Sun Shengjun stood behind a large rock, calmly observing the situation ahead. A sudden bow and arrow attack just now, the soldiers on his side were caught off guard, and more than a dozen fell in an instant. If it weren't for his habit of wearing a cuirass everywhere he went, he would have suffered from the attack just now.

The enemy's attacks came from the hills on both sides, mainly arrows and spear attacks, and the frequency was not too dense, and it could be seen that the number of people involved in the attack was not very large. Sun Shengjun himself estimated that there should be no more than 200 enemies participating in the attack on the slopes of the mountains on both sides.

"The first row, all of them, half a left turn, a salvo from the right, ready to ...... Put! "There was a dense burst of gunfire, which was already the beginning of the officers to organize the soldiers to fight back. With the volley of flintlock pistols, several screams rang out from the hillside, and then several black corpses rolled down from above.

The first platoon immediately retreated to the side after firing and began to charge and reload nervously, while the other platoons of soldiers who reacted also took over from them under the organization of the officers and launched a volley of guns on the slopes on both sides. For a while, the sound of gunshots like popping beans rang out in the valley, and the smoke of gunpowder began to fill the valley.

The soldiers of the 104th Company are trained to shoot hundreds of rounds of ammunition every year, so they are still very familiar with the procedures of charging, loading, and shooting. Maybe they may not be able to achieve the rate of fire of two rounds a minute during training when they actually face the enemy, but an average of one shot a minute is still no problem.

Zhang Daniu rammed the lead bullet with the strip and then inserted the strip back into his waist, then raised his rifle and waited with bated breath for the order of the platoon commander Sun Erdan. And next to him. Zhang Defa was still trembling and charging. At this moment, I saw that his lips were blue and his breathing was a little disordered. Layers of fine beads of sweat also appeared on his forehead. The right hand of the charge trembled, and he always missed the barrel of the gun, and most of the gun powder was splashed on the ground by him.

"Aim...... Preparation...... Put! Platoon commander Sun Erdan took the lead in pulling the trigger in his hand, and more than a dozen rifles followed him and shot one after another, and then began the intense charge and loading work again.

Zhang Daniu looked at Zhang Defa with his eyes while loading the gun with ammunition, and at this time he saw that Zhang Defa had finally finished loading the rifle in his hand, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly. This old man usually charges and reloads faster than himself in training. I didn't expect to be so careless when I went to the battlefield, it looks like the instructors who trained me at the beginning said, "The psychological quality is too poor".

Another volley was fired, and several blackened corpses were planted on the hillside again. Zhang Daniu started the nervous charging and loading work again, and just finished loading the ammunition, but at this time, he heard Zhang Defa next to him ask weakly: "Big ...... Big bull, lend me your circular. I...... I've knocked my whole strip out of the way. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Daniu was speechless for a while. was about to say something to Zhang Defa, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a wooden arrow flying from above, which frightened him subconsciously and shrank his head. was worried in his heart, but he heard Zhang Defa next to him screaming like a pig. It turned out that the wooden arrow did not hit him, but it was shot in Zhang Defa's shoulder socket on the side.

The medic rushed over quickly. Together with two paramedics, Zhang Defa, who was paralyzed on the ground, was dragged backwards. Zhang Defa hissed and roared, causing many recruits to be nervous and out of shape. The military medical officer slapped him in the face and scolded angrily: "What a big injury your mother has, crying and fart!" Shut up Lao Tzu, or you will suffer it later! ”

The military medical officer's slap made Zhang Defa a little sober, and he suddenly found that the wooden arrow shot at him was only inserted in the shoulder socket, and although it hurt, it was not as exaggerated as the howl he had just howled. Zhang Defa suddenly blushed, he was so nervous just now, he was careful to make such a big appearance, but his shoulder did hurt a little.

At the end of the military medical officer's treatment of Zhang Defa, several wounded soldiers were carried down in front, most of whom were shot by the enemy's bows and arrows, and the injuries were not very serious. The only one that looked serious was that he had been shot through the thigh with a spear, and the medics were trying to figure out how to see the shaft and head of the spear.

Fighting continues on both sides. However, in general, after the sudden blow of the 104th company, it has gradually recovered from the initial chaos. Acting company commander Xiao Baitu had gradually gathered his troops at this moment, and began to organize his men to suppress the enemy's firepower with volleys of platoon guns in turn. Although the dense formation of the 104th Company greatly contributed to the enemy's hits, equally, their firepower was greatly increased. At the end of the day, platoon-based volleys commanded by junior officers gradually overwhelmed the enemy's firepower, and screams erupted one after another on the hillsides on both sides.

