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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 117: Interview

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    But a new order came, a messenger from the consulate said that an envoy from London wanted to see them immediately.  Envoy from London!  Gillings has had enough of these big shots now. Just like Mr. Balfour not long ago, they came here from thousands of miles away, arrogantly scolded Fang Qiu, and then went back with honor, while he had to take the rest.  Everything is done.  Now another such big shot has come down, but I don¡¯t know if he will leave a bigger mess when he leaves.  "Duncan, what do you think this new gentleman from London is doing?" Gillings asked in a low voice.  "I don't know, but I think our experience in Myanmar is coming to an end!" Duncan had a cold these days, and his voice was a little shaky when he answered.  "Okay!" Gillings nodded helplessly: "After returning to the UK, would you like to accompany me on a trip to New Guinea? There are many novel birds there. I want to complete the bird book that my father did not finish.  "Mr. Gillings, I'm afraid not!" Duncan shook his head: "You know that my hometown farm is going bankrupt. I need to get some money to go back, so I may have to find a chief of the country first.  Go make more money!" At this moment, the door of the reception room was pushed open, and a voice came from outside: "Mr. Gillings, Mr. Duncan, I'm afraid you two don't have to think about bird encyclopedias and reorganizing your home for the time being.  Your Majesty the Queen needs you to continue to serve the Empire!" Gillings and Duncan turned their heads in surprise, just in time to see Kitchener striding in behind the consul, and loudly introduced himself: "Hello, I am.  It's Colonel Horatio Herbert Kitchener. Prime Minister Disraeli has appointed me to take charge of the upcoming war in Burma! " "It's a pleasure to see you here, Colonel Gillings!"  Duncan stood up quickly and greeted the other party nervously.  Although Kitchener was only 35 years old at this time, he was already famous throughout the civilized world for his rescue of Charles George Gordon in the Sudan.  Originally, the two of them thought that London would send a congressman like Balfour as before, but what they didn't expect was a professional officer like Kitchener. The resistance in their hearts suddenly disappeared.  "Please do not call me Your Excellency, Her Majesty the Queen has not given me such an honor!" Kitchener replied, and then he said to the Consul General on the side: "Mr. Consul, I want to be undisturbed with Mr. Gillings and Mr. Duncan."  After talking for a while, can I borrow this room? " "Of course! You can use it as you like!" The consul nodded slightly and turned to leave.  At this time, only Kitchener, Gillings, and Duncan were left in physics. Kitchener turned around and closed the door, motioned for the two of them to sit down, took out a notebook from his jacket pocket, opened it to a page, and asked: "  Gentlemen, as the new commander of the Myanmar region, I would like to ask you the following questions: First, what is the navigation situation of the Irrawaddy River? Where can shallow-water armored gunboats navigate? Second, what impact does the annual climate have on it?  To what extent have people been involved? How many troops have they committed? What is the traffic situation from Mandalay to the southwestern border with China? Third, what is the current internal situation in Myanmar?  How, which side do the local nobles and people prefer? Fourth, how many soldiers, how many warships are available in Yangon, how much clothing, ammunition and supplies can be maintained in the warehouse? " Kitchin?  Na's barrage of questions made Gillings and Duncan stunned. After learning the identity of the visitor, they had expected that they might be asked questions about the Burmese war. However, detailed and cumbersome questions like this made them stunned.  The two of them didn't know how to answer for a while.  Seeing this, Kitchener's beard on his upper lip twitched slightly and smiled: "Okay, maybe I have too many questions at once, so let's start with the first question, the navigation situation of the Irrawaddy River.  Can shallow-water armored gunboats be navigable to Mandalay? Does the season have any impact on it? " "Colonel!" Duncan licked his lips: "The water volume of the Irrawaddy River is very abundant, which can be compared with the largest rivers in Europe.  , this river is actually formed by the confluence of two rivers named Enmeikai River and Malikai River. The place where they meet is Myitkyina, the capital of Upper Myanmar. If it is the rainy season, ships can sail all the way to  There, if it is the season with less water, the ship can navigate to Bhamo, about 150 miles south of Myitkyina. The depth of the main channel near Mandalay in the dry season is also more than 40 feet, but the downstream passes through Youminwu!  There is a narrow river valley between it and Pya, where the width of the river is about 0.4 to 0.6 miles! Shallow water. ""Very good! Mr. Duncan!" Kitchener took it out of the leather bag on the side with satisfaction.Take a map of Myanmar, take out your unilateral eye and use a pencil to mark the place names mentioned by Duncan.  Then he raised his head and asked: "Do you think gunboats are important to the war against the Chinese?" "The importance cannot be overemphasized!" Duncan replied decisively: "Although it is rainy in Myanmar,  The plains between Mandalay and Bagan are very hot, and the rainfall is not abundant. Only the plateau in the west has more rainfall. If there are no waterways for most of the year, it will be difficult for a large number of troops to march by land.  A very difficult thing. The first and second imperial conquests of Burma were carried out by water! " "Very good!" Kitchener said while recording in his notebook and map: "Let's move on to the next one.  