Chapter 330： run away

Chapter 330 Running away

As the East African army approached step by step, the distance between the two armies was only about 500 meters.

Wiggins is still waiting for East Africa to enter the range, but the East African army will not give him this opportunity, because this distance has reached the range of the firepower of the Dreiser rifle.

The maximum range of the Dreiser rifle is about 600 meters, while the rifle equipped by the Ndebele can only reach 300 meters. At a distance of 500 meters, it can already exert about 60% of the power of the Dreiser rifle, which is enough.

"Fire!" With the order of the East African commanders.

The East African Army suddenly launched an attack, and the gunshots from Dreiser's rifle broke the oppressive tranquility between the two sides.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

Wiggins was caught off guard by the sudden fire of East Africa, "What's going on, these East Africans..."

Before they could say anything, someone in the front row of Ndebele soldiers had been shot and fell down a lot. At this time, the Ndebele soldiers were also stunned by the sudden fire from East Africa. Watching the East African army open fire, this is a stress response that exploded in the face of danger warning.

However, the East African army opened fire first and the teammates around them fell, causing the Ndebele fighters who had briefly received Boer training to panic and make frequent mistakes. Even the soldiers in the second row came straight to the surviving comrades in front of them nervously. one shot.

"you…"

The Ndebele soldier who was shot black by his own people fell unwillingly in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open.

The entire Ndebele camp fell into chaos, with shouts, wailing, and gunshots mixed together.

Wiggins was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted, "Bastard, who told you to shoot, stop shooting!"

The Ndebele's shooting now can't hurt a hair of the East Africans at all, at most the East African Army can listen to it.

Against the gunfire, Wiggins shouted to Lobengula: "Your Majesty, there is a problem with the equipment of the East Africans! Their rifles have a longer range, and we must immediately change our tactics."

At this time, Lobengula was already pale with anger, and angrily said: "Didn't you say that we can defeat them with muskets as long as we wait for the East Africans to come to our door? Why did they open fire in advance before they reached the predetermined area? Can it hurt us?"

Wiggins: "Your Majesty, there is something wrong with the equipment of the East Africans. They must have ordered more advanced weapons from Europe. I have not figured this out. The responsibility lies with me, but now is not the time to pursue responsibility. We must deal with the enemy's weapons." attack."

Lobengula said in a panic: "What should we do now? Retreat?"

Lobengula is really desperate. Even a fool knows that the weapons of the East Africans are different from the "scrap iron" he bought with gold. They can't even reach the corners of the enemy's clothes, so how can they fight.

Wiggins: "No, Your Majesty, let our people charge forward with muskets. We must have more people than East Africans. It doesn't matter if we die. As long as we rush halfway, the muskets in our hands will be able to fight against the enemy." East Africa is fighting back, and we're in close combat with the East Africans!"

Retreating is impossible. Once retreating, the morale of the army will be unstable. At that time, one's own side will not retreat, but be defeated. Wiggins is sure that as long as the order is given to retreat, these natives will run faster than anyone else. , At that time, even the command will collapse. Now try to break through to the East Africans, maybe you can turn defeat into victory with the advantage of numbers.

It doesn't matter what it means to die! Although he was very angry, Lobengula had no choice but to try Wiggins' method, "Attack with the whole army! Warriors of the kingdom, follow my footsteps and defeat these East Africans."

Lobengula took the lead in the charge, boosted morale, and temporarily stabilized the morale of the Ndebele people. Now they can only fight with their backs.

"Kill!"

Lobengula raised the Arab scimitar in his hand and took the lead to kill the East African army, followed by the Ndebele fighters.

But the East African army has seen the intention of the Ndebele people.

"The artillery is ready! Let it go!"

"Boom...boom...boom..."

The shells bombarded the Ndebele camp, which greatly weakened the Ndebele people's desire to fight. However, the Ndebele people, as the "fighting" nation among the indigenous people, still did not collapse. Lobengula set an example and took the lead in charging. The improvement of morale is still effective. The king is willing to die, so why not die.

Seeing that the Ndebele people can still attack normally, Wei Te ordered: "The cavalry is ready!"

