Chapter 740 Ancient Warfare

According to Rossiter's idea, he would naturally strive for more "military merits", but because there were no "captured" East African soldiers, he could not figure out the organization of the East African army.

In this case, how should we fabricate the "Tugela River Victory"? After all, the fabrication must be based on reason and evidence.

Rossiter's actions were not surprising in this era, just like in the previous life when Britain was in the Boer War, the military achievements and losses were so serious that the British treasury was almost exhausted. This was actually similar to what the US military did later in Afghanistan.

Of course, the Tugela River defense line was indeed breached, which is an unchangeable fact, but if one wants to "exaggerate" this victory a little, it is still necessary to obtain intelligence from East Africa.

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

This time, a group of East African prisoners must be captured to clarify the organization of the East African Defense Force. Before that, there is no rush to report the situation of the Tugela River Battle.

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

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

The British army’s firepower was certainly not weak this time, but the firepower of East Africa was beyond the British army’s expectations, so compared with previous colonial wars, they had the idea of ​​"insufficient firepower".

…

Kronskop.

Under the command of Aristotle, the 9th Brigade did not rush to retreat to the port of New Hamburg, but prepared to fight the British army head-on here.

What gave Aristotle confidence was that at least the Battle of Tugela River did not cause too many casualties to the 9th Brigade. Excluding the casualties, the 9th Brigade still had more than 5,000 people.

After voluntarily abandoning the Tugela River defense line, the 9th Brigade was able to concentrate its forces, which actually increased Aristotle's available forces.

Aristotle stood on the roof and pointed around and said to his subordinates: "Kronskop Village is actually a slightly low-lying place, mainly plains, with slightly higher terrain around it. We deployed the troops on the high ground on both sides, and Kronskop Village is also a must-pass place on the road to the new Hamburg Port City. The British must pass through here."

"So choosing this battlefield here gives us the greatest advantage. This will also be the first time our brigade will face off against the British army. I won't say anything more. Everyone must be in high spirits and play their respective roles according to the pre-war deployment. In particular, they must obey the orders of the brigade unconditionally. I don't want anyone to linger in the battle for the sake of military merit when I give the order to retreat."

Before this, Aristotle and other people in the brigade had conducted a thorough analysis and found that there was a 90% chance that the old British soldiers would not choose to go anywhere else.

Because the road conditions in the southern border provinces were extremely poor and the British had a lot of belongings to carry with them, they had no choice but to travel by road.

Of course, it is not impossible for an accident to happen. If an accident really happens, we can only say that the 9th Brigade was just unlucky.

War is like this, it cannot be perfect, so Aristotle can only choose a strategy that maximizes his own interests to plan the war.

Of course, with the current layout of the 9th Brigade, it may face the risk of being surrounded by the British Army, but the prerequisite is that the British have mature intelligence on East Africa.

This is also the biggest problem facing the British army at present, and Rossiter is facing this situation.

Rost: "The people in the Military Intelligence Department should all be hanged. The map these rubbish gave us does not look like the actual East Africa. I'm afraid it was compiled from maps of pre-colonial Africa. They don't even have a clear idea of ​​the basic topography."

"Commander, what should we do? Should we attack East Africa along the coastline, or take the road built by East Africans?" asked the subordinate.

It is certain that you can reach the port city of New Hamburg by following the coastline. After all, the port city of New Hamburg is a coastal city. If you go north along the coastline, you will definitely find the main force of East Africa.

Apart from the coastline, the only reference value is the road built by East Africans. The 9th Brigade retreated along the road, leaving many ruts and footprints on the road.

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

Although there was only one highway, the neighboring Natal colony would not bother to build such a cross-regional road except for cities and outposts such as the Port of Durban.

"Let's pursue them along the highway! We fought with the East African army before, and judging from the road conditions, the end of this road must be the main direction for the East African army to evacuate. This road must lead to the New Hamburg Port, so now we will pursue them along the highway to the north. Of course, in order to avoid ambushes set by the East Africans along the highway, the vanguard must be careful."

After Earl Roberts went to Maputo, Rossiter became the supreme military commander of the Natal colony, so his orders were final.

Soon the British vanguard headed towards the village of Kronskop.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon, as expected, they ran into the 9th Brigade that had been waiting here for a long time. Fierce fighting broke out between the two sides. While the vanguard encountered the enemy, the British troops in 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 lot of people on the opposite side, so the vanguard troops dare not act rashly. They are waiting for your instructions!" The subordinate reported to Rost.

"Very good, these should be the East African troops defending the Tugela River. Before, we had no way to defeat them because of the Tugela River. Now they have no one to rely on. Let's see what they can use to fight us. Order the Indian troops to organize an attack." Rost ordered.

At this time, the British lobster soldiers could finally deploy their ancestral "single-line lobster formation". Of course, this time Rossiter still used the Indian troops as the vanguard.

The Indians died, they were just cannon fodder after all, and they should be able to consume a lot of ammunition in East Africa. Of course, this would also make the British casualties look much better.

Rossiter was not actually a reckless man. Although the British army had lost some troops before, the number was almost negligible, because the Indian servant soldiers who accounted for the majority were only consumables.

As long as the dead were not British, Rossiter could find a way to cover up the matter. After all, the last thing Britain lacked was Indians.

This is also an important reason why Rossiter has not learned any lesson since the war broke out. Although Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties, Rossiter could not empathize with them. If so many British soldiers had died, Rossiter would probably have gone crazy long ago.

The Indian troops have indeed inherited the true skills of the British Army. Although their weapons and equipment are a little backward, other aspects are almost exactly the same as those of the British.

They lined up in the standard British Army formation outside the open terrain of the village of Kronskop, and even organized a standard European military band.

This is the first time that the East African Defense Force has seen such a situation. Of course, this first time mainly refers to the enemy. When fighting with the indigenous people in the past, East Africa also liked to use the tactic of lining up and killing. In that way, facing the death charge of some large indigenous tribes or kingdoms, it is indeed easier to concentrate firepower to reap the rewards.

However, with the introduction of the Dreiser rifle, rifle performance was greatly improved, and the "ancient tactic" of line-up shooting tactics had long been eliminated in East Africa.

(End of this chapter)