The six thousand forwards were destroyed, and the whistle cavalry had no return, which made Frederick Carl frightened and suspicious, so naturally he did not dare to underestimate the enemy to advance again. Instead, he adopted a steady strategy of attacking and slowly advancing forward. After waiting for the main army to catch up, the German army began to advance forward and rushed to Standerton twenty kilometers away to set up a camp, build a position, and put on a defensive posture.

Qing army camp, command center.

A staff member quickly walked to the sand table and reported: "The French-Austrian coalition forces have significantly accelerated the marching speed. The 10,000 vanguards are less than fifty kilometers away from Fort John..."

"No wonder the Germans are not in a hurry to attack." Yi Zhengxing sneered: "Is this what we want to mobilize troops to reinforce Fort John?"

"The six thousand forwards were knocked out cleanly, and it was reasonable for the Germans to become cautious." Feng Zicai turned his attention to Fort John on the sand table. "Once the French-Australian coalition easily captured Fort John, it would form a double-sided attack on Standerton..."

After hearing this, Yi Zhengxing hesitated for a while before tentatively saying: "What General Feng means, let's take the initiative to attack?"

Feng Zicai picked up the hand pole and pointed on the sand table: "Whether it is the German army or the French-Austrian coalition, the logistics supply line and communication line are very long. Cut off their logistics supply and wired telegrams, so that they can fight on their own, and perhaps get good fighter jets."

"The Transvaal Defense Force is competent and willing to accept this task." Yi Zhengxing nodded. He had carefully learned about the Transvaal Defense Force. Although the troops were not large, they were almost all excellent cavalry. They were very good at attacking supply lines and destroying communication lines.

German positions, command center.

"Has the wired telegraph line been cut off?" Frederick Carl was shocked and asked quickly: "Can the material transported be lost?"

"No." The staff officer hurriedly said: "The transport team also encountered a small-scale attack, but was equipped with small-caliber mortars and machine guns, which easily defeated the opponent."

"Restore communications as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the communication lines." Frederick Carl whispered, saying this, but in fact he knew in his heart that if the other party deliberately sabotages, it would be difficult to ensure that the communications were normal. After all, the communication lines were too long and they lacked cavalry, so it was impossible to defend against the other party's small cavalry team coming and going like the wind.

He waved his hand to send the staff away. He took the pipe and lit a pot of cigarettes. If nothing unexpected happens, the French and Austrian coalition should have started attacking Johannesburg today. But at this critical moment, the cables were destroyed. What was the intention of the Qing army? Concealed the division of troops to reinforce Johannesburg?

Whether Standerton's Qing army had already divided its troops to reinforce Johannesburg? He was difficult to judge that there were many trains on the railway line from Standerton to Johannesburg every day, and he could not make a judgment. However, he was sure that once Johannesburg was in a hurry, Standerton's Qing army would inevitably send troops to reinforce. After all, Johannesburg was the most worthy city in Transvaal.

In the past few days, he remained silent and acted as a defensive attitude, just waiting for the French and Austrian coalition to attack Johannesburg, thereby mobilizing Standerton's Qing army. According to the plan formulated before the war, this battle must be decided quickly and must be captured before the Qing army launched large reinforcements.

If his previous mission was to restrain the Qing army, now he would capture Standerton as soon as possible, and then advance westward to cooperate with the French and Austrian coalition forces to capture Johannesburg in one fell swoop, without giving the Qing army a chance to breathe and defeat each other.

However, he did not mind waiting for a day or two, and the main force of the French and Austrian coalition arrived and surrounded Johannesburg. When Standerton's Qing army was waiting for a large-scale evacuation and then attacked, he did not believe that Standerton's Qing army would sit down and watch Johannesburg fall.

"Your Highness—." Chief of Staff James walked in and handed over a plan, "This is a plan for a night attack tomorrow. Your Highness will see if there is any supplement..."

The night attack was proposed by the General Staff. The reason was that from the huge craters left on the battlefield and the remaining artillery, it was determined that the Qing army had heavy artillery with long-range and powerful power. The trains sent from Standerton in the past few days did not load heavy artillery at all. Therefore, it is certain that Standerton still has a large number of heavy artillery.

