On February 26, 1640, after resting for several days, the main force of the Second Fleet of the Navy escorted the two merchant ships of the South China Sea Transport Company, carrying a large number of supplies, and left the dock of the river fort in turn, heading for the island of Mozambique and the port of Suez.

When the Second Fleet was far away, Mo Ming, the captain of the South African Pioneer Team, decided to carry out this year's sweeping operation in advance after thinking about it for a while. Originally, he was planning to mobilize the militia for this year's sweep operation after the autumn harvest in mid-May, but considering that the Executive Committee might start the Falklands development plan at some point, he decided to take advantage of the short period of more than two months before the autumn harvest to carry out a surprise attack to destroy some of the black tribesmen of Xhosa that were still entrenched in the area near the East Hill (Mount Seidberg).

During last year's sweep, many Xhosa people in the Dongshan Mountains were better informed and fled to the mountains to hide, and some even fled across the mountains to the greater Kalu plateau to the east. As a result, these Xhosas were able to preserve their strength in the sweep of the East Coasters. After the departure of the people from the eastern coast, they began to move westward from the mountainous terrain, gradually devouring the territory of the Khoisan (mainly the San). The Sang people, who had suffered a great loss in the sweep of the people on the east coast, were unable to resist and retreated step by step, and it was difficult to see the Sang people south of the Great Salt Pond at present.

Moreover, it is said that the Xhosa blacks in the area west of the Dongshan Mountains are basically subservient to the chieftain of a large Xhosa tribe on the east side of the mountain. The large tribe of the Xhosa is numerous, powerful, and warlike, and is believed to have incorporated many small Xhosa tribes in the western part of the Great Karoo Plateau through bribery and warfare. According to the sporadic information received by the people of the East Coast, the number of people in this tribe may have reached more than 50,000. Among them, there are more than 10,000 strong men who can fight at any time. It's a rare and powerful force in the vicinity.

Particularly noteworthy: The tribe is also said to have made several deals with the British in the Cape Town area. The British exchanged muskets and ammunition for cattle and sheep for food from the Xhosa, as confirmed by some of the recent British refugees. According to their recollections, the chieftain of this tribe was extremely far-sighted, and he exchanged hundreds of cattle and sheep for about 200 muskets and some ammunition from the British, which served as his killer weapon in his conquest with other tribes.

However, these rumors are too far away for the people on the east bank of the River Fort. Especially with some rumors about the barbarians, it is even more difficult to arouse the interest of the East Coasters. They now eat and drink, and the only thing they are interested in is probably the various goods from the local area. However, the prices of those goods are not very cheap. If you want to be able to afford those things, you have to find a way to get a little more money. And now, an opportunity to make money is in front of them.

"Get up, don't fucking sit still! The company commander is here! A middle-aged man in a yellow Clicker military uniform walked over. At his urging, a group of farmers from the former river fort who were sitting on the ground chatting stood up in a panic.

Zhang Daniu dusted off the grass clippings from his brand-new khaki military uniform, and then stood up with his rifle. Standing next to him was his neighbor Zhang Defa Zhang, both of whom were now newly mobilized soldiers of the 104th Company of the Army Reserve.

Speaking of this 104th Company, it is one of the four new army reserve units formed by the military headquarters last year, and the company has the same strength as the regular army of 180 people. Perhaps what differs from the regular army is their khaki uniforms (the regular army is dark blue) and the fact that they only have a quarter of the regular average training.

"Sun Erdan is just a platoon commander, what a thing!" Zhang Daniu's mouth chattered. The movements were not slow at all, and the officers had long since used horsewhips to make them understand the importance of obeying orders.

Zhang Defa glanced at Zhang Daniu. He smiled coldly and said in a low voice, "You have a fart for talking about this now." If you had put more of your mind into training and not worked your Persian mother-in-law all day, you wouldn't be inferior to his grandson. In the final analysis, the platoon leader didn't fall from the sky. If you have the ability, you can also fight for one to come back. ”

Zhang Daniu's face was flushed when he was said, and he said: "Phew, just talking about me, aren't you yourself a bullshit soldier like me, and you have the ability to be a corporal, sergeant or something." ”

"I'm not like you." Zhang Defa glanced at Zhang Daniu and said, "I'm in my thirties this year, and according to my seniority in the village, I'm still your uncle." You don't have the ability to be a strong young man, let me go with such an old man? ”

The two are neighbors in the village, and most of them are together when they work and train, and their friendship is not bad, but they love to hurt each other when they have nothing to do.

