Chapter 740 Ancient Warfare
Originally, according to Rost's idea, it was natural to strive for more "military merits." However, because there were no "captures" of East African soldiers, it was impossible to figure out the organization of the East African army.
In this case, how should we fabricate the "Victory of the Tugela River"? After all, the fabrication must be well-founded.
Rossiter's approach is not surprising in this era. Just like in the previous life when Britain fought the Boer War, the false claims of military merit and losses were so serious that it almost drained the British treasury. It is actually similar to what the US military did in Afghanistan later. .
Of course, the Tugela River defense line was indeed breached, which is an unchangeable fact, but if you want to "exaggerate" this victory, you still have to obtain intelligence from East Africa.
After dealing with the problem of Indian prisoners, Rost ordered: "Order the entire army to take a brief rest and then go north immediately. This time we must make East Africa pay the price."
This time it is necessary to capture a group of East African prisoners and clarify the organization of the East African Defense Forces. Prior to this, there is no rush to report the situation of the Battle of Tugela River.
After Rossiter's order was issued, the British troops who had just landed were waiting for heavy weapons to cross the river, and then hurriedly continued to pursue the "fleeing" East African troops.
In fact, the British firepower preparations this time were not sufficient. After all, according to past experience, British firepower had the advantage in colonial wars.
This time, the British army's firepower was certainly not weak, but the firepower in East Africa was beyond the British army's expectations. Therefore, compared with previous colonial wars, the idea of "insufficient firepower" arose.
…
Kronskop.
Under the order of Aridotus, the Ninth Brigade was not in a hurry to retreat to the port city of New Hamburg, but was preparing to fight the British army here.
What gave Aridotus the confidence was that at least the Battle of the Tugela River did not cause too many casualties to the Ninth Brigade. Excluding the casualties, the Ninth Brigade still had more than 5,000 soldiers.
After voluntarily abandoning the Tugela River defense line, the Ninth Brigade was able to concentrate its forces, which actually increased Aridotus's available forces.
Aridotus stood on the roof and pointed around and said to his subordinates: "The village of Kronskop is actually a slightly low-lying place, dominated by plains, with slightly higher surrounding terrain. We will deploy our troops on the highlands on both sides. , and the village of Kronskop is a must-pass for the highway to the new Hamburg port city, and the British must pass through here."
"So choosing the battlefield here is the biggest advantage for us. This will also be the first time our brigade confronts the British army's head-on strength. I won't say anything more. Everyone must be energetic and follow the pre-war instructions. Deployments must play their respective roles, especially the orders from the brigade headquarters must be obeyed unconditionally. I don’t want anyone to fall in love with fighting just because they are greedy for military glory when I give the order to retreat.”
Prior to this, Aridotus and others in the brigade had fully analyzed that there was a 90% chance that veteran soldiers like the British would not choose to go elsewhere.
Because the road conditions in the Southern Frontier Province were extremely poor, and the British were dragging a lot of their belongings, they had no choice but to travel by road.
Of course, it is not impossible if an accident occurs. If an accident does occur, it can only be said that the Ninth Brigade is very unlucky.
War is like this and cannot be perfect, so Aridotus can only choose a strategy to maximize his own interests to arrange the war.
Of course, with the current layout of the Ninth Brigade, there is also the risk of being dumped by the British army, but the premise is that the British have mature intelligence about East Africa.
This is also the biggest problem currently facing the British army, and Rost is facing this situation.
Rossiter: "Everyone in the Military Intelligence Service should be hanged. The map they gave you is not similar to the actual East Africa. I'm afraid there was no map of pre-colonial Africa put together before. It doesn't even have the basic terrain." Figure it out.”
"Commander, what should we do? Should we attack East Africa along the coastline, or take the road built by the East Africans?" asked the subordinate.
It is certain that you can definitely reach New Hamburg Port City by walking along the coastline. After all, New Hamburg Port City is a coastal city, and you can definitely find the main force in East Africa by going north along the coastline.
Apart from the coastline, the only thing of reference value is the road built by the East Africans. When the Ninth Brigade retreated, it retreated along the road, leaving many ruts and footprints on the road.
Because of the dry season, these traces are very clear and have not been washed away by rain. However, judging from the condition of the roads, the construction level of East Africans is still good.
Although there is only one road, the Natal colony next door will not bother to build such a cross-regional road except for cities and strongholds such as Durban Port.
"Follow the road to pursue! We have fought against the East African Army before. Judging from the road conditions, the end of this road must be the main direction for the East African Army to evacuate. This road will definitely lead to the New Hamburg Port, so now follow the road to Pursuit to the north, of course, the vanguard would have to be careful to avoid an ambush by the East Africans along the road.”
After Earl Roberts went to Maputo, Rost became the highest military commander of the Natal colony, so his orders were true to his word.
Soon the vanguard of the British army headed towards the village of Kronskop.
At around four o'clock in the afternoon, as expected, they met head-on with the Ninth Brigade, which had been waiting here for a long time. There was a fierce exchange of fire between the two sides. The leading troops encountered the enemy, and the British troops from the rear finally arrived.
"There is an East African village in front of us. The enemies we defeated before seem to be resting there. There are many people on the opposite side, so the vanguard does not dare to act rashly and is waiting for your instructions!" the subordinate reported to Rost.
"Very good, these should be the East African troops holding on to the Tugela River. We couldn't capture them before because of the Tugela River. Now they have nothing to rely on. Let's see what they use to fight us. Order the Indian troops Organize an attack." Rost ordered.
At this time, the British lobster soldiers could finally put out the ancestral "one-word lobster formation". Of course, this time Rost still used the Indian troops as the vanguard.
If the Indians die, they will die. They are cannon fodder anyway, and they should be able to consume a lot of ammunition in East Africa. Of course, this will also make the number of British casualties look much better.
In fact, Rost was not a reckless man. Although the British army had lost some troops before, the number was almost negligible, because the Indian servant soldiers who accounted for the majority could only be regarded as consumables.
As long as the person who died was not an Englishman, Rost could find a way to fool the matter. After all, what Britain lacked most was Indians.
And this is also an important reason why Rost has not learned a lesson from the war until now. Although the Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties, Rost cannot empathize with it. If so many British people died, Rost would have gone berserk.
The Indian army deserves to be the true successor of the British army. Although the weapons and equipment are a little behind, they are almost identical to the British in other aspects.
They lined up outside the village of Kronskop in the open terrain according to the standard British army formation, and even the standard European military band was organized.
This is the first time the East African National Defense Force has seen this situation. Of course, this first meeting mainly refers to the enemy. When fighting with the indigenous people in the past, East Africa also liked the tactic of queuing to kill, so that they could face some large indigenous tribes or kingdoms. Death Charge does make it easier to concentrate firepower on harvesting.
However, later, with the equipment of the Dreiser rifle, the performance of the rifle was greatly improved, and the "ancient warfare method" of queuing to kill tactics had long been eliminated in East Africa.