Another reason that prompted the German army to launch a night attack was the Qing army's hot air balloon. During the day, the Qing army's hot air balloons were always hanging in the air, and the German army, which had a radius of twenty or thirty miles, were under the control of the Qing army. In this case, the German army advanced twenty kilometers in the daytime and launched a large-scale attack, which would inevitably be ruthlessly bombarded by the Qing army's heavy artillery, resulting in unbearable casualties.

It is precisely because of this that the General Staff proposed an offensive plan for a night attack. Frederick Carl knew that such a large-scale night attack could not be effectively commanded and might become a chaotic battle, but weighed the pros and cons, he still agreed to the offensive plan for a night attack.

After carefully reading the plan, Frederick Carl pondered for a while before speaking: "The artillery cannot be concentrated and must be dispersed. It is not clear at present how many heavy artillery Qing army has and how many land war artillery. Once exposed, the consequences are unimaginable. In addition, the Qing army's machine guns and mortars are equipped with many... I suggest that the four artillery battalions should still be based on battalions, one on the left and right wings, two on the middle, and two on the left and right wings should be pushed forward as much as possible..."

After thinking for a moment, James said: "Johannesburg is in a hurry. The main force of the Qing army should go to reinforce. Standerton's defenders should be only five or six thousand, not to mention that there is a night attack..." He did not finish his words, but his meaning was very clear, and there was no need to be so cautious.

"Standerton is a railway hub. Once it falls, it will directly threaten the safety of the railway line from Maputo to Johannesburg. The Qing army dare not give up easily." Frederick Carl said slowly: "The Qing army did not transfer heavy artillery, which is enough to show the importance of Stantton. I think the Qing army's remaining troops should be around 10,000, and we should not underestimate the enemy too much."

This judgment is not unreasonable. After all, I don’t know much about the situation of the Qing army in Standerton, so it’s not bad to be cautious. James nodded, “Then I’ll modify it again….”

"Where is the captured 6,000 vanguard troops? Has the whereabouts been found?" Frederick Carl asked in a muffled voice. In the past few days, the whistle cavalry searched the nearby 50 kilometers and found only a bloody battlefield. Six thousand cavalry died. Without asking, the other officers and soldiers were captured, and more than 5,000 prisoners were captured. He had dreamed of rescuing them in the past few days.

James shook his head bitterly. Although Standerton was not big, they had serious lack of cavalry. The small group of whistle cavalry sent were not the opponent of the Qing army's whistle cavalry. They were not even reliable at the side of Standerton, and they could not find out much about the situation of Standerton's Qing army, let alone the place where prisoners of war were imprisoned.

"Win the battle tomorrow night, let them capture more prisoners." Frederick Carl ordered that there was no other way, so he could only use the method of exchanging prisoners.

City of Gold - Johannesburg.

As the vanguard of the 10,000 French and Austrian coalition forces arrived, the two left-behind Qing troops fled without fighting, and the Transvaal National Wehrmacht also fled. The entire Johannesburg fell into unprecedented panic, and the terrified crowd fled along the railway and highway to Pretoria, the capital of Transvaal, which was not far away.

The French and Austrian coalition was a little unbelievable to occupy this city with the reputation of "Golden City". The coalition commander and French Lieutenant General Federb were also unbelievable to receive the victory from the fast horse. However, he soon realized that Standerton's 40,000 German troops were probably in danger, and the Qing army could not give up Johannesburg for no reason. There was only one possibility, concentrating troops to deal with Standerton's German troops first.

The Qing army and the Boers who fled without a fight drove away all the trains and blew up the external railways in Johannesburg. Even if he was willing to reinforce Standerton, he was powerless. What's more, he was very happy to see the Qing army annihilate Standerton's 40,000 German troops, not only because of national hatred, but also because of the arrogant Germany that wanted to occupy 40,000 shares in the Transvaal Gold Mine.

Now, let alone sending troops to reinforce, even if you want to report a message, you can't help from the German army in Standerton. The wired telegram from Johannesburg to Kimberley has been completely cut off. Even if you send a fast horse to the Kimberley newspaper, it will be too late. He is sure that the Qing army must have cut off the wired telegram line from Standerton to Dileismith.

"Transmission—" Federb ordered loudly, "Quick Horse reports to Kimberley for victory, and reminds that the Qing army may concentrate its forces to attack the German army in Standerton."

