Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 574 It's the mule, it's the horse drawn out

The so-called hero of the times, Li Yong Li Yong was once an officer of the Red Fort Guards. After being fooled into the African expedition by Li Xiaopeng (in 1884), he fought and kicked on the barren land of Africa in Somalia. Shengsheng broke into a new situation.

  In the vast Arabian Peninsula and the fertile Mesopotamia, most of the locals may not know the name of Li Yong, but when it comes to the “African Lion King” who spreads fear and war, almost no one knows it and is a household name.

  He is a legendary king of smuggling in the Gulf of Aden, king of mercenaries, and the largest human trafficker in West Asia.

  He has sold more than 33,000 Arab women. Except for a small number of them that flowed into the Suez Canal area, most of them were trafficked to the more distant South Pacific and Australia. It is impossible to return to their homeland in this life.

  For several years

  By wooing the most influential local families in the Arab society in the Kingdom of Iran and the Ottoman Empire, Li Yong weaved a huge smuggling trade network, reaching the entire Persian river basin and even as far as Lebanon, thus earning huge wealth.

  The smuggling business is a money-making tool for the "African Lion King". The murderous mercenary team who intervened in the tribal wars in West Asia was a sharp blade in his hand, which won him a huge reputation that can stop children's night screams.

  In fact, the number of mercenaries under Li Yong is not large, and all of them do not add up to 700. More than 70% are armed escorts in the smuggling fleet, and there are only more than 200 elite mercenaries that can be used at any time.

  Private mercenary groups do not raise idlers, each carrot has a hole.

The reputation of the "African Lion King" is more from the mercenary team in Xi'an Town, because the name of the "African Lion King" is loud enough, and the prestige is high enough, under the banner of the local Arab tribe employers. When it comes to prices, they can always be higher by 20% or 30%.

  Over time, everyone has formed a habit.

  Li Yong did not mind that the Xi'an town mercenary team played under his banner, because they could enjoy 10% of the war bonus, which was a customary rule.

   late at night

  Ed Town

  The captive dog in the town suddenly barked, instantly awakening the sleepy African town. A cavalry squad in the town quickly rushed into the night and searched forward.

  It can be seen that the town’s combat readiness is quite high and the response is very quick.

  Not long after

The cavalry squad in Ed Town returned quickly, and the team members shouted: "Master Yong is here, Master Yong is here... Master Yong brought his brothers to reinforce. Everyone got up to make a fire and cook and went out to greet you. Master Yong is here."

  The sleeping town was lit up by kerosene lamps one after another, and they were quickly connected into a galaxy. People in the town walked out of their homes and laughed and clamored.

A bonfire was lit by the small bridge at the entrance of the town of Ed Town. The bright flame illuminates the surrounding area of ​​more than 100 meters. A large number of horse teams appeared in the dark. This is the thousands of horse teams that set off in Xi'an in the morning. , Rushed more than 280 kilometers to arrive here.

The tired cavalry entered the town, unloaded the saddle of the sitting Arabian horse immediately, covered the horse with a thin blanket under the light of the torch, and waited on the horses to drink some water and feed them with eggs. The concentrated soybean meal.

The cavalry only took time to eat a few bites of the dry food that they carried with them. After the horses were served, the cavalry lay one by one in the forage pile beside the stable and fell asleep. They traveled for more than ten hours. Tired.

  Li Yong rode to the door of a mansion in the town. Major Mo Zhenxiong (militia reserve) had been waiting here, and when he saw it, he stepped forward and said; "Yong Ye, I look forward to you!"

"How's the situation...does the Italian do anything?" Li Yong grinned a little and climbed down from the horse, because his legs were numb and his figure couldn't help but swayed, and several strong men next to him hurriedly helped him. live.

  "Not yet, but there is a regiment of Italian soldiers stationed in a river valley more than 10 kilometers away. They seem to be ill-intentioned, and they often want to attack us."

"Don't care about him, I'm so exhausted. I'll talk about the big things after I sleep. Since I brought people over, these Italians can't turn the sky." Li Yong waved his hand to the people around him. Standing up straight and confessing, "First, all the people I brought have been set up, and the staff will be arranged to prepare enough concentrate for the horses to feed, and some warm food will be taken to deal with it. Irrelevant personnel will be scattered. Now, how can I be in the mood to deal with them now?"

   "If you know about Lord Yong, I will do it right away."

Major Mo Zhenxiong courageously yelled that his subordinates should split up. First, take care of these tired cavalry, especially the long-distance horses sweating a lot. We must prevent the cold at night and feed them immediately. Prevent fat loss.

You must know that Ed Town is located in a plateau mountainous area. The annual average temperature is less than 16 degrees. The night is only about 10 degrees. It is very cool when the mountain wind blows. The Arabian horse has opened its pores after running for more than ten hours. It is easy to get sick under the cold wind at night.

  The city of Xi’an today is different from the past. It can assemble a huge horse team of more than tens of thousands of people with a single order, and they are all excellent Arabian war horses.

  Because the bulk of smuggled goods are women and Arabian horses (including Persian horses), as the smuggling center of the entire Arabian Peninsula and the Mesopotamia, Xi'an certainly does not lack these things.

