Chapter 31 Clash of Clans
"put!"
Bang…bang…bang…
"Second row, get ready!"
…
One hour ago.
Karonga, Lake Malawi.
When the Sixth Team first arrived here, they had a fierce exchange of fire with the locals. Because they were on the same route, the Sixth Team and the Fifth Team separated in Mbeya and headed south.
The "Laita" tribe here is large, with several thousand people, located in the northwest of Lake Malawi.
The arrival of the sixth team instantly aroused the vigilance of the "Leta" tribe. As the overlord of the region, the Leta tribe was invincible in the Karonga area.
Its leader, Haru, was an accomplished chief. After he came to power, he started the campaign of conquering the Karonga region.
Those small tribes with only a hundred or a dozen people are no match for the Leta tribe with hundreds of warriors.
Just when Haru was feeling smug and thought he had no rivals in the world, the arrival of the Sixth Team gave him an opportunity.
Once a Portuguese expedition team came here, but was wiped out by the Leta tribe. The Portuguese did not take any action because explorers were a high-risk profession in that era. They believed that the explorer might have strayed into the mountains or been eaten by wild beasts.
Therefore, the "experienced" Leta tribe did not take this team of only a few hundred people seriously.
After receiving the report from the subordinate tribe, Haru decided to lead the army himself. All the warriors of the tribe were summoned, and after being baptized with holy water by the high priest, the army of the Leta tribe set out.
They blocked the Sixth Team's path at the shore of Lake Malawi, and the two sides began to confront each other. Haru led the Leta tribal warriors to observe the strength of the Sixth Team on the opposite side.
The clothes of the sixth team are all made of cotton fabrics, which are rare in the Karonga textile industry and are more valuable than gold. The Karonga tribe can only purchase a very small number of them by trading with tribes in Zimbabwe.
So in Haru's eyes, the Sixth Team was just prey. As for the flintlock rifles equipped by the Sixth Team, Haru directly regarded them as a special kind of "spear".
Haru had never seen a flintlock rifle. The Portuguese killed by the tribe once carried a pistol with him, but it was not a pistol that could be loaded with bullets. Haru tried to figure it out for a long time but failed. In the end, the pistol was hung in Haru's "palace" as a trophy.
Haru blew the horn, and the Leta tribe rushed over with a "Wow, Awooo..." Haru took the lead, holding a spear in hand, and attacked the sixth team:
Haru's spear was made from the unfortunate Portuguese's knife, tied to a pole with a rope, and Haru carefully sharpened the blade every day.
Haru, holding the "divine weapon" in his hand, thought he was safe, but the group of idiots on the opposite side actually lined up in a row and held the "spears" horizontally in their hands.
Haru had never seen anyone use a "spear" like this. His spear was sharp and long. The "idiot" on the opposite side didn't even have a blade before the "spear". It was short, just a strange-looking stick. Every inch longer, every inch stronger. Haru wanted to teach these savages who didn't even "know" about weapons a lesson.
The Leta tribe was advancing rapidly. In the eyes of the Leta warriors, this was an opportunity to make a little fortune, so they rushed over for military merit.
…
Yuri, the commander of the Sixth Squadron, was stunned! This was the first time he had seen such arrogant and domineering natives. Who gave him the courage to launch a head-on confrontation with a modern army with such a small number of people and such primitive weapons?
If these natives relied on the terrain and forests to fight guerrilla warfare, it would definitely be a headache. So even if there were twice as many people who dared to attack directly, Yuri would not feel any pressure.
Yuri calmly commanded the Sixth Team, prepared them, and aimed their guns at the natives. Although they had only received a short training period, the team members were still able to line up their flintlock rifles by instinct, divided them into three groups, and began to line up and shoot.
Bang…bang…bang…
Haru was startled by the gunshot, but his past experience made him rush forward instinctively. That's how he fought with courage!
The leaders were still charging forward. Leta boosted the morale of the tribe's warriors. Although they didn't understand what the loud noise was, they still followed the leader Haru.
After the first round of gunfire, because the distance was not close, only a few natives were injured, and Commander Yuri was not panicked at all.
"Second row, ready, third row, get ready, first row, load."
"put!"
Bang…bang…bang…
As a puff of smoke rose from the muzzle of the gun, the indigenous warrior who was rushing in the front fell to the ground. Haru was also shot and injured in the arm.
But Haru was indeed a reckless man. Even though he was injured, he did not lose his composure. At this time, the morale of the team had been somewhat shaken. Haru looked calm and said, "Warriors of the tribe, don't panic. The enemy is not far away. As long as we run faster, their weapons will be useless!"
At this moment, Haru has realized that the enemy's weapon is a long-range attack, but he can no longer hesitate. As long as he can get close to the enemy, he still has a chance. Otherwise, he will be defeated.
The Leta tribe lived up to their status as the overlord of the Karonga region and did not give up easily even in the face of the enemy’s terrifying weapons.
Yuri remained calm as he watched the indigenous tribal soldiers advancing faster and faster, and ordered, "Third row, fire!"
Bang…bang…bang…
This time the results were better, more than twenty natives fell to the ground, but Haru once again escaped death by luck, but his soldiers were completely panicked.
After three rounds of gunfire, nearly fifty people lost their ability to fight, and some wanted to escape.
But Yuri didn't give them a chance: "First row, fire!"
"Second row, get ready! Everyone else put on bayonets!"
After two consecutive rounds of attacks, the natives lost more than forty people. For the Leta tribe, which had only a few hundred warriors, the only option now was to run away.
Before they even encountered the enemy, they had lost nearly one-sixth of their men. Although they were still able to continue fighting, the fact that their comrades beside them fell one after another put them under tremendous pressure. Haru could not hold it in any longer, and the morale of the troops was greatly disrupted. The entire team was in chaos and looked for a way to retreat.
"Chase!" Yuri drew his sword, raised it in his hand, and led the charge.
The offensive and defensive situations were different. The Leta tribe, which had lost its organizational ability, was hunted down everywhere by the soldiers of the Sixth Team. The Chinese soldiers, seeing the blood, became bloodthirsty.
At dusk, the war was over. Yuri began to command the cleanup of the battlefield. The Leta tribe suffered more than 300 casualties and 62 prisoners, including the injured leader Haru. In the battle, the sixth team had only one person who twisted his foot during the pursuit, in addition to two people who were injured in the battle.
It was undoubtedly a great victory and the first recorded victory by the newly formed Chinese troops in the East African colonies.
As for the handling of the Leta tribe, the Sixth Team did not take any further action, but chose to drive them away. The leaderless Leta tribe fled towards Zimbabwe.
Because of the battle, the Sixth Team failed to set up camp in time, so they simply occupied the village of the Leta tribe.
Most of the houses in these villages were built with rattan and mud and were about one meter high. Only Haru, as the tribal chief, had a slightly larger hut, so the team members could only make do with it for one night.
(End of this chapter)
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