Chapter 1304 Ambush Circle (Second update, please subscribe)
With the support of the Ming Empire, all forces are gathering towards Africa and South Africa.
Under the banner of "anti-British", thousands of Irish people came to South Africa, where they trained, fought and sacrificed on this land.
But their sacrifice was valuable. When one "Irish regiment" after another was established, an armed force belonging to the Irish was born. It is not clear what kind of frenzy they will set off in the future, but they will definitely profoundly change the fate of Ireland...
Just when a large number of Irish people arrived in South Africa through various channels as fresh troops, British reinforcements finally arrived - 20,000 British troops led by General Redvers Buller, commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force, finally arrived in Cape Town.
This force was reinforced from the British mainland, and Admiral Redvers Buller had a history with the Irish - he had suppressed a local uprising in Ireland.
"Send our fleet to Durban!"
As soon as he arrived in Cape Town, when he learned that Mafeking, Kimberley and other places had fallen one after another and the Boer Army was already at the gates of Durban Port, Admiral Buller immediately gave the order.
"We must crush the Boer attack in Durban! There is no army in the world that can survive the bombardment of the navy!"
As Admiral Buller said, with the support of the fleet's fierce artillery fire, the Boer attack was frustrated. On March 8, the Boer army attacking Durban Harbor suffered unprecedented losses under the bombardment of 8-inch, 10-inch and even 12-inch naval guns. Faced with the reality of nearly 3,000 casualties, the Boer army chose to retreat. This also meant that their attempt to open up the seaport ended in failure.
Encouraged by the victory at Durban, Admiral Redvers Buller ordered a British counter-offensive, as the Cape Colony was infested with small groups of Boer guerrillas operating northeast of Cape Town and posing a threat to the East-West Cape Railway line.
Faced with the Boer attacks, the British had to closely guard the Orange River Railway Bridge to prevent the Boers from attempting to blow up the bridge. De Aar, the most important railway hub and military material distribution center on the Western Cape Railway, was also harassed by the Boers. In order to protect the normal passage of the East and West Cape Railway, the British had to install 4.7-inch naval guns on the trains and slowly advance under their cover, repairing the railway section by section.
This also caused their marching speed to become extremely slow.
On April 17, the 1st Royal Infantry Division, which had been marching northwards, arrived at Magersfontein, a small town about 20 miles south of Kimberley, in the rain. In front of the British army were continuous hills, which were covered by heavy rain and had a solemn atmosphere.
"The Boers may have set up an ambush in the hills!"
To be on the safe side, Payne Simmons ordered his Scottish Highland Guards to lead the way in a column, with the troops behind following in a dense formation to prevent the soldiers from falling behind.
In the distance, the horizon behind the mountains was blocked by rain, and you could vaguely see a few faint points of light jumping up and down in the drizzle and thick fog.
That was the light reflected by the bare rocks on the mountain - in order to avoid an ambush, the British army used searchlights to observe the surroundings. The dazzling light pierced the darkness of the night. With the help of the light, the British army repeatedly searched the wilderness ahead, but could not see anything except the dark hills.
Although the searchlights allowed the British to see clearly and dispel the darkness, they also exposed their location. More than a dozen beams of light completely revealed their position.
As the British Army advanced cautiously, neither General Payne Simmons nor the British officers and men under his command realized that General Cronje's Boer Field Force was ambushed behind the hill.
The Boer soldiers braved the heavy rain, letting the rain pour down on them. They quietly hid behind large rocks that were scorched by the sun and washed by rain, lying in the carefully constructed trenches, waiting for the British army to approach.
The scouts sent by Payne Simmons did not find these Boers. Under the cover of night fog and heavy rain, a Boer cavalry team approached the enemy quietly.
Heavy rain and night were the best repellents for the Boer cavalry. The sounds of rain and wind blocked the sound of horses' hooves. Every Boer was a good rider, and they suddenly appeared in front, on both sides and behind the unprepared British army.
The next moment, the crisp sound of gunfire from the Yuannian rifle broke the silence of the march.
For a moment, the twilight was filled with gunfire. Because the British marched in dense formations, each bullet fired by the Boers could often penetrate two or three people in the British army. Almost without any warning, a bullet hit a British soldier's shoulder, passed through his chest, and then penetrated another soldier's chest.
In the twilight, the continuous gunfire sounded like the cough of the god of death to the British soldiers on the march, dull and rapid, and the Scottish Highland Guards, who were leading the charge under the dense rain of bullets, suffered heavy casualties. In the heavy rain, red blood mist continued to rise from the marching troops.
"Boers, Boers..."
The British troops who suffered a sudden attack screamed in fear in the darkness. When the British soldiers on the train tried to use searchlights to find the enemy, the riflemen in the distance directly shattered the searchlights. In the darkness, the Boer cavalry riflemen kept shooting. They surrounded the British and kept shooting.
After launching a surprise attack, they retreated to their own positions without even waiting for the British to react.
"The Boers are fleeing, give chase!"
Faced with the Boer retreat, Payne Simmons immediately took advantage of the situation and ordered the artillery to fire back.
As the 4.7-inch rapid-fire naval guns on the train continued to fire in the direction of the retreating Boer cavalry, the British army, which had already reacted, also launched a pursuit.
However, when he ordered the pursuit, Payne Simmons did not know that the mission of this Boer cavalry was to lure the British army into an ambush point.
"The British are coming..."
General Cronji, standing on the mountain, looked at the British chasing him in the twilight, with a sneer on his face.
"Just as we planned, they ran headfirst into our ambush. King, our plan was successful."
Wang Jingchu standing next to him no longer had the demeanor of the young master Wang from Linhai. His dress was no different from that of ordinary Boers. After the war broke out, in addition to the military attachés of the embassy's military attaché office, the imperial military also sent dozens of officers as volunteers to assist them in the battle.
Wang Jingchu, who worked for the colonial authorities, was also sent here because he was close to the water. Rain dripped down his cowboy hat. He stared at the approaching British troops and the rising artillery flames in the distance, and said.
"General, the British artillery fire seems to be very fierce. This may be detrimental to our next plan."
General Kronji nodded and said nothing. He just stared at the battlefield in the night.
This was the ambush they had carefully constructed, waiting for the British to rush in. Now that they had finally rushed in, it was time to strike them head-on...
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
