Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 1283 The Song of the Guerrillas ([-]rd update, please subscribe)

"Healthy male citizens aged 16 to 50 from various farms in this area who have received this notification, please bring horses, guns, ammunition, and five-day rations to *** Town and report to the commander of the local militia..."

The Boers, who are all soldiers, have long been ready for battle, and even mobilized as early as last year. In the past year, they have been waiting for a showdown with the British.When the news of war with England was announced, local Boer citizens in towns and cities from the Transvaal to Orange took up arms and marched to assembly points to join militias.

"Wesley, be careful!"

Hurd, who was standing under the telegraph pole, shouted to his younger brother on the pole, while their father, old Hurd, was riding a horse with a rifle in his hand, watching his surroundings vigilantly.

"Do not worry……"

When the voice fell, Wesley had already cut the telegraph wire.

"Quick, quick, retreat,"

When the telegraph wire was cut, Old Hurd rode his horse and led his sons to the distance.

Like all the Boers, after the news of the declaration of war came, the Boer farmers who were scattered across the vast South African plateau joined the war on their own initiative.With their sons, horses, and rifles, they formed small fighting units and went into battle as combatants, wrecking railways, cutting telegraph wires, and destroying the war potential of the British as much as possible.

Old Hurd was one of them. He and his guerrillas consisted of only 23 people, including six black servants.

"Old Hurd, will they come?"

After arriving at the ambush point, William looked at Old Hurd and asked.

"Don't worry, they will definitely come. My younger brother is at the telegraph company. Now that the telegraph company has been taken over by the army, the telegraph line is broken. Those British guys will definitely send someone to overhaul it, and they will definitely send police or soldiers... "

Old Hurd was smoking a pipe, and he took a puff before speaking slowly.

"Now what we need is to wait."

Patience is the best friend of the guerrillas. After waiting for about four or five hours, finally, a dozen figures on horseback appeared in their sight.

Although the distance is very far, several red spots can still be seen. On the yellow South African plateau, the red is very eye-catching, and they can be clearly seen even a few kilometers away.

This also makes those British people in red uniforms a typical living target.

"Dad, here they come,"

Hurd pointed to the distance and said.

"There are two British pigs in red uniforms, and the rest are armed vigilantes..."

"Um,"

Nodding, old Hurd said.

"Wait until they get close before shooting."

While talking, he put out the cigarette directly.He even deliberately covered the soot with soil to avoid exposing his existence.

Unbeknownst to the British soldiers and militiamen escorting the telegraph company's linemen, they fell into an elaborate trap, just as they came under the telegraph poles, looked at the severed telegraph lines, and cursed damn When they saw the Boers, they didn't know that in the nearby grass, those Boers who were carefully camouflaged in khaki clothes had already aimed their rifles at them.

After aiming at the British, Hurd pulled the trigger, and amidst successive shots, the British fell one after another, and they didn't even have time to shoot.

While collecting the rifles and ammunition from the British, Old Hurd took a puff from his pipe and said proudly.

"It's like hunting."

Yes, for the Boers, fighting is like hunting, but it is not easy for the British, especially for the British army standing in Kimberley, they have suffered an unprecedented blow.

Early in the morning, overwhelming artillery fire hit the British positions outside Kimberley again. The Boers equipped with Type [-] field guns spared no effort to bombard them. The Type [-] field gun was the world's first hydraulic The artillery with the mixed retreat and recoil mechanism has a high rate of fire and a low trajectory. Although the single-leg gun mount affects the left and right shooting circles,
But with the high rate of fire, the artillery shells still swept across the British army's position in a torrential storm. On the mountain not far away, the Boer observers trained by the military adviser of the Ming Empire used the artillery mirror to observe the effect of the artillery bombardment, and indicated the impact point to the artillery position at any time. , making the bombardment of the Boer army more and more accurate.

In the fierce artillery fire, the artillery shells seemed to have eyes, and they smashed one after another British artillery positions, machine gun firing points, bunkers, and infantry bunkers into a mess. Wherever it passed, there were howls of the wounded everywhere.

"Damn it, they must be using rapid-fire guns, they must be the rapid-fire guns of the Ming Empire..."

In the choking smoke, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph who guarded Kimberley couldn't help cursing.

"Damn Churchill, doesn't he know the Army needs rapid-fire guns..."

The reason why he scolded Churchill was because that guy was the chancellor of the exchequer, and that guy advocated reducing taxes and lowering military spending. Although under the strong opposition of the War Department, that guy's budget was not adopted, but the Army's weapons procurement costs, Still affected, the British still use the retreating guns from more than ten years ago.

"careful!"

Amid the whistling sound of shells, Randolph was overwhelmed by his subordinates. After a violent explosion, he spit out the dust in his mouth and stood up again. As soon as he stood up, he asked.

"Any news from General Methuen? When will their reinforcements arrive?"

For Randolph, who had less than 1000 soldiers and [-] militias, the only thing he could point to was General Paul Methuen's reinforcements.

"No news yet."

The subordinate's answer made Randolph's heart sink, feeling the fierce Boer artillery fire, he said to himself.

"Is the British Empire really going to lose this city?"

Kimberley has the largest diamond mine in the world!

Does the British Empire want this diamond mine?
If there is no reinforcements, he will definitely not be able to defend here.

"When will the reinforcements arrive..."

While Randolph was talking to himself, he saw Thomas wearing a hunting suit not far away. That guy was the manager of the mine and the commander of the militia. He stared at that guy, his eyes lit up, and he walked over Said to him.

"Mr Thomas."

"Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any orders?"

"Did you see that? The Boers are attacking fiercely. They will continue to attack, Mr. Thomas."

Staring at Thomas, Randolph said.

"If the reinforcements don't come, we will definitely not be able to defend Kimberley. Do you know what that means?"

"Of course I know, it means that the company will lose the mine, and the company's stock will plummet. At that time, the interests of all shareholders from Cape Town to London will be damaged. Lieutenant Colonel, that's why I came here, Fight with you. Lieutenant Colonel, reinforcements, when will our reinforcements arrive here?"

Thomas replied bluntly.

"Reinforcements, Mr. Thomas, I don't know when the reinforcements will arrive, but what is certain is that if they don't come again, we will definitely lose everything. I need you to tell Mr. Ross, tell him everything that happened here..."

(End of this chapter)