Chapter 389 Change of Hands
The Nigers were forced to launch a death charge towards the East African position, carrying weapons "made in various countries" and heading directly towards the 111th Division.
"Open fire!" As the front-line commander of the 111th Division gave the order, the East African Army took aim and pulled the trigger. "Bang... bang... bang...", the staggered and rhythmic gunshots shot towards the Nigers, and they fell down in an instant.
Because the 111th Division had a good foundation and had undergone long-term training, their marksmanship was generally good, which caused bad luck for Nig on the opposite side.
Five hundred meters is not too far, but for the Nigs, it is a tragic journey of no return. However, the East African soldiers' marksmanship obviously could not scare them, because although the rifles are terrifying, their deterrent power is not as great as the machine guns that Wiggins showed them before the war.
You know, Wiggins personally selected more than 20 slaves to stand in front of the machine guns, letting the rest of the slaves see what blood and flesh flew everywhere in an instant. That scene almost became a nightmare for the Nigs. Compared to being torn into pieces, having just one hole on the body is obviously much better. Although it is a dead end, being able to keep an intact body should at least reduce the pain of the soul after death.
Even though the Nigers were fearless and brave, no one could break through the firepower network formed by the East African Dreiser rifles. As expected, all the Nigers who joined the charge fell, but it was not clear whether some of them lay on the ground pretending to be dead.
"Engineers, continue your work and don't worry about anything else!" After destroying the attacking Nigers, the front-line commanders of the 111th East African Division ordered.
Wiggins also saw the outcome of the battle from the top of the city wall and said only: "It is of no use."
However, Wiggins did not choose to continue this meaningless attack. Hundreds of Nigers were destroyed in the previous round. This should have been the treatment of the East African Army. He was the defending party.
But they couldn't just do nothing. They still had to scare the East African Army, so Wiggins ordered: "Third Battery, aim a cannon at the German position and fire it!"
The 8-pound cannon, which had been loaded with ammunition, fired a shot at the East African position. The frontline soldiers of the 111th Division, who were staring at the top of the city wall, felt that something was wrong when they saw the Boers adjusting the position of the gun muzzles. Fortunately, the trenches beside them had already begun to take shape, so they entered the trenches to take shelter.
“Boom…Bang…”
A thick cloud of smoke rose behind the soldiers of the 111th Division, and the originally flat ground turned into a huge bomb crater, covering the East African soldiers in the trenches next to the bomb crater with dirt.
"The Boers are using artillery, so let's teach them a lesson!" Chris gritted his teeth and said, "Artillery ready!"
The 111th Division was equipped with a total of 67 artillery pieces, all of which were 3-pound guns, which were also common artillery in European armies in the past. However, countries such as Prussia no longer use them on a large scale. The reason why East Africa continues to use 3-pound guns is mainly for the convenience of transportation. Only two horses are needed to pull this type of artillery around.
As the artillery of the 111th Division was dispatched, 67 artillery pieces began to set up artillery positions at a position of 3,000 meters.
Commander of the 111th Division: "Fire!"
"boom……"
In an instant, Wiggins seemed to see a dozen flames flying towards him: "Hide!"
"Bang……"
The shells landed on the city walls or the streets and buildings of Pretoria, and more than a dozen places, including the city walls, suffered varying degrees of damage.
"Damn it! When did the East African Kingdom get so many artillery pieces?" Wiggins, who survived the disaster, cursed.
In fact, the 123rd Cavalry Division was also equipped with artillery, but Ernst did not let them play. The East African Army's current attack on Pretoria was like a cat teasing a mouse, and it did not use its full strength.
"Commander, are we going to fight back against the Germans?"
Wiggins said grimly, "Aim the shells at the artillery positions in East Africa!"
So the Pretoria Artillery, which had only five guns, launched a bombardment against the East African Army Artillery, while Wiggins and the Boers hid in the bunkers prepared before the war.
