African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 740: Ancient Warfare

Originally, according to Rost's idea, it would be natural to strive for more "military glory." However, because there were no "captured" East African soldiers, it was impossible to figure out the organization of the East African army.

In this case, how should we fabricate the "Victory of the Tugela River"? After all, the fabrication must be well-founded.

Rossiter's approach is not surprising in this era. Just like in the previous life when Britain fought the Boer War, the false claims of military merit and losses were so serious that it almost drained the British treasury. It is actually similar to what the US military did in Afghanistan later. .

Of course, the Tugela River defense line was indeed breached, this is an unchangeable fact, but if you want to "exaggerate" this victory, you still have to obtain intelligence from East Africa.

 After dealing with the problem of Indian prisoners, Rost ordered: "Order the entire army to take a brief rest and then go north immediately. This time we must make East Africa pay the price."

This time it is necessary to capture a group of East African prisoners and clarify the organization of the East African National Defense Force. Before that, there is no rush to report the situation of the Battle of Tugela River.

After Rossiter's order was issued, the British troops who had just landed ashore waited for heavy weapons to cross the river, and then hurriedly continued to pursue the "fleeing" East African troops.

 In fact, the British army's firepower preparations this time were not sufficient. After all, according to past experience, British firepower had the advantage in colonial wars.

This time, the British army's firepower was certainly not weak, but the firepower in East Africa was beyond the British army's expectations. Therefore, compared with previous colonial wars, the idea of ​​"insufficient firepower" arose.

Aridotus stood on the roof and pointed around and said to his subordinates: "The village of Kronskop is actually a slightly low-lying place, dominated by plains, with slightly higher surrounding terrain. We will deploy our troops on the highlands on both sides. , and the village of Kronskop is a must-pass for the highway to the new Hamburg port city, and the British must pass through here."

 What gave Aridotus the confidence was that at least the Battle of the Tugela River did not cause too many casualties to the Ninth Brigade. Excluding the casualties, the Ninth Brigade still had more than 5,000 soldiers.

 Kronskop.

 Previously, Aridotus and others in the brigade had fully analyzed that there was a 90% chance that veteran soldiers like the British would not choose to go elsewhere.

 …

"So choosing the battlefield here is the biggest advantage for us. This will also be the first time our brigade confronts the British army's head-on strength. I won't say anything more. Everyone must be energetic and follow the pre-war instructions. Deployments must play their respective roles, especially the orders from the brigade headquarters must be obeyed unconditionally. I don’t want anyone to fall in love with fighting just because they are greedy for military glory when I give the order to retreat.”

After voluntarily giving up the Tugela River defense line, the Ninth Brigade was able to concentrate its forces, which actually increased Aridotus's available troops.

Under the order of Aridotus, the Ninth Brigade was not in a hurry to retreat to the port city of New Hamburg, but was preparing for a frontal fight with the British army here.

 War is like this and cannot be perfect, so Aritotle can only choose a strategy to maximize his own interests to arrange the war.

Of course, it is not impossible if an accident occurs. If an accident does occur, it can only be said that the Ninth Brigade is very unlucky.

 Because the road conditions in the Southern Frontier Province were extremely poor, and the British were dragging a bunch of their belongings with them, they had no choice but to travel by road.

Of course, with the current layout of the Ninth Brigade, there is also the risk of being taken advantage of by the British army, but the prerequisite is that the British have mature intelligence about East Africa.

 This is also the biggest problem currently facing the British army, and Rost is facing this situation.

Rossiter: "Everyone in the Military Intelligence Service should be hanged. The map they gave you is not similar to the actual East Africa. I'm afraid there was no map of pre-colonial Africa put together before. It doesn't even have the basic terrain." Figure it out." "Division commander, what should we do? Should we attack East Africa along the coastline, or take the roads built by the East Africans?" asked the subordinate.

 It is certain that you can reach New Hamburg Port City by walking along the coastline. After all, New Hamburg Port City is a coastal city, and you can definitely find the main force in East Africa by going north along the coastline.

Other than the coastline, the only thing of reference value is the road built by the East Africans. The Ninth Brigade retreated along the road when it retreated, leaving many ruts and footprints on the road.

 Due to the dry season, these traces are very clear and have not been washed away by rain. However, judging from the condition of the roads, the construction level of East Africans is still good.

Although there is only one road, the Natal colony next door will not bother to build such cross-regional roads except for cities and strongholds such as Durban Port.

"Follow the road to pursue! We have fought against the East African Army before. Judging from the road conditions, the end of this road must be the main direction for the East African Army to evacuate. This road will definitely lead to the New Hamburg Port, so now follow the road to Pursuit to the north, of course, the vanguard would have to be careful to avoid an ambush by the East Africans along the road.”

After Earl Roberts went to Maputo, Rost became the highest military commander of the Natal colony, so his orders were consistent.

 Soon the leading troops of the British army headed towards the village of Kronskop.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, as expected, they met head-on with the Ninth Brigade, which had been waiting here for a long time. There was a fierce exchange of fire between the two sides. The leading troops encountered the enemy, and the British troops from the rear finally arrived.

“There is an East African village ahead. The enemies we defeated before seem to be resting there. There are quite a few people on the opposite side, so the vanguard does not dare to act rashly and is waiting for your instructions!” the subordinate reported to Rost.

"Very good, these should be the East African troops holding on to the Tugela River. We couldn't take them down because of the Tugela River before. Now they have nothing to rely on. Let's see what they use to fight us. Order the Indian troops Organize an attack." Rost ordered.

At this time, the British lobster soldiers could finally put out the ancestral "one-word lobster formation". Of course, this time Rost still used the Indian troops as the vanguard.

 The Indians will die if they die. They are cannon fodder anyway, and they should be able to consume a lot of ammunition in East Africa. Of course, this will also make the number of British casualties look much better.

Roster was actually not a reckless man. Although the British army lost some troops before this, the number was almost negligible, because the Indian servant soldiers who accounted for the majority could only be regarded as expendables.

As long as the person who died was not an Englishman, Rost could find a way to get over the matter. After all, what Britain lacked most was Indians.

This is also an important reason why Rost has not learned a lesson from the war until now. Although the Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties, Rost cannot empathize with them. If so many British people died, Rost would have gone berserk long ago.

The Indian army is worthy of being copied from the British army. Although the weapons and equipment are a little behind, they are almost identical to the British in other aspects.

They lined up outside the village of Kronskop in the open terrain according to the standard formation of the British army. Even the standard European military band was organized.

This is the first time the East African National Defense Force has seen this situation. Of course, this first meeting mainly refers to the enemy. When fighting with the indigenous people in the past, East Africa also liked the tactic of queuing to kill, so that it faced some large indigenous tribes or kingdoms. Death Charge does make it easier to concentrate firepower on harvesting.

However, with the equipment of the Dreiser rifle, the performance of the rifle was greatly improved, and the "ancient warfare method" of queuing to kill tactics had long been eliminated in East Africa.

 (End of this chapter)