Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 191 The Predicament of the Fort in the River ([-])

Wednesday, October 1637, 10.The temperature is sixteen degrees Celsius, the westerly wind is five, and the weather is fine.

A team of more than 200 people drove out of the heavy iron-clad wooden gate of the river castle in the early morning and assembled on the pier. Driven by the local militia, more than 60 Khoisan slaves in shackles took eight small boats as oarsmen. The small boats were fully loaded with the supplies needed for this battle: gunpowder barrels, drinking water barrels, and spirits barrels , artillery, armor, dry food, bacon, canned fruit, hemostatic bandages and other materials.There are several armed militiamen on each small boat as escorts. Due to the lack of enough horses and poor road transportation facilities, it is more practical to transport most of the materials needed for this expedition by water.

On the shore, there is a fully armed marching column.In the lead were five or six local residents acting as scout cavalry. They rode a few precious Andalusian horses and wandered far around the main force, investigating the surrounding situation and feeding back the information they detected from time to time.

The main force was a company of army soldiers. Wearing dark blue military uniforms and high military boots, they carried rifles on their backs with ease, and marched in neat steps under the command of the officer.In front of them was a cold weapon force composed of more than 30 English and Dutch captives and some Khoisan slaves, each carrying a three-meter spear.This is all their equipment, and as cheap consumables, they are not eligible to own armor.

The open plains are full of lush woods and meadows.The southwestern corner of South Africa has a typical Mediterranean climate with more precipitation.Unlike other tropical savannah areas that lack precipitation, the vegetation here is relatively rich. Correspondingly, animal resources are also very rich, and the agricultural conditions are also very good.Therefore, the excellent natural conditions here have attracted a large number of Khoisan and Bantu people to come for hunting, grazing and farming.

Of course, now it has attracted people from the East Coast to settle here.The neighboring Khoisan and Bantu people didn't realize what kind of people their new neighbors were, and when they did, it was one of the darkest days many of them could remember.

At [-] o'clock in the afternoon, the troops camped near the river bank.The army soldiers took down the thick wooden stakes and the circles of barbed wire from the small boats that were docked. They nailed the wooden stakes firmly into the ground with a hammer, and then pulled up several barbed wires along the wooden stakes. Many bells were hung on the barbed wire.Several excited military dogs were also led by the sentinels and arranged in every corner.

These things are strictly required to be followed in the infantry drill code.If troops on the march fail to build complete night camping facilities in accordance with the requirements of the infantry drill code, or omit some steps in order to save trouble and be lazy, they may be reported by soldiers or military judges, and their chief officers will be held accountable.

After everything was ready, the soldiers drove the slaves off the ship, and then put these slaves in shackles and tied them together.These slaves were promised in advance that if they had not died after the battle, they would be free.Therefore, the slaves under the supervision of a small number of militiamen looked calm, silently ate the rough dry food from their hair, and then lay down on the ground with their eyes closed.

The soldiers' dinner consisted of bacon, wheat cake, vegetable soybean soup and canned fruit.The dinners of officers and senior non-commissioned officers are a little richer. In addition to the above food items, each person can also be divided into two slices of cheese, a spoonful of precious sugar and half a glass of beer.

Anda Fifteen wolfed down his dinner, then got up and poured half a glass of beer by the barrel.He was a senior non-commissioned officer and one of the platoon leaders, so he could also enjoy this privilege.The person in charge of the wine barrel was a young soldier who seemed to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. He smelled the aroma of beer and swallowed a little bit of disappointment.

"Why did such a young child come out to fight?" Anda Fifteen frowned and said, "Where are you from? Are you full?"

"Report, sir!" The soldier in charge of the wine barrel snapped to attention and replied loudly, "I'm from Henan Fort, and I've just filled up before conscription."

"What did your village chief and militia director do? Is there no one left, and such a young child is also sent out?" Anda Shiwu habitually accused the grassroots officials of Henan Fort while drinking beer. .In fact, this is also a common phenomenon in the military today. Both the officers and the soldiers have a strong sense of responsibility, and they often point fingers at things they are not used to. This also makes government officials extremely dissatisfied, and it is one of the sources of conflict between the two sides.