  Here, there are no less than 20 large-scale horse farms, and all the fine Arabian horses are raised and bred in captivity, which is also the favorite of mercenaries.

It is precisely because of the need for a vast and excellent horse farm that Xi’an will continue to expand into Eritrea. Compared with the Somali region, which is full of Gobi and yellow sands, the beautiful Eritrean plateau and mountainous areas with abundant water and grass are very attractive. The only direction for the expansion of Chinese immigrants in the region.

  It is not only the need to develop farming, but also the need to develop good pastures, and it is also the need to expand living space.

  In the town house

  Li Yong was asleep in this scene, and did not wake up until dusk the next day hungry.

He was trapped in the soft and comfortable lion leather mattress, opened his eyes and stretched out lazily, revealing his strong naked arms. Next to him, two naked Arab girls on the left and right were clinging to each other. After warming the bed, seeing Li Yong wake up, he hurriedly called out.

  Several Arab maids came in with brass gilded utensils, including golden basins, golden bowls, golden pots, golden combs and ivory toothbrushes, and stood a slant along the side of the big bed.

"Okay, get up, I'm hungry, my heart is on my back, and I don't have to worry about training you." Li Yong stretched out his big hand and patted his bright and white buttocks, and then sat up on the lion leather bed, just so bare. Come down and start washing.

  In the big wooden barrel in the outside room, the Arab waitress is pumping in buckets of hot water, and then sprinkling petals and essences, adjusting the bath water temperature to a suitable temperature for the master to use.

After brushing his teeth, Li Yong dropped the ivory toothbrush on the tray, picked up the golden bowl with lemonade (the outer layer is gilded), rinsed his mouth, turned his head and vomited in the golden bowl, then picked up the white towel After wiping it, he said, "Don't fix the useless ones. Let the kitchen get me something to eat. Just add some roast lamb, or else the heat will steam and I can faint in the tub."

The master’s words are orders. The Arab maids who served to wash and wash left one by one. Soon, the maids with various foods and fruits on the tray came in again, and served Li Yong while taking a relaxing bath, eating and filling up with delicious food. belly.

  The so-called; full and warm life**, hunger and cold steal the heart.

  The sound of splashing water quickly resounded in the room, and the panting and moaning of Arab beauties, like rain hitting plantain...

  After a long time

  When the sunset was overwhelming, Li Yong walked out of the gate of the inner house in a refreshing manner. He slipped a big circle in the yard outside, and saw that all the dignified subordinates were full of blood and resurrected, and he returned with satisfaction.

  Major Mo Zhenxiong just returned from inspection from outside the town, and saw Li Yong stepping forward and saying, "Yong Ye, I think your spirit is not ordinary enough!"

   "Ha ha ha... Brother Zhenxiong, I can't stop me for hundreds of miles, it's a trivial matter! How about... What changes are there in the situation outside the town?"

"According to the report of the cavalry observation post, another team of logistical supplies arrived at the Italian station in the valley today. About 200 mules and horses, mainly food, weapons and ammunition, were found at the observation post. Field guns were also found at the observation post. The specific caliber has not yet been figured out, but All I saw were six artillery pieces, and these Italians would not stop!"

"Huh, a group of under-beaten goods, let's go, follow me to inspect outside the town." Li Yong snorted coldly, took the whip handed by his entourage, turned on his horse, and brought more than a hundred talented mercenaries around him. Out of the horse.

  The sound of rumbling horseshoes swept across the dirt road in the town, shaking the wooden houses and trembling, dropping a cloud of dust.

  Standing on the hill, Li Yong took the copper telescopic monoscope and looked far away, carefully observing the layout of the Italian camp in the valley, and he looked solemn.

  In this valley

  There are neatly arranged gray-brown military tents, one row after another, and the number is about 400. Based on the calculation of 10 to 12 people in each tent, it is almost 5,000 people.

  Li Yong has an impulse to curse, is this really a group?

"Master Yong, according to our recent observations, these Italians have relatively loose accommodation in camps. There are 7 to 8 people in a tent, and some tents contain ammunition and food, so the number of troops in the army is 3,000. About, if you add this time to the supply of the horse team, there will be about 3,300 to 3,400 people, about six artillery pieces, and more than ten heavy machine guns. This kind of firepower is quite strong."

   "Well, it looks like the equipment is well equipped, the logistics supply is sufficient, and the morale of the soldiers is relatively high, so I don't know how it will really be?"

"Master Yong, I think they are very tricky enemies. If you go head-to-head, you may suffer a lot of casualties. The British envoys are already on their way. I hope the Italians can stay sensible. If the situation worsens, I think it would be a good idea to avoid the edge for the time being. The best policy."

"The Italians think so too. He wants us to back down." Li Yong's mouth showed a hint of sarcasm, and he continued coldly; "I don't care how glamorous their appearance is. We haven't beaten the Dutch before, the Ottomans even It’s because we’ve been so painful, I don’t know how many times, the old saying is good...if you don’t practice the fake handle, it’s the mule that pulls out."

  Mo Zhenxiong turned his head and looked at Li Yong, and saw that he was full of confidence, he could only helplessly spread his hands, and replied; "Okay, you are the boss, you have the final say."

  (End of this chapter)