"Send the order to intercept fleeing miners along the way as soon as possible and restore gold mine production as soon as possible."

"Telection, the troops will speed up the marching and enter Johannesburg within two days."

Standedton, Qing army camp, command center.

Feng Zicai said with regret, putting down the telegram in his hand, "Fort John has fallen into the hands of the French-Austrian coalition..."

"It's just a temporary change of hands." Yi Zhengxing said indifferently, then turned his attention to the sand table, "It should be the last two days for the German army on the opposite side to launch an attack?"

After hearing this, Feng Zicai immediately cheered up. Although he didn't understand why he voluntarily gave up Johannesburg, he knew that it was a rare opportunity now, and the German army on the opposite side would definitely not be able to resist the attack, because the German army would never have thought that they would severely damage the other party at the cost of giving up Johannesburg.

"Realistically speaking, an attack should be launched today, but there was no movement on the other side, which means that the other party was very cautious." Feng Zicai said coldly and said, "No matter how cautious you are, you can't help but take action. You have to see when the other party can endure it." As he said that, he raised his head, "When will the main fleet arrive?"

Yi Zhengxing shook his head slightly, "How can you tell the sailing on the sea clearly? If you encounter wind and waves, it is normal to delay for three or five days..."

If it really took three or five days to delay, the daylily would be cold. Feng Zicai sighed inwardly. In fact, he was quite worried that the German army on the opposite side would be stalemate with them. Once the French and Austrian coalition captured Johannesburg and quickly reinforced, they had no choice but to retreat, and their plan to severely damage the German army would be ruined.

It usually starts dark at seven or eight o'clock, but it gets dark before six o'clock today. A large area of ​​dark clouds spread rapidly from the edge of the sky. Obviously, there will be a heavy rain at night.

Frederick Carl stood outside the tent and looked at the dim sky. He didn't know what he was thinking. Chief of Staff James walked over quickly, "Your Highness, there will be a rare heavy rain at night..."

"The heavy rain is better!" Frederick Carl smiled rarely, "A rainy night is more suitable for night attacks." As he said, he pointed to the sky, "Because of the heavy rain, the hot air balloon has landed in advance."

James said: "The heavy rain will greatly delay the speed of the march."

"But it is also the best cover." Frederick Carl said, waved his hand, "Get together in advance."

Before seven o'clock, the sky was completely dark, and the heavy rain finally fell. For a moment, the wind and rain were slanted, and 30,000 German troops were divided into three groups to hide into the night in the heavy rain.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Bookstore.

The wind outside was cold, but the study room was warm and warm. It was already midnight, and the yard was still brightly lit. Yi Zhizu had no sleepiness, and was alone in the study room in a daze. Zhao Liewen lifted the cotton curtain and came in, glanced at him, reminding him: "The big shopkeeper, it's already a little past..."

"I can't sleep." Yi Zhizu said softly: "Let them get some late-night snacks and give them one to those on night shifts."

"Students will give you instructions now." Zhao Liewen said, turning around and going out. Because of the Transvaal War, there were really many people staying up late in the yard. When he returned, he tentatively said: "Is the shopkeeper saddened because he gave up Johannesburg?"

"Ci doesn't control the army, there is nothing to hurt the gods." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Fort John gave up voluntarily, and there will be no massacre after the French-Austrian coalition forces occupy it. They want gold."

"In this case, I am worried about the war in Standerton." Zhao Liewen smiled and said, "The time difference between Shanghai and Johannesburg is six hours. Standerton should be seven o'clock in the evening now... If the two armies fought, the telegram would have come long ago."

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said, "I am worried about the German army's night attack."

"Night attack?" Zhao Liewen said in surprise: "What would it be like if tens of thousands of troops attacked at night?"

"Why do you have to choose the least of the two evils?" Yi Zhizu lit a cigarette and said slowly: "When you change your position, I will also attack at night. The craters left by the 105mm light howitzer cannot be concealed from the Germans. Even though they know that the other party has heavy artillery and hot air balloons, attack at night is undoubtedly the best choice..."

Zhao Liewen felt nervous and hurriedly said, "Students immediately send a telegram to remind Feng Zicai."

"No." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "Nan Gan is also an old corps and has rich experience, so how can he not judge this? I just want to wait for news."

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said, "It's better to remind me."

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Chapter completed!