Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 573 Xi'an's Confidence

  According to the latest statistics;

Australia’s largest circulation newspaper "World Journal" has reached more than 17,000 copies, the second-ranked "Brisbane Courier" has a daily circulation of more than 8,600 copies, and the "Melbourne Chronicle" has more than 2,000 copies, which has formed a stable reading. Reporting to the audience, the scale of issuance is expanding day by day.

  "World Journal" and "Brisbane Courier" are both Chinese and English dual publications, while "Melbourne Chronicle" is a pure English newspaper. The audience is obviously much smaller, and the influence is limited to the southern continent.

  From the above statistics, it can be seen that Queensland has cultivated a group of readers with a higher level of education.

Most of these are intellectuals who were born in the Young Eagle School. After entering the society, they entered various government departments, factories and mining enterprises to become the backbone of strength, and also an important part of the expanding middle class, capable of consuming a culture like newspapers. publication.

Red Fort has long since abandoned its policy of literacy for all in the early stages of development. Li Fushou’s original intention is good. Facts have proved that such a policy is out of date, costly and has little effect. It is like blowing bubbles in the turbulent wave of Chinese immigration. The middle quickly shattered.

Among the nearly 10 million immigrants in Queensland today, more than 93% are illiterate, and no more than 700,000 people can read and hyphenate. Most of them are talents cultivated by the Young Eagle School. This is what Li Fushou insisted on for many years. The result of spending tens of millions of pounds in training.

  Horizontal comparison

The quality of Chinese immigrants in Queensland is relatively high. First of all, the immigrants are mainly young and middle-aged. The proportion of males is more than 70%, and the absolute number of educated people is relatively high. In recent years, the average annual number of young students who have entered Australia The scale of 80 to 90 thousand people (in the early stage was small, only 30,000 to 40,000 people per year, and gradually increased to 50,000 to 60,000 people per year in the mid-term), it is a group of high-quality talents.

  This has effectively supplemented the talent gap in society and is a new force in technological progress.

  In European and American societies

With the progress of the times, middle-class young people usually receive secondary education until they are 18-19 years old. When economic conditions permit, many people continue to receive university education or higher vocational training. This is the second industrial revolution in today’s society. The main driving force.

In general

The number of students in schools in Europe and the United States is still small. Theological education and Latin education account for more than half of the curriculum. However, in order to adapt to the development of the times, some mathematics, physics, chemistry, music and art have been added to the middle school education stage. The atmosphere is very strong.

  There has been a considerable increase in higher education. Between 1875 and 1889, the number of German students increased by more than 1.7 times.

  Between 1875-1889, the number of French students increased by more than 2.6 times. This is an obvious change, which shows that the middle class of European and American society pays more attention to education.

  However, according to statistics;

The proportion of French teenagers aged 12 to 19 who go to secondary school is still less than 3%, a total of 77,000, which is about the size of the Eagle School, and only 10% of this age group survives the graduation exam. For one, many students drop out of school for various reasons.

  Most of the students simply can’t learn, while others hate the indoctrination of religion or the troubled Latin. The number of students who drop out of school is actually due to economic reasons.

  Compared with France, the education situation in Germany is much better.

In 1889, there were more than 271,000 students in Germany between the ages of 12 and 19. On the one hand, this was due to the larger population of Germany. On the other hand, the German Empire also paid more attention to education. In particular, the Junker military aristocracy generally required higher education. , This is the basic quality to grow into an excellent officer.

In terms of education powers in Europe and America, it is ranked first in the United Kingdom. There are more than 400,000 students in the teenage age group. The number of students who can enter higher education institutions each year exceeds 30,000, and a large number of world-famous institutions of higher learning have been born. , The quality of education is top in the world.

Sure enough, it deserves to be the birthplace of the first industrial revolution and the earliest industrialized country. Britain’s scientific and technological heritage is unmatched by other European and American powers. It's not without reason that the Americans pick up their teeth by knocking on the side drum.

  On the other hand, Queensland’s education situation is basically promoted by the Lord Earl. For this reason, he invests huge amounts of education expenses every year, and the results are quite gratifying.

  According to the rigorous standards of the Young Eagle School, in Australia’s three-year high school study, some students with poor grades are eliminated every year and enter social work.

  Finally, no more than 60,000 students can take the high school graduation examination. According to the 28th principle, most of them will enter the society after graduating from high school, and only the best 10,000 students can get the opportunity to continue their studies.

