"The most likely are the Boers, who have the ability and the motivation to do it."

According to Barron's analysis, the Jameson affair in 1895 made South African mining companies mortal enemies with the Transvaals.

In December 1895, Jameson, a senior officer of the company, led 500 company policemen and several machine guns in an expedition to overthrow the current regime in the Transvaal. In January 1896 the expedition was surrounded by the Transvaal police force at Krugersdorp, where 134 men were killed and the rest were taken prisoner. Under British pressure, Jameson and others were handed over to the UK and sentenced to only 15 months in prison.

The Jameson incident became a symbol of the openness of the contradictions between the Boers and the British, especially Kaiser Wilhelm, who added fuel to the fire and publicly called President Transvaal to congratulate him, which also became a turning point in Anglo-German relations. Subsequently, the German company Mauser designed and produced a rifle specifically for the Transvaal, which was roughly similar to the Mauser 1893 rifle and had the same 7 mm caliber.

The motive was there, the bullet casings were matched, and the Boers became the biggest suspects. However, for the sake of caution, Barron added the latest information.

"Recently, there has been a new force in the region, which defeated the Griqua at the end of last month, and is capable of doing it. However, whether there is a motive or not requires further investigation. ”

"Indigenous? Nama or Zulu? ”

"No, it's said to be mysterious, and it believes in a special religion."

Time was pressing, and Barron did not investigate this mysterious force further. The information we know now is the result of spies who have been planted among the Griqua people.

Rhodes stood up and began to walk back and forth in the room. He was a patriot of the British Empire and was madly committed to the expansion of the Anglo-Saxon nation. From the British point of view, this mysterious force may come in handy, such as stabbing a Boer in the back.

"Then look into it, especially the attitude towards the British Empire. If it is our enemy, we will resolutely destroy it; If not, then dig out if there is an opportunity to take advantage of it. ”

Rhodes clapped the slap and set the tone.

April is the most comfortable season in the Transvaal Plateau, with a crisp autumn and a pleasant climate. Liang Hong's mood also became relaxed as everything got on the right track.

Chromite mining has entered a stable period, and the three ore smelters built next to the mine can provide a full load of 3,000 yuan per day. The smelter of the base sends a genuine mine truck out to prospect every day, and there are no new discoveries yet.

Initial results have also been achieved in the training of soldiers, and the hundreds of soldiers who participated in the training in the early days have markedly improved their performance in shooting at long-distance and moving targets. The hundreds of newly created soldiers, under the guidance of veterans every day, do not need Liang Hong to worry too much about training. Now he has more than 200 soldiers under his command, organized into five platoons, and the squad leaders all choose soldiers with relatively outstanding military skills and brains to serve.

The united front work against the surrounding tribes was also quietly launched. The newly created missionaries were trilingual, and Liang Hong chose Chinese, Dutch, and Khoikhoi. Although missionaries cannot spy on intelligence like spies, they are close to underground workers from the perspective of concealing their identities. Two missionaries, with curly black hair and slightly dark skin, spoke in a Nama accent, leading a lean horse among the Nama tribes, selling all kinds of tools and knives produced in the base. On the surface, they are small businessmen, but behind the scenes, they secretly spread the teachings of Mingjiao and secretly develop devout followers.

There has been no news from the Griqua people for the time being, but it will be easier than the missionaries to return with seven trained missionaries, who are already familiar with their relatives and friends.

In the pillbox of the base, Liang Hongzheng was working hard to write a book, and he was compiling an infantry drill code. The barracks were built against the backdrop of single-shot black powder weapons, so the tactical training of the soldiers continued to follow line infantry tactics. Now that it is the era of smokeless gunpowder magazine rifles, the firing range is long, the rate of fire is fast, and the Maxim machine gun is a big killer in the dense line, Liang Hong is ready to transform his soldiers into skirmisher line tactics.

A skirmish line is an attack or defense where each soldier is separated by a large distance. During the battle, the soldiers spread out into an evacuated line formation, preparing for fire first, and the soldiers moved in a leaping manner, destroying the opponent with fire in the movement. When defending, fortifications are built on favorable terrain, and the attacking enemy is first blocked and fired with fire, and then the enemy is repelled by infantry counter-charge. The skirmish line tactics can combine firepower, movement, and assault, and can be dispersed or concentrated in a short period of time, so that the marching army formation and the battle formation can be quickly exchanged, and the offensive and defensive battles can be fought.

However, this tactic has increased the requirements for grassroots officers, Liang Hong's subordinates lack qualified officers, and the soldiers created by the system are highly disciplined but lack flexibility, and now they can only hope to solidify the tactics with drills. By enhancing the consciousness of the soldiers' regulations, the tactical requirements for junior officers are reduced.

I tried to recall the military history lessons I learned in the military academy, attacking, defending, marching, guarding, camping, and fortifications, listing the tactical links that I could think of, and then filling in the content of the recall. In the end, according to his understanding of the battle, everything was straightened out and made more reasonable and systematic.

The ink was getting fainter and fainter, so I had to stop and poke my quill into the inkwell. These pen and paper were all captured from the expedition last time, and Liang Hong was not used to the mainstream stationery of this era. With a dipping pen, you have to interrupt your train of thought if you can't write a few words, and you need to go back and rethink.

Suddenly, someone was talking outside the door, followed by a knock on the door. This is an absolute forbidden place, the gate is guarded by sentinels, in order to receive visitors, specially at the gate of the bunker, a shed is connected outside, which is counted as a reception room.

Liang Hong got up, walked to the door and opened the door, and saw a panting soldier standing outside.

"Report to the Commander that there is an enemy situation in the mine. More than a dozen men claiming to be members of the Northern Mounted Police, who had blocked mining trucks, were confronting the guards. ”

This was rushed back from the mine to deliver the letter. The Mounted Police, presumably the official Boer police force. Liang Hong's head is a little big, and he has only been in this world for three months, and troubles have come one after another. The Transvaal had a much larger army, about 30,000 men in twenty-two militias, in addition to thousands of elite police forces. In order to compete with the British, the Boers procured advanced rifles, machine guns, and artillery, and were well-trained and skilled in combat. With Liang Hong's current strength, he will fight with the Boers, and he may be wiped out in the middle of a hand.

"Assemble the team, one platoon immediately mounts the horse, and rushes to the mine with me, three platoons and four platoons run to follow, and the fifth platoon stays at the base to be on strict alert, ready to fight at any time."

I don't know if there will be a fight, so I can only prepare for the worst. There was only one platoon guarding the mine, and he had to bring reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible to find a way to control the situation.

When Liang Hong arrived, more than a dozen Boer mounted policemen in grass-green military uniforms were shouting and galloping outside the ore smelter, and the soldiers stationed at the mine were guarding inside with guns. Fortunately, no one has fired the first shot yet. According to his orders, if the soldiers were attacked, they would immediately fight back. This is similar to the principle of a certain great country in later generations, which is not to fire the first shot, but never let the enemy fire the second shot.