Chapter 737: Weird Indians
Following Aristotle's order, all the officers and soldiers of the 9th Brigade, who were already somewhat exhausted, began a new round of blocking operations against the British army.
However, compared to before the war, the East African army's "anxiety" about the British army has turned into a numb state of "the British are nothing special."
After all, the title of "the world's number one superpower" is quite scary, but only when a real fight breaks out can one realize the "gap" in it. The opponents are also mortals with two arms and two legs, not "heavenly soldiers" who are invulnerable to swords and guns and fearless of death.
Of course, the grassroots soldiers in East Africa definitely don’t think so. It is just an exaggeration. Currently, the soldiers of the 9th Brigade are mainly composed of two parts, one is the experienced veterans, and the other is the new recruits who joined the 9th Brigade after the expansion of the army.
The new recruits are divided into two parts. One is the group that immigrated to East Africa in recent years. This group of new recruits is the biggest destabilizing factor for the 9th Brigade in East Africa.
The immigrants mainly came from Germany and the Far East, so their attitudes towards the war were mixed, and some even had various thinking patterns of the old-style troops, but they could get along well with many veterans in East Africa.
Another part of the recruits were those who had received compulsory education in East Africa or Germany. After all, many immigrants in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were Slavs, and the level of compulsory education was not very high, so many of them came from Germany but did not necessarily receive compulsory education.
The new recruits who have received compulsory education in East Africa obviously have not received military camp education, and have a certain biased impression of the army. However, East Africa’s discipline education over the years has not been in vain, especially at the officer level. We dare not say that the discipline of the East African army is very good, but it is definitely not bad.
For the new recruits, one day of actual combat has completely washed away their immaturity. Especially after fighting against the "world's number one power", all the officers and soldiers of the 9th Brigade made the greatest progress and quickly got used to each other.
After the British Army's fourth river crossing operation began, all the anxiety, uneasiness and panic of the 9th Brigade had disappeared. Instead, under the leadership of the veterans, they quickly became qualified soldiers. This was the most direct feeling of the grassroots military commanders of the 9th Brigade, and the command of the troops became more and more smooth.
"The British are about to launch another attack. Everyone be on alert. This time, according to the order of the brigade, we must save ammunition, especially the machine gunners. Aim before shooting. Don't rely on the power of the machine guns and waste bullets on the river." said the commander of the third company of the seventh battalion.
…
The Tugela River flows rapidly, and the potential energy accumulated from the Drakensberg Mountains is greatly released downstream, while there are crocodiles floating in the river, waiting for another feast.
These Nile crocodiles also brought tremendous pressure to the British army. Many Indian soldiers who unfortunately fell into the water died in the mouths of crocodiles.
Therefore, the British army's small ferries were very careful. They had to overcome the turbulent rapids, be careful of the death wandering underwater, and also be careful of bullets and artillery fire from East Africa.
"Bang……"
The soldiers of the 9th Brigade began a new round of shooting, but this time they were more careful with their ammunition and the firepower was not as strong as the previous three times.
This made the Indian soldiers of the British army on the river feel relieved. The Gurkha mercenaries at the bow of the ship showed no fear at all. Instead, they began to counterattack against the East African firepower points in the bumpy environment.
The British were at the stern, directing the Indian soldiers to row hard, and things seemed to be moving in a favorable direction.
"Hurry up, you lazy bastards, haven't you eaten yet?"
"If you miss the chance to fight, you will be punished by military law. If you charge forward, you may be able to survive. If you dare to turn around, I guarantee that none of you will escape."
The British on the boat swore in anger.
Amidst such scolding and rebuke, the efficiency of Indian soldiers was indeed greatly improved. It turned out that using tough measures was more effective in dealing with these slow-moving Indians.
This time the British army finally made a major breakthrough. Even until the center of the river, they did not collapse as in the previous times. Whenever there was any unusual movement of the ferry, there were British and Gurkhas to supervise it. There was even bloodshed, and some negative Indian soldiers were set as examples.
…
"Without fire suppression, the British have indeed made a lot of progress. Listen to my orders. Wait until the enemy is less than 20 meters from the shore and beat them to death. Don't let them seize the beach and build positions."
This time the British army made obvious progress compared with previous times. After all, with the Gurkha mercenaries as a model, they took the lead in charging to the front line, and with the British in the rear to provide support and supervision, the Indian soldiers, who were cannon fodder, had no reason or opportunity to escape.
"Machine gunner fire!"
As the British troops got closer, the 9th Brigade was no longer timid and opened fire with artillery and machine guns. The British troops were now in a situation where they had no way to retreat and were very close to the shore.
It is naturally impossible to retreat. After all, the way back is more difficult, and the risk of being defeated on the river is too great.
The Gurkha mercenaries had no fear at all. Although the machine gun points in East Africa were extremely powerful, they did not scare them away.
These Gurkha mercenaries were like the suicide squad. They jumped off the ship and forced their way ashore before the ship reached the shore. Even though some of their men kept falling, it did not affect their combat awareness at all.
After landing, they immediately entered combat status. In order to avoid the intensive firepower output of East Africa, they did not rush forward foolishly. Instead, they began to look for cover, or soaked in the mud and water, crawling forward.
The Indians behind seemed a little stunned. If they had time to think, they would definitely not understand why these Gurkha mercenaries had no fear of death.
"Go ashore, don't stand there!" the British commander roared.
After driving these slow-reacting Indian soldiers ashore, the British commander found that things were not easy. The firepower of the East Africans was too strong, and there was a lack of cover on the river. In this situation, he was afraid that he would die!
However, having already landed meant there was no way to retreat. After realizing this, the British commander began to organize a "death charge."
Unfortunately, the effect was not good. Many Indian soldiers simply lay on the ground with their heads in their hands and pretended to be dead. Although the Gurkha mercenaries were not afraid of fighting to the death, their numbers were too small.
This made the British army's command completely ineffective. Instead, the East Africans were not in a hurry. They hid behind the bunkers and reaped the lives of these British soldiers to their heart's content.
The time soon came to six o'clock in the afternoon. After confirming that the last wave of enemies had been eliminated, the soldiers of the 9th Brigade finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The British army's fourth river crossing operation failed.
"Throw all the bodies into the river to prevent viruses and bacteria from breeding," Brigadier General Aristotle ordered.
After each war, East Africa would send people to clean up the battlefield. The corpses piled up here, coupled with the relatively high temperature along the coast of South Africa, could easily cause problems, so it was necessary to take risks to clean up the British corpses on the river beach.
This was a common practice among East African armies. The British army had not even completed the crossing of the river, so there was no need to clean up the battlefield.
However, what East Africa did not expect was that many of the so-called "corpses" on the river beach were actually pretending to be dead. This was the first time that the East African Defense Force encountered such a situation.
While cleaning the river beaches in East Africa, many Indians suddenly came back to life and surrendered directly, allowing the 9th Brigade to capture more than 600 Indian prisoners.
Aristotle looked at the captured Indian soldiers in amazement. He had fought in East Africa for so many years, but this was the first time he encountered a large-scale army pretending to be dead to escape the war. India was truly a magical place.
(End of this chapter)
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