August 15, 1638, Fort in the River. The weather is sunny, with a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius and a southwest wind of level 5.

More than 200 indigenous soldiers stood under eight banners waving in the wind, waiting for orders from above. It has been almost a year since these eight tribes took refuge in the East Coast, and in this year, they have been protected by the East Coast in all directions, and of course, you can also say that they are controlled in all directions. The tribes that were not sheltered or controlled by the Easterners had disappeared, and instead of extinction, they had expanded their numbers, all thanks to their repeated expeditions with the Easterners.

In the regulations drawn up for them by the people of the East Coast, each tribe of the Upper Six Banners has one chief and two deputy chiefs, which can be hereditary. Each tribe of the Upper Six Banners exercised limited autonomy, and as chiefs, they held all power within the tribe and were only responsible to the superior East Bank Governor. There is no chief in the lower two banners, and they are directly under the jurisdiction of the East Coast Officer Advisory Corps, but they are usually managed by a "foreman" designated by the East Coasters.

Of course, the more power these people have, the greater the corresponding obligations. If they fail to pay the taxes they should pay for the year, if they send less servants to the project sites of the East Coasters, if they are ineffective in warfare, they may be punished, usually by fines for slaves, cattle and sheep, grain, and in serious cases, they may be dismissed from their posts or even sentenced.

With the harsh discipline set by the people of the East Coast, these "children of the Eight Banners" have simply become a rebellious existence among the nearby natives. The Khoisans, who were still at the end of their primitive society, were no match for these relatively disciplined and well-equipped Eight Banners tribes, and they were repeatedly destroyed in front of them in battle, and in many cases they did not even have to exert much effort on the east coast soldiers. They alone could win a battle.

This time, Liu Ang, Xie Hansan and others in the Fort of River unanimously decided to attack and harass the British. For this. The requisition order was sent to the tribes last night. Early this morning, the heads of the eight tribes hurried to the river fort, and after listening to the teachings of the old men on the east bank, they returned to the tribes one after another and began to mobilize and select personnel.

At eight o'clock in the morning, about 250 indigenous soldiers were selected and gathered in the arena on the south bank of the Berg River. The commander of the fourth company, Lieutenant Xie Hansan, surrounded by soldiers on the east bank, hurriedly inspected the so-so indigenous force, and then announced the departure!

Nine o'clock sharp. The troop, carrying a dozen carts, set out in the hunt of the west wind. Nearly 100 men with black and white flags carried spears on their shoulders and short spears that could be thrown at their waists. They have a large number of two banners, so the number of troops is naturally also very large, coupled with their low status, they naturally become the vanguard cannon fodder of the whole army. Immediately behind the troops of the black and white banners were the men of the six banners, who either carried spears, short knives and round shields, or longbows and quivers on their backs. All of them were dressed in leather armor, and some of the wealthier or more sophisticated ones were inlaid with some pieces of iron bought from the people of the East Coast to enhance their protection.

Sun Shengjun led 20 cavalry from the east coast around the entire army. While urging them to march, he watched for anyone who wanted to escape. This is not unfounded. With the low morale of these natives, soldiers often left their families behind the tribe to flee during the previous battles with the natives, let alone against the British this time.

More than a dozen carts were loaded with spare weapons, marching tents, barbed wire, drinking water, food, medicine and bandages, and other supplies, driven by a number of slaves under the two flags, and two East Coast militiamen armed with muskets squatting in each vehicle. They are not involved in the battle, they are not even close to the battlefield, they are only responsible for managing the logistics of the troops. If the situation is not right, they will resolutely drive away.

After four days of marching, at noon on 20 August, the whole group reached the back of a hill about ten kilometres east of Cape Town. The baggage troops will camp here and wait, and the combat troops will continue to move forward. In the evening of the same day, taking advantage of the drizzle, the combat troops quietly entered a camp in the Table Mountain, where they had stepped on the surface in advance, and the soldiers took out their tents and chose some dry places to set up camp.

Maybe the British were short of manpower, maybe their morale was not high, but most of them were huddled inside the camp, and outside the camp there were only a few English people in tattered tarpaulin, huddled pitifully in the corners of the wooden wall, chatting in whispers and observing the surroundings. It's a pity that the rain and fog outside are so thick that they can't see anything clearly.

Nothing was said all night. In the early morning of August 21, the troops who had rested in the mountains all night began to assemble, and Sun Shengjun was very depressed to find that there were only 210 troops left at this time, and more than 20 people had escaped last night. But the battle is imminent, and he can't control it so much, and those punishments can be dealt with after he goes back. He immediately summoned the officers in charge of the various flags and began to explain to them their respective combat missions on the basis of previous experience and some knowledge he had recently learned.

