For the British army, with a total strength of nearly 1,000 troops, attacking a small village of Moxi with a young and strong population of only more than 200 people was really not an impressive achievement, and there was even a feeling of victory without force. But the good thing is that the independent company of the Marine Corps formed by Wickham has at least seen blood, and is no longer a group of recruits who have never killed anyone. The next time he faced a stronger enemy, Wickham was confident that his company would be more comfortable coping.

When the British army poured into the small village, most of the old and young had not had time to escape, and were hiding in the round adobe huts shivering, and what awaited them was the tragic fate of being sold into slavery. The Hessian mercenaries carried out the raids without the orders of the commander. Groups of soldiers smashed open the door made of straw mats and wooden sticks with the butts of their rifles, and then carried away the food and valuables inside, despite the screams of the old and the young.

If it weren't for the fact that he was on a combat mission, Captain Stanley would have even taken all the children who had not escaped, and sent them back to the fortress's auction market to sell them to slave traders who were like vultures encountering carrion. Unfortunately, the troops had to make a long run to the royal city of the Mossi, and it was quite cumbersome to carry the prisoners on the road, and Captain Stanley had to give up the meat to his mouth.

The Marines watched with red eyes as the happy Hessian mercenaries looted through the village, eager to pick up their guns and join them. It's a pity that under the scolding and restraint of the officers, the soldiers of the Marine Corps did not dare to act rashly for a while, and the authority of Second Lieutenant Ewen in their hearts was too great. However, some of the brave soldiers had begun to murmur, blaming the officers for blocking their way to their fortunes. The complaining soldiers were all captured by Wickham from the tavern, and before they joined the army, they were all unscrupulous vagrants, specializing in some unscrupulous business. They are not as honest as those weavers-turned-soldiers, and who would refuse to rob and rob as a quick way to get rich?

Second Lieutenant Evan faintly sensed the commotion in the ranks, walked over to Wickham's side with some uneasiness, and said in a serious tone, "Sir, I am not trying to question your decision based on humanitarian considerations, but we must give due consideration to the demands of the soldiers. Otherwise, these soldiers will build up these grievances until the day it erupts. If this day does come, a few of our officers will be in danger! ”

Wickham still has some understanding of some of the unspoken rules of the European army in this era. For example, when soldiers are fighting on enemy soil, it is permissible to plunder appropriately, as this not only demoralizes the enemy's resistance, but also boosts the morale of the army in due course.

During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French army invaded Spain again, the generals and soldiers all turned their guns on the Spanish nobles, priests and commoners, and even the silver candlesticks in the churches. Some of the statues of the Virgin Mary had silk shawls stripped of them by greedy French soldiers. Later Spanish historians estimated that during the dark days when the French army was stationed in Spain, the French army probably snatched 100 million francs worth of booty from Spain, so that the domestic economy of the Kingdom of Spain did not recover for more than ten years after the war.

Wickham didn't let the Marines participate in the robbery, not because of any bullshit humanitarianism, but because of a village with a population of about 400 people and mainly farming, what oil and water is there? At most, you can grab some food and animals, these things are not easy to carry, and the value is low, and the gains outweigh the losses.

The richest people in Ghana are still the kings of the princely states. Because they controlled the mining of gold veins and diamond veins, after hundreds of years of accumulation, the family wealth of these earth kings was a very considerable number. If there is such an opportunity, Wickham will definitely rob the fuck!

This era is the age of power, there is no pity, no sympathy, there is only an undisguised desire for wealth. This is the true portrayal of Europe in this era. Wickham does not want to change anything, because even in the future generations that emphasize fairness and justice, the law of the international order has not been fundamentally changed.

Wickham motioned for Bert and Barnett to come over as well, and then asked the three subordinates meaningfully, "What?" Are you dissatisfied with my commands? ”

Bert can't deny that the maritime merchants of this era are also merchants and thieves, and in his ideology, there is nothing to say about such a backward barbarian, just rob his mother. Barnett shook his head and said what everyone thought: "Sir, although I don't want the kingdom's army to become a bunch of shameful bandits, the soldiers' demands should also be considered. ”

Wickham laughed and said to the three of them, "You should take a long-term view. What is there to grab in a broken village, and what can be grabbed? Is it grain, or is it livestock? If we want to rob, we will rob the royal city of the Mossi! I heard that the King of Mossi has a lot of gold and diamond mines in his hands, and when the time comes, we will enter the royal city of the Moses, and that will be the real good thing. ”

Evan was still a little puzzled and asked, "In that case, sir, why don't you stop these mercenaries from looting, otherwise our soldiers' emotions will definitely be affected by their actions." ”

Wickham smiled and explained, "First of all, these mercenaries are not my subordinates, do you think Captain Stanley has the intention of stopping them?" Secondly, now give the opportunity to loot to those Hessian mercenaries, and if they enter the city of Moxie together in the future, Captain Stanley is embarrassed to ask for too much loot? "After two days of getting along, Wickham knew that Captain Stanley was a relatively pure soldier, and he was not good at these twists and turns, such a person was the thinnest and loved face the most, and I believe that Captain Stanley would not be embarrassed to ask for more trophies at that time, right?

Only then did the three of them come to their senses, and they boasted with shy faces that their superiors were far-sighted. Wickham directly skipped these afterthought compliments, this group of boys, especially Bert, didn't know where to fall for a long time. He also figured out that this mission with the mission was a very good opportunity to make a fortune. If you are trapped by those so-called benevolence and morality, and don't seize the opportunity to do a vote, won't you get along with your own wallet?

