"Yes, sir!" The officer turned his head and shouted loudly, "Take off the cloth strip that is stuffed!" Then he smiled at Badu and said, "Sir, this British spy has a loud voice and is so noisy. I can't understand his bird songs, so just plug it and save worry!"

"I protest, I'm not a spy, your behavior is the behavior of barbarians! Woo--"

As soon as the strip of cloth in Jason's mouth was removed, he shouted with all his strength. As soon as he shouted twice, the two soldiers next to him immediately stuffed the strips into his mouth, blocking his screams back into his throat.

"Don't get stuck, let him shout!" Badu sat down on a stool and ordered coldly: "Also, untie the rope of this guy and take his things over!"

"Yes, sir!" The two soldiers responded and untied the ropes on Jason. This time, Jason did not shout as loudly as before. He just rubbed his numb wrists and carefully looked at Badu, who was sitting on the stool in front of him. It was obvious that he had learned a lesson from his experience just now.

Ba Du looked up and down for a while, and suddenly asked in English: "You said just now that you are not a spy, so what are you? Why are you so beauties?"

"Thank God, I finally met a civilized person who speaks English!" Jason's face showed a surprise smile: "My name is Crove Jason, a reporter from London Daily Telegraph in the UK. I came here to get first-hand information about the Sino-British conflict, but these people suddenly arrested me and asked for the treatment that a British citizen deserved."

"He is lying!" Just as the general translator translated Jason's words here, the officer who had just caught him rushed to answer: "When I caught this man, he was writing something on the notebook, and I also found this on him!" Speaking of this, the officer took out a piece of white paper from his arms, and used a simple sketching method to draw the pencil drawing of the scene where Shunjun was landing!"

"Yes!" Badu took the painting, looked in front of him for a while, raised his eyebrows slightly, turned over and pointed to the image above and asked, "Did you draw this?"

"I drew it, but this does not mean that I am a spy. This is used to post illustrations to the Daily Telegraph. The camera is too heavy and not suitable for use here. This is my ID!" Speaking of this, as if to strengthen the persuasion of his own defense, Jason added: "There is also a "Daily Telegraph" several months ago in my bag, which has a report about the defeat of our army in Bagan. It was this report that led to the resignation of the former Prime Minister, Marquis Salisbury. Yes, it is this newspaper!" Jason shouted at the newspaper in Badu's hand.

Badu looked at the newspaper in his hand with interest, which was obviously very carefully protected. Jason carefully folded it and clamped it into a thick Bible to avoid being worn out. Badudu easily found the report that Jason mentioned, because the proud reporter had marked it with a pencil. When Badu finally finished reading the report, he raised his head and smiled, "Your article is well written, but there is a place that exaggerates it!"

"Exaggerate?" Jason retorted dissatisfiedly: "I wrote it after I went to Bagan to collect information. Where did you think I exaggerate it?"

"Your article made me blew up in the sky and there was no underground!" Badu smiled slightly: "Actually, I was surrounded by the army and fought hard in the military camp for more than 20 days. If you hadn't been lucky enough to have a mutiny, I'm afraid the situation would have turned upside down. It was not as powerful as you said!"

"'I'?" Jason was stunned when he heard this. After a while, he realized it and shouted overjoyed: "Are you the calm General Badu?"

"Yes, my name is Badu, but I am not a general, nor a descendant of Genghis Khan. I am a great man, and I have nothing to do with those Mongolian sluts!" Badu's face looked a little bad. After reporting on the war, Jason also made some thoughts about Badu's life, linking him with Borjijin, the founder of the famous Golden Horde in European history, and guessing that he might be related to him, which made Badu feel a little uncomfortable.

"Haha!" Jason touched the back of his head awkwardly: "Please forgive me, Your Excellency, this is a very common news technique in our UK. Please rest assured that there is absolutely no derogatory meaning. It is a complete commendation of your outstanding military talent!"

Ba shook his head without hesitation, put the newspaper back into the Bible, and asked with a smile: "Your report just now directly led to your UK changing prime minister. Is this true?"

"Of course, I'm an honest person!" Jason's face immediately turned red: "The current Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, read my report in the House of Commons, which was a decisive blow to the former Prime Minister! If you don't believe it, you can look at another newspaper, which also evaluates the role of my report in that Bible."

Ba Du opened the Bible with skepticism and found another newspaper in the middle. After reading it for a while, he shook his head and sighed: "It's really difficult. A newspaper can make your prime minister stop his preface. Isn't this a mess?"

