Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 32 Barefoot is not afraid to wear shoes

  Brisbane, a luxury mansion located on the edge of Moreton Bay

  This is a pale white Victorian villa building belonging to Sir Dennis, towering high on the edge of the coastal mountain cliffs, with an extraordinary momentum, demonstrating the wealth of Queensland’s richest man.

   Downstairs in the hall

  Sir Dennis has a thick cigar roll on his mouth, and his head is the iconic sign of a British man. His gray eyes are cold and ruthless, and he will only be restrained when he treats his family’s children.

   "Dear father, how about I wear this creamy white dress that is popular in Paris? Does it look good?"

  The tall Fiona turned around lightly, and fluttered up in the creamy white skirt with complicated lace, which set off the graceful figure which was particularly moving.

   "Very beautiful, you will shine in the audience tonight, my dear Fiona."

"Really?"

   "I am sure of this."

   "That's great, I'm really too excited, thank you father, you are the best person in this world."

   Fiona jumped up in excitement, took Sir Dennis’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, then ran away with a fragrant wind, and could hear the silver bell-like laughter.

  Surely such a beautiful and expensive dress is worth a lot, requiring hundreds of pounds.

  In other words, the value is equivalent to an expensive bulletproof carriage, plus a nine-barreled Gatling revolver machine gun.

  Just like this was worn by the young lady, it was just one of the many dresses in her wardrobe.

  Fiona is the second daughter of Sir Dennis, who is in her youth.

  The eldest daughter Lilia married a British official in the Straits Settlements, and now lives in Singapore, thousands of miles away from the Brisbane master.

  In addition to the only son, John Dennis, there is also the youngest daughter, Jenny, who is 16 years old this year and has reached the age of first love.

  Ovelia, the wife of Sir Dennis, was originally a young aristocratic widow. She inherited the necromantic husband’s Baron Street, rich and beautiful.

   Defeated many competitors, Dennis was able to marry Ovelia as he wished, so he inherited the title of nobility of the young widow, and had three children.

  I want to say here, the eldest daughter Lilia is the oil bottle left by her predecessor. Fortunately, the British don’t care about this.

  Mrs. Ovilia walked over in a luxurious dark purple dress. There were obvious wrinkles on her white neck, which was the mark of time.

   "Dennis, our daughter Fiona is very happy today. She is looking forward to the evening dance."

"I think she is not looking forward to the prom, but the little **** of the Edward family. Don't think that wearing the Imperial Navy uniform can cover everything. I know that little Edward is a frequent visitor from Canberra to the Red Light District of Brisbane. , A rotten noble dude."

   "Dennis, please pay attention to what you say and do."

Mrs. Ovilia frowned in disgust, her chin still raised high, showing the pride of aristocratic women; "Young people are ridiculous and understandable. Little Edward was born in the ancient aristocrats of Manchester and married them. It’s our honour. There is no need to get to the bottom. Don’t forget that your own birth is just a poor boy by the sea.”

   "Madam, you don't need to remind me of this all the time."

"I don't mean anything else, dear Dennis." Ovelia's tone eased, and she patted Dennis' hand apologetically and said; "Edward has a strong imperial navy background, which is widely popular among Queensland white parliamentarians. Recognized noble quality, he competes with the old guy Frank for governor. Once successful, it will benefit us a lot."

   "I know this, but the prospect of the election is not optimistic!"

"how could be?"

"You don’t know. Although Frank’s governance of Queensland over the years has been widely criticized, there are also a group of vested interests who firmly support him. Moreover, this old **** is now very close to the newly emerging Chinese leader Li in Chinatown. He has recently been in Parliament. He rejected Edward's proposal to ban Chinese workers."

   "My God, who is Li, when did this happen?" Ovelia could no longer maintain the calmness of the noble woman, she could swallow a duck egg in her surprised red lips.

  "Lee is a brave Chinese kid who partnered with the Director of Immigration, Mr. Wexford, to sell his naturalization certificate. With tens of thousands of votes in his hand, he has emerged as an important force that cannot be ignored in Queensland and is very difficult to deal with."

Dennis took a sip of the cigar and then slowly spit it out. Surrounded by the strong blue cigar smoke, he held Ovelia's white hand with his backhand and said; "Although this old guy Frank is mediocre, we have developed well in Queensland. It's not easy to offend him completely, you always have to leave a way for yourself, so I don't want Fiona and Little Edward to get too close."

   "My dear, Fiona is not young anymore."

   "A few months can still afford to wait."

Ovelia thought about it for a moment, and was finally persuaded by the man, and nodded and said; "I will look at Fiona during the prom and will not let her do anything out of the ordinary. Everything will be discussed when the governor’s election has the eyebrows. Let her and little Edward keep a distance, so as not to be difficult to deal with in the end."

