Darby had always been a taciturn man, and unlike his excited companions around him, he just lowered his head, wiped the cold smoothbore gun in his hand with linen, and then silently loaded the bayonet in the jam. Now the atmosphere in the barracks is very solemn, and everyone knows that there must be a war, and everyone is nervously maintaining the weapons in their hands at this time.

A month ago, Darby was a carefree herdsman, humming old Xhosa tunes every day, driving the cattle of the tribal nobles to graze on the grasslands. Like many Xhosa, Darby did not have his own pasture, nor did he have his own livestock, and he only received some leftovers from the great nobles every year to make ends meet. Such a day has long been unbearable for Darby, who has a restless heart.

Just when Darby thought that such a day would last a lifetime, a group of bright, brightly dressed and angry horsemen came to his ranch. The little nobles of the ranch greeted and complimented these cavalrymen constantly, which made him, who was accustomed to seeing the nostrils of the noble lords, feel a little envious of those cavalry.

These horsemen, who claimed to be His Royal Highness's bodyguards, had come this time on orders of His Royal Highness the Prince to select qualified soldiers for the newly formed army. Darby's body was as strong as an ox, his strength was amazing, and his riding skills were quite exquisite, which quickly attracted the attention of the cavalry, and the leader of the group directly selected Darby into the fire and spear team with a wave of his hand.

When he first arrived at the Muskets, Darby felt a sense of anger that he had been deceived, this was not a majestic cavalry unit at all, but an out-and-out infantry! This deviated from Darby's original intention, the Xhosa cavalry was the real elite of the Xhosa tribe, and he wanted to get ahead rather than be cannon fodder for others to step on.

And just when he was full of complaints, the weapons used by this small army attracted his special attention, and he was shocked that the iron rod, which was not of good taste, could hit targets beyond the range of the bow and arrow after pulling the trigger! Darby, who often uses bows and arrows, knows that because of the limitation of physical strength, when an archer shoots more than a dozen arrows in a row, he has to stop to recover his strength, but the use of that kind of weapon is a soldier's problem, they can keep firing until the barrel is hot!

Although Darby was only an uninformed cattle herd before joining the army, he was keenly aware that this weapon would bring a new military revolution to the entire Xhosa tribe. So when Wickham demonstrated the loading process of the smoothbore gun to the members of the Musketeers, he carefully memorized every movement and practiced it perfectly.

It was with this seriousness that Darby became the fastest person in the entire Musketeers! Because of his dazzling training achievements, His Royal Highness Prince Savida personally rewarded him with a war knife that had been blessed by the priests. When Darby got the sword, the excitement in his heart was self-evident, it was a weapon that had been blessed by the high priest, and with this weapon in his hand, Darby believed that the supreme sun god would bless him unscathed on the battlefield!

At this moment, a terrible trumpet sounded in the camp, which was the sound of an emergency rallying cry. Darby quickly hung the powder cartridge, the tong, and the lead bullet pouch on his body, picked up the gun, and rushed out of the tent. At this time, all the members of the Musket Team were fully armed and stood quietly on the school grounds, waiting for His Royal Highness the Prince's orders.

Prince Savida looked at the soldiers on the school field who did not move at all, exuding a solemn aura, and his heart was suddenly full of pride and ambition, with such a forbidden army, what were those troops of the Desis afraid of?

Savida cleared his throat and began to call out to his first command of the troops: "Warriors of Xhosa, according to the cavalry of the Chieftains' Guard, my brother Decis has betrayed his soul and betrayed the sun god. He has now colluded with the greedy North Xhosa people and is coming at our tribe! If they break through the defenses of our Musketeers, then your wives and children will become slaves of the North Xhosa, and your cattle and sheep will become someone else's property! Now, Warriors of Xhosa, tell me that you will give up everything you have to the Northern Khazars? ”

The soldiers listened to Savida's words, and at first froze, and then shouted.

"If you want to steal my cattle and sheep, step on my carcass first!"

"Those damn North Xhosa, the sun god will definitely punish them!"

"His Highness Desi has sold his soul to the evil god Mosas, and I will not let him go on the battlefield......"

Looking at the angry and morale-boosting soldiers, Prince Savida quietly gave a thumbs up to Wickham, the so-called pre-war mobilization was just too good. That's right, this passage was made up by Wickham in advance, and then had Prince Savida read it out in front of all the soldiers.

Wickham smiled, our great party is an expert in ideological mobilization, he is just picking up people's teeth and wisdom, and it is just a small scene.

Rumors of collusion between Desis and the people of Northern Xhosa were added by Prince Savida on the spot, in order to pour a basin of dirty water on his brother! If Descis was only fighting for power internally, he would not be able to arouse the common hatred of ordinary Xhosa people, after all, it was only an internal struggle among them in South Xhosa.

But if it is in collusion with the Xhosa, the nature is different, because the South Xhosa and the North Xhosa have formed an inextricable blood feud for a hundred years, and no one will stand with the people who betrayed the tribe, not even the Decis!