"Haha!" Jason smiled proudly: "In Great Britain, without the support of the MPs, it is impossible for the Prime Minister to sit firmly at No. 10 Downing Street. The MPs are voted by voters in various constituencies, so--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I believe you are a reporter!" Badu replied with a smile: "But this does not mean that you are not a spy? And even if you are not a spy, you are still a British. You have discovered our military operations. In order to prevent this information from being leaked, I must detain you for a while!" Then Badu made a gesture to stop Jason's defense: "But you can rest assured that we will give you good treatment, at least not worse than you are now!" Then Badu ordered the officer beside him: "Please keep this person and take care of him alone, and treat him better!"

"Yes, sir!" Then Jason, who wanted to say something, was pushed down by the soldiers escorted him. Only Bashu looked at the two newspapers he left behind, and smiled: "What a strange country, the prime minister was actually spared by this thin piece of paper. Could it be that they could not change each other every few days, so what kind of discipline is the country?"

Just when the Shun Army attacked Beimue, the British authorities in Yangon were already in chaos. Because the night attack launched by Zhang Qi that night was very successful, the British soldiers and sailors on the Thames were almost all shot in one go, either killed or captured. Moreover, the ambush was a very desolate place, with only loggers and hunters occasionally passing by. There was no radio signal at that time. As a result, after six days, Yangon did not wait for the planned return.

The Thames returned, and he was panicked and hurriedly sent two fastest gunboats to go upstream along the Irrawaddy River to look for the Thames, but there was no trace. When the search team finally found the woods buried with the bodies of British soldiers with the help of two hunters, the British authorities in Yangon had to face a terrible possibility - Colonel Kitchener, the newly appointed British commander of the British Army in Burma, was likely to have fallen into the hands of the enemy.

"What's this?" Telson, who took over as Consul General of the British Empire in Myanmar, pointed fiercely at the black wood blocks and broken pieces of clothes on the ground, and asked: "You just take this little thing and let me report to my superiors that Colonel Kitchener is no longer there?"

"Consul!" a secretary replied: "We have carefully searched the site of the incident and the waters next to it. There are no traces of the wreckage, and no body of Colonel Kitchener was found in the woods' cemetery. According to our speculation, it should be that a Burmese gangster attacked the 'Thames' docked on the shore at night. Colonel Kitchener had fallen into their hands."

"Why can't it be Chinese? Their weapons are better. There are dozens of well-equipped sailors and marines on the Thames, as well as artillery. Can Burmese bandits do this?"

"This is the worst situation! However, there were almost no Chinese teams in the scene where the incident happened. Since they defeated our army's attack in Bagan a few months ago, the Chinese army has stalled in the Bagan area, as if they were satisfied with controlling Upper Myanmar and Central Myanmar areas. It is hard to imagine that they suddenly launched an attack and provoke a conflict!"

"Provoke a conflict?" Telson repeated the other party's words angrily: "The conflict has happened long ago. The conflict has begun in April last year. I finally know why we have lost again and again. More than a thousand British people have sprinkled the blood of Myanmar. Some of us naively think that the conflict has not happened yet? God! Maybe the Chinese deserve this land more than we do!"

The secretary was flushed by Telson's anger and explained stammeringly: "Mr. Consul, I mean, due to the power of the empire, the Chinese should not dare to launch a raid. From the very beginning, they were avoiding direct conflict with the British team!"

"Enough!" Telson's roar interrupted the other party's defense. He suppressed his anger and said in a calm tone as possible: "Remember, the battlefield is chaotic, you never know what will happen next. Perhaps the Chinese generals are unwilling to have direct conflicts with us, but this does not guarantee that the officers of every small army below them think so. And even the upper-level officers of the enemy, if they are sure that the large-scale conflict with us next step is inevitable, guess what they will do?"

"I will fight with us with all my strength!" the secretary replied in a low voice, his face pale.

"You are right this time. Don't forget that the Chinese have the determination and ability to maintain their existence in Myanmar. This is what they have proved with resolute actions in April last year." Speaking of this, Texen paused for a moment and continued to shout: "Now, if you go out and continue looking for it, you must determine Colonel Kitchener's whereabouts as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Consul!" The secretary who was already dazed by Telson's roar bowed to him and rushed out the door. Telson sat back in his seat, pressed his swelling temple with his hand, and said to himself: "You can't leak the news of Kitchener's disappearance now. No, otherwise London will be in an uproar. Maybe the Prime Minister wants to change another person, and that's all!"