Although the Boers' artillery was powerful, the East African artillery had more advanced technology. The East African artillery was trained frequently, while the Boers rarely used their own artillery. In addition to being expensive, the most important reason was that there were few application scenarios. After all, apart from East Africa, no army had ever attacked Pretoria, the heartland of the Transvaal Republic. The last time these artillery pieces were used was probably a few years ago, and they have been left unused ever since.
The Boer artillery became almost a decoration and naturally was not as technically advanced as the East African artillery. As the East African artillery continued to adjust, a shell accurately fell near the Boer artillery. With a loud "bang", the thick gun barrel and the base fell towards the city, creating a hole at the base of the city wall.
It was not that the East African artillery was powerful, but that the shoddy construction could not withstand the test and collapsed on one side, taking the artillery placed on it with it.
This made Wiggins very annoyed, but what was even more annoyed was that the German artillery shells had been used up. After all, they had been decorations for several years, so they did not buy more shells. However, after the shells were used up, the East African artillery did not lose a single hair. This was the most infuriating thing.
"Commander, what should we do next?"
"What should we do! We have to fight to the death. Let everyone be prepared. From now on we will not waste a single bullet. All bullets should be loaded and bayonets should be ready. All machine guns should be positioned. When the East African Army gets in front of us, we will fight them directly!" said Wiggins.
The artillery fire from East Africa continued, and Pretoria soon became riddled with holes. The so-called city walls collapsed in many places, leaving huge gaps, but Wiggins still chose to fight to the end.
After an unknown amount of time, the cannon fire finally stopped. Wiggins was surprised and said, "Brothers! The East Africans have no more shells!"
But before he could be happy, he discovered that while the East Africans were shelling Pretoria, the East African engineers had unknowingly built a tunnel to within a hundred meters of the Boer trenches.
"People on the city wall, set up your machine guns. Point all your guns at the location of the East Africans' tunnels. Cooperate with the brothers in the trenches. If any East Africans show their heads, hit them hard!"
So the Boers watched helplessly as the tunnels dug by the East African engineers got closer and closer to Pretoria, one hundred meters, ninety meters, eighty meters... forty meters.
The Boers thought that the Germans would continue digging until they got close to them, but the East African engineers suddenly stopped and no soil was turned out from the tunnel.
Just when the Boers didn't know what the East Africans were going to do, the East African engineers were exhausted at this time, and they went back along the tunnel when they came from.
"Commander, the passage has been dug!"
"Very good, let the throwers and artillery get ready to suppress the Boer firepower on the city wall." said Chris, commander of the 114th Division.
So, when the Boers, who had waited for a while but saw no movement from East Africa and were about to relax their vigilance, something flew from the tunnel towards the trenches built by the Boers.
A Nig saw something with white smoke flying into his pit. What was it? Before he could think about it, "bang", he was killed by a grenade without any pain.
The Nigs next to them also suffered heavy casualties. It would have been fine if they died directly, but those who survived were missing limbs and could only wait to die.
As a result, the Boer trenches, which had been hit by the East African grenades, instantly became a mess. At this time, the Nigers had completely lost control. They ran out of the trenches in panic, fled everywhere, and completely ignored the Boer's commands. Even shooting was of no avail. At this time, the East African artillery began to show its power again, and the East African vanguard troops also pressed forward. Thousands of Nigers crawled and fled towards the city of Pretoria. Even if Wiggins personally fired at Niger with a machine gun, it was of no avail.
"It's over! It's all over!" Wiggins collapsed on the ground. Without Nigg as cannon fodder, the lower Boers had no chance of resisting the East African Army.
Soon, the East African army climbed up the Pretoria city wall, which was only two meters high, and raised the East African lion flag on it.
"Commander! The East Africans are attacking us! What should we do?"
Wiggins looked at the boys in front of him and said, "We lost, but it's all my fault. I hurt you. Run away!"
"What are you going to do, Commander?"
"Don't worry about me! Go away." Wiggins pushed them away and said, "I am destined to be a loser, so let me stay here..."
After sending off the soldiers around him, Wiggins pulled out a pistol from his pocket, looked at it, and then put his chin on it: "Goodbye! Transvaal."
Bang……
(End of this chapter)
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