African Nationhood

The town of Komatiput (now Komatipute, South Africa) is the first town into the Transvaal Republic on the railway line between Mapu Port (now Maputo, Mozambique) and Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic. a site.

The British Expeditionary Force also established a bunker defense system here. The troops of the East African Garrison Division took the train and began to get off the train and walk after arriving at the dividing line between the two sides.

A large army was stationed at the dividing line. Ding He decided to send a battalion of soldiers in first, and after provoking a dispute, the large army quickly entered by train.

Ding He selected the first unit to enter the territory of the Transvaal Republic, which was the first brigade, one regiment and one battalion of the East African Garrison Division.

The commander of the first battalion was Wu Ruofei, an immigrant from the Qing Dynasty. He was first the squad deputy of the second advance battalion, and later he was transferred to the East African Garrison Regiment when it was formed.

First, he was a platoon leader. Because of his excellent training performance in leading troops, he was directly promoted to company commander. Later, when the army expanded, he became the commander of the 1st Battalion.

Wu Ruofei's battalion was allowed to take the lead this time because this guy had brains in fighting, calmness and authority.

Ding He called Wu Ruofei over to explain and let them set off.

……

A battalion has 4 companies, 3 of which are combat companies, the remaining 1 company is an engineering company, and 1 of the combat companies is a guard company.

Except for the firepower configuration of the engineer company, which is not equipped with grenades and light machine guns, other team firearms are over-provisioned.

For example, there are 96 C-5 submachine guns, and the rest are equipped with NH-88 rifles.

As for the pistol, each person has one hand, and each of them is also equipped with an engineer shovel.

Battalion-level combat units are required to be equipped with three Maxim heavy machine guns, one for each of the three combat companies.

As for the artillery unit, only one mortar platoon came.

……

In front of him was the bunker built by the British. Wu Ruofei called the engineer company commander Yao Dahu and the mortar platoon leader Li Ru.

"Now set up a simple defense line. When you finish it, we will say hello to each other."

Yao Dahu whispered "yes" and went to work, while Li Ru led his soldiers to place the shooting benchmark.

Simple fortifications are very simple. There is no need to dig trenches. You only need to fill sacks with soil and build a bunker.

More than a hundred engineering soldiers moved quickly. By the time the simple fortifications were completed, Li Ru and others had also completed the debugging of the mortars.

Wu Ruofei nodded towards Li Ru.

The latter immediately gave an order to his soldiers, "Target 3 kilometers, No. 3 charge, two salvos."

Prepare, let go! "

The soldiers of these artillery brigade have been trained for a long time to move quickly. After installing the explosive package on the tail of the grenade, they placed it at the muzzle and let go directly following Li Ru's command.

"Bang~bang"

Two soft sounds were followed by two loud "bang~bang" sounds.

The mortars were aimed at an open space in front of the bunker. To say hello, one was to show strength, and the other was not to cause a conflict.

Two consecutive grenades directly blew up a big hole in the open space in front of the bunker, and the British soldiers in the bunker were also frightened.

They still don't know where the explosion came from, but the attack is real.

The bang-pom cannon and heavy machine gun on the top of the bunker opened fire immediately, shooting indiscriminately without any target.

At the same time, the British troops in the bunker quickly called the nearby bunker for help.

The officers and soldiers of the East African Garrison Division, huddled behind the simple fortifications, laughed at the panicked British army.

After the British army stopped attacking, Wu Ruofei asked someone to carefully approach the British bunker with a tin trumpet and shouted in English: "We are soldiers of the South China Company's East African Garrison Division. We are here to rescue the Boer civilians imprisoned in the concentration camp by you." of.

We hope that you will stop resisting and we will leave after rescuing the Boer civilians. "

The call did not receive a response from the other party, so Wu Ruofei asked the mortar platoon to fire a grenade every half hour to warn the other party. …

Two hours later, a battalion of soldiers responsible for perimeter security came over to report that nearby British troops had gathered by train.

Wu Ruofei nodded in understanding and continued to fire grenades to warn the other party.

The British troops in the bunker also knew the location of the Nanhua Army, and they were very curious about the Nanhua Company's artillery.

Because the sound of the artillery shells fired was too small, they did not dare to open fire on the South China Army rashly before they understood the shape of the South China Army's artillery.

At this time, the British army sent out a soldier holding a white flag. He shouted as he walked: "We demand dialogue."

The hidden soldier responsible for shouting immediately responded in English, and the two parties separated after communicating.

The soldier reported back: "The other party said they can't make the decision and need to ask their superiors for instructions."

Wu Ruofei nodded, but the grenade warning did not stop.

The British troops in the bunker did not have heavy firepower, and their bang-bang run could only cover more than 1000 meters.

Although the Maxim machine gun can shoot quite far, it has no room to perform in front of the mortar.

……

The British army reported the situation step by step, and Lieutenant General Kitchener, who was stationed in Pretoria, soon received the following report. Reports from South China Company soldiers requesting the rescue of Boer civilians appeared at almost the same time in the east and west.

He said he was a little confused about Nanhua Company's confusing operations.

But he knew that Nanhua Company must have the confidence to openly challenge the British Empire.

The "mysterious artillery" in the battle report reported below aroused his curiosity.

Lieutenant General Kitchener, who was cautious and calm, decided to observe Nanhua Company's actions before reacting.

So he ordered not to conflict first, and to see what Nanhua Company did before making a decision.

……

The British army, after receiving orders from their superiors, allowed the Nanhua Company to enter the town of Komatiput.

The South China Army demanded that the British troops in the bunker disarm and surrender, otherwise they would attack the bunker and would not enter the town until they confirmed that there was no threat from the bunker.

This request was met after the British army asked their superiors for instructions.

So the first battalion separated an engineer company to guard more than 200 British troops who surrendered, and the mortar platoon and guard company controlled the British bunker armed forces.

The 2nd Company and the 3rd Company entered the town. When they arrived at the concentration camp in the center of the town, the Indian Asan who was in charge of guarding the concentration camp was shot dead by the South China Army before he knew what was going on.

When the Nanhua Army entered the concentration camp, they discovered that they had arrived in hell on earth.

The Boers here are all unkempt and scrawny, and apart from fear, only the desire for food remains in their eyes.

The Nanhua Army sighed. When they saw these Boer civilians, they saw themselves when they were in the Qing Dynasty.

Since the concentration camps were opened, the imprisoned Boer civilians expressed their gratitude to the South Chinese soldiers.

Many Boer women came up to the Nanhua soldiers and kissed them on the cheek.

Many soldiers were a little embarrassed and ran away with red faces.

All the Indian guards in the concentration camp were shot dead, and the civilians detained found food in the guarded warehouse. After they filled their stomachs, Wu Ruofei called the Boer leader of the concentration camp.

The gray-bearded Brussels Pierre asked, “Mr. Pierre, do you want to seek revenge from the British?

If you want to, tell me, our Nanhua Company will never let any murderer who massacres civilians go unpunished! "

When Old Man Boer heard these words, his eyes radiated with hatred. (End of chapter)