Chapter 1718: The Secret in the Deeper Reaches

Before arriving, Gelin had already thoroughly studied the geography near the Ohio River Basin.

He did this to prepare for this war.

Now, looking at the map of the Ohio River Basin, Gelin said seriously and earnestly: "The French troops have already seized control of the upper reaches of the Ohio River."

"They have built many fortresses there, the purpose of which is to compensate for their lack of manpower."

"If we want to contain the French, we must take the initiative. This time I have brought a Cavalry unit of three thousand men, which can absolutely tear through the defenses of these French troops!"

"I need..."

Gelin was just about to continue when he was interrupted by a voice.

"This plan won't work!"

Gelin was taken aback, then looked at the officer who had spoken, puzzled by his identity; his attendant whispered in his ear: "This is the unit commander from before the General arrived, Daoqi."

Gelin nodded, looked at the former commander named Daoqi, and said indifferently: "Lord Daoqi, do you perhaps have a better suggestion?"

Daoqi looked at Gelin mockingly and said indifferently: "No, but I can be certain that your battle plan will not work at all."

Gelin chuckled and said: "Please give me an explanation."

Daoqi stood up, walked in front of Gelin, pointed at the map and said: "Our original position was near Fort Duquesne."

"We had sufficient troops there, more powerful weapons, and were even commanded by veteran generals, yet we still lost that war."

"Although this is a topic no one wants to bring up, I still have to tell you."

"I experienced that battle; those Indians were simply ghosts. There was almost no cover on the plains, yet they were able to suddenly appear and attack our soldiers!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent; many among them had also fought against the French troops.

The Indians among those French troops were indeed able to maintain extremely strong combat effectiveness on the open plains, and just as Daoqi said, they were truly like ghosts of the battlefield, appearing suddenly to attack them.

Gelin watched the emotional changes on everyone's faces and frowned; he never believed in any magical occurrences on the battlefield.

These were nothing more than the enemy's tricks.

Gelin said indifferently: "You are glorious British warriors, yet you actually believe in these unrealistic things. No one can simply vanish into thin air."

"Now I need one unit to coordinate with the Cavalry to raid the French troops, and another unit to accompany me!"

The crowd was collectively silent; they did not want to fight these eerie Indians.

And they wanted even less to accompany this ignorant commander to their deaths.

Seeing the crowd's reaction, Gelin's brow furrowed slightly.

This was not the result he had hoped to see.

"Do you intend to sit and wait for death?"

The crowd remained silent.

Gelin raised an eyebrow and said coldly: "This is an order. Do you intend to disobey military orders?"

Only then did Daoqi say: "Everyone, don't be so negative. How about this, Commander Gelin, I will personally lead a squad to coordinate with you in the attack."

Hearing Daoqi's words, Gelin was somewhat surprised.

Daoqi was the one who had opposed the plan earlier, and now he was the one defending it; Gelin could not quite understand why Daoqi was doing this.

"Very well."

Gelin did not ask further at the meeting, and after finalizing the attack plan, Gelin concluded today's strategic meeting.

The matter of raiding the French troops was immediately put on the agenda; for them, this matter was already of the utmost importance.

However, on the evening after the meeting adjourned.

A very special guest came to Gelin's room.

This person was none other than Daoqi.

Facing Daoqi's visit,

Gelin was not the least bit surprised; he had even guessed that Daoqi would visit.

After Daoqi arrived and saw that Gelin had already prepared tea in the room, he was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "It seems Commander Gelin had already anticipated my arrival."

Gelin chuckled without answering; he reached out his hand to invite the former commander to sit.

Daoqi sat down and did not rush, instead taking a sip of tea quite naturally: "Fragrant and overflowing, this is Longyan tea, isn't it?"

Gelin nodded: "Yes, I once escorted two Longyan merchants back to Longyan City and obtained some tea leaves from there; the taste is quite good."

Daoqi nodded in full agreement, looked at Gelin and said: "Commander Gelin, you grew up in America, and so did I. Now, most of the British in the British Colonial District are in this situation."

"We have left Britain for many years. I don't know your situation, but ever since I was reborn, I haven't spent a single day in Britain proper in Europe."

"Now that fellow Kelinxi has owed us our military pay for several months. With the French attacking, do you think we, who were not born and raised in Britain, can fight for him?"

"Gelin, what do you think?"

Gelin looked at Daoqi and said earnestly: "But the French are currently occupying our territory in America; this war has everything to do with you."

"We can choose not to fight for Kelinxi or for Britain, but if the upper reaches of the Ohio River fall and the French continue to expand eastward, if they advance any further along the Ohio River, they will threaten my hometown!"

"I will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen, so I must fight this war!"

Daoqi took a deep breath and sneered: "Commander Gelin, you have another choice: hold your ground as I do. That can also intercept the French."

"And don't look at the fact that we haven't received our military pay; we have muskets and weapons in our hands. The Ohio River Basin is full of wealthy cities. As long as we do it in the name of an offensive, we can obtain a massive amount of wealth without needing British military pay."

"Commander Gelin, I am not asking you to cooperate with me, but as long as you abandon the idea of attacking the French troops, I can offer you a thirty percent share of the profits."

Gelin laughed: "About how much would that be?"

Daoqi held up five fingers and said: "At least this much!"

Gelin was taken aback: "Five hundred Gold Coins?"

Daoqi chuckled and said: "I mean five digits."

"That is, over ten thousand in profit!"

Gelin stood up abruptly and stared at Daoqi's smiling face: "What are you saying?"

"I'm telling you, thirty percent of the profits is at least over ten thousand Gold Coins."

"Commander Gelin, as long as you are willing to turn a blind eye, you can obtain this many Gold Coins; why not do it? Staying in the Britain army, you wouldn't even earn three Gold Coins in salary a year."

For a brief moment, Gelin was indeed tempted, but he quickly cast the thought to the back of his mind.

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