Chapter 1289: Besieging a Point and Attacking Reinforcements (First Update, Please Subscribe)

"Kimberley, we are here, with the entire British Empire behind us. We have not forgotten you. It may take a few days, or even weeks, to get you out, but be assured that we are on our way to you."

On the evening of November 10, 1889, outside Magersfontein, after General Paul Methuen sent this telegram to the British troops stationed in Kimberley, he immediately led his troops along the railway towards Kimberley.

Kimberley is the world's largest diamond mine, which monopolizes almost all the world's diamond supply. Since the discovery of this diamond mine, it has brought unimaginable wealth to the British Empire. The city is located just west of Transvaal, almost close to the Boer territory. About 500 kilometers north of Kimberley is Mafeking, and further north is the Bechuanaland Special Region of the Ming Empire.

After the Boers declared war, General De La Rey, a descendant of French Huguenots known as the "Lion of Western Transvaal", led his troops across the border. De La Rey divided his troops into two routes. One route, commanded by General Cronje, surrounded Mafeking, and the other route, commanded by Louis Botha, surrounded the diamond town of Kimberley.

Although the British army had more than 8,000 troops in this area, its military strength was quite strong, but in order to prevent the rebellion of the Boers living in the Cape Colony, it had to allocate a large part of its troops to the defense of transportation hubs and strategic locations. Therefore, the troops that could actually be used for attack were extremely limited.

Despite this, as Kimberley is an extremely important mining area, the British army still deployed nearly 2,000 troops here. Together with the British Indian troops that arrived here before the war, the total number of troops reached more than 4,000, all of whom were commanded by Colonel Randolph.

Despite their seemingly superior strength, the Boer army under General Louis Botha numbered as many as six thousand men.

In another world, General Louis Botha, who was in charge of attacking Kimberley, laid siege to the city for months, but his attacks were repelled. The main reason was that Kimberley's fortresses and fortifications were extremely strong. The most important reason was that the Boer army lacked large-caliber artillery and even less artillery shells.

But now, this situation does not exist. Just before the war, the Boer Republic purchased as many as 200 cannons of various calibers like the Ming Dynasty, stockpiled hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, including 150mm heavy artillery, and also imported a large number of large-caliber mortars.

Faced with the fierce artillery bombardment of the Boers, Kimberly's defense line was almost shaky, and Colonel Randolph could only send telegrams to the rear again and again for help.

Finally, on November 7, Randolph waited for his reinforcements. Rhodes, the big boss of De Beers and diamond magnate, arrived in Kimberly on the last train before the Boer army besieged the city. He brought reinforcements and many guns, ammunition and artillery. Although the defenders were not impressed by this guy, everyone knew that without this guy's risky attack, the war would not have broken out. But when Rhodes told everyone at the train station that the reinforcements led by the respected General Paul Methuen were on the way, everyone couldn't help but shout out excitedly.

"Gentlemen, in fifteen days, at most fifteen days, General Paul Methuen will arrive here with tens of thousands of reinforcements. We only need to hold on for fifteen days, and we will win the war!"

At the train station, Rhodes assured everyone of the good news.

"He's on his way here!"

While Rhodes was waiting expectantly for the reinforcements from General Paul Methuen, what he didn't know was that the "Lion of Western Transvaal" - General De La Rey had led a force of 5,000 people and quietly deployed an elaborate trap on the British reinforcement route, just waiting for the British army to plunge into this pocket.

Of course, General Paul Methuen was not a reckless guy. He commanded his troops carefully along the railway front. He did not even choose to take the train because the Boer guerrillas used explosives to destroy the tracks and attack trains every day.

November was summer in the South African plateau, and the weather was very hot. A long red line like a snake was moving rapidly on the earth-colored plateau. The air was filled with dust as thousands of troops moved. Nearly 7,000 dragon snake soldiers, carrying rifles, marched towards Kimberley under the supervision of officers.

Under the scorching sun, not only were the uniforms of these lobster soldiers red, but their cheeks were also burned red. The sweaty lobster soldiers marched step by step, and the flying dust even changed the color of their uniforms.

The exhausted people couldn't help but complain.

"What a bunch of damn guys! It's clearly a train, so why don't they let us get on it?"

"Damn it, that's because they're afraid the Boers will plant bombs on the tracks!"

"Or shoot the carriages with machine guns or artillery!"

If that happened, they wouldn't even have a chance to resist and would die in the train car.

"I'd rather die by a gun than by the sun. Damn, the sun here is hotter than in India..."

Although riding a horse, Claude was still tanned by the sun. Although wearing a hat, he still felt the sun burning his skin like a flame, and he even felt the pain of his skin cracking. Feeling the scorching sun on the South African plateau, he even complained in his heart why these damn politicians had to attack such a place?

Only those damned Boers could stand such weather.

"Hurry up, gentlemen, speed up your pace, the people of Kimberley are waiting for us to rescue them..."

While weakly urging the troops forward, Claude looked ahead again. On the desolate earthy yellow land, the red line was marching in the smoke and dust. Everyone looked very tired.

Just as people were complaining about the scorching sun and physical fatigue, suddenly, they heard a sharp whistle in the air.

What is that sound?

For a moment, Claude, like everyone else, looked up at the sky in surprise, his eyes full of confusion.

"Chiu..."

The continuous sound was like a whistle flying in the air, coming from far away. Suddenly, a word came to his mind - rocket!

"Quick, get down, it's a rocket!"

Rockets... Claude thought of the "Kachuu Killer Rocket" used in the Civil War and the Turkish War. This rocket was invented by the Ming Empire based on the "Hale Rocket". It would be launched in a rotating form. However, unlike the Hale Rocket, which was famous for its unstable flight trajectory and premature explosion.

The "Kachu Kill Rocket" is famous for its intensive and fierce firepower. Its power is extremely amazing, and what is the most amazing thing?

It’s the instant coverage of rocket launchers!

Although rockets were not widely used in previous wars due to their high price, they still left a deep impression on many people.

Instantly, accompanied by dense "chirp" sounds in the air, suddenly, rockets like raindrops fell on the marching column. The exploding rockets immediately set off a storm of death on the grassland. In just a blink of an eye, the violent explosion enveloped the red vertical line...

(End of this chapter)