The East African cavalry who had been waiting for a long time drew out their sabers and stepped forward to prepare for battle.

The South Salzburg border troops are equipped with two cavalry companies, which are not large in scale, but the South Salzburg border is almost fully equipped with the three army services of infantry, artillery, and cavalry.

The weapons of the East African cavalry are not exactly the same as those in Europe. Except for the same Dreiser carbine specially used for cavalry in Prussia, the cold weapon equipped by the East African cavalry is the East African straight knife.

The East African Straight Knife is an improved version of the Huan Shou Knife of the Han Dynasty. Its basic functions are similar to those of the Han Knife. It has a single-sided blade, thick ridges, and a certain curvature, but the overall vision is relatively straight. It is mainly used for chopping and stabbing.

The knife body is 1.12 meters long, and the handle is wrapped with sisal braid, making use of the moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking characteristics of sisal, which is easy to hold. The diameter of the knife ring is equal to the width of the knife handle. At the same time, a metal buckle is added to the scabbard for easy hanging on the waist.

The fixed shape of the East African straight knife is entirely out of Ernst's personal preference. He himself has a gold-encrusted Leng Yuhan knife specially made with a lot of money as a private collection.

Although the East African cavalry used straight knives, which was influenced by Ernst’s personal subjective, but the straight knives were unexpectedly accepted and loved by the East African cavalry, mainly because there were almost no cavalry of the same size among the enemies facing East Africa, so they could not use Rifles and other weapons.

East African cavalry has more actual combat cases, holding straight knives and rushing into the fleeing aborigines, arresting young and strong laborers. The Dreiser Carbine is used only when it is necessary to annihilate the enemy and for medium and long-range fire.

East African straight knives are light and easy to control, which can ensure the safety of slaves. If they are disabled, slaves will be useless.

Witt: "Cavalry attack!"

The cavalry kicked the horse with spurs, and as the East African cavalry moved out, a cloud of dust was immediately raised on the battlefield, and the horseshoes roared.

"kill!"

The sharp East African straight knife was shining in the sun, and the horse ran a certain distance before colliding with the Ndebele people who were rushing to the front.

Seven or eight hundred catties passed directly by the Ndebele fighters, but followed by the shining East African straight knife.

Raising the knife with his hand and dropping it, plasma burst out from the Ndebele man in an instant, splashing all over the ground.

Lobengula was not hit by the straight knife of the East African cavalry, but it was even more horrible. A war horse directly pushed him to the ground, and then the horse's hoof trampled on him mercilessly.

Lobengula, a Ndebele strongman weighing nearly 200 kilograms, didn't come up in one breath. He felt a heat in his heart, and then passed out. I don't know if it was because of the impact or stampede.

Two cavalry companies rushed into the Ndebele camp, directly and completely disrupting the Ndebele attack.

Under the blessing of war horses, the East African cavalry raised their swords and fell in the crowd, killing and killing. The Ndebele people completely lost their command, and the peripheral soldiers began to collapse.

Sweite also ordered at this time: "Everyone, attack from all fronts!"

All the East African Army pressed up and joined the battlefield. The battlefield directly turned into a slaughterhouse. The smell of blood mixed with gunpowder smoke and dust permeated the battlefield. On the outskirts of Bulawayo, more and more Ndebele corpses were found.

I don’t know when, Wiggins and a few Boer instructors sneaked around to the back of the battlefield while the Ndebele people were not paying attention.

"It's over! It's over!" At this time, Wiggins said to several Boer instructors: "We must evacuate immediately. The defeat of the Ndebele people is doomed. We cannot fall into the hands of the East Africans."

"What about the Ndebele people, do you want to call them?"

"Death is death, now we have to run away, while they can resist the East Africans for a while, let's go!" Wiggins urged.

Dead friends don't die poor people, Wiggins directly chose to betray the Ndebele people.

"Let's go get the horse first, go straight to the west, then detour to the southwest, and finally turn back to the Transvaal." Wiggins directed.

So several people hurried to Bulawayo's residence, where the horses they brought from the Transvaal were stored.

(end of this chapter)