  At this time

  These outstanding students need to bear the expenses of higher education by themselves. They can apply for student loans and repay them in installments within 5 years after graduation. They can also work and study on their own to obtain a meager income to pay for their academic needs.

  Of course, the best students can get scholarships, but this proportion is extremely small, only less than 5%, and there are about four to five hundred lucky people every year.

  With the gradual improvement of Queensland’s social development, a new generation of Australian-born children has grown up, and various public and private schools have sprung up in society, gradually sharing the pressure of social education.

  Chinese people are generally expected to be born into a dragon, and they are willing to spend more investment in education. As a nation that is good at learning, the future development of overseas immigrants is bound to get better and better, the road goes wider and wider, and the prospects become brighter.

   late April 1889

  Africa, the town of Xi’an in Djibouti

   Colonel Lei Xiaopeng walked into the headquarters of the Somalia Garrison with a gloomy face. In the office, a group of military officers and militia commanders saluted;

   "I'll wait to welcome the Lord Commander."

   "No gift, let's talk...what the **** is going on?"

The officers looked at each other, Li Yong, lieutenant colonel of the militia reserve, stood a step forward and said in a deep voice; "Reporter, these Italians stationed in Morgada are getting more and more outrageous, breaking the tacit understanding between the two sides. , Went deep into our Eide area, mobilized black indigenous chiefs to make trouble, and sent more than 400 guns and more knives and guns to the local black tribes. This was obviously a malicious action against us. As a result, the militia was patrolled by us. Grabbing the bag on the spot, the local black indigenous tribe insisted that they had a backstage and refused to disarm, and exchanges of fire broke out in the chaos of suppression. There were 11 casualties on our side, two of whom were killed in battle because of their injuries."

   "Did the Italians shoot?"

   "Not that, but we caught seven Italian soldiers headed by Captain Ennick. They confessed to their actions and dared to provoke unscrupulously..."

   "So you guys severely injured the Italians, and one of them died from the injury, but the one who was justified became unreasonable?"

   "Report sir, you didn't know that these Italian rascals really owe you a beating."

   "Alright, alright, don't give me reasons."

Colonel Li Xiaopeng squeezed his eyebrows with a headache, and said to the officers; "You all go down and restrain your subordinates from making trouble for me. This is an extraordinary period. The Italians are not the Arab tribes in the Mesopotamia. Treat them to them. Be cautious, I don't want this bit of trouble to cause trouble to the Red Fort, that...Li Yong stay."

   "Yes." A group of officers saluted and stepped back, leaving only Li Yong, a militia reserve lieutenant colonel, in the garrison chief's office, waiting for questioning.

After waiting for the officers to leave, Li Yong picked up the thermos without seeing anything, soaked a cup of fragrant tea for Colonel Lei Xiaopeng and himself, and brought them with a grin.

   Colonel Lei Xiaopeng reached out to take the cup, sighed, and said; "Sit down and talk about it. You will cause me trouble."

There are not many garrisons under Colonel Lei Xiaopeng. There are only 9 companies in the entire Somali garrison. Among them, there is one company garrisoned in Mogadishu, more than 1,400 kilometers away, and the remaining eight companies are all in. The surrounding area of ​​Xi'an Town.

The top priority of the Somali garrison is the Great Hanish Island in the Mande Strait. After years of continuous hard construction, the mountain peaks here have been almost hollowed out and built into a strong sea fortress. Usually four companies are stationed in the sea. About a thousand people.

  It contains three heavy artillery companies and one infantry company. The task is to guard the main channel of the strait. It is the forefront military presence of the Red Fort. No tampering is allowed under any circumstances.

In addition, the Gulf of Djibouti is in the shape of a big mouth. Xi'an Town is located in the throat (tonsil) position. On the plateau platforms along the east and west sides of Xi'an Town, a small fortress-style reinforced concrete coastal fort has been built separately. A company of soldiers.

Calculated in this way, Li Xiaopeng, the commander of the garrison area, can mobilize only the mobile force of two companies. They are usually stationed in Xi'an town and used to replace the garrisons in the Mande Strait and the coastal battery. There is no excess force at all. Available for use.

  But there is still a powerful military force in Xi'an town, that is, civilian mercenaries.

  Li Yong wears a reserve lieutenant colonel's career street. In fact, his true identity is the chief of the mercenaries. He echoes the ranks of the mercenary teams in Xi'an Town, and his prestige is extremely high.

