Chapter 214: Don’t shoot your own people?
Morning departure and evening arrival.
Late at night, in the Kingdom of Kazembe, a pale moon hung in the sky, bringing a faint light to an open space in a dense forest two kilometers away from the royal capital.
"The troops will rest for three hours first. After walking for a day, the troops will be tired. They will feed the horses enough fodder. After three hours, they will march towards the capital of Kazenbe. They will launch an attack directly when the sky is slightly light."
"Yes, battalion commander!"
"There are many mosquitoes in the wild and the ground is humid. I think we should try to gather everyone in a tent to keep warm," the battalion staff officer said.
"Well, let them share the account!"
After a day's journey, the soldiers of the 1st East African Cavalry Battalion were already exhausted physically and mentally. They simply put up a rainproof cloth and set up a simple tent.
They found some dry firewood and dead grass, threw them on the ground, and gathered around them and fell asleep.
The groom couldn't sleep yet, so in order for the battle to go smoothly the next day, he lit a special outdoor mosquito coil, opened the horse's horse and sat down to wrap the horse grass, tie a knot into a knot, put a handful of corn and soybeans, and then stuff it into the horse's mouth.
…
Battalion Staff Officer Rawls took out his pocket watch from his inner pocket and looked at the time. It was already three twenty-five, and the sky was still relatively dark. He pushed the battalion commander who was sleeping beside him to wake up.
"Andrew, wake up, you can take action!"
Andrew rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned.
"Rolls, what time is it?"
"It's three-twenty-five East African time."
"It's a little later than the time in the first town, and the sun should appear a little later. Let's control the marching speed. I think we can add an extra twenty minutes. We can arrive at the center of Kazembe Kingdom before dawn. .”
"No problem. Get everyone up now. We'll wake them up on the road in a while."
The cooking team had already cooked hot porridge in a military pot, adding dried chili peppers, bacon jerky and unknown wild vegetables.
The African night was extremely cold, and the soldiers' bones were cold after a night of suffering. They took a sip of hot porridge listlessly, and instantly a warm current surged into their hearts.
"It would be better if I didn't add chili pepper! It's too spicy, ha... hiss..."
"I feel pretty good, it tastes spicy, and I feel energetic instantly. I feel like my whole body is alive again."
…
Leaving the grooms and the cooking team to rest here, the 1st East African Cavalry Battalion went into battle lightly. The distance of two kilometers is four miles, which is not too far. Leading the horses and relying on the meager moonlight, they slowly and leisurely headed towards the capital of Kazembe. And go.
"Report to the battalion commander, the capital of the Kazembe Kingdom is about five hundred meters ahead!" the scout reported back.
In the era without lights, Kazembe, the capital of the African kingdom, was also integrated into the darkness. It was indeed difficult to spot it without looking carefully.
Rawls took out his pocket watch and checked the time with the help of moonlight.
"Four-nineteen."
"Get ready for battle! Now make the last technical adjustments, check the horses and firearms, and launch the attack in eleven minutes." Andre ordered.
Half past four.
"Everyone mount up and get ready!"
"attack!"
At half past four, there was already a glimmer of light rising from the eastern horizon, but the Kazembe people were still sleeping.
Working at sunrise and resting at sunset is a portrayal of East Africans, but it is a bit difficult for the indigenous people. If the sun does not rise, most of them will not get up.
Do you wake up so early to count the stars and look at the moon? Even though the sun was rising, there were no fields to tend, so I continued to sleep.
"Rumble..." The sound of horse hooves suddenly started.
"Enemy attack?"
The East African cavalry had passed through the neighborhood and was approaching the royal city. The so-called royal city had a low stone wall. Andrew shot the guard at the stone wall fence.
The Kazenbe guards had begun to panic. They shouted: "The Portuguese are coming, the Portuguese are rioting!"
The civilians in Kazembe were afraid to go out of their shacks. They had seen the power of muskets. Most of the Portuguese caravans carried these things.
"Mr. Santos! Something bad has happened. There has been a riot in the capital of Kazenbe." A younger brother hurriedly came to report the news.
Santos is getting dressed.
"Do you know which force did it?"
"It's not clear yet, but I heard the Kazembe shouting that it was one of our own."
"One of our own?"
"Yes, they said it was the Portuguese who started the riot."
Santos looked embarrassed and said: "They didn't notify us of such a big move. How could they take matters into their own hands? Are they not treating us as their own?"
"Mr. Santos, we are new here after all, could this be the previous plan?" his subordinate said uncertainly.
"Fart! It's not that difficult to beat up the natives? They could have informed us, but they didn't even inform us. I think they just want to keep it all to themselves!"
"Mr. Santos, what do we do next?"
"They want to monopolize it, but we cannot let them succeed. Otherwise, when it comes time to divide the spoils, they will definitely kick us out in advance."
Santos put his hands behind his back, walked around in a circle, and said: "Gather our troops together. They want to monopolize it. We have to get involved. When the time comes, we will not be able to break up the Kazenbe Kingdom without our share."
"Yes, boss."
Soon, more than eighty of Santos' men had gathered.
"Brothers, get rich today, come with me for the benefit of Kazembe Kingdom!"
…
At this time, Andrew and others had already invaded the palace, and the poor King Kazenbe was carried in Andrew's hand like a little chicken.
"Bang bang bang..."
"What's going on? Why did the gunfire suddenly become denser again?" Rawls asked.
A soldier suddenly broke in: "Report to the battalion commander, unknown armed forces suddenly launched an attack on us, and our people have already exchanged fire with them!"
"How many enemies are there?"
"There are about a hundred or so people, and their weapons are not bad. They should not be natives of the Kazembe Kingdom."
"It really takes the courage of an ambitious leopard. You sent me the order to wipe out this enemy group and capture their leader alive. I want to see who is so bold that No. 100 people dare to attack our unit."
"yes."
…
"Asshole! Why did they open fire on us? Are they trying to take advantage of us?"
Because it was still dark and he couldn't see clearly what was inside the city, Santos fired back and shouted: "Brothers, are you one of our own? Don't shoot!"
"What bird language are you talking about?"
"It's the natives anyway, no matter what they say! If they dare to come to support, they are probably the elite troops of the Kazembe Kingdom. Just give them a good beating and that's it."
The only response to Santos was a steady stream of gunshots. Seeing the boys around him fall down one by one, he was completely red-eyed. This was all his capital!
"Devil? I will fight with you!"
Santos left the bunker, picked up the gun and was about to aim. "Bang", he was shot in the right leg and fell to the ground in pain.
"ah!"
The battle was one-sided, and soon dawn broke, and the East African cavalry began to clean the battlefield.
The disgraced Santos was driven to Camp Commander Andrew.
"Report to the battalion commander, this person is their leader."
Santos looked at the familiar Prussian military uniform, and a mixed feeling came to his heart, and he said nonsense: "Fake, haha, it's all fake, Prussian barbarian, friendly army, eating alone, I am a joke..." "
Andre squatted on the ground and photographed Santos' face: "What's your name? You belong to that force. Who appointed you here?"
Santos' eyes were distracted and he kept repeating: "Fake, barbarian, friendly army..."
Poor Santos is crazy.