Because of the urgency of the situation, Prince Savida entrusted the command of the troops to Wickham, because of the command of the firearms unit, only Wickham is a professional here. After taking command, Wickham quickly deployed the spearmen of the Chiefs' Guard in a single horizontal formation to the front of the musketeers to strengthen the protection of the musketeers.

As soon as the defensive formation was unfolded, the hoplites of the Decis appeared in the field of vision, and the samurai with heavy steps with large shields gave a great shock to the recruits of the Musket Brigade. Those recruits who had not yet been on the battlefield began to stir up under the heavy pressure of the hoplites. After all, they had only been training for more than 20 days, and they couldn't compare with the battle-hardened hoplites of the Desis. Moreover, there have long been rumors in the tribe that Prince Desith's hoplites never leave prisoners, so it is no wonder that these recruits are not afraid.

Prince Savida raised his scimitar and slammed the back of the knife on the tumultuous soldiers, finally suppressing these uneasy emotions. Not to mention those ordinary soldiers, even Prince Savida was a little uneasy in his heart, if he failed, he believed that his ruthless brother would never let him go!

Wickham secretly sighed unlucky, since joining the army, it seems that he has been commanding a group of recruits to fight, and every time he fights, he is outnumbered, and now he has not gone to see God and his old man is really lucky.

Within two hundred yards of the Musket array, the hoplites suddenly stopped and split a path in the middle. Desis rode out of the array on a fiery red warhorse and shouted to Prince Savida with a proud expression, "My dear brother, if you lay down your arms now, I can consider letting you take your own people and establish a new tribe." Otherwise, I'll cut your head off myself!" ”

Prince Savida raised the scimitar in his hand: "Is it, Decis?" I think it's better to talk less nonsense, whether you can cut off my head or not, it's up to you. ”

Savida's nonchalant expression infuriated Desis, who almost squeezed a sentence out of his teeth: "Attack!" Whoever catches Savida will be rewarded with a hundred head of cattle! ”

With Decis's order, in an instant, the seven hundred heavy infantry screamed and rushed towards the array of fire and spears. Looking at the swarming black infantry, Wickham couldn't help but feel a little tingling in his scalp. Although military experts scoff at the crowd tactic, they have to admit that it is also a palpitating offensive method that can psychologically put enormous psychological pressure on the enemy.

Except for the Chieftain's Guard, who used spears, who seemed calm, the soldiers of the Musket Team were a little flustered. Seeing that his soldiers were a little uneasy, Prince Savida hurriedly shouted in the native language: "Relax, soldiers, relax!" These damned usurpers will be forever spurned by the sun god, and they will die forever in the company of the filthy evil spirits because they will not receive God's blessings. For the sake of the sun god and for the sake of the chief, please show your courage! ”

Don't underestimate the influence of religion on people in this era, after listening to Savida's religiously charged and encouraging words, the soldiers who were still a little cowering calmed down and did not panic just now.

Two hundred yards was only a short distance, and the heavy infantry of the Decis advanced to a distance of only one hundred and twenty yards in the almost blink of an eye. At this time, some of the Musketeers, who were not very psychologically good, hurriedly pulled the trigger without getting Wickham's order. Although he also knocked the first few heavy infantry to the ground, the effect was far less lethal than the salvo, and it would disrupt the rhythm of your own side.

Wickham listened to the sparse sound of gunfire and was anxious: "Steady, steady, soldiers!" Don't rush to shoot, wait for the enemy to advance to the marked spot on the ground before shooting! Because the Xhosa people did not have the concept of feet, Lin Zihan had people mark 80 yards on the ground with stones before the battle, a bit like the cannons on the fort marked in advance within the firing range. Savida constantly translated Wickham's orders to the soldiers to ensure that the command was unimpeded.

At a distance of eighty yards, their own soldiers could even see the bloodthirsty expressions of the Xhosa hoplites on the opposite side. Now the hoplites had only the reward of two hundred fat oxen in their hearts, and they could ignore the fear of death for the sake of their eye-catching wealth.

Seeing that the enemy had already crossed the marked stone on the ground, Wickham "poofed", drew his saber, and shouted: "First row, raise your gun, shoot!" ”

After receiving the order again, the first column of musketeers quickly fired a volley, and the thick white smoke suddenly enveloped the array of musketeers. The rebels who were screaming and rushing to the front on the opposite side suddenly fell like wheat under a sickle, and more than 20 people fell together.

It's not that the Xhosa people haven't seen muskets, but the Boer militia lacks formal training and has never fired powerful volleys against the local natives. At this time, the volley of fire and spear was like a metal storm, tearing all the flesh and blood that stood in its way!

Wickham glanced at the stunned Descist rebels, and continued to give the order in a loud voice: "The second platoon step forward, raise the gun, shoot!" Turn around and reload your back team! ”

"Three platoons come forward, raise their guns, shoot! Turn around and return to the tail of the team to reload. ”

Although these Xhosa Fire and Gun soldiers were also shocked by the power of the fire and gun salvo, they didn't have the heart to think about anything under Wickham's order, but just stepped forward to fire untidy volleys again and again.