Chapter 1283 Guerrilla Song (3rd update, please subscribe)
"Healthy male citizens aged 16 to 50 from farms in this area who have received this notice, please bring horses, guns, ammunition and five days of rations to *** town and report to the local militia commander..."
The Boers, who were all soldiers, had been ready for battle and had even mobilized last year. In the past year, they had been waiting for a showdown with the British. After the news of the war with Britain was announced, local Boer citizens in towns and cities from Transvaal to Orange took up arms and went to the assembly points to join the militia.
"Wesley, be careful!"
Standing under the telegraph pole, Hurd shouted at his younger brother on the pole. Their father, old Hurd, was holding a rifle, riding on a horse, and observing the surroundings vigilantly.
“Don’t worry…”
As the words fell, Wesley had already cut the telegraph wire.
"Quick, quick, retreat,"
When the telegraph lines were cut, old Hart rode his horse and led his sons to a distant place.
Like all Boers, the Boer farmers scattered across the vast South African plateau took the initiative to join the war after the news of the declaration of war came. They took their sons, horses and rifles, formed small combat units, and fought as combatants. They destroyed railways, cut telegraph lines, and did their best to destroy the British war potential.
Old Hurd was one of them. He and his guerrillas consisted of only twenty-three people, and even had six black slaves.
"Old Hurd, will they come?"
After arriving at the ambush point, William looked at Old Hurd and asked.
"Don't worry, they will definitely come. My brother is at the telegraph company. Now the telegraph company has been taken over by the army. The telegraph line is broken. The British will definitely send people to inspect it. They will definitely send police or soldiers..."
Old Hurd held his pipe in his mouth. He took a puff of the cigarette before speaking slowly.
"Now all we need to do is wait."
Patience is the guerrillas' best friend. After waiting for about four or five hours, finally, a dozen figures on horseback appeared in their sight.
Although the distance is far, you can still see several red dots. On the yellow South African plateau, the red color is very eye-catching, and they can be clearly seen even from several kilometers away.
This also made the British wearing red uniforms typical sitting ducks.
"Dad, they are coming,"
Hurd said, pointing into the distance.
"There are two British pigs in Red Army uniforms, and the rest are armed militias..."
"Um,"
Nodding, Old Hurd said.
"Wait until they get closer before you shoot."
While talking, he put out his cigarette and even covered the ashes with dirt to avoid exposing himself.
The British soldiers and militia soldiers who were escorting the telegraph company's line repairmen did not know that they had fallen into a carefully set trap. Just as they came to the telegraph pole, looked at the severed telegraph lines and cursed the damn Boers, they did not know that in the nearby bushes, the Boers, who were carefully camouflaged in khaki clothes, had already aimed their rifles at them.
After aiming at the British, Hurd pulled the trigger. Amid the continuous gunfire, the British fell down one after another without them even having time to fire.
While collecting the rifles and ammunition from the British, old Hurd took a puff of his pipe and said proudly.
“It’s like hunting.”
Yes, for the Boers, fighting was like hunting, but it was not easy for the British, especially for the British troops defending Kimberley, who suffered an unprecedented blow.
Early in the morning, overwhelming artillery fire hit the British positions outside Kimberley. The Boers equipped with Type 11 field guns spared no effort to bombard the British positions. The Type 11 field gun was the world's first artillery that used a hydraulic recoil and recoil hybrid mechanism. It had a high rate of fire and a low trajectory. Although the single-leg gun mount affected the left and right firing range,
However, thanks to the high rate of fire, the shells still swept across the British positions like a torrential rain. On the hill not far away, the Boer observers trained by the military advisers of the Ming Empire used artillery telescopes to observe the effects of the shelling and indicated the impact points to the artillery positions at any time, making the Boer army's shelling more and more accurate.
In the fierce artillery fire, the shells seemed to have eyes, and they blasted the British artillery positions, machine gun firing points, bunkers, and infantry shelters into pieces. For a time, dirt and rocks flew everywhere, and blood and flesh whirled everywhere. Wherever the artillery fire passed, the howling of the wounded could be heard everywhere.
"Damn it, they must be using rapid-fire cannons, definitely the rapid-fire cannons of the Ming Empire..."
In the choking smoke, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph, who was guarding Kimberly, couldn't help cursing.
"Damn Churchill, doesn't he know that the army needs rapid-fire guns..."
The reason why he cursed Churchill was because that guy was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who advocated reducing taxes and lowering military spending. Although his budget was not adopted due to strong opposition from the War Department, the army's weapons procurement costs were still affected, and the British were still using recoilless guns from more than a decade ago.
"careful!"
Amid the whistling sound of artillery shells, Randolph was overwhelmed by his subordinates. After a violent explosion, he stood up again, spitting out the dust in his mouth. As soon as he stood up, he asked.
"Any news from General Methuen? When will their reinforcements arrive?"
For Randolph, who had less than 1,000 soldiers and 3,000 militiamen under his command, the only thing he could turn to was the reinforcements from General Paul Methuen.
“No news yet.”
Randolph's heart sank at his subordinate's answer, and feeling the fierce artillery fire of the Boers, he muttered to himself.
“Is it true that the British Empire is about to lose this city?”
Kimberley has the largest diamond mine in the world!
Doesn’t the British Empire want this diamond mine anymore?
Without reinforcements, he would definitely not be able to hold on to this place.
"When will the reinforcements arrive?"
While Randolph was talking to himself, he saw Thomas in hunting suit not far away. That guy was the manager of the mine and also the commander of the militia. His eyes lit up when he stared at that guy, and he walked over and said to him.
"Mr. Thomas."
"Lieutenant Colonel, what can I do for you?"
"You see? The Boers are attacking very hard, and they will certainly continue to attack, Mr. Thomas."
Randolph said, staring at Thomas.
"If reinforcements don't come, we will definitely not be able to hold Kimberley. Do you know what that means?"
"Of course I know that it means the company will lose its mines, and the company's stock will plummet. At that time, the interests of all shareholders from Cape Town to London will be damaged. Lieutenant Colonel, that's why I came here to fight with you. Lieutenant Colonel, reinforcements, when will our reinforcements arrive here?"
Thomas answered directly.
"Reinforcements, Mr. Thomas, I don't know when the reinforcements will arrive, but what is certain is that if they don't come, we will definitely lose everything. I need you to tell Mr. Rhodes and tell him everything that happened here..."
(End of this chapter)
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