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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South, Chapter 60, Chapter 60: Ambush Part 1

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    When Duncan crossed the gangplank and stepped onto the land again, he couldn't help but feel slightly dizzy.  This was the result of twelve consecutive days on a rocking ship.  Since there was no stable supply of coal along the way, all the ships of this small expeditionary force did not use steam engines, but relied on weak and unstable winds to sail upstream. Of course, there was a less famous rumor in the army: No.  The real reason for running the steam engine was to save money. The money to buy coal had already been stuffed into the pockets of the governors. The stingy colonial governors would not spend an extra penny on unnecessary things, especially if this penny was not enough.  Most likely put it in your own wallet.  Especially when the soldiers gnawed on hard bread full of maggots and corned beef that was as dry and tasteless as a mummy, they believed this message even more.  As a professional soldier who has been in the colonies for almost twenty years, Duncan has a very clear mind, although he really wants to follow the customs of their great ancestors and chop off the heads of the Shun people who attacked him not long ago and hang them on the eaves.  Let dry beforehand.  War is war. You must put aside your personal feelings, observe and think calmly, and make correct conclusions. Only in this way can you win.  He docked at a river bend twelve kilometers away from Bagan City and asked soldiers to go ashore to build trestles, forts, and military camps.  At the same time, they sent student officers from the Burmese missionary school to collect various intelligence and get as much fresh food as possible. This was very effective in restoring the morale and health of the soldiers under their command.  By the morning of the second day after landing, Duncan had received quite detailed information: the Shun army was still at the dock and had fortified it, and had not occupied Bagan city, the recent disturbances in the city, the incident at Mohe Bodhi Temple, and the rebels  Have left Bagan city.  After half an hour of calm thinking, Duncan came to the conclusion: During this period of time, the Shun Army did not receive a large amount of reinforcements from the country, otherwise they would not still be at the dock outside the city. Although from a military point of view,  Look, Bagan City is not an ideal fortress, but from a political and religious perspective, controlling Bagan City means controlling the entire Central Myanmar. Since the Chinese have put those two fledgling children on the throne, they will never  Will give up halfway and leave it at that.  The constant chaos in the city shows that the local forces in Bagan are still very unstable. What they should do now is to show the presence of the British Empire here and bring as many of them to their side as possible, and at the same time request reinforcements from Yangon.  , prepare for the battle ahead.  And whether it is to test the strength of the Shun army or to show the power of the British Empire, it is necessary to fight a battle first, at least to show its existence.  Thinking of this, Duncan stood up and shouted: "Let Lieutenant Alexander come to me!" Ten minutes later, a young man in his twenties with light yellow hair and blue eyes walked into Duncan's tent.  , the straight military uniforms and beautiful boots formed a sharp contrast with the somewhat messy tent. He saluted Duncan and said: "Major, Lieutenant Alexander reports to you!" "Hello! Do you want whiskey?" Duncan poured it for himself.  A glass of wine, while making a questioning gesture to the young man.  "Thank you!" The young man took the wine glass. Duncan returned to his cot and sat down. He motioned for the other party to sit down as well and said, "Lieutenant, I came to you to ask your company to perform a mission." "I am willing to serve!  Alexander Company is willing to be the first unit to attack Bagan City!" Alexander stood up excitedly, spilling the wine in his glass, and a lot of it fell on his straight pants, immediately showing an ugly wine stain.  .  "Relax, relax! Lieutenant, you are not going to attack Bagan this time, it's just a parade, understand? It's just a military parade!" Duncan smiled and waved his hand, putting the drained wine glass on the coffee table aside.  .  "Military parade? I'm sorry, Major, I don't quite understand what you mean!" Alexander had a confused look on his face.  "Yes, a military parade!" Duncan explained with a smile: "You know, Lieutenant, we only have two battalions here this time, plus a few flat-bottomed gunboats. With this small force, it is impossible to defeat the Shun Army and conquer Burma.  The current situation is that the Shun Army is still staying at our dock and has turned it into a fortress, while the city of Bagan is in chaos. What we should do now is to win over the local Burmese people as much as possible.  Let's come over here, isolate the Shun army, and then kill all these sons of bitches when the follow-up troops arrive! Do you understand?" Alexander asked hesitantly: "Major, I don't understand, win over these Burmese people.  What does it have to do with military parades? " "Lieutenant, you don't understand these monkeys in Southeast Asia!" Duncan said impatiently: "They are cunning and cruel animals. You can only show your strength to make them subdue you.  , they will crawl at your feet. Do you understand? A military parade, let these monkeys see the emperor.How powerful!  " "Yes, Major!  "Alexander nodded. "Then, Lieutenant, let's set off at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. I wish you all the best!  "Duncan stood up, indicating that the meeting was over. "Yes, Major!  "Alexander stood up quickly. He hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Major, I don't think it's so troublesome. We don't need the support of these Southeast Asian monkeys at all!  " Duncan's face suddenly became stiff: "Lieutenant, you should go back to your company now and think carefully about how to do everything you need to do tomorrow!  " "Yes, Major!  "Alexander stood up straight in a panic, saluted to Duncan, and quickly exited the tent. Duncan looked at the other person's leaving back and cursed in a low voice: "These noble idiots will stay at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy for three years.  , learn how to choose shirts and shine shoes, and then join his regiment as a second lieutenant. In two years, he will be a lieutenant. If he is lucky, he may be faster.  Then the lives of fifty to a hundred good young men were put in the hands of these idiots. This is really a ridiculous thing!  "It turns out that in Britain at that time, because there had not been any major social changes, the military was still very conservative. Officers, especially mid-level and senior officers, were generally a restricted area for nobles. Officers were often promoted not because of their ability, but because of their origin, connections,  Wealth. It was not until 1871 that the decadent military purchase system was abolished. Even so, in the United Kingdom at the end of the 19th century, the aristocrats in the army were far better than the civilians in terms of starting point and promotion speed. The aristocrats in the British army  Officers often did not spend time and energy on studying military skills, but on riding horses, dancing, hunting and other aristocratic luxury life. The next morning, Alexander set off with his company. The British soldiers in this company were dressed in traditional clothes.  Wearing red uniforms, high hats, long boots, and carrying Lee-Enfield rifles, they formed a four-way column and started marching along the road to Bagan City. Lieutenant Alexander rode his beautiful Arabian horse.  In the middle of the team, to be honest, his equestrian skills are quite good. He only needs to occasionally change his body's center of gravity and pinch the horse's belly with his legs, and the Arabian horse will be tame and walking beside the marching team.  At about ten o'clock, the Alexander Company had reached the side road leading to Bagan City. At this time, they were still about six kilometers away from Bagan City. This road was built on the edge of a large rice field, and the rice fields had been harvested on the left side of the road.  It shows a beautiful scenery. A large number of waterbirds are looking for missing ears of grain and small fish in the rice fields. From time to time they make sweet chirping sounds. When someone approaches them, these waterbirds will fly together with a "plop" sound. They have various  The wings of colors are connected together, as if pulling up a colorful curtain. On the right side of the road, there is a large bush, which extends to the foot of the hills further away, where there are tall trees.  There are two trenches for drainage on both sides of the road. When it rains heavily, the rainwater that falls on the road will flow into the trenches and then drain into the rice fields to prevent people from digging the trenches.  The soil was thrown to the side of the ditch, forming small mounds. The small mounds close to the bushes were covered with a small thorny shrub. The locals called this small shrub gorse.  This kind of gorse grows very densely, and the branches are covered with sharp thorns. After a year or two, they will become a natural hedge that even rabbits can't get through. However, their branches, leaves and fruits are very good.  Local farmers like them very much. They plant a lot of gorse on the mounds, which can provide fodder and serve as fences to prevent passing pedestrians and wild animals from damaging their crops. Alexander is sitting on horseback.  He felt a gust of north wind blowing from the dry inland air on his face, which made him feel very uncomfortable. He licked his chapped lips and took out his pocket watch.  Look, he ordered to the old sergeant Gulson beside him: "Rest for fifteen minutes!  " "Yes, Lieutenant, but why not just go a little further ahead and rest?"  Something is too dangerous here!  Gulson replied in a low voice. He is a man in his thirties with a medium build. The hot wind and sun in the subtropics have tanned his skin as dark as the locals. Gulson has served in this battalion for eleven years.  In 2000, he was physically strong and very skilled in military affairs, and enjoyed high prestige among the soldiers. Alexander stood up from his horse and looked around, only to see the bushes not far away blowing regularly in the wind.  Shaking as if nodding his head, there was no trace of human presence. He turned his head and said to Sergeant Gulson: "Don't worry, there is no trace of human presence around here. Our bayonets can repel any enemy!"  "
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