At this moment, a sudden burst of footsteps came from outside the door. Before the consul could react, the thick teak door was suddenly knocked open. The consul raised his head in surprise, and saw the secretary who had just left rushed in and stuttered: "No, no, it's okay, five days ago, the Chinese had already occupied Bei Mi!"

"What?" The Consul Huo stood up and asked loudly: "Repeat again!"

"Five days ago, the Chinese had already occupied Beimue!"

"Five days ago? Why did you tell me now?" The consul's chest swelled, as if a small animal was jumping violently inside, trying to jump out and tear everything apart.

"The Chinese blocked water and land transportation, so they were so slow--"

"Enough!" The consul closed his eyes and murmured to himself: "Kitchener must have fallen into the hands of the Chinese, must be! That's why the Chinese people learned about our intentions and decided to take the initiative!" The secretary next to him looked at the consul as if he was hysterical, sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and muttering to himself. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. At this moment, the consul whispered: "You go out now, bring the door, and let me be quiet alone for a while!"

"Yes, yourselves!" The secretary retreated with relief. He took the door and breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost broken his nerves in the room just now.

"Bang!" A sound came from the house, as if something heavy was smashed on the ground. The secretary's nerve that had just relaxed suddenly became tense again.

In the office, Texon panted and looked at the smashed porcelain bottle on the floor. A moment ago, this exquisite Song Dynasty porcelain plate could be sold in London for at least five hundred pounds, but now it has become a pile of worthless pieces.

Just as the secretary was surprised and confused outside the door, a summoning ring suddenly came. After hesitating, he gently pushed open the door. He saw that there were already a bunch of porcelain pieces on the ground. The consul's burly body was deeply trapped in the backrest chair, and he had returned to his usual calm.

"Your Excellency, what's wrong with asking me to come in?"

"You immediately issue a communiqué in my name, ordering Yangon City to immediately martial law, mobilize all soldiers, drive the indigenous people out of the city, and all European residents distribute weapons, let them serve as self-defense forces, and curfew after eight o'clock in the night, prohibiting anyone who has not been allowed to leave their residence!" At this point, the consul paused for a moment and said in the calmest tone as possible: "Also, in the name of me, the Consul General of the British Empire in Myanmar, to send envoys to the Chinese people of Beim, asking them to give reasonable explanations for their violation of the interests of the British Empire!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!" The secretary had already felt the seriousness in his superior's tone, and his thin shoulders immediately trembled: "Please allow me to ask a question. Is Yangon going to be besieged and attacked? This is the territory of the British Empire!"

Telson was not angry at the secretary's stupidity. He glanced at the other party meaningfully: "Dear Arnold, in the face of the status quo, all we can do is prepare everything and accept everything!"

"Yes, Your Excellency! I will go and execute your order immediately!" The secretary calmed down under the comfort of the consul. His body stopped trembling, bowed to his superiors, turned around and walked out the door. The consul looked at the other party's departure back meaningfully, looked up at the original dome and said to himself: "The most important thing now is the truth, and it takes time to figure it out. I hope God blesses the Queen and her people to stand on our side."

When the Irrawaddy River crosses the narrow valleys of the forest-covered Rakhine Mountains and the Bogu Mountains, it is divided into many small rivers, which eventually flow into the Andaman Sea. The most fertile and rich Irrawaddy River Delta in Myanmar is alluvial and all of these small rivers have been alluvial for millions of years. Both sides of the Irrawaddy River Delta are composed of the Bogu Mountains in the east and the ends of the Rakhine Mountains in the west, and the apex is Xingshida 130 kilometers northwest of Yangon, and there is a narrow land between the Rakhine Mountains in the west and the Indian Ocean.

The land is the Rakhine Province of Myanmar. After the First and Second Anglo-Burma Wars, Rakhine Province and some areas near Yangon were ceded to Britain by the Kingdom of Myanmar, thus becoming the base for the British Empire to further invade Myanmar. The Bilmue is located at the end of the narrow valley of the Rakhine Mountains and the Bogu Mountains. The only convenient passage of the Dongge Pass in the Rakhine Mountains is also located in the southwest of the Bilmue. Therefore, if the British wanted to enter the hinterland of Myanmar, whether from Rakhine Province or Yangon, they must first occupy Bilmue.

Beimiao, the former king capital in the eighth century AD, has now declined, with only a few dilapidated and pagodas left. The clearings between the pagodas have long been occupied by vines and shrubs. Only the occasionally visible ruins and the foundations of the palaces can occasionally reveal their prosperity. The more than 6,000 residents here are the dock workers and merchants who rely on Mandalay and downstream to transport trade. The civil strife in April last year changed all this. The ships loaded with rice and ore between the upstream and downstream disappeared, leaving only the empty river surface. The workers and small merchants fell into despair. When Badu led the army here, there were less than three thousand residents left in the entire city of Beimiao, and the rest had to leave here to find a new way to live.

