Half a month later

October 26, 1899

Kimberley Town

This is a mining town located on the eastern plateau of Cape Province. It is 1,220 meters above sea level and is famous for its abundant diamonds. It has railways connecting important towns such as Cape Town and Mefugen.

Kimberley is a mining town with a permanent population of about 70,000. In peacetime, this mining town had 30,000 to 40,000 miners, and at its peak it reached 50,000.

Most of these miners are black, and a small number of them are Chinese and white. They use their simple hammers and crowbars to dig up mountain rocks to find rare diamonds, so the most important asset of the town is the diamond pit.

The diamond pit was adjacent to Kimberley Town. Major General Duan Qirui stood beside the diamond pit with a frown. The intermittent gunfire from afar made him feel very bad, and he couldn't help but feel relieved.

Beside him was Brigadier General Shi Fusheng and Colonel Bian Chunsong, with both serious expressions.

Brigadier General Shi Fusheng is an old subordinate of Duan Qirui. He is an outstanding general born in the Eagle School. He was the leader of the Third Regiment of the Railway Cavalry Division. He participated in the famous defense battle of Snow Mountain Town (Sad Ridge). During the Luzon Islands War, he served as the deputy commander and commander of the First Division of the Royal Imperial Guards.

After the war, he was promoted to brigadier general of the army for his merits.

I heard another fierce gunfire, and it seemed that the distance was getting much closer.

Brigadier General Shi Fusheng hesitated and spoke;

"Brother Duan, the Boer people are very evil in this momentum. It seems that the other party has a tactical master. This battle is like an antelope hanging on its horns, and it sometimes goes east and sometimes goes west, as if there is no trace to be found.

But if you look closely, you can always feel a rope gradually tying the British army's throat and tightening little by little.

Since the war began

The Boer cavalry fully utilized the advantages of familiar terrain, with sharp attacks and accurate shooting skills, causing great damage to the British army, but their own losses were very little.

It seems that it is time to reevaluate the Boers' combat effectiveness.

If the battle continues like this, with the British's current outdated and rigid infantry tactics, I think the momentum is not good and I may lose!"

"How do you think Brother Chunsong?" asked Major General Duan Qirui.

"General, with the sharpness of the artillery at present, I think there is no castle that cannot be broken." Colonel Bian Chunsong looked up around, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes. It was obvious that he lacked confidence in the British army; "To be honest, the performance of the British army surprised me. Their infantry tactics seemed to be still in the anti-French alliance period, rigid and unconscious, just like a clumsy giant facing a flexible opponent holding a knife, constantly being bleeded."

"What's sad is... this is still an arrogant giant." Major General Duan Qirui smiled bitterly, turned to look at the Kimberley Diamond Pit standing thousands of miles apart, and his brows frowned even deeper.

This huge diamond pit dug by hand is like a round barrel, with a vertical height of more than 800 meters. Standing on it, looking at the dense miners below like ants, they were so timid that their legs were trembling.

Because the war is coming

In order to reduce defense pressure, more than half of the black miners in Kimberley Town were expelled, and now there are less than 20,000 people, of which about four to five thousand are Chinese or white miners, and the others are black miners.

This blunt move by the military has caused strong protests from local mineral companies of all sizes.

However, the protest is ineffective, and everything must be subject to the overall situation on the battlefield.

The Boers have been operating in southern Africa for more than 300 years, and their influence penetrates all aspects. Who knows if there are any insiders among the black miners?

Once the fight starts, the black miners in Kimberley Town should work together inside and outside, and the fun will be great.

No one dared to take such a risk. The British army was very determined in this matter. Any suspected mineral company (Boers) must close down and miners will be expelled to alleviate internal defense pressure.

The nearby buildings are only more than 20 meters closest to the deep pit. The houses are built on solid rocks, so there is no need to worry about falling.

Duan Qirui and the other two stood on the platform outside the house. There was a vertical cliff under their feet. The mountain wind blew, making their scalp numb.

This huge mine has the function of amplifying the sound. Standing here, the gunshots sounded from several kilometers around can be clearly heard, which is quite magical.

Diamond Pit produces several tons of high-quality diamonds every year, which is the core asset of Kimberley and even the Cape Colonial, and must not be lost.

Therefore, Kimberley Town stationed guards of the British Fifth Brigade, with a total force of about 3,000. The British commander was Major General Smith, familiar to Major General Duan Qirui, a noble general with rigid thought but very bravery.

The war has been going on for more than half a month

The Republic of Transvaal and the Free Republic of Orange took the lead in attacking the British army and gained a first-hand advantage.

In the early days of the war, 50,000 Boers participated in the war, while the British Expeditionary Force had only 25,000, which was incomparable to the Boers' mass and quantity, so they were defeated by the Boers' steadily.

Ladysmith, Mefugen, Kimberley and other strategic locations were surrounded by Boer troops one after another, and the East-West Cape Town Railway was also damaged by Boer people.

The current war situation was very unfavorable to the British army. The Boers pressed step by step, and the army launched three groups at the same time, playing triumphant songs in the early battles, presenting a serious situation of encircling Cape Town.