Some of the black soldiers, who could not bear the casualties, came out of their hiding places and fled to the rear. And this gave the officers and men of the 104th Company an excellent shooting target.

The belated Eight Banners soldiers plunged into the battlefield at the end of the battle, and then they "bravely" charged the enemy on the hillside on both sides, only to catch only a few small fish and shrimp, and most of the enemy seemed to retreat safely.

Xie Hansan, the commander-in-chief of the sweeping detachment, also rushed up from behind with the fourth company of the main army at this time, but he didn't expect that this short battle was over.

"Six were killed, fifteen were lightly wounded and two were seriously wounded. Most of the casualties were concentrated in the first wave of enemy raids, the cuirasses were placed on the carts of the heavy troops behind, and the soldiers wore only a thin uniform, which could hardly withstand the enemy's bows and arrows and spears. The disgraced Xiao Baitu reported to Xie Hansan for the first time. He knew what Xie Hansan cared about, but the result of more than 20 casualties really made his face hot.

Xie Hansan did not speak, but walked forward slowly. The soldiers of the Eight Banners who had been chasing the enemy had already returned one after another, and they were happily carrying some of the enemy's heads, as if they had fought some invincible battle.

"Detachment leader, we have conducted surprise interrogations on several captured prisoners, and the results of the interrogation have now come out." Sun Shengjun, deputy company commander of the 104th Company, reported to Xie Hansan with a sad face, "The situation is not very good. The attackers were all Xhosa blacks, but they were all from the other side of the mountain. Since entering the mountains, our whereabouts seem to have been mastered by these Xhosa blacks. The chieftain of the people of Xhosa on the other side of the mountain is said to be fighting another tribe in the south, and is unable to take care of us, so he has sent only a small number of soldiers over the mountain to help in the battle. That's all there is to see in front of them, and there is no exact number of how many people they have sent. It is not possible to describe how many of these captives there were, except that Lu Dao used the word 'many' to describe them, but it is estimated that there were more than 1,000 people conservatively. ”

"What about the cavalry troops? How do they do it?! Xie Hansan finally said the first thing he said after arriving at the scene, "I haven't even detected this group of black people ambushing here!" What is Leonid up to! ”

The East Bank Army, which was aggressively going to sweep the black tribes, was actually ambushed on the way and killed and wounded more than 20 people, a result that was unacceptable to Xie Hansan in any case. It wasn't just the loss of personnel, but what frightened him the most was the organizational skills and tactical awareness of these blacks. In the past, the blacks or reds encountered by the people on the east coast were either free and scattered nomadic tribes, or the losers of the struggle on the other side of the mountain, and fled to the west of the mountain with little strength. For this kind of disorganized natives, the well-equipped East Coast army is naturally ready to capture, often with a cannon bombardment, and then organize several volleys of guns, and then the cavalry can be dispatched to reap the fruits of the battle.

This time, though, they apparently encountered a new situation: for the first time, they encountered organized blacks. The blacks on the other side of the mountain are obviously at the level of civilization in the period of evolution from primitive society to slave society, and they are still a farming, fishing and hunting people. They have a certain level of tactics and the will to fight, and if their leaders have a certain foresight, perhaps a strong tribal state will be born. In other words, wasn't the wild boar skin of this period also developed like this?

What attitude should the people of the East Coast face such an enemy has now become a very real question in front of them. Xie Hansan had a hunch that perhaps after the end of this sweep, the confrontation and friction between the tribe on the other side of the river and the mountain side would intensify if the people on the east bank did not change their existing indigenous policies.

"Rest in place. The 4th Company did a good job of guarding the 104th Company, and the military medical officers treated the wounded sergeants as soon as possible. Herald, give me to the rear team to inform the artillery and baggage teams to be vigilant and not to be attacked by the enemy. Xie Hansan began to issue a series of orders, and several heralds behind him began to distribute orders to various places after recording them one by one.

There are still a few kilometers to go to the Crane William Dam area, but Xie Hansan, who smelled a hint of an unusual smell, decided to be cautious. At present, the cavalry troops don't know where Lu Dao has gone, so let's contact them first. This strange mountainous region is home to the Xhosa people. Tsehansan, who has been at war with Charua, Guarani and the indigenous people of South Africa for many years, says that don't underestimate the abilities of these indigenous people, sometimes they will do things that surprise you. The Zulu and Ethiopians of the 19th century had defeated the unbeatable colonial armies, and the elite troops at Fort River, who were now in their own hands, had a heavier responsibility than Mount Tai, and it was better to be cautious when the future was uncertain. (To be continued......)