King Solomon's Treasure

Chapter 21 Attack
The king's three troops approached us slowly, calmly and calmly.When we were about five hundred yards from us, the main force in the center stopped at the entrance to the top of the hill, and waited for the other two to surround us from two directions.The mountain we are on is shaped like a horseshoe.The two tops are facing Lucheng.Obviously, the enemy's purpose is to launch an attack from three directions at the same time.

"Oh, if only there was a Gatling machine gun!" Goode muttered, looking at the dense phalanx at the foot of the mountain, "I can clear the plain within 10 minutes."

"We don't have Gatling guns, so it's useless to fantasize about it. Quitman, try and see if you can hit the big commander. Two to one bet you can't. If you can hit in ten Within yards, I'll give you a gold coin."

This pissed me off, so I loaded solid ammunition and bided my time.In order to get a better view of our position, the tall commander stepped out ten yards from the troops with only one orderly.Immediately I lay down, set the gun on a rock, and took aim.Like all snapguns, this one only has a range of 350 yards.I aimed at the area below his neck. Considering the drop of the ballistic, I estimated that I could hit his chest.He stood motionless.The opportunity has come.However, I don't know if it was because I was too excited, or because the wind was blowing, or because the range was too far, I missed.When I pulled the trigger, I thought he would be shot and fell to the ground, but when the smoke cleared, he was not injured.The orderly, standing at least three paces to his left, lay flat on the ground, apparently dead.The commander was so frightened that he immediately turned around and ran back to the team.

"Excellent, Quitman!" cried Goode. "You scare him so much."

Now I'm even more annoyed.I could have hit it, but I missed it in full view.This taste is really uncomfortable.When a person is good at only one aspect, he always hopes to maintain the honor of being undefeated.In the chagrin of my failure, I did something reckless on the spur of the moment.As the commander ran back to the line, I quickly aimed at him and fired another shot.I didn't miss it this time.The poor fellow waved his arms and fell headlong to the ground.I felt a cruel burst of joy at this sight.It follows that it is difficult to be considerate of others when one's self-esteem or reputation is in question.

Soldiers who witnessed the scene cheered the white man's magic, seeing it as a sign of victory.The detachment that lost its leader—it was later confirmed that the dead man was indeed the leader of the army—had lost its leader, and retreated hastily.At this time, Sir Henry and Good raised their guns and fired.Goode raised the Winchester repeater and fired at the dense crowd.I also fired a shot or two.It is estimated that we killed eight to ten people within range.

Just as we stopped firing there was a roar in the distance to the right, followed by the same sound on the left.It turned out that the other two troops had launched an attack.

Hearing the sound, the enemy army in front of us spread out slightly, and rushed up the mountain along a path without grass, while singing war songs in a low voice.We continued to shoot at them with our rifles, and Agnus joined in occasionally, killing a few guys.But in the face of a heavily armed and menacing team, our little firepower is nothing but a drop in the bucket.

The enemy waved their spears and rushed up shouting slogans.The stones we prepared in advance at the outpost at the foot of the mountain were broken by the enemy.Afterwards, although we did not resist violently, their progress slowed down.This is because the enemy army has to climb the mountain and needs to advance slowly to save energy.Our first line of defense was halfway up the hill, our second line was fifty yards up, and our third line was just at the edge of the hilltop flat.

As they went up the hill they shouted: "Tevara! Tavara! Kill! Kill!" Our army responded: "Aegnus! Agnus! Kill! Kill!" We are very close.The two sides began to throw knives, and with the thunderous shouts of killing, the war started.

The two armies went to war, and there were fighting soldiers everywhere, and people kept falling, like leaves falling in autumn.Soon the enemy had the upper hand, our first line of defense was breached, and the enemy came to the second line of defense.Here the battle is more intense.Our people were forced back again, and after 10 minutes of fighting, the enemy rushed to the third line of defense.

However, at this time, the enemy army was exhausted and suffered heavy casualties, and it was really powerless to break through our third solid line of defense built with spears.The two armies fought each other, advanced and retreated, and were in a stalemate, making it difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat.Watching the fierce fighting scene, Sir Henry's eyes were full of anger, and he rushed forward without saying a word.Goode followed suit and joined the battle.Only I remain where I am.

Seeing Sir Henry's tall figure, the soldiers shouted excitedly:

"Inchubu is here! Go! Go!"