With extreme mobilization, Li Yong can organize an armed mercenary team of more than 6000 people. The smuggling fleet has more than a dozen 95mm Miss Australia artillery, and even 60mm field guns, which are the first-line equipment of the Queensland army. , The combat strength should not be underestimated.

To know;

  The entire city of Xi’an has a population of just over 160,000, capable of organizing a powerful force of more than 6,000 people, equivalent to the size of a field division, which is unimaginable in other places.

  Somali Province can easily infiltrate the Assab and Ede regions to the northwest, control the 240-kilometer-long Red Sea coastline, and occupy one-fifth of Eritrea's area, all relying on these powerful armed militias.

Colonel Lei Xiaopeng took a sip of tea and said in a irritable tone; "Speak for yourself, the inquiry message of the Italian colonial army command has been sent, and the attitude is very tough, demanding severe punishment for the murderer who injured the Italian soldiers and compensation for the corresponding losses. What should I do?"

   "What do you do? Cold salad." Li Yong replied disdainfully.

  He raised Erlang's legs, picked up his teacup and drank leisurely, obviously not taking the Italian consultation message seriously.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you. The Italians have accumulated a colonial army of 14,000 people in Eritrea. This was originally an army that put pressure on the Kingdom of Ethiopia. If you do so, you are igniting the flames and attracting the attention of the Italians. You must know that the Assab and Eide areas are guarded by your militia, and I can't help much when it really fights." Lei Xiaopeng spread his hands, expressing his helplessness.

   "Hmph, I'll just wait for them to come." Li Yong snorted coldly.

   "Why... are you sure?"

"Of course, do you think we are vegetarian when we have been rolling in the flames of war? Other than that, our mercenary team can be called elite with more than 2,000 people, all of whom have experienced the test of war for more than seven or eight years. Veterans, if the conditions are relaxed a little, more than half of them can be called elites. Can those Italian troops be able to fight... We will know as soon as we pass by, they are all sloppy goods, and there are many in number. Fart, daring to move our territory is just looking for a dead end."

   "Listen to your tone, it seems that you are going to give the Italian a ruthless one?"

   "Hey hey...Brother Xiaopeng, are you going to participate? I'll tell you if you want to participate."

"Forget it, the military should remain neutral, so if necessary, wipe your **** to prevent you guys from blowing your cowhide, but it won't end well." Colonel Lei Xiaopeng waved his hand, really emboldened. so.

  Don’t look at the Somali garrison’s low strength, but it is also under the command of the African Chief Executive. There is also an entire field division in Mozambique. It usually conducts all-weather military training and prepares its troops to wait for the call of war at any time.

  This is a tiger and wolf division and a strong army that has experienced the test of war.

   Backed by such a powerful force, Colonel Lei Xiaopeng is naturally full of energy, and he is full of confidence when it comes to rubbing the buttocks of mercenaries.

   is not bragging, it is really capable.

  In a moment

  Li Yong left the Weiwu headquarters, and there was already a large group of cavalry waiting outside. They were all armed with guns and live ammunition, and the number was about a hundred. From the cold eyes, it can be seen that they are all veterans of the Hundred Wars.

   "Boss, what did Riesling say?"

"What do you say, who dares to reach out to our turf, come and chop a hand with one hand, Lord Earl has already said it; anyone who violates a strong man will be punishable even if it is far away." Li Yong strode I walked over, rolled over and rode an extremely beautiful Arabian thoroughbred horse, and said to the people under his hands; "It doesn't matter if it is Italian or French, you can defend me on the one-third of an acre in the Horn of Africa. If he refused to obey the rules, he would bend his head and ears, and now summon the cavalry to set off, aiming at Ed Town, and sound the summoning horn..."

   "Subordinates get the order, sound the calling number." A group of veterans underneath responded with a bang.

The stern sound of the trumpet echoed over the town of Xi'an. Many mercenaries who heard the trumpet rushed out of the room quickly, took their guns and stepped on their horses, and gathered towards the place where the trumpet sounded, and soon gathered more than a thousand. A large cavalry force of people.

"Set off……"

With a big wave of his hand, Li Yong led a cavalry contingent of more than a thousand troops towards the direction of Ede. The huge horse squad set off the yellow sand in the sky, and the sound of galloping horses hoofs swept across the wasteland like rolling thunder, carrying an infinite murderous instinct. Dust away.

  (End of this chapter)