Chapter 329: Falling behind the current version

The battle site between the East African Army and the Army of the Kingdom of Matabele is east of Bulawayo. The East African side consists of the South Salzburg Province Border Force and part of the Second Brigade of the Southern Route Army, with a number of more than 6,000 people. Matabele The Baylor Kingdom has an army of more than 16,000 people, including more than 10,000 Shona servants.

Sweet held a telescope and looked at the land-requisitioning army of the Kingdom of Matabele on the opposite side and said: "It seems that the Kingdom of Matabele is going to fight to the death, but they actually choose to fight us head-on. This is interesting!"

To say that the most troublesome tactic of the indigenous East African army is guerrilla warfare, the East African army has rich experience in anti-guerrilla warfare in Africa, but the East African Kingdom definitely hopes that the enemies of East Africa can fight with East Africa in an upright manner, rather than being the sixth enemy.

The reason why the Ndebele people chose to fight head-on is very straightforward. It is because they do not know much about the use of muskets. Especially for the command of such a large-scale musket unit, they can only rely on Boer instructors.

The Boers have experience in large-scale command. They also practice guerrilla tactics, and are more flexible with the support of cavalry.

If you don't have relevant experience, just copy what's already available. The Boer instructors directly took the British lobster soldiers' "line-up to kill tactics" and applied it to the Ndebele people.

The British still have a good reputation. After all, they are the most powerful country in the world. The British lobster soldiers rely on the "line-up and kill tactics" and have no single enemy in the colonies.

The formal name for the formation-to-kill tactic is line tactics. The emergence of line tactics was a last resort due to the level of firearms at the time. It was mainly to ensure the lethality. In order to maximize the attack power of the flintlock, three-stage tactics were also produced. Shooting tactics, just by listening to the name, you know how this tactic will unfold.

However, the officers of the Army of the Kingdom of East Africa opposite them, especially the border troops of South Salzburg Province, were students of the Hechingen Military Academy who had participated in the Franco-Prussian War.

In the Franco-Prussian War, the formation-to-kill tactic was already behind the times, so these students from Hechingen Military Academy mastered more advanced skirmisher line tactics. Skirmisher line tactics had already appeared in the Napoleonic era, but their large-scale application was still in the Franco-Prussian War. , the Prussian Dresser rifle was far inferior to the French army in performance and accuracy, and was a commonly used tactic in order to avoid French fire suppression.

When the East African Kingdom fights with the indigenous people, the indigenous people basically collapse at the first encounter. Therefore, the most troublesome thing for the East African Kingdom is often to capture these scattered soldiers who fled everywhere after the war. In this way, the East African Army often has to disperse its troops, so the skirmisher line tactics was further strengthened in East Africa.

Lobengula: "Mr. Wiggins, let's just rush in and kill him! Don't we need to cover up?"

Wiggins: "Your Majesty the King, you have to trust my judgment. You must know that this is a tactic used by the army of the United Kingdom, the most powerful country in the world. Don't think that standing in a row like this looks very stiff, but think about it. The simultaneous firing of these muskets will form a dense wall of fire, and any enemy in front of it will be crushed and destroyed."

Only then did Lobengula feel relieved. He had also heard of the Kingdom of Great Britain. In other words, any country in the world that was not very closed to foreign exchanges knew the majesty of the British Empire. It was a well-deserved world hegemon. Even the powerful Boer No one is its opponent.

Wiggins: "Your Majesty, let the Shona servants rush to the front first, and we will consume the ammunition of the East Africans first."

"No problem!" Lobengula replied.

As a result, more than 10,000 Shona servants were driven by the Ndebele war team towards the East African Army.

These poor Shona people don't even have decent weapons. Most of them only hold simply trimmed wooden sticks in their hands. Some of them don't even have the green bark peeled off. At a glance, they can tell that they were made by temporarily cutting down trees. The pitcher at the front is equipped with a spear that the Ndebele people have eliminated as a long-range weapon.

After the Ndebele people were equipped with muskets, disposable primitive weapons such as spears were naturally eliminated. However, the Ndebele people did not completely trust the muskets. They dismantled the original weapons, melted all the iron tools, and made them again. It is a scimitar used in close combat, which is stuck on the waist. At the same time, they have not eliminated the most important shield of the Zulu people, and carry it behind their backs in case of emergencies.

The current equipment of the Ndebele people can be said to be quite good throughout Africa. In sharp contrast is the Shona servant army armed with sticks as weapons.

"The enemy is moving, but is Lobengula kidding? He is planning to let these people die!" Sweet said when he saw the Shona servants armed with sticks and spears.

"Chief of the General Staff, the Shona people are just consumables in the eyes of Lobengula. He is not worried about the life and death of the Shona people at all. Lobengula must want to use the Shona servant army to consume our wave of ammunition first. "

Sweet sneered and said, "Then let's see if they can withstand it. Someone, push the artillery forward and fire at the enemy's phalanx indiscriminately."

Then, eighteen small-caliber artillery pieces were pushed forward, and the commander gave the order, "Boom...boom...boom..."

The artillery shells clearly fell into the phalanx formed by the Shona servants. Sure enough, the power of the artillery instantly shattered the will of the Shona servants. Artillery is very effective in dismantling the indigenous people's desire to fight. It is a practice that has been tried and tested in East Africa during the colonial development of Africa. No tricks, no matter how hard it is, can't offset the fear of artillery.

For the Shona servant army, today is a terrible day. They were driven by the Ndebele people. Psychologically, the Shona people must be reluctant, but the Ndebele people are very concerned about the large number of Shona people. It is said that they are invincible, and recently the Ndebele people have mastered a terrible weapon (musket) that can kill people invisible, so the Shona servant army is even more afraid to resist the rule and rule of the Ndebele people. led.

However, the enemy on the opposite side was even more terrifying. They pushed a dozen hollowed-out round "tree stumps" and pointed the round holes of the "tree stumps" at themselves from a distance. Then a loud bang resounded through the sky and they were hit. In the place where it was hit, blood flowed into a river instantly, and a heat wave could be felt even dozens of meters away. This kind of "sky thunder" was the punishment of the gods. How could a mortal fight against the gods.

The Shona servant army immediately lost their mentality. Some of them fled in all directions, and some lay on the ground, muttering words, praying for God's forgiveness. Even if the Ndebele supervising team opened fire, the Shona servant army remained indifferent.

"These Shona people are really useless!" Lobengula from behind yelled angrily, "Sir Wiggins, the East Africans have artillery, what should we do?"

Lobengula still knows about artillery. Although this kind of thing is not common in Africa, it does not mean that Lobengula has seen it in the hands of the Boers.

Wiggins: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the East Africans are coming in a hurry. They must not be carrying many artillery shells. We will compete with them when their shells are used up."

At this time, Wiggins actually didn't know what to do. He didn't know how many artillery shells the East Africans had prepared. If the situation went bad later, he might as well take advantage of it.

Sweet: "Okay, the Shona servant army has been destroyed. There is no need to waste artillery shells. Suspend the shooting and press the entire army."

Following Sweet's orders, East Africa ceased its bombardment but began to advance.

Wiggins: "Your Majesty, the East Africans are attacking directly. Next, when the East Africans come within two hundred meters, we can shoot directly."

However, Wiggins's calculation was wrong. The East African army pressed in as a whole, and they were not used as cannon fodder. The Dresser rifles equipped by the border troops in South Salzburg Province had a range twice that of the Ndebele rifles, and their accuracy was also high. Much.

Wiggins has been living in South Africa all year round and has no understanding of the current military developments in Europe. The equipment level of the border troops in South Salzburg Province is second only to the armies of the world powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Russia.