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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 122 Night Attack

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    "Colonel, if I guess correctly, you are planning to organize an expedition against the Burmese!" The captain blinked slyly. He was not informed of the true purpose of the trip at the beginning, but after considering various  situation, it is not difficult to deduce the truth.  Kitchener did not give a direct answer. The captain shrugged and replied: "The Irrawaddy River is a river with abundant water and suitable for shipping. However, the Burmese have not cleaned up the river channels, and many river channels have not built dams."  , so the depth of rivers in many places in the central arid areas will not exceed fifteen feet. This depth may only accommodate shallow water armored gunboats! As far as I know, there are not many such boats in Myanmar! " Kitchener Silent Point!  He nodded, as the captain said, although this kind of shallow water armored gunboat has thick armor and large main gun caliber, it has a low center of gravity, shallow draft, and low freeboard. Its main purpose is offshore defense. In fact, it is a kind of water fort. It not only sails  The speed is slow, and it is easy to sink in the ocean with strong winds and high waves. The British Royal Navy's main combat method is to protect its own lines of communication. There are not many such ships in Myanmar. I am afraid they can only slowly come from India, and some even have to be towed.  , it takes a lot of time.  "Mr. Captain, thank you for your hospitality! If possible, can I invite you to take a walk at the stern of the ship later?" Kitchener reservedly put the white porcelain teacup back on the dining table: At this time, there was a violent sound coming from the ship.  Shaking, the teacup tipped onto the table, and the light red liquid immediately wet the white tablecloth.  "This is the northeasterly wind blowing from the inland. It is very common on the Irrawaddy River in this season. I am honored to be invited by you, Mr. Colonel!" The captain nodded, and then he ordered the trainee sailor beside him: "You tell  First mate, ask him to dock the boat! "Will it be attacked by the local natives?" Kitchener frowned slightly.  "Local natives?" The captain smiled disdainfully: "The thirty sailors and fifteen fully armed marines on the Thames are enough to repel more than ten times the native attack, and here usually  There will be no more than twenty natives at most. Even if more than this number of enemies appear, the boat can sail to the center of the river in five minutes, and we can use the six-pounder gun on the boat to deal with those rude guys.  "Seeing the other party's confidence, Kitchener stopped insisting and said with a smile: "Very good, this is your boat, I'm just your guest!" "Finally, we've reached the shore!"  Wei Sunan's heart hanging in mid-air finally calmed down. In a small river bend less than 300 meters away from him, the British schooner was gently undulating with the waves. From his position, it could be clearly seen through the telescope  I saw seven or eight sailors on the deck dropping anchor. It was obvious that the ship was preparing to spend the night here.  Just now, he was also afraid that if the other party anchored in the middle of the river, he would have to give up his original plan.  Wei Sunan looked at the treetops shaking violently above his head, and whispered: "God is really protecting me!" It was already midnight, the biting northeast wind blew across the Irrawaddy River, setting off waves of waves, and the sentry Jack stood at the stern of the boat.  He raised the collar of his navy coat and tried his best to block the cold wind from blowing into his neck.  Listening to the sound of waves coming from the river, Jack couldn't help but secretly rejoice. Fortunately, the captain did not park the boat in the middle of the river like he did a few days ago. Otherwise, if there was no cover or blockage, the wind might be four or five times stronger than here.  , I, as a sentinel, have suffered a lot.  Jack looked at the aisle behind him, carefully pulled out a flat-mouthed bottle from his coat pocket, unscrewed the opening, and took a swig of the liquid inside. He immediately felt warm from head to toe.  "Jack!" Suddenly a low voice came from the darkness, and Jacket was so frightened that he threw the wine bottle in his hand into the river. He hurriedly stuffed the bottle into his pocket, then turned around and shouted: "Who?  Is it Mr. Henry? " First mate Henry walked out of the darkness. He raised the light in his hand and shined it on his men's faces. He asked with confusion, "Jack, what are you doing? " Jack, are you okay?  He easily swallowed the sip of wine and tried his best to pretend as if nothing had happened and replied: "Nothing, Mr. Henry, I just heard some noise below, and I was about to poke my head out to take a look when I heard your voice again.  , I just scared one!" "Is there a sound?" The first mate stretched out the light and looked out in confusion. The weak light quickly dispersed in the night, and he could only vaguely see the undulating water from the side of the ship.  , the first mate listened again, and still heard only the sound of waves and strong wind blowing through the woods on the shore.  "I didn't hear anything?" the first mate shook his head: "You weren't playing tricks on me, were you?" "Of course not, I can swear to God, I really heard a strange sound just now, Mr. First Mate!"  "Jack explained quickly.  "Wait a minute!" the first mate suddenly said deeply.After taking a few breaths, a look of understanding the truth immediately appeared on his face: "Jack, you bastard, you secretly drank while on duty again, how dare you lie? Tomorrow morning, I will tear your back into pieces with a nine-tailed whip.  !" As the mate spoke, he reached for Jack's jacket pocket, and his fingertips immediately touched a hard object - it was a flat-mouthed whiskey bottle.  "Mr. First Mate, please forgive me. I swear to God, I only took a sip. I really only took a sip. The main reason was that the wind on the deck was so strong!" Jack begged, and he couldn't blame his bones.  Soft, the flogging of the Royal Navy is really terrible. One lash of this kind of leather whip, commonly known as the "cat with nine tails", can make a person miserable, and four or five lashes can make a strong man faint. However, there is no coma or torture.  Such a good thing, if you lose consciousness, the sentence will be suspended temporarily, and the execution will continue after being splashed with cold water to wake you up.  An offense like this while standing guard and drinking privately will result in at least 25 lashes, which is enough to keep him in bed for three to five months.  "Shut up, you Scotch bumpkin!" the first mate Henry scolded: "You have violated the sacred chance and you should be punished. Now, I order you to stand at attention and continue to perform your duties. I will report this matter tomorrow morning  Captain, he will impose specific punishment on you! " "Yes, Mr. First Officer!" Jack lowered his head in frustration. The captain is the real dictator on a ship. He has almost unlimited power over all the crew members.  , any argument is meaningless.  The first mate snorted coldly, stuffed the whiskey bottle into his pocket, picked up the lamp and turned to leave. As soon as he took two steps, there was a dull sound of a heavy object falling to the ground behind him.  "Damn idiot, are you so drunk that you can't even finish this shift?" The first mate turned around angrily, and he made up his mind to advise the captain to punish the sailor as severely as possible tomorrow morning.  But when the first mate turned around, the scene in front of him almost made his blood freeze: Sailor Jack had fallen to the ground, and his hand was clutching his throat, but the blood still flowed from his fingers.  There was blood flowing out from the seam, and his limbs were twitching before death.  Next to Jack's body, a wet black figure was staring at him coldly, holding a dagger in his right hand. Behind him, a black figure was climbing up from the side of the ship!  This moment was almost as long as a century. Suddenly, the first mate finally reacted and reached for the revolver at his waist. Almost at the same time, the man opposite also threw his dagger, and the sharp dagger scratched deeply.  Entering the first mate's left chest, this blow immediately shattered his resistance, and the lantern fell from the first mate's hand to the deck.  The dark figure reached out to pick up the lantern, and came close to the first mate's face. Under the light, the ferocious face of a sudden death appeared. He sneered, reached for the other man's waist and groped for a while, and found a revolver.  He carefully looked at the bullet inside and loaded it again.  "Well done, Xiao Wei!" A deep voice came from behind, and through the light, another black figure could be seen crossing the side of the ship.  He looked around, stretched out his hand to unbutton the clothes of the corpse on the ground, and whispered: "Let's put on their clothes to keep out the wind, and we can also use them to pretend to be their people!" "Yes, sir!" Wei Sunan said  He inserted the pistol into his belt and began to untie the dead first mate's clothes. The schooner was still more than thirty meters away from the shore. He and Zhang Qi had swum here just now. Now when the river wind blew, they immediately felt all over their bodies.  A bone-chilling chill.  The two put on their coats and threw the two bodies into the river. Fortunately, the sound of the wind and waves covered up the sound of the bodies falling into the water.  Zhang Qi looked around and saw that there was no one around. He raised the lantern in his hand and drew three circles. A fire came up and he also drew three circles. After a while, several bamboo rafts rowed over from the shore and came closer.  Wei Sunan and Zhang Qi found a few ropes and threw them down, and soon there were more than twenty wolf-like and tiger-like soldiers on the deck.  "Xiao Wei, you take five people to guard the door of the bottom cabin and don't let the sailors and soldiers inside rush out. I will take the remaining people to control the officers and captain!" Zhang Qi whispered.  "Yes, sir!" Wei Sunan responded in a low voice. In addition to rifles, the soldiers behind him also picked up short axes, broadswords and other weapons they could find that were useful for hand-to-hand combat in the narrow space on the ship. One soldier also found a gun next to the front deck.  With a barrel of gunpowder, he carefully poured some black powder near the cabin door, and then stood away.  Like most warships at that time, the accommodation areas for officers and sailors on the "Thames" were separate. Unlike the narrow and crowded cabins below the deck for the sailors, the accommodation for the officers was much better, often on the aft deck.  superior.  Kitchener's eyes suddenly opened. His sleep, which had been short and shallow due to a professional military career that began as a teenager, had saved him more than once during his military career in the Near East and North Africa.  life.  He was about to follow his previous habit of getting up and doing some gymnastics in the cabin to prepare for the day.After getting ready for work, a gunshot suddenly sounded in my ears, followed by a scream and rapid footsteps.  "Under attack?" Kitchener immediately made the correct judgment. He jumped up from the bed, took out the pistol from under the pillow, and was about to put on his shoes when two more gunshots were heard outside.  Kitchener gave up putting on his shoes, grabbed his pants and ran outside while putting them on.
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