At noon, the scorching sun shone directly on the Juba River, steaming up clouds of hazy water vapor.

Captain Zhao, surnamed Zhao, stood at the bow of the ship and could already see the Western-style church standing tall not far away.

"Captain, the Italians have discovered us."

The adjutant reminded him when he saw a group of Italian soldiers in light blue uniforms pouring out of the western part of the church.

"The Italians had quite a few troops, more than a hundred regular troops."

The Italian soldiers gradually moved into the blocking positions along the riverbank, and their armament and the number of troops were unabashedly displayed in front of the garrison.

"The fleet has not seen any of the Italians since it set out from Kismayo, presumably because of the tension in which the Italians, fearing our attack, have reduced the colonial forces in the interior to a few strongholds."

"It's very likely, the Italians and we have exchanged fire once, we learned a lesson in the last attack on Kismayo, and now it seems that we have gained a lot of experience."

The officer's eyes were always focused on the Italian troops on the shore, carefully observing the opponent's defensive deployment.

"You see, the Italians have built a line of defense in the area directly opposite the riverbank, and their regular army is all deployed on this line."

"At least three mountain guns and one machine gun were deployed on the forward defense line, and it seems that the Italians are preparing to rely on the riverbank defense line to inflict heavy losses on our attacking troops, and then take advantage of the defeat of our troops in the frontal defense line to cooperate with the colonial forces in the east and west directions of the church to annihilate our attacking troops on the shore."

"The Italians still treat us like those stupid African natives, thinking that we will swarm directly into their positions and fall into their trap, and the Italians don't have a lot of brains!"

The officer surnamed Zhao smiled, and then continued, "The Italians have set up a position, and we can't help but react, ordering the first garrison detachment and the second garrison detachment to land ashore four hundred meters in front and feint to attack the Italian defense line. ”

The battle order was issued to all ships, a total of seven ships of the partisan fleet regrouped, a small detachment with two gunboats as the main force adjusted the muzzle to bombard the wooden trestle in the center of the riverbank, after two rounds of shelling, the fragile wooden building collapsed in the flames, and sank to the bottom with seven or eight Italian soldiers on top of the wooden building.

The water obstacle was cleared, and the two gunboats carried a group of soldiers marching forward, while pursuing several fleeing steam merchant ships, while the remaining ships, under the unified command of an officer surnamed Zhao, continued to shell the shore defense line to provide cover for the landing force's feint. …………

In the church of Dujuma, the three men who had just separated gathered together again to discuss loudly how to deal with the attack of the guerrilla fleet.

"There are only three or four hundred Orientals in the Juba River, Captain, I don't understand, why don't you order the kingdom's army to attack them directly?"

"Your Excellency, the Orientals are not the same as the Somali natives, their troops have received systematic military training, and their troops are only slightly inferior to the kingdom's army, you can't confuse the Orientals with those stupid black natives."

"Orientals? Those yellow-skinned monkeys with greasy braids and opium smoking all day long? ”

Salvatore said with a contemptuous smile on the corner of his mouth, "Captain, don't think of me as a Neapolitan hillbilly who has never seen the world, if you want to know the Orientals, I can guarantee that on the coast of Africa, there is no European who knows their temperament better than me, they are a bunch of numb and timid cowards, I once had the privilege of following Lieutenant Grant in the French army's war of conquest of the Kingdom of Annam, when I had only sixteen Europeans and twenty Malayan mercenaries, and as a result, in a siege battle, Two thousand Annam troops were defeated by my men.

Captain, the last battle of Kismayo was just an accident, the Orientals won a trivial victory by luck, you can't doubt the strength of the kingdom's army just because of a single defeat, this worry of yours is completely unnecessary, the army of the Kingdom of Italy will not be weaker than the English and the French at all in dealing with the Orientals. ”

Salvatore had typical Italian qualities, a penchant for propaganda and exaggeration, and when it came to the colonial wars in Africa or the attack on Annan's army in which he had personally participated, his mouth gushed like running water.

Captain Hunter did not have the patience to listen to a rogue leader tell him about his glorious past, and in the duty of an officer, he decisively rejected Salvatore's suggestion, but in order to avoid being labeled as cowardly and cowardly, and to teach a lesson to the arrogant old Neapolitan hooligans, Captain Hunt acquiesced to Salvatore leading his vigilantes to launch a small counterattack against the Chinese attacking forces.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, after a feint, Salvatore stood behind more than a hundred of his men, holding a breech-loading rifle alof, and shouted, "Look, boys, show your courage, and let the soldiers from the country see how the brave Neapolitan stick boys teach the cowardly Orientals!" ”

"Roar, roar, roar, ......" outlaws in different costumes responded to their heads in high spirits.

"Rush forward! Guys, take out the timid Orientals! ”

Salvatore pulled the trigger and fired an empty gun, and the men gathered around him got the signal and rushed forward with a shout.

Salvatore's colonial troops attacked in no order, and when a group of people approached the guerrilla defense line, they did not care about the coordinated operation, and several people charged forward separately, but as mercenaries who died overseas, the Italian colonial soldiers had a lot of experience in saving their lives, and they fought close to the guerrilla defense line, and almost no one stupidly bumped into the defensive fulcrum of the deployment of mountain artillery and heavy machine guns.

The chaotic attack lasted for half an hour, and the partisans feared that they would hurt the other side, causing the Italians to strengthen their guard and deliberately hide their true strength, while the Italian colonial soldiers who were on the counterattack paid seven or eight casualties and recaptured a captured stronghold and stopped.

In the evening, as the intensity of the battle gradually waned, the Italian commander, Captain Hunt, fearing that the partisan detachment would sneak up on the flank of the church, transferred twenty regular soldiers from the shore line to support Salvatore's department, while he himself remained behind the riverbank line and personally commanded the Italian army to deal with the main force of the partisan forces.

While the Italian troops waited for a full-scale attack by the guerrillas, they sent soldiers back to the coastal strongholds to ask for reinforcements, and the time passed slowly, and after the roundabout troops arrived at the predetermined location, they did not launch an attack for a long time, and on the third day, two transport ships brought back a batch of food, ammunition and supplies from the concealed supply points established earlier, and Captain Zhao distributed the supplies, especially the ammunition with two 75-mm guns, to the troops, and after repairing for half a day, the Italian troops stationed in Dujuma were fiercely attacked that night.

"Captain, the attack of the Easterners is too fierce, the line of defense on the river bank has been lost, and His Excellency Salvatore and Father Amor have also retreated from the church with their men!"

In the night sky, lit up by artillery fire, an Italian soldier brought the last thing Captain Hunt wanted to hear.

"Send someone to contact Salvatore and order them to return to their positions to stop the Orientals!"

"It's late, His Excellency Salvatore left a message saying that thousands of reinforcements from the East have come, and there is only a dead end to stay in Dujuma, and he also advises you to evacuate immediately."

"Idiot, where did the Orientals get reinforcements, Salvatore is clearly cowardly!"

"Captain, the Orientals are dividing the defensive line that surrounds us, hurry up and give the order to retreat, it's too late!"

"What a good thing this coward Salvator has done!"

Captain Hunt angrily threw off his hat and unceremoniously blamed Salvatore for the loss of the town, and immediately gave the order to retreat.

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