At this time, Xiao Baitu, the acting company commander of the 104th Company, and Sun Shengjun, the deputy company commander, had already come to the front of the team one after the other, and the soldiers quickly lined up and stood up under the officer's command. Xiao Baitu, who was born as a cavalry officer, made a slight inspection in front of the queue, and then waved his hand, and Sun Shengjun, the deputy company commander, immediately stepped forward and shouted loudly: "The 104th Company of the Army has all of them, and the guns are on their shoulders, turn right to the right, and walk in unison!" One-two-one...... One-two-one......"

In another playground only a few dozen meters away from them, Mo Ming, the top governor of South Africa, was seeing off Xie Hansan and others. A total of 485 people were mobilized from the 4th Company of the South African Garrison, the 104th Company of the Army Reserve, the South African Cavalry Company (local troops, a total of 90 cavalry), and the South African Field Artillery Company (local troops, 4 guns). In addition, 400 indigenous spearmen of the Eight Banners and 100 British fugitives were recruited; Together with some Eight Banner slaves who served as husbands, the total strength was about 1,300 people.

It can be said that all the elites of the army in the Fort River area are here. As for the local defense after they left, the militia and the remaining soldiers of the Eight Banners were in charge as usual.

After the departure of the 104th Company, it was followed by the baggage units of the Great Army, as well as the spearmen troops, and at the rear of the elite 4th Company of the Army. As for the cavalry troops, they set off half a day earlier than the main force, and I am afraid that they have already gone dozens of miles out of the city.

On 10 March, after nearly half a month's arduous march, the whole force first headed north and then turned eastward, and entered the Xiang River valley along some small river valleys between the Dongshan Mountains. In fact, they didn't need to spend so much time on the road, but some trainee officers of the South African Garrison Command needed to draw maps along the road and investigate the local vegetation, rivers, geology and other environments, so it was very delayed.

However, since the news of the discovery of the enemy had been reported by the cavalry units that had been in advance a day earlier, the whole force had suddenly increased their march, and they were now only a few kilometres from the area of the famous Crane William Dam. According to the news from the cavalry, three small tribes of Xhosa were grazing and cultivating in the vicinity.

The mountain road is getting harder and harder to walk, and the scenery is desolate everywhere you look. The vegetation cover on the rolling hills and low hills is not bad, but it is still dominated by low bushes and few large trees, so it can be seen that the precipitation here is not very high. However, as long as you climb over this mountain and enter the valley of the Elephant River, the greenery along the way should be somewhat more vibrant.

Xie Hansan stood on a rugged hillside, holding up his binoculars and looking ahead. The 104th Company, which was at the forefront, had already entered a rugged and difficult valley area, and the artillery and baggage troops that had been following them had fallen behind them because of the rugged and difficult road, so Xie Hansan had no choice but to order the British fugitives to stay behind and escort them forward.

Xie Hansan picked up a cowhide bladder from his waist and gently poured a few sips of cold boiled water, slightly relieving the thirst in his throat. After several days of walking, the soldiers were already very tired. The 4th Company, which is usually strictly trained, is fine, but the 104th Company, which is undertrained, is a little out of shape, and within a few days of departure, some soldiers shouted that their feet were worn out, which made the officers have a good meal; After another two days, most of the soldiers found that their water bladders had been emptied, so Xie Hansan had no choice but to suspend his advance and ask him to go to a nearby river to fetch water and boil water.

"These peasants who have just put down their hoes are still not good, and they need to be practiced." Xie Hansan looked at the somewhat crooked formation of the 104th Company in front of him, and sighed secretly in his heart. As a hidden Emperor Han element, he still has some hope for the 104th Company, a unit dominated by Han Chinese, but now it seems that this force is far from being formed. Every year, they only have time to train intensively in their spare time, and in terms of discipline, physical fitness, and military skills, they are not as good as the Fourth Company of the Army, which is close at hand, and they still have a lot to learn.

Before this sweep, the officers of the 104th Company had just taken their positions, and before that, they had not even conducted even a single long-distance training. Sending soldiers into battle without adequate training was a crime in Hsieh's eyes. The East Coast is no different from other countries, and due to its sparse population, every soldier is precious. They are not war animals, but professional soldiers carefully cultivated by the state, and they cannot be squandered at will.

The only thing that is interesting in South Africa is probably the cavalry unit that is now under the command of Leonid. Under their leadership, the cavalry unit is also the most diligent and strict training unit on weekdays, and the military quality of the soldiers is generally high, and the combat effectiveness is naturally much stronger.

Just as I was in a reverie, I saw that the formation of the 104th Company in front of me was suddenly a little chaotic, and the soldiers fell to the ground in large areas. Xie Hansan was startled, and hurriedly took a telescope to look, only to see that the 104th Company, which was advancing, seemed to have been suddenly attacked, and many soldiers fell to the ground on the spot. The officers, nervously judging the direction of the enemy's attack, walked over and kicked the soldiers who were lying on the ground in the buttocks, telling them to quickly get up and reload. (To be continued......)