At this moment, it is clear at a glance who wins and who loses.The morale of our army was greatly boosted, and everyone was brave and fearless, while the enemy army was powerless to resist, retreating steadily, and finally withdrew to the camp, in chaos.At this moment, a sentry came to report, and the enemy army on the left was also repelled.However, just when I was secretly thankful for the great situation in front of me, bad news came. The defenders on the right were quickly defeated, and the enemy troops swarming up to pursue the victory had already won the victory on the right.

Agnus, who was standing next to me, glanced at the battle situation and quickly issued an order.Inverdus' reserves immediately went into battle.

Agnus gave the order again, and the chiefs immediately passed the order down.At this time, I found myself involved in an extremely fierce close combat.I tried to hide behind Agnus's tall body as much as possible, reluctantly fought, and even staggered once, almost dying.After one or two minutes, our people came to reinforce and gradually reversed the situation.What happened next I have no idea, except for the sound of shields and spears clashing.Suddenly a tall monster appeared in front of me, its eyeballs seemed to fall off, and it stabbed me straight with a bloody spear.I have to say with pride that I was able to save the day by adapting to the situation.In such a desperate situation, most people would panic.If I don't move, I'm sure I'm going to die.So when this monster rushed forward, I fell to the ground cleverly. He couldn't hold his feet at this time, and fell to the ground with a somersault.Before he got up, I quickly pulled out my pistol and shot him in the back.

Immediately afterwards, I was hit hard on the back of my head by someone, and I fainted to the ground, and I don't remember anything after that.

When I woke up, I found myself back on the hill.Goode was bending over, holding a gourd to feed me water.

"How's it going, buddy?" he asked anxiously.

I stood up unsteadily and replied, "Very well, thank you."

"Thank God! When I saw them bring you back, I was so sad. I thought you were dead."

"I'm lucky this time, man. I just felt like I got hit on the head and passed out. How's the war going?"

"They retreated temporarily, but the casualties were heavy. Our army had 2000 dead and wounded, and the enemy army had about 3000. Look over there!" He pointed to the long line of soldiers carrying animal skin stretchers in groups of four.The Kukuana army always carried this kind of stretcher when fighting. A piece of animal skin and four handles became a stretcher.Wounded soldiers lay on countless stretchers.After being brought up, military doctors quickly checked, and each unit was equipped with ten military doctors.If the injuries are not serious, the wounded are carried away and cared for.If it is a fatal injury, a military doctor pretends to check, but in fact quickly cuts the injured's artery with a sharp knife.After one or two minutes, the injured will die painlessly.While it's a genuine kindness to the wounded, it still feels rather horrific.On this day, many wounded died in this way.Most of the wounds, inflicted by the broad blades of the spears, were long and deep, and generally hopeless for healing.Most of the wounded were in a coma when their arteries were cut, and the military doctor's action was very fast, and the few conscious wounded did not feel too much pain.Even so, the scene was horrifying, and we hurried away, unable to bear to watch it any longer.I have seen Swazis bury alive wounded soldiers who were incurable.Other than that, nothing shocked me more than the bloody hands of medic Kukuana to end the suffering of the wounded.

We hastened to the other side of the hill, and found Sir Henry, Agnus, Inverdus, and one or two chieftains engaged in tense discussions.Sir Henry still held a bloody tomahawk in his hand.

"Thank God, you're all right, Quitman! I really don't understand what Agnus is trying to do. Although we seem to have repelled the enemy, Tewara has mobilized a large number of reinforcements. He is reinforcing deployed, intending to surround us and starve us to death."

"This is not good."

"Yes, and Inverdus says we're running out of water."

"God, it is true," said Inverdus. "There are so many soldiers on the mountain, the spring is not enough, and the level of the water is falling rapidly. We will have no water before night. Listen, Makumazahn, you With extraordinary intelligence, he must have seen wars on the stars—if there were any. Now please tell us, what should we do? Taiwala has assembled a large number of new troops. This time he has learned his lesson, no matter how fierce The eagle will not attack the heron who is prepared. But our beak pierced his chest, and he dare not act rashly. But we are also badly injured. He intends to sit and wait for us to be trapped and die on the mountain. He is like a poisonous snake Tightly entangle a bull, just surround it but don't beat it, it's wasted with us."

"I see." I said.