Kimberley, where the British army is heavily stationed, guards the main railway road to Cape Town. It is the most important source of finance and taxation in the Cape colony, which is the outer barrier of Cape Town, the capital, and an important node for the British counterattack. It is an important place that must be defended.

Once the town is broken through, the battlefield situation will completely collapse.

How fucking you are holding your breath!

Duan Qirui did not expect that the British army would fight so timidly after the war started. His 47-man senior military observation group was distributed in important towns such as Lady Smith, Mefugen, Kimberley, etc. Basically, 5 to 7 people were used as a military observation group, scattered in the vast Cape colonial areas. Now he can't even collect it.

Although it is beyond doubt that even if it is captured, the Boers will not harm foreign observers in the military observation team.

But in the offensive and defensive battle with bullets, who can guarantee that there will be no accidental injury?

The entire senior military observation regiment was led by Major General Duan Qirui, including two brigade generals, five colonels, 11 centuries, 22 majors, 5 captains, and one lieutenant. It is a very high-level officer configuration in a field division, and it is somewhat more abundant.

Even if these officers make a mistake, the responsibility will be on Major General Duan Qirui. Who made him the regiment commander?

Therefore, Major General Duan Qirui is in a bad mood now and has a urge to curse.

"Have Retmagen's group returned?"

"Well... I've come back. When they moved closer to Kimberley from Retmagen to Kimberley, the Boer army had approached Kimberley. They circled a large circle from the north and avoided several groups of Boer cavalry. Finally, they ran into four Boer detectives who were eating dry food in a valley. Fortunately, they quickly shot the first shot and killed the people and ran wildly. They came back without any danger. No one was injured."

"That's good, that's good, so our military observation team gathered 26 people, and Lady Smith and Mefugen's men could not be retreated for the time being. These are important places where the British heavy troops stationed, and it should not be easily compromised. Send telegrams to let them pay attention to safety and stand by on time."

"As for your order, General."

Colonel Bian Chunsong raised his hand and saluted the military salute, turned around to convey the order.

The Kimberley garrison was equipped with radio telegraph equipment. Although the British army was divided into isolated islands by the Boer army, there was no problem with information transmission, and there was no need to risk sending cavalry across the enemy's blockade line.

The Kimberley garrison has been equipped with radio telegraph equipment. Although the British and others were divided into isolated islands by the Boer army, the situation was not good, but there was no problem with information transmission, so there was no need to risk sending cavalry across the enemy's blockade line.

After Colonel Bian Chunsong left, Brigadier General Shi Fusheng came over and looked at Major General Duan Qirui with a solemn expression and comforted him, "Brother Duan, don't worry about Lao Ma's situation. Lady Smith is a major transportation road. The British guys will not be unaware of their greatness. They must work hard to defend themselves. Moreover, Lao Ma is a long-time general with many battles, with rich experience in the enemy, and he is safe."

"That's right, but it's still uneasy. These damn British guys." Major General Duan Qirui pinched his eyebrows with a headache and couldn't help but complain. "I suggest that they organize all Chinese miners and white miners to participate in the town defense war. These miners are hard-working and persevering, and are the best supplementary soldiers, but do you know what that bastard Smith said?"

"How did he answer?"

"Smith said: My 5th Brigade is not a shelter, it only requires brave soldiers who have been strictly trained. Please rest assured General Duan, those Boers will definitely be bleeding from the head at Kimberley, I can guarantee this."

Major General Duan Qirui was impressed and beautifully imitated Major General Smith's London accent, and his whole face turned dark.

There is clearly a ready-made living force without using it, and the tactics are rigid and arrogant. If Kimberly had not been surrounded by numerous encirclements, Major General Duan Qirui would have left long ago.

Unfortunately, the two of them are now grasshoppers on the same rope and they can no longer leave.

For his own safety, he didn't want the Boers to come in.

The problem is that Major General Smith doesn't listen to any opinions, and Major General Duan Qirui doesn't have a soldier, so he really feels like a clever woman is unable to cook without rice.

Brigadier General Zheng Fusheng knew the crux of the problem and thought about it for a while, "Brother Duan, can we cross Major General Smith and ask General Boole to arrange miners to defend themselves?"

"This is not a good idea. It will make the British suspicious and think that we are doing something privately." Major General Duan Qirui shook his head. General Buller was also a noble general with extreme thoughts and did not trust Chinese soldiers very much.

The situation is so critical that General Boole sent several urgent telegrams to London a day, asking for large-scale support from the local army and turning a blind eye to the allies in front of him. Can't it be explained?

The British served the high-level military observation group he led with delicious food and drink. They looked very close, but in fact they were kept thousands of miles away from each other.

The arrogance of the British has penetrated into his bones. He clearly has a famous defensive expert in front of him. Major General Duan Qirui, who once created the "Sad Ridge" battle, is not famous in the world military. The British are either unaware of it, but they just look down on it, let alone "humanly seeking advice".

In Major General Smith's dictionary, these 4 words are not available.
Chapter completed!