Question: How many troops did the Chinese invest? To what extent were they involved, and what was the traffic situation like? " Duncan glanced at Gillings, and Gillings replied knowingly: "The Chinese responded very quickly.  They immediately dispatched an army, regardless of the difficulties in the rainy season, and defeated the king we supported. Their army was not large in number, about two thousand to three thousand men, but their equipment and training were very good, and they could compete with us.  Compared with the first-class colonial troops. The road from Mandalay to southwest China is very bad. It is just a medieval road. The road surface has been solidified. Once too many vehicles pass by, the road surface will crack.  It's okay during the rainy season, but once it reaches the rainy season, it becomes a small river and is impassable. The ancient Burmese deliberately left it unmaintained as a means of defending against their powerful enemies in the north. Of course, the Chinese would definitely take this opportunity to attack it.  This road is reinforced and repaired. However, with such a road winding through the mountains, the Chinese army in Myanmar will not exceed 20,000 people! As for the current situation in Myanmar, I can use one sentence to describe it, that is.  Very bad!" "What do you mean?" Kitchener asked: "Do you mean that these Asian yellow people have an instinctive hatred for Britain?" "No, that's not what I mean!" Gillings replied:  "Colonel, if I remember correctly, you have spent a long time in Egypt!" "Yes, I have been assigned to draw maps in the Middle East since 1874, and three years ago I was assigned to command a  Cavalry regiment!" "What do you think will happen to Egypt if the Nile does not flood in a certain year?" "That means famine!" Kitchener understood what the other party meant: "You mean there is a famine in Burma?"  "Almost!" Gillings replied: "The largest rice-producing area in Myanmar is the Irrawaddy Delta region in lower Myanmar, and its capital is Mandalay in the middle and upper reaches, so a large amount of grain flows upstream along the Irrawaddy River every year.  , but the war destroyed this exchange; more importantly, in order to resist the Chinese attack, the usurper forcibly requisitioned farmers and grain from the village communities. Many farmers who could not survive had to flee their hometowns and became bandits, and even  The manors and monasteries of the nobles were robbed, and the dams were not repaired as they should be, which is very necessary for the arid central region. I believe that in the near future, there will be a large-scale famine in Myanmar.  " "What about my fourth question?  " "Colonel, Major Duncan and I are currently on leave, so we have limited knowledge of the specific situation in Yangon, so we are sorry!  "Gillings tried his best to pretend that nothing had happened, but he was extremely nervous in his heart. Whether he spent the rest of his life as an ornithologist or a civil servant in the British Empire depended on the man in front of him who wore a single-sided spectacles and had a long life.  As the colonel with a big beard, Gillings could almost feel that his heart was about to explode under his uniform. "I'm very happy for what you two have done for the empire!"  "Kitchener stood up, but the stiff expression on his face was exactly the opposite of what he said. Kitchener carefully packed up the notebook and map, put them into his bag, turned around and walked towards the living room, taking Duncan  "Prime Minister Gladstone made the right choice this time!"  This time the Chinese are in trouble!  Duncan waved his fist excitedly: "It's like the Iron Duke is reincarnated. I really hope I can avenge my shame under his command!"  "As a highlander, he admired this fellow countryman endlessly. "Yes, at least the colonel knew to check the warehouse first, so as not to let his soldiers lose the battle because they were not full. But in that case,  I'm afraid your estate in Scotland is going bankrupt.  The British Empire did not treat her officers as generously as the feudal chiefs!  "Gillings sneered and sarcastically said. He was worried about his future fate and felt uncomfortable seeing Duncan so excited. "You're right, Colonel Kitchener is an officer with better luck than me.  May God have good luck with him!  "Duncan glanced at Gillings and asked, "ThenWhat should we do now?  "    "right now we?  Gillings laughed: "Like a true Christian, be patient and pray to God!"  Hope God gives us good luck!  " At this time, Kitchener completely ignored the uneasiness in the hearts of the two interlocutors. He is currently busy in various warehouses, talking to grassroots officers who have participated in battles with the enemy, and collecting information needed to formulate combat plans.  All kinds of intelligence. Kitchener belongs to the kind of elite in the British Empire that was already rare at the end of the nineteenth century. He is taciturn, serious, brave as a lion, and will win every time. As a professional soldier, he is a dictator through and through.  Once the plan is made and the battle plan is determined, he will concentrate on using his amazing talents and command calmly. He will never discuss or consult with others half-heartedly. He is like a star in space.  , whether they are soldiers, congressmen, colleagues, or superiors, they are just planets or satellites around him. They must move under his gravitational pull. Everything is under gravity, everything is planned, and under his  There was no place for the word "accident" in his dictionary, so when he returned to the consulate in Yangon a week later, his leather bag, which he never left behind, was already bulging with stuff.  All kinds of plans, charts, maps.
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