To tell the truth, the organization and discipline of these Eight Banner natives are a little stronger than those outcasts in the Ming Dynasty, and it is estimated that the combat effectiveness of those peasant armies who have not experienced a few battles is about the same, and the individual combat effectiveness may be stronger, but the morale and discipline are slightly inferior. All in all, this is a very bad army, but at the moment it can only let them rush, anyway, it is cannon fodder, and it is good to test the reality of the British.

The native officers spoke very poorly Chinese, and Sun Shengjun's accent was not very correct, so the communication between the two sides was difficult. After arriving at the end of the day, Sun Shengjun was also annoyed, and simply pointed out the direction directly. The black and white flags were assigned to attack the British logging sites on Table Mountain, and Sun Shengjun gave them the requirement that the movement be large enough to attract the attention of the British within the walls below the mountain; The red and yellow flags were elite black flags with strong combat effectiveness, and were left in the hands of Sun Shengjun as a reserve; As for the remaining four flags, they were ambushed in the lush woods halfway up the mountain to intercept the British, who might go out of the city to rescue.

After the order was issued, Sun Shengjun did not hesitate and directly ordered the start of action. It's raining in the winter outside, and it's freezing cold, and it's unbearable to stay in this environment for an extra day, so let's do it quickly!

The battle soon began. The British set up a number of logging sites on Table Mountain, which were used for chopping firewood for fuel and for urban construction below. There were more than a dozen people in these logging sites, and only a few people were few, and they were a little panicked for a while in the face of the swarming Khoisan people with weapons in their hands.

"Bang! Bang! "It was some of the more vigilant Englishmen who fired their arquebuses in the logging sheds, but they were soon overwhelmed by the surging crowd. Thinly numbered, they resisted helplessly with their logging axes, but were soon stabbed to the ground by sharp iron spears. Some of the Khoisans, with their daggers in their eyes, began to harvest the heads of the fallen Englishmen, one worth a bottle of river koji—the price given by the people of the East Coast. Some even fought for the ownership of the head of a wounded British soldier, causing Sun Shengjun, who was observing with a telescope from afar, to frown.

The urine nature of these natives, and the black-eyed army of exiles in Daming who can't see the white flowers and silver, are just like carved out of a mold!

Crowds have inundated logging sites one after another, and few of these logging camps, lacking the necessary protection, have lasted more than a quarter of an hour under the onslaught of the outnumbered Khoisans. And when the camp is breached, their fate is generally tragic, after all, in the eyes of the Khoisans, they are priceless prey.

After breaking through three logging sites in succession, the British in the distance began to retreat rapidly down the mountain. And in the unfinished walls of the British down the hill, whistles were heard one after another, and a large number of British people were gathered, and the officers opened their arsenals and distributed arquebuses or flintlock muskets one by one. The British, who had their weapons, walked under the canopy and looked through the misty rain and fog at Table Mountain, which was not far away. The weather has been humid lately, and the rate of musket fire is not expected to be very high, and if these natives were to storm the camp, their casualties would be heavy.

"Sir, four of the nine logging sites have been captured, and thirty-five people have been killed. These natives are very undisciplined, and they are looting the muskets, tools, and even food we have left behind in the mountains, and we should gather our men to rush up and disperse them. Hell, they're just a bunch of savages, let me take someone to kill them! I promise there won't be a few casualties! God, they are even desecrating the corpses of the Lord's people! "Aaron dressed in a thick tarpaulin. Potter said eagerly, followed by several veterans of the war.

Nick looked up at the gloomy sky, then at the muddy ground, and then turned to look at the Heywood Knight beside him.

Knight Heywood didn't hesitate for long, only to see him say categorically: "Aaron, take 50 good men out of the city to fetch those who have been withdrawn from the mountain." Hear clearly, it's just for you to pick up those people, you must not change direction and launch an active attack on the natives on the mountain! ”

"Yes, sir." Aaron. Potter saluted reluctantly and turned to gather his men.

Nick. Warrham silently glanced at the Supreme Commander who had already walked in front of him, the Knight Heywood's wig had been ridiculously plastered on his forehead under the rain, and the makeup powder on his face had even been washed out by the rain, but his words were unquestionable: "Nick, organize the defense of the entire castle." These natives are very clever and know that the Tao is attacking us in the rain and snow, and we must be vigilant enough. Now, it's your job to make sure this unfinished castle is safe! ”

"Yes, sir." Nick saluted and rushed headlong into the rain and mist. (To be continued......)