By the early morning of the next day, the entire small village of Moxi had been turned into a makeshift construction site. Whether it was Captain Stanley's German mercenaries, Wickham's Separate Company of Marines, or the hundreds of black slaves, they were all busy with one thing - and that was to build fortifications.

This small village of Moxie at this time gathered most of the military power of the United Kingdom of Britain on the Gold Coast. If Wickham's forces were to be dealt a fatal blow, the British Kingdom's military presence on the Gold Coast would not be enough to suppress the Ghanaian princely states.

Wickham was not thinking about the colonial hegemony of the British, but as the commander of this operation, he could not afford to be defeated. If this campaign fails, it is foreseeable that the old fox of Magalny, as well as the director of the Royal African Trading Company, will push Wickham out as the scapegoat. This is also something that cannot be helped, because he really has no strong support at the top.

Knowing that the main force of the British army was far away from the protection of the fort, King Mossi Tu and the combined forces of Amo were excited, and this was a rare opportunity for them to strike at the British power in Ghana. In the past, the Ghanaians fought back several times, and they all fell at the foot of the walls of the Star Fort.

Now the British have left the protection of Star Castle on their own initiative, and there are not many of them. If the Ghanaians can gather all their strength and eliminate this British ** team in this unknown small village, then the power of the Ghana region will once again reach a balance and restore the balance of power. If the Amo coalition forces do not move, what awaits them will be the gradual encroachment of the European colonizers. Although it is necessary to take a great risk, there is no risky trading in the world? After weighing the pros and cons, King Mossi finally made up his mind to mobilize the coalition forces and attack the arrogant British army.

On the British side, all the officers, including Ai Wen, who has rarely expressed his opinions, have asked Lin Zihan whether this plan is too risky. Without the strong fortresses of the coastline, then the advantage of the Europeans in the fortification of ships and guns could not be brought into play. After all, the black princely states had tens of thousands of samurai who could be recruited at any time, and the British army was too poor in numbers.

But Wickham still forced his plan because the officers were thinking from a purely military point of view. And he has too many things to consider, including political factors. Besides, Wickham was only a small junior officer, and he couldn't say anything about Magarny and Mellon's desire for a quick victory. In order to inflict heavy losses on the Princes of Mossi in a short period of time, he had to gather his army and fight with the Mossi people in a battle and defeat the enemy.

Smith and Ruhl, two of the most common Marines, were now digging trenches behind the breastwork with hoes they had found in the village. Smith grumbled a little, "Ruhr, did you say our commander, Lieutenant Wickham, has something wrong with his head?" Why don't you dig the trench in front of the breastwork and dig it behind, will the enemy come from behind? Besides, I don't believe that this trench, which is less than two meters deep, can do anything. Smith muttered reluctantly, waving his hoe as if the man in front of him was Lieutenant Wickham who had forced him into the army.

As the name suggests, Smith is an honest blacksmith in Hampshire (smith means blacksmith). On the day Wickham went to the bar to recruit soldiers, this guy happened to be drinking in the bar, and in a drunken state, this guy was taken away by the sailors before he had a chance to say his profession. In this way, Smith, who had a legitimate career, inexplicably became a soldier in the Marine Corps. Now he misses his little wife who has only been married for less than a year and a half, and he doesn't know what will happen to him after he disappears.

Ruhl wiped the sweat from his forehead and gasped, "Smith, be careful, don't let the officers hear what you say." What are those gentlemen thinking, how can we inferior people know? We will do whatever the Commander tells us to do. Anyway, no matter what we do, we have a military pay, and that's enough. ”

Ruhr turned out to be a worker in a textile factory, and before this outing, the officers gave each soldier a pound in cash. That's twenty shillings! Ruhl had never seen so much money in his life, which made him feel that maybe being a soldier was not a bad thing.

Ruhl's family has three younger siblings to support, and the meager salary of a textile worker makes it difficult for his parents to support the family. After hearing that serving overseas could make a fortune, he was less reluctant to join the army. Now Ruhl's most desperate wish is to make a fortune and return to Hampshire to get his family out of the leaky little house.