Especially after Wickham Alice's little girl was sent to St. Margaret's Girls' School, the financial pressure was not ordinary. Although this year's tuition fee and the manuscript fee for writing poems have been paid, what about next year? With the annual salary of a lieutenant officer, I really can't afford to pay the tuition fees of a noble girls' school like St. Margaret. If Wickham doesn't take advantage of the colonization of the British Empire to make a wild profit in these colonies, then he really has no face to say that he is a time-traveler. Anyway, as long as he doesn't rob the Chinese compatriots, Wickham will not be under pressure at all.

At 10 o'clock in the evening, Wickham had his soldiers let all the Moxi villagers go. It is believed that these Moxi villagers will soon hand over the news of the British killing here to the king of Moxi. This was done on his own initiative, and according to Captain Stanley, the combined forces of Mossi and Ashanti numbered about 6,000 men, and had been stationed near the royal city of the Mossi since their last defeat of the Hessian mercenaries, in case of retaliation from the British.

Rather than sending it to the door and attacking the Moa coalition army with a tired army, it is better to lead this large army to the vicinity of this small village for a decisive battle, so as to achieve the purpose of exchanging attackers and defenders. This approach was definitely advantageous for the British army, which was seriously understaffed.

The Priest's House was the finest building in the hamlet, and Wickham made it its temporary headquarters. He had a hunch that the next battle in the village of Moxi would be the biggest challenge in the world since he came. At this time, all the British officers who participated in this operation were gathered in the headquarters, and everyone looked very solemn, after all, the Mo-Afgha coalition army has a large number of people, and it needs to be treated carefully.

Wickham looked at the simple map of Ghana provided by the African Company on the table, frowned, and said to Captain Stanley: "Captain Stanley, how do you think the troops should be deployed in order to give the enemy the maximum damage?" Captain Stanley was the most experienced officer in the room, and was definitely not comparable to the two knives of several of their Marines, and Wickham thought it would be better to consult the German veteran first.

Captain Stanley stood up unequivocally, pointed his saber at the improvised map and analyzed: "Lieutenant Wickham, I sent someone to survey the terrain here today, and the river marked on the map is relatively deep and can be used as a cover for the left flank of our formation. On our right is a dense jungle, where the Moa-Allied forces cannot be used, so our right flank is safe. As long as we build the breastwork on the front, spread out the troops, and use the scattered shells of artillery, it should not be a big problem to hold this place.

Captain Stanley's combat deployment was a regular in this era, pouring maximum firepower on the shortest front, so as to inflict maximum damage on the enemy. However, Wickham, who has been trained in modern military thinking, does not want to fight such a dull line infantry tactic. Although the odds of such a deployment are very high, the casualties are definitely not small, which is not a good deal for the Marine Corps, which cannot be replenished with troops. Wickham didn't want to suffer heavy losses for his troops in order to help the rich folks at Royal Africa.

Wickham pondered the map for a moment, and suddenly it dawned: "I think we can deploy two lines of defense." To the east of the village is a large swamp, and we can use the muddy swamp to delay the enemy's movements. The construction of a breastwork behind this and the placement of two platoons of troops would have increased the number of salvos fired at the enemy. The second line of defense, as Captain Stanley had just said, was not in front of the village, but forty meters behind the village, where the two three-pounder guns were also deployed. As the Mossi move through the village, their formation will inevitably be a little chaotic, so that their impact will be less powerful, and the chances of us fighting the enemy in close combat will be greatly reduced. ”

Wickham's central idea was to maximize the number of British salvos and reduce the impact of the Moxies. If Moxie's fighters were allowed to rush up for hand-to-hand combat, their numerical superiority would be brought into play, and this was definitely an outcome that Wickham did not want to see.

Although Captain Stanley felt that there were still many loopholes in this, he had to admit that this plan was the safest, so he nodded and agreed. After listening to Lin Zihan's plan, Barnett's eyes lit up and said, "Sir, I think those two cannons can be deployed in the bushes on the right side of the second line of defense, and when the Moses rush through the village, give them a surprise blow!"

Wickham felt that Barnett's achievements in the army in the future would not be small, and he was very smart and knew how to draw inferences. On the contrary, Bert is not so suitable for the troops, he is always a big man, and he is easily impulsive, if he commands troops above the regimental level, such a character will give the troops unpredictable trouble.

Evan was impressed by Barnett's words, and said, "When the Moxies are exhausted, another bombardment will definitely break their morale quickly!" In many cases, artillery does not cause the most casualties in war, but its terrifying destructive power can put the enemy's psychology under great pressure and even collapse!

After the battle plan was finalized, Wickham stood up solemnly and began to issue orders: "Captain Stanley, tomorrow let your men take those black slaves and build breastworks and other defenses in the above places. Also, don't forget to dig more trenches in the southwest to prevent the Moa-Allied forces from bypassing the sneak attack from behind. ”

"Yes, Lieutenant Wickham!" Although Stanley had a higher rank than Wickham, Wickham was the supreme commander of the Trading Company this time, so he had to follow Wickham's orders.

Wickham paused and turned his gaze to the Marine officers: "Second Lieutenant Barnett, you take the artillery crew to choose an artillery position in the bushes, and if you let the Moxies see Ni Duan before the cannon is fired, I will rip off your military uniform!" Bert and Aven, tomorrow you burn all the crops in the fields to the north, so that the enemy can't find a single hiding spot! ”

All the officers took orders one after another, and then walked out of the headquarters and went to their respective jobs. Wickham looked solemn, whether he was a wolf eating meat or a dog eating, it depends on tomorrow's battle!

ps: Wickham's first test is coming, everyone quickly smash the author down with red tickets and collections!