"So, Maku Mazahn, as you know, we're running out of water and food. We have to choose: be trapped in the cave like a hungry lion, or break out from the north, Or..." He stood up and pointed to the densely packed enemy army, "directly attack the throat area of ​​Taiwala. Inchub, the great warrior, he behaved today like a bison trapped in a net, a soldier of Taiwala Falling one by one under his tomahawk like hail corn. Maku Mazahn, you are resourceful and like to surprise your enemies from behind. What do you say now? Final decision It's still in the hands of King Agnus. But we'll get your opinion first, Maku Mazahn, Guardian of the Night."

"What's your opinion, Agnus?" I asked.

"No, you are my elder," said our former servant, Agnus, who now looks like a king in a gorgeous battle uniform, "you should speak first. In front of you who are wise, I only But a child, please let me hear your opinion."

So I had a quick consultation with Goode and Sir Henry, and then made a brief statement.We are surrounded and water is scarce, so the best course of action is to attack Tewara's forces, and that should be done now.Take the initiative to attack before our wounds get worse and before Taiwala's superior force affects the morale of our army.Otherwise, some army chiefs might change their minds, make peace with Tewala, switch sides, or even betray us.

My opinion was accepted.In fact, for the first time in their country, my opinion has always been respected by the Kukuana people.However, the final decision is still in the hands of Agnus. He has been recognized as the legal king of Kukuana and has supreme power. Of course, it also includes the final decision-making power of major military affairs.So all eyes turned to him.

After some thought, he finally said:
"Inchub, Makumazan, Bugwan, brave white man, my friend; Inverdus, my uncle; and the chiefs, I have made up my mind. Today I will attack Taiwala , is life or death, in this battle. Have you seen it? This mountain is half-moon-shaped, and the slender plain in front of the mountain is like a green tongue sticking out."

"We saw it." I replied.

"Very well, it is noon now, let the soldiers eat something and have a good rest. When the sun is about to set, my uncle, you take your army and another army to this plain. Once you find you , Tewara will definitely attack. But the plain is so narrow that only one regiment can pass through at a time, so they can be wiped out one by one. Since this method of combat has never been seen before, all of Tewara's troops will be attracted Stay. My friend, Inchub, you go with my uncle. Tewala will be terrified when he sees your tomahawk at the head of the 'Grey's army'. I will go with the second I will follow you with an army. In case you fail, I will lead the army to continue the battle. In addition, the wise Makumazahn is with me."

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Inverdus.Obviously, he knew very well that his troops would definitely be wiped out, but his face was calm.The Kukuana are truly remarkable, and they put life and death at risk in order to accomplish their mission.

"While all the troops of Tewara watched the battle," Agnes continued, "a third of us (about 6000 men) quietly descended from the right to surprise the left flank of Tewara; three points One of the men descended from the left side and raided Tewara's right flank. When I saw that the left and right sides were ready for a surprise attack, I would lead the remaining troops to attack the front of Tewara. If luck is good If we do, we will win the war. We will be able to enter Lucheng safely before night falls. Now let us eat and prepare for battle. Inverdus, are you ready to execute the battle plan? Let the white-skinned god Bougwan fights with you. His shining eyes give warriors great courage."

The combat plan was quickly implemented, which shows Kukuana's complete military system.In about an hour, the food was distributed to the soldiers, everyone wolfed it down, and then formed into three teams, and we explained the battle plan to the commander of each team.Excluding a small contingent left behind to attend to the wounded, our strength was about 8000 men.Everyone is on the alert.

Soon Goode came up and shook hands with me and Sir Henry.

"Goodbye, guys," he said, "according to the order, I am going to set off with the right-wing troops. Before leaving, I must shake hands with you, maybe this is our last time." His tone was a little heavy.

We shook hands silently, with no display of British sentimentality.

"It's strange to say," Sir Henry's voice trembled slightly, "to be honest, I don't expect to see the sun tomorrow at all. I know very well in my heart that Gray's army and I will stick to the end and attract the enemy's attention." Watch out, get other troops to flank Tewara's army. It's worth dying anyway! Farewell, old chap. God bless you! Hope you come back alive and find the diamond. If so, I'll I advise you, don't get involved in any battle for the throne!"

Good held our hands tightly, then turned and left.Then Inverdus came and took Sir Henry to the head of the Grey's army.I was worried and followed the second army with Agnus, preparing for the imminent battle of life and death.

(End of this chapter)