Smith pouted, he had a small blacksmith shop in Hampshire, and although he didn't make much, he was enough to feed his family. He is very satisfied with this kind of life, and it is not like risking his death to become a soldier: "Ruhl, Satan can buy you for a pound, and the price is too low." I miss the sausage and vegetable soup my wife makes, and I don't know when I'll be able to go back to Hampshire, alas......"

Ruer stopped what he was doing and smiled obscenely: "I said, why are you so angry, it turns out that you miss your wife?" What's the matter, when you have made money, go back to the blacksmith's shop, buy your wife a lot of clothes and lace, and then hire a few servants to make sure she lives like a noblewoman. ”

Speaking of making money, Ruhl became even more interested, and began to talk about what he had heard from elsewhere: "I heard that the second lieutenant in a row said that the black king here has so much gold and precious stones that it can fill an entire palace!" This time, if we can win against the Moses, we can grab the gold and jewels of these black kings as much as we want! I'm not greedy, as long as I can grab a few ounces of gold, I'll go and buy a small estate in Essex, and I'll be a respected Lord Ruhr at that time, hehe......"

Poor Ruhl, he didn't know that the so-called gold that could fill the entire palace was made up by this fellow Aven. Ai Wen, who has become an officer from the grassroots level, knows very well what can boost the morale of the troops, and wealth is undoubtedly the most direct way. At the very least, his lies let those soldiers who are living a hard life in the country have a hope of returning home!

Smith didn't believe the gossip Ruhl had heard, piling up gold all over the palace? Isn't that richer than the coffers of His Majesty King George? "Come on, Ruhl. Even if we can grab the gold, it will not be the turn of us inferior people. Those officers will never divide us, so don't daydream. "Smith's blacksmith shop used to make wrought iron barrels for the militia regiments in the county, but it didn't make those officers lower the price, and on several occasions he almost didn't even get the money back for the materials. That's why he didn't trust those greedy officers to give them the spoils of war.

Ruhl listened to Smith's words and was about to argue when he was kicked to the ground by a pair of riding boots. The guy looked back indignantly, only to find that Ensign Bert was looking at him angrily: "You two damn bugs, how dare you be lazy here!" Why don't you hurry up and dig up, are you waiting for the Moses to come and cut off your heads? ”

Luhr and Smith's hearts shook unconsciously, and Ensign Burt was very grumpy, but not as talkative as Ensign Barnett. If the next time you are lazy, you will be seen by Ensign Bert, and a horsewhip will definitely be indispensable.

General Wickham unbuttoned a few buttons from his shirt and wiped the sweat from his neck with a hand towel. Although it's November, tropical Ghana is still hot and upsetting. "Second Lieutenant Barnett, how is the construction of the fortifications going now, and can you complete the task today?" Wickham is most concerned about the breastwork and the trenches at the moment, because everyone's lives are at stake.

Barnett, who was following behind Wickham, stepped forward and said, "At this pace, it can be done around five o'clock in the afternoon." Rest assured, sir, that Second Lieutenant Bert has gone to inspect the position. ”

Wickham nodded, very pleased with Bert's initiative. The next big battle was the first battle in the true sense of the word for Wickham, so he had more worries in his heart: "Captain Stanley, how far is your cavalry reconnaissance distance in general?"

Wickham, who has been trained in modern military theory, attaches more importance to battlefield intelligence and reconnaissance than all commanders of this era. Without a good reconnaissance and early warning system, you will become blind and deaf on the battlefield. Wickham's company was a pure infantry company, so in terms of reconnaissance, it had to rely on the group of mercenaries under Captain Stanley.

