At Natal, the main Boer army surrounded about 8,000 British troops inside the city of Ladysmith. The British forces in the city tried to break out, but lost about 1,300 men, including the commander Major General Simmons, who was also killed, and had to retreat into the city, relying on strong fortifications.

Due to the lack of heavy artillery and the inability of the Boer army to conquer the well-defended cities of the British army, they could only besiege the city of Ladysmith while waiting for the arrival of British reinforcements from overseas.

British garrison general William. Lieutenant General White held on to Ladysmith and asked Cape Town for reinforcements.

Colonel Boloyevich led the "Volunteer Brigade" to the outside of Leddy Smith when Redvos. Admiral Buller also arrived in Cape Town with a British expeditionary force of 20,000.

The British arrived late until December, and Bolojevic spent more than a month training his men, and now the volunteers from the Netherlands and Belgium looked like an army.

Admiral Loeb personally led the main force of the LinkedIn army to rescue the city of Ladysmith, which had been besieged for two months, and they went ashore from Durban and followed the railway line all the way north.

Not surprisingly, the rigid British route of the march had been anticipated by the Boers.

They took advantage of the terrain around the town of Corsolon to set up an ambush position, just waiting for the British to come in.

Loeb's British troops included the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th British brigades and several cavalry regiments, with a total strength of 23,000 men and more than 30 guns.

Both in terms of numbers and firepower, the British army had an absolute advantage.

The total number of troops put into the front line of Corenso by Boer was about 3,800, and more than 1,800 people of the "volunteer brigade" commanded by Bolojevich were deployed as reserves in the rear of the center flank. The 68-year-old General Jubert was supposed to personally command the battle at Corsolon, but the veteran general fell from his horse and was injured before the battle began, and had to return to the farm to recuperate, and General Botat, who had returned from the Kimberley front, took over the position of commander-in-chief of the front.

Bolojevich, who came from the regular army, also had nothing to say about the arrangement of the Boers, who were good at field warfare, set up a very clever ambush circle here, and it was foreseeable that if the British attacked rashly, they would inevitably be frustrated here.

On the contrary, Bolojevic learned from the Boers many surprising and flexible tactics, which helped him to become an outstanding commander-in-chief.

But in reality, it's not about the big picture, it's just a battle.

The British will do their best to win this war for the sake of face, and if they can't conquer even a small Boer country with only 400,000 or 500,000 people, the British Empire will definitely be discredited.

Loeb commanded the main British army to launch an attack on Colensor, a small town southwest of Leddy Smith, on 15 December, intending to force the crossing of the Tuguela River to relieve the siege of Leddy Smith.

The Tuguera River flows from west to northeast through the outer part of the northern highlands of South Africa, with gentle open areas on the south bank of the river and undulating hills to the north. The Tuguela River is wide and most of the river is impassable except for the shallows at two bends, which is very defensive.

Over the course of a month, the Boers destroyed all the railway bridges and pontoon bridges over the Tuguela River, and the only thing available now is a road bridge to the west outside the town of Colenso. To the north of the bridge is a small flat open field, but it is surrounded by a ring of rolling hills.

The Boers took advantage of this terrain to prepare a "pocket" for the British.

The Boers took advantage of the siege of Ladysmith for more than a month to build strong fortifications and artillery positions out of stone, sandbags, and wood on these hills, and to dig a wide area of ground from the north bank of the Tuguera River to the mountains behind. The artillery emplacements and trenches of the Cloth Army were carefully camouflaged, hidden in the bushes and wild grass, and the earth dug out of the trenches was carefully transported and scattered in the distance. In addition, the army also built several fake artillery batteries, which were filled with fake cannons made of corrugated iron.

The offensive of the British began, and they set up artillery to the south of the town of Colenso to shell the Boer positions located on the north bank of the river. Bolojevic was in Bota's fortified shelter headquarters on the hills, holding a telescope and observing the battlefield. As a senior officer with a high degree of command experience from the Higher Military School, he now plays the role of chief of staff, after all, his combat knowledge and experience are far superior to those of these Boer generals.

Buller's offensive plan was to divide the troops into three lines, with the British in the center as the main force of the attack, including the British 2nd, 4th, and 6th Brigades, under the command of Major Generals Hilgard, Littleton, and Patton, respectively. They marched along a dirt road parallel to the Natal Railway towards the Colenço station and the road bridge. The eastern road was a cavalry wing commanded by Dun Donna, who was tasked with protecting the flanks of the 2nd Brigade. On the western route was the 5th Brigade, composed mainly of Irishmen, commanded by Major General Hart, with the task of crossing the river in the shallows at the great bend of the Tuguera River, after which it quickly "went west" to the confluence of the Dorinkogan and Tugueila rivers, and then advanced along the north bank of the Tuguera River to protect Hilgard's left flank.

The first to attack was the British 5th Brigade on the western route, which advanced towards the bend in the Tuguera River and attempted to cross it. In front of them were the Eswatini Police Force and the Sotpansberg militia, and in the right front were extremely hidden Boer artillery positions. The Boers remained motionless in the British bombardment, lying in ambush in the trenches, patiently waiting for the British to come within 500 of them, when the 75-mm rapid-fire guns hidden behind the bunkers suddenly opened fire, and the rumbling sound of the cannon was mixed with the sound of Mauser guns.

The British, suffering heavy casualties under Boer fire, could not move on, and only one captain, two lieutenants, and more than 30 soldiers braved artillery fire to reach the opposite bank of the river, where they were again fired upon by the infantry and were completely annihilated. The British casualties of the western attack were about 600, while the Buenos forces paid only one dead and four wounded.

While the fighting on the Western Front was raging, the British in the center also attacked.

To the surprise of Botat and Bolojevich, it turned out to be artillery in the front of the British army. The British troops of the two artillery batteries swaggered and pulled 16 cannons to the front of the Buena position, which was only more than 1,000 meters away from the position, and then unhurriedly unloaded the artillery from the ox cart and began to install.

"It seems that they treat us like those black natives, and think we have wooden javelins or bows and arrows in our hands." Bolojevich was amused by the surprise of the British.

Botat immediately ordered the ambushed artillery to attack, and shells exploded between the British cannons, and the unsuspecting British artillery was either killed or wounded, and only a few of them were lucky enough to jump into the surrounding ditches to hide. Loeb, however, ordered the British 4th Brigade, which was behind these artillerymen, to meet the British 5th Brigade, which was retreating to the west.

Now their artillery is unprotected.

Bortat wanted to order his men to pursue the victory, but the weakness of the Boer militia's loose organization was exposed, and the Middelburg militia, which he wanted to attack, went to support the Emilo militia on the right flank, which had no losses. Fortunately, there was also a "volunteer brigade" as a reserve, and Boloyevich immediately ordered his men to take the initiative to attack, captured more than 200 British artillery prisoners who had no resistance, and dragged those cannons back 500 meters, and gave up when they came within range of their positions.

Botat was surprised by Boloyevich's order, "Why not drag those cannons back to our positions?" ”

"The British are reluctant to do this, they will be some bait." Bolojevich replied with a smile.

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