Less than half an hour after his soles were covered with Beimiao's soil, Badu had already announced that the dilapidated city was under his own military control. Facing the brigade of foreign soldiers holding sharp bayonets and the black muzzles of warships on the river, Beimiao's residents chose to remain silent. Then Badu sent engineers to survey the local terrain and prepare to build fortifications to resist the upcoming attack of the British.

Five days after Badu arrived at Beimou, Zao Guoquan led three target reinforcements, and with him also arrived Kitchener, who was captured not long ago. The unlucky colonel received quite good treatment: a separate residence, exquisite meals, clean and straight shirts and shiny leather boots, a orderly soldier who could be ordered at any time, and even Zao Guoquan invited him to review a team of Shun Army and seek advice from him. The only difference from the past was that he had no weapons and freedom. Kitchener accepted his fate calmly like a real British gentleman, enjoying everything the enemy had provided him, carefully observing and pointing out with the eyes of a professional soldier that the organization and offensive tactics of Shun Army had lagged behind the modern army equipped with rifled guns and shrapnel, as if he was not a prisoner, but a military adviser hired by the Chinese government.

"Sir Zao!" Kitchener said to Zao Guoquan, who was standing on the deck and was watching the trumpet shouting on the dock, and struggling to unload a cannon from the ship, saying, "Do you think your current action is wise?"

After hearing what the translator next to him, Zao Guoquan turned around and replied with a smile: "Col. Kitchener, you can speak your thoughts directly!"

"There is no doubt that the key point of occupying Beimue is a huge victory in purely military science, but it is a disaster in terms of supply!" Kitchener shrugged: "You are now more than 1,500 kilometers away from your supply base, enough to go from Madrid to Warsaw. Although a considerable period of it is a river transport, don't forget that there are a large group of hostile Burmese people behind you, neither we British nor you Chinese, who are obedient and loyal subjects."

"Haha!" Zao Guoquan laughed twice: "Col. Kitchener, if you are from your mother country, you British people are probably farther away! As for what the Burmese are, we Chinese have been dealing with them for thousands of years. I think we know how to deal with them!" At this point, Zao Guoquan paused for a moment and his face became serious: "If we don't come to occupy this place first, can we get peace? I'm afraid we will face the attack of the British team soon. Don't tell me that you, the 'Sultan hero', came here to travel around!"

"I did not deny the purpose of my trip, but it was under the premise of your sudden invasion of Myanmar by your country. The occupation of Myanmar by your team has broken the strategic balance of the entire Indochina Peninsula and even threatened the existence of the empire in India-"

"Who instigated the military coup in April last year?" Zao Guoquan interrupted the other party's words: "Who even blatantly trampled on the norms of international law and bribed the thugs and killed my ex-official in Mandalay. Don't forget that the Kingdom of Myanmar is a vassal state of my Dashun. This is clearly stipulated in the "Rakhara Treaty" signed by your country after the Second British-British War!"

Kitchener pursed his mouth tightly, which was a sign of his anger in his heart. As a senior officer of the British Empire, he felt humiliated that he had to argue with a general of the Eastern semi-barbaric empire. What made him even more humiliated was that he had become the other party's prisoner. He turned his back to Zao Guoquan and said, "Sir, you and I are both soldiers, let the war finally decide our right or wrong. Now, please take me to a place where the prisoner should go!"

Zao Guoquan smiled slightly and made a gesture. Two soldiers stepped forward to take Kitchener out of the cabin. Qu Duan, who was beside him, sneered and said, "Sir, this foreign devil is very arrogant. He is just a prisoner who is dependent on his life and death. He still breathes such a big sigh and his whole body of skills is all over his mouth!"

Zao Guoquan sighed and his face became gloomy: "Actually what he said is right. Indeed, there is no right or wrong between countries. The winner is right and the loser is wrong. If Britain wins this battle, the previous treaties do not count, so naturally no one will come to cause trouble in the past!"

"With an adult here, how can you lose!"

"I have also taken a dangerous move. From here to the country, the journey is so long, and those Burmese people are unstable, so they are really unsure of winning!" At this time, Zao Guoquan finally revealed his deep worries in front of his confidant.

"Will the adults win against the French in Annan?"
Chapter completed!