"That's good."

The husband and wife were discussing. The housekeeper Jenny walked in from the door with a light blue letter paper in her hand; "Master, madam, this is an urgent letter that has just been sent. The person who delivered the letter said that you Watch it now, it's very urgent."

   "Oh... show me."

  Dennis opened the envelope, and there were only two simple sentences inside;

  Don't intervene in things you shouldn't intervene, you absolutely can't afford the consequences, this is just a severe warning! !

  Now let me get down and pray for God’s forgiveness!

  Watt?

  Dennis and Ovelia saw these two sentences at the same time, their incredible eyes collided, and an emotion called anger slowly rose.

  In the world of Queensland, Sir Dennis has always been the only threat to others. When did it turn around?

   "Pop papa... papa papa..."

  Before the two people could say anything, a series of intensive gunshots shattered the window glass, and it fell to the ground with a sound of “crash” and it shattered. Sawdust flew across the window mullions, and many bullet holes appeared in the white wall.

  Jenny, the housekeeper, caught off guard, she was shot all over her body with blood, and the screams stopped abruptly.

  No need to say anything at this time, Dennis and Ovelia quickly fell down like frightened rabbits, then braved the flying bullet rain and glass splinters to crawl forward and hide in the hard corner.

   "Pop papa... papa papa..."

  The bullets shot from outside were dense and non-stop, and occasionally people outside could be heard calling Ma Si, and then quickly fell silent.

  I don’t know how long has passed

  When all this settled down, Sir Dennis, who had always been calm, couldn't help but tremble, while Baroness Ovelia shivered with fright, tears streaming down her face.

  Outside the luxurious courtyard, it is now in a mess. Seven or eight corpses of white guards and servants are lying scattered. There are more wounded or frightened hiding in the corner, one by one in a panic by the flowerbed.

  The most frightening thing is that the 30 or so valuable horses in the stables were all brutally shot to death. In addition, the owner’s Irish Hound fell dead on the way.

  This fierce energy revealed from the bones makes people shudder and has enough persuasiveness.

  The attack took place in a white colony. Five mounted policemen were killed on the street at the same time. The attacker retreated with a single blow, leaving no traces. Only this mess left a headache for the Autonomous Office.

  With the mediocre talent shown by the state sheriff, almost no one imagines that the murderer can be captured.

  When death was revealed to the eyes, the arrogant white group was silent.

  The news reached Speaker Edward’s mansion. This aristocratic master who had always maintained his composure was out of anger. He knew who did it. Governor Frank also knew who did it. All discerning people knew who did it.

  Except for Li who has been hiding in the Red River Valley Ranch, no one in Queensland dares to be so bold, and no one has so many elite men, like an arm's command.

  Adhering to the British tradition, in its dominions, the white armed forces are mainly composed of local militias.

  This is true in North America, it is true in Scotland and South Africa, and it is true in Australia.

  The entire Australian Dominion Army is almost negligible. There is only one Royal Rifle Battalion based in Canberra.

Australia’s most powerful military force comes from the British Empire’s South Pacific Task Force. It has three old warships, the "Warrior", the "Old Woman" and the "Georgian Cavalry", as well as the coal carrier. Of several military auxiliary ships.

  The South Pacific Task Force and the Naval Supply Depot in Canberra have a total of more than 1,500 people. Most of them are fleet officers and soldiers. Only more than 300 naval sailors belong to the Naval Supply Depot.

  This is just the number on the book. In fact, many navy soldiers have left their posts without authorization and went to Queensland to search for gold. Thank God for half of them.

  Well, this is not a big problem.

  It just so happens that naval officers can eat nothing, make a small fortune, and temporarily recruit staff when they need to go on a voyage. There are many drunk sailors in the port every day.

  As the saying goes, good fortune is unparalleled, and misfortune never comes singly.

  The Dennis Gold Mine was brutally slaughtered, killing more than a hundred people. John Dennis also died in a gun battle. He was shot eight times and leaned against the wooden house without looking at him.

  When the shocking news came again, Speaker Edward, who had shouted and vowed to catch the murderer, was silent.

  His straight back suddenly squatted down, and his ambition was shattered at this moment, like a brilliant firework extinguished in the night sky, disappearing without a trace.

  You don’t need a heavy hammer to sound the drum. A wise man naturally knows who the gun is aimed at?

  In the face of the bad news, Speaker Edward was overwhelmed at once.

  He has been a mastermind in Queensland for decades. After all, he is just an aristocratic master, with assets and a family. How can he fight hard with the Chinese who have nothing to do with him? Bare feet are not afraid of wearing shoes.

  The ideal is full, and the reality is very skinny. To give everything for the ideal, Speaker Edward is not so bold yet.

  Faced with the crisis, she shrank decisively.

  (End of this chapter)