Captain Stanley took the military hat in his hand and fanned the wind vigorously: "Lieutenant Wickham, if the Moxes dare to come within eight miles of the village, my cavalry will leave this barbarian with nothing to hide. He was reassured that the dozen or so cavalrymen were not Hessians, but herders of Slavic descent from East Prussia. These herdsmen are not only skilled in riding, but also very vigilant, and they are absolutely effective in carrying out reconnaissance missions.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, the entire defense system of the British army was completed. The soldiers lay on the ground haphazardly, taking off their military uniforms and coats without any image, and one by one they looked exhausted. Mainly because there were no tools to dig the trenches, the soldiers had to dig the trenches with the rough pig iron farming tools of the Moses, which was too much physical exertion.

Seeing this, a flash of inspiration flashed in Wickham's mind, and he thought of the sapper shovel that resembled ten thousand essential oils in later generations. It's extremely effective when used to dig trench bunkers, and in in-person combat, the Sapper Shovel is more lethal than a bayonet, and if you are slashed by this thing, you will only have half a life left if you don't die!

At that moment, a cavalryman galloped towards the village. The mercenary was so dusty that he didn't have time to take a sip of water after dismounting, so he ran towards Stanley: "Captain, six miles to the northeast in the valley, I found the army of the Moses, numbering about six thousand!" The mercenary was frightened by the number of the Amo coalition forces, and his face turned a little pale.

Although the cavalryman from East Prussia spoke English with a thick German accent, Wickham still understood, and the Amo coalition army was coming! And the marines who acted as the main force, as well as the Hessian mercenaries, had just finished the tiring construction of fortifications, and some soldiers were so tired that they couldn't even lift their hands, how to deal with the menacing Moxies!

Thinking of this, Wickham couldn't be calm anymore, and hurriedly said to Barnett, who was next to him: "Second Lieutenant Barnett, today's dinner is canceled, quickly gather all the people into combat readiness, be quick!" "He regretted his death now, and he knew that he would not let go of the Moxi prisoners, just to dig trenches, so that he could also keep the soldiers full of strength.

Just as Barnett was about to gather the soldiers, Captain Stanley stopped him and said to Wickham with a helpless expression: "Lieutenant Wickham, it is now nearly evening, and the Moxies will not risk attacking. In general, they would stop a mile in front of our line and set up camp and only launch the first wave of attacks tomorrow morning. ”

For the Moxies, who were still in the age of cold weapons, it was very difficult to organize a night attack. First of all, because of the lack of nutrition, the soldiers of the Moxi people all suffered from severe night blindness, and they could not even distinguish between the enemy and the enemy in night battles, so how could they kill the enemy? Second, the command and control of the army at night was too difficult for the rudimentary feudal military system, and the troops involved in the attack would soon lose control and fall into a situation where they were not fighting.

Wickham is too deeply poisoned by the TV series, and the ancient armies on the screen always take advantage of the moonless night to play night attacks, and even when the main general shouts, the soldiers of the entire battlefield retreat neatly! This kind of scene will never appear in reality, and on a night when there is no moon, soldiers can't see anything without a torch, let alone cut people. If you hit the torch, the enemy will already see you, and you will attack you at night. And on a noisy battlefield, the voice of the chief general is not a high-power horn, and thousands of troops can hear his orders?

The development of the situation really confirmed Captain Stanley's words. Instead of attacking at night, the Amo coalition began to camp a little more than a mile from the British position, waiting for the arrival of Foxiao. This made Wickham, who had always been highly nervous, greatly relieved, so that his troops could rest well.

ps: I watched the BBC miniseries "Persuasion" today, in which the male protagonist is a poor ** silk, he and a young lady from an aristocratic family are in love with each other and secretly engaged. But the heroine was persuaded by her godmother, and the young lady was not determined to cancel the marriage. The male protagonist is sad and goes to serve in the Royal Navy. Eight years later, the male protagonist was promoted to colonel and obtained a large fortune, but the aristocratic family began to decline, and his face was slapped.

Have you noticed that this drama is similar to what happened to our male protagonist Wickham? Rest assured, Wickham will definitely return to his hometown in the future and slap some people in the face.