Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 278: End of the Road Part

Waves rolled up on the calm sea surface, and huge warships emerged from the mist and sailed on the vast ocean.

"Sir, urgent telegram from London!"

In the command room of the Kingsman-class battleship, the attendant officer copied a telegram and hurried to Gordon.

"read"

"The situation in Argentina is critical. The expeditionary force must arrive in Buenos Aires within a week, telegram from the London government!"

The content of the telegram was only a few dozen words, but through the telegram, Gordon could feel the urgent pressure faced by the Argentine federal government. Otherwise, Mitre would not have contacted the British government several times a day, thus exerting political pressure on the British Expeditionary Force.

"Sir, would you like to call London back immediately?"

"Reply to the Prime Minister's residence. Our troops are currently in the Gulf of Guinea and are expected to arrive in the Brazilian capital in four days. I hope the Imperial Government will coordinate with the Western Empire to provide the necessary logistical supplies and maintenance for our expeditionary fleet to stop and repair. Major General Gordon of the Imperial Engineers, May 5!"

"Sir, the three thousand colonial troops sent by the Governor of South Africa have arrived."

The attendant officer wrote down the reply and left. Another white officer in his forties walked up to Gordon and reported.

"What is the situation of the South African Army? How many native white soldiers are there among the 3,000 colonial troops?"

"Sir, the situation is a bit bad. General Chelmsford used the excuse that South Africa's military strength was tight and only sent 3,000 indigenous black soldiers. He transferred all the original white officers and soldiers in the additional troops to other troops. If the expeditionary force wants to deploy 3,000 indigenous soldiers to the front line to fight the Chinese, it is estimated that 100 grassroots officers and 200 white soldiers will have to be drawn from the regular army to serve as the backbone of the troops to restore the combat effectiveness of the colonial army."

Lieutenant Colonel Graham explained.

"Stupid Scottish pig, doesn't he know that this will ruin the empire's cause!"

Gordon's expression changed drastically, and his gentle face became distorted in anger in an instant!
"Asshole, incompetent, I'm going to report him to London! Damn asshole!"

"Sir, it's useless. After General Chelmsford handed over the reinforcements, he led the main force of the South African colonial army to advance inland. Now even if we complain to London, it is impossible to force General Chelmsford to change his mind."

Looking at his boss who suddenly became hysterical, Graham patiently persuaded him.

Gordon was born into a British military aristocratic family. His excellent family education in childhood and military experience around the world in adulthood, especially his experience of leading the foreign rifle team to fight the Taiping Army in mainland China, enabled him to win many honors early on. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was suppressed, as a meritorious official of the Qing Dynasty, Gordon was awarded the rank of admiral and was rewarded with a yellow jacket by Emperor Tongzhi. His fame and reputation were unparalleled in mainland China.

After returning from his dismissal in China, the British government awarded Gordon the title of Sir Baz as a reward for his contribution to safeguarding British interests in China. Thus, Gordon reached the first peak of his life!
Gordon, a young and successful man who firmly believes that he possesses special religious powers, usually behaves like a gentleman. However, if he encounters something that makes him angry, his arrogant and insolent nature will be revealed!

Graham was Gordon's old subordinate who served in Egypt. Because he was able to grasp his superior's intentions very well, after Gordon was transferred from Africa by the British government, Graham followed his old boss to the British Expeditionary Force as Gordon's deputy and personal secretary.

"The defeat in the Zulu War had a huge impact. General Chelmsford is currently making many efforts to resolve the consequences of the defeat in the Zulu War. If you report him to the London government at this time, it is likely to lead to subsequent retaliation from General Chelmsford. Sir, it is important to aid the Argentine Federal Army. You and General Chelmsford may wish to wait until the Argentine war is over before making a decision."

"No, Chelmsford's secret replacement of reinforcements is a major act of deceiving the Imperial Government. If you and I know about this and don't report it, wouldn't that be the same as him deceiving the Imperial Government?
Lieutenant Colonel, order the telegraph soldiers to send a message immediately and report the situation of the South African reinforcements to the London government truthfully. "

"Yes, Sir."

Seeing Gordon's firm attitude, Graham stopped trying to persuade him, turned around and left the command room and walked towards the telegraph room.

The wind and waves beat against the sea surface, and thick black smoke accompanied the huge steel ship as it accelerated on the sea. Looking at the scenery on the sea, Gordon's anger gradually subsided.

The most infuriating thing for a proud and radical British officer was being deceived and fooled by others. The first time Gordon encountered such a situation was in Changzhou, China. As a British soldier, he and Li Hongzhang jointly guaranteed the safety of the Taiping Army in Changzhou. However, after the Taiping Army surrendered, Li Hongzhang privately ordered the execution of the surrendered Taiping Army, which made Gordon furious.

The reason for Gordon's anger was naturally not that he sympathized with the lives of tens of thousands of Taiping soldiers, but that he felt ashamed as a white superior being deceived and played tricks by the Manchu Tatars.

The killing of surrendered soldiers in Changzhou brought shame to Gordon, and the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion brought him more glorious honor. Now, Chelmsford, a British general who was defeated by African natives, and who he considered incompetent and stupid, used despicable means to replace the reinforcements, which once again made him feel nakedly humiliated. Gordon could not tolerate such behavior by the other party in any way.

Seizing Chelmsford's fault, Gordon sent a detailed telegram to the London government, strongly suggesting that the London government punish Chelmsford's behavior.

Gordon's telegram received only a lukewarm response from London as Chelmsford led his army to a major victory over the Zulus. On the contrary, telegram orders urging the expeditionary force to step up assistance to the Argentine liaison force became more and more frequent.

On May 5, a Han naval reconnaissance ship disguised as a fishing boat discovered traces of the British expeditionary fleet in the northern waters of Brazil. On May 11, the British expeditionary fleet arrived in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil. The fleet rested for a day and set sail for Buenos Aires on December 5.

"Order the main force of the naval fleet to retreat to the Xinjing military port, and dispatch troops and steam-sailed warships to form a guerrilla fleet to cruise the waters off the coast of Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the sea supply route of the British expeditionary fleet!"

At the front-line headquarters of the National Defense Force, Li Mingyuan stood in front of the sand table, integrated intelligence from all parties, and issued new combat orders.

"The cavalry division under Li Dawei and Feng Changqing moved to Casaros, west of Buenos Aires, to ambush any fleeing troops.

The 1st, 3rd and 6th Brigades of the Garrison Army were supplemented with some cadets from the Army Officer Academy and young and strong men from logistics and transportation to form the 1st Garrison Army to take over the Cavalry Division's defense line and block the Argentine reinforcements led by Urquiza.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The combat staff also stood on both sides, listening carefully to the orders given by Li Mingyuan and taking notes with a pen.

"The frontal troops should open up the fortifications on the side of Buenos Aires and concentrate the 155mm heavy artillery regiment and the independent artillery brigade to attack the gap in the central gate of Buenos Aires. Once the artillery troops have expanded the gap in the enemy's city gate defense, the rest of the troops will follow up and completely eliminate the stubborn resistance!"

"Yes!"……

(End of this chapter)