?" Battle said with some confusion.

"I can do it!" Catherine said confidently.

Everyone was stunned by Catherine's words!

Xu Xueying looked at everyone's stunned appearance and said softly: "Don't worry, everyone, listen to Catherine tell everyone slowly." ”

Catherine saw everyone's astonishment, and felt that she must think that she was talking big, and doubted her own operating skills, so she hurriedly explained seriously:

"Half of the training I received in the Simrat training class, except for field surveying and mapping practice and Chinese learning, was artillery operation norms. The field exercises used this horse-drawn Armstrong field gun, with a caliber of 76 mm, an effective range of 3,000 meters, and a shell weight of 9 pounds. The box of shells scattered on the side of the road is the shell for this field gun...... Attacking a fortress like Qingsongzhai equipped with machine guns and artillery is absolutely not possible with the charge of cavalry and infantry alone. Heavy weapons such as artillery are necessary to suppress and destroy the enemy's firing points in order to avoid heavy casualties......"

It dawned on everyone! But this sudden surprise made everyone wonder what to say...... Mu Cheng Lama, who had just entered the big tent, didn't know what was going on, but when he saw everyone's extremely excited looks, he felt that he must have come up with a good way to defeat the enemy, and read aloud:

"Amitabha! ……”

Battle and Xu Xuezhong couldn't hold back the joy in their hearts, and immediately took Catherine and Xu Xueying and organized people to go to "fetch guns" overnight......

Clone lay on the marching bed in his tent, panting wildly, anger burning in his chest. I didn't expect that this retired artillery major of the British Empire was so honorable? It is unacceptable to be humiliated like this by the people of Kokand today! Thinking that the glory of his life and even his life was about to be destroyed at the hands of these Kokand people, whom he despised at all, he was so depressed that he could hardly control himself...... The task assigned by the boss can no longer be completed, and it is impossible to break through; Even if you can escape from here by luck, in this ice and snow, not to mention returning to Britain or returning to colonial India, even if you want to escape to the nearest military town occupied by the Kokand people, it is five or six hundred kilometers away, and the chance of survival is basically zero. However, to spend here is to wait for death, not only to endure more torture, but also to endure the humiliation of these people, what to do next? …… He called out to the guards and told them to call the captain and deputy captain of the artillery team to come and meet him.

After a while, the two captains of the artillery team entered Clon's tent. The two men, who were also retired officers of the British Army artillery, were personally selected and brought to the battlefield in Xinjiang, China, when Cloune recruited mercenaries.

As soon as the two artillery captains came in, they also held their breath and complained: "Just now, the Kokand people removed all our four machine gun instructors and replaced them with their men. We also wanted to ask what was going on? ”

Clounn was even more annoyed when he heard this! It is another great humiliation to deprive yourself of the command of both artillery and machine gunners! It feels like Sharman is about to turn his face completely...... After calming down a little, he told the guards outside to keep an eye on the door and not allow anyone to enter, and then turned to the two artillery captains and said:

"There's no way to cooperate with these stupid pigs anymore, what do you say?"

The two artillery captains looked at each other for a moment, and instantly understood what had happened, but they couldn't think of any good way for a while.

"The Chinese have turned this place into an iron bucket, and the most realistic way now is to make peace with them." However, after killing so many Chinese, can they agree to reconcile? The deputy captain of the artillery asked suspiciously, frowning.

"The massacre of Chinese civilians was done by the Kokand people! …… Perhaps, Chinese can be open to us, as evidenced by the way they treated Catherine...... It's best to be able to get in touch with Catherine......" said the artillery captain.

The vice-captain shook his hand, sighed, and added, "It's impossible to contact Catherine now. Moreover, it is impossible for Shaman to agree to make peace or surrender, because they know that Chinese will definitely pay for their debts in blood, and they will never let them go...... However, we make peace with the Chinese, and we don't have any chips in our hands? If you don't have chips......"

When Crawn heard the word "chips", a thought suddenly flashed through his brain! A wave of his hand interrupted the vice-captain's words. His eyes slowly fixed on a metal canister hanging from the corner of the tent - a "poison canister" capable of killing millions of people...... He didn't say anything, just pointed to the metal can.

The two artillery captains suddenly felt that their mouths were suddenly opened! They nodded together and stretched out their thumbs, and said in unison:

"Hmm...... That's it! ”

Crawn had already made up his mind at this time, and said in a low voice: "It is estimated that the Chinese must know about our plan to blast the big glacier and water source to poison, then they know the existence of these explosives and poisons." I'm afraid that's what they're most worried about...... We can't take the explosives with us, but we can take this poison canister with us, it's a secret asset of our British Empire......"

This night in the Valley of the Celestial Wolf may be the most special and wonderful night in a hundred years. Around the green pine village, more than 200 felt bags of all sizes have been built; Hundreds of bonfires illuminate the entire Qingsong Village and half of the Heavenly Wolf Valley. Fortifications were built at prominent points throughout the encirclement to defend against enemy raids, and several "horse traps" were dug in each passage. In addition to the rotation of guards, everyone is drinking and eating meat, and it is very lively!

Meng He led the patrol team to eat and drink, patrolling back and forth, and coldly fired a few shots at the enemy's position.

At midnight. It took a lot of effort for Battle and Xu Xuezhong to drag the cannon abandoned by the enemy from the bottom of the ditch and transport it to the location chosen by Catherine......

In the command post of the enemy army. The adjutant pushed the door in and reported to Shaman: "Clouen has called two artillery captains to his tent for two hours, and now he has called in four machine-gun instructors as well...... Looks like they want to get away from us. ”

Sharman was reclining in his chair and meditating with his eyes closed, and he was not particularly surprised to hear the adjutant's words—he was already completely disappointed in Clounn in his heart, and felt that it was very possible for these life-hungry Englishmen to "fend for themselves". He's already thinking about the next step – what to do with these people? Although these people are now allies, once they turn against each other and are used by the Chinese, they will become a huge threat to their own side! However, if extreme measures were taken against them, it would certainly have an irreparably significant impact on the long-term cooperation with the British Empire in the future. How to grasp this scale? ……