"I...my family is poor, and there are only me, my sister, and my mother." The young soldier saw that Anda Shiwu's expression was not very good, and he stammered, "My sister just got married a few years ago, recruit... ...The brother-in-law I recruited was...an Italian who came to the door and helped farm at home. The village chief saw that my family was really difficult, so when the army was recruited...he reported my name to the army."

Anda Shiwu was taken aback for a moment, without saying anything, he stuffed the remaining beer glasses into the hands of the young soldier, and said, "Wars are not for getting rich! I can beat five recruits like you!" Hey, daredevils like you can't even save your life when you come out, let alone make a fortune. Be smart when you fight tomorrow, which platoon are you in? Follow your brothers closely, don't be afraid or excited, be careful yourself. Take the wine Go drink, and bring me the cup when you're done."

"Sir..." the young soldier murmured.

"Tell me what's going on! I'm going to hold a regular meeting for my soldiers." Anda Fifteen said with some displeasure, frowning.

"I... If tomorrow I... I die. Can I trouble you to visit my mother when you go back?" The young soldier was a little scared at first, but then he became more and more fluent: "My platoon leader is Sergeant Hans , but he is too fierce, I am afraid of him. You..."

"Okay, I promise you!" Anda Fifteen said, "If you die, I will help you take care of your mother, don't worry. What's your name?"

"My name is Liu Dayou, from the second production team of Henan Fort."

"I remember, Liu Dayou. Stop thinking about it and go back to your job." Anda Shiwu waved his hand and said while turning around.

After dinner, the entire camp fell into silence after the sentry staff were arranged.

Nothing to say all night.Early the next morning, after breakfast, the whole team embarked on the journey again in the morning light.According to the information obtained in advance, it was less than three hours away from the first Bantu black settlement.The soldiers walked briskly, and after a 10-minute break, they arrived at their destination very quickly.

The scouts rushed back on their horses, and they threw down several tightly bound Bantu blacks from their horsebacks. These people were sentinels in the settlement.

"Ready to fight!" Commander Xie Hansan drew out his saber, pointed forward, and said, "Everyone is there, in a horizontal formation, and the target is a village 600 meters ahead. Flag bearer, let's fly the flag! Drummer, play music !go ahead!"

"Forward, forward, forward..." The drummer played the familiar "Victory Belongs to the Army March", and then the nine platoons of riflemen were divided into three lines, marching in a neat formation to the beat of the drums. drive forward.On both sides of them, there are more than a dozen grenadiers in heavy armor. They have pistols, sabers and medicine bags hanging from their waists. , wandering on both sides of the rifleman formation.

Before the riflemen moved were the minion spearmen.The militiamen temporarily removed the shackles from their feet, and then repeated the promise of freedom when the fighting was over.These slave soldiers carried their spears numbly, neither resisting nor getting excited, but walked forward silently under the urging of the officer.

The Bantu people have already discovered this group of uninvited guests.According to prior investigation, there are about 600 people in this Bantu village, of which less than [-] are able-bodied men.But at this time, it seems that this information is obviously not very accurate. The Bantu village covers an extremely large area. A large number of Bantu people wearing animal skins came out of their thatched huts built with branches and wild grass, holding spears, Weapons like spears, bows and arrows.

Surprisingly, these Bantu blacks held iron weapons in their hands, which shows that they have the ability to smelt and forge iron, or at least they can trade for iron weapons or tools.This made the army soldiers put away their contempt for them a little bit. The level of civilization of these barbarians doesn't seem to be as bad as imagined.

Driven by the artillery soldiers, the Khoisan slaves pulled up several cannons. There is no traffic facility that can be called a road here, and it is very inconvenient to move the cannons.Fortunately, the surrounding terrain is relatively flat, so that the artillery will not be completely unable to pull up to the front line to play a role.

While the artillery was competing with the heavy artillery, the infantry brothers in front were about to engage the enemy.These Bantu black people saw two hundred enemies charging up with obviously malicious intentions, they didn't dodge or dodge, and charged forward with iron weapons.

Are these niggas crazy?Such a thought involuntarily popped up in the minds of many soldiers.Many of them had participated in small battles in the country to suppress some Charuya or Guaraní riots. Those South American natives had no courage to face the army soldiers in a tight formation.

But these black people in front of them have it!

It's really strange.Are black people in South Africa any different?Or are they especially born with innate courage to fight?The army brothers had no time to think more, because hundreds of slave spearmen ahead quickly engaged these black people.

(End of this chapter)