The night in the valley is like water, as calm as it has been for thousands of years.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

In the middle of the night, the artillery roared, and the five 60mm field guns were fired at full speed, interweaving a blood-red net of fire in the dark night, blasting the Italian barracks in all directions, and the surviving Italian soldiers fled in a hurry.

At the same time as the cannon fired, the guns were fired in the night, and the Italian patrol had already suffered heavy casualties before they could react, and it was a bloody night, and many Italian soldiers lost their lives in confusion.

There was only a slight pause

The heavy machine-gun positions arranged by the Italians around the camp roared one after another, and the heavy machine-gun bullets were scattered like the sickles of death, breaking the branches of the bushes and breaking the blades of grass, and forcefully suppressing the gunners who were quietly approaching in the night.

The sound of gunfire mixed with the roar of artillery made the valley boil in the darkness of the night.

The Italian barracks were bombed into flames, the tents were set on fire, and the surviving soldiers fled in disarray, only to be knocked down by bullets fired from the darkness.

The roar of artillery came to an abrupt halt a few minutes later, three recalcitrant Italian heavy machine gun positions were blown up, and there were still no less than six Italian heavy machine gun positions that were spewing fierce tongues of fire, firing at the mercenaries in the dark, and forcefully suppressing enemy fire.

Li Yong carefully observed the camp of the Italian army that had been ravaged by artillery fire, and the corners of his lips curled with satisfaction.

Now this Italian camp has been bombed to a mess, the cries of dying are endless, and the figures shouting in the firelight are the Italian commanders organizing the participation of the soldiers to counterattack.

He was sure that the nighttime artillery raid was a success, teaching the Italians a lesson in the heavy casualties, so that these arrogant Italians would no longer dare to despise the Somali militia.

The only regret is that the power of the 60 mm field gun is still too small, and the lethality of one shot is the range of 5~6 meters, if it is a caliber of more than 95 mm, it can put the whole end of this Italian camp.

The purpose of this battle is to inflict maximum damage on the enemy.

From this point of view, the artillery raid was quite successful, and the fly in the ointment was that all the heavy fire machine gun fire points were not terminated.

This is because the prior operational arrangements are the focus of artillery fire to raid the camp, and the elimination of heavy machine gun positions is only incidental, which is a secondary target, and it is not worth wasting too many precious shells on it.

Limited to backward means of communication and command, once the artillery battle begins, it is impossible to change it.

Li Yong did not expect the Italians to be so insidious, and they would have arranged so many heavy machine gun positions around the camp, and if they rashly launched a large group of cavalry to attack the camp, they might suffer a big loss and form a one-sided massacre.

As for the heavy machine gun fire points that are still desperately resisting, they can only rely on the mercenaries to shoot black guns.

After the artillery fire stopped

The intense gunfire continued intermittently for more than 20 minutes, and the mercenaries hidden in the night took out four more heavy machine gun positions one after another, inflicting more casualties on the Italian soldiers in the camp.

But at this time, the Italian army had already reacted and was able to organize an effective resistance, and the sound of dense volleys of guns continued to sound, and the two sides were fighting back and forth.

A poignant suona long tune suddenly sounded in the night, which was a signal to withdraw from the battle.

The mercenaries who participated in the night raid quickly retreated, leaving the battlefield and disappearing without a trace.

"Damn...... Damn it......"

The Count de Santis was wearing a stained silk shirt with blood on his right arm, a wound from a piece of shrapnel that was bandaged, and beads of blood were still running down his arm.

He looked at the mess of the barracks with a pale face, full of screaming and wailing wounded and corpses, red and black blood flowing everywhere, it was like a bloody slaughterhouse.

"Report to Your Excellency, the 3rd Rifle Regiment of Turin suffered heavy losses, 27 officers of all ranks were killed, more than 400 officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, many seriously wounded needed emergency treatment, but most of our medicines were destroyed in the fighting."

"Report to Your Excellency General, Colonel Campera, the commander of the Florentine Grenadier Regiment, was killed, the deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Zigger, was seriously wounded, and the casualties of the officers and men of the regiment exceeded 270, and the specific data is still being counted."

"Report to Your Excellency General, the logistics baggage battalion has suffered heavy losses, most of the supplies have been damaged in the artillery fire, the camp tent has been burned, and less than thirty percent is left."

"Report, Cavalry Battalion A Company suffered dozens of casualties, and the key is that most of the war horses were killed......"

All the bad news came up, and Count de Santis's head turned black when he heard it, and after a strong dizziness hit, he fainted directly.

By the time he woke up again, it was already dawn the next day.

The sun shone in from outside, and Colonel Pelini walked into the tent with bloodshot eyes, and sat down tiredly, looking at Count de Santis with bitter self-reproach.

He was busy all night cleaning up the mess, and when he saw too many officers and soldiers swallowing their last breath in the screams, he was deeply touched in the depths of his heart, or rather frightened.

"Your Excellency Earl, maybe we have started the wrong war against the wrong enemy at the wrong time, the army is already on the verge of collapse, and any order to try to continue the war will trigger a rebellion, it's time to think about how to end this, everything is terrible."

"Oh, God has abandoned us, what about the casualties of the troops?"

"There are 671 officers and soldiers killed, the number of light and serious wounded is almost the same, there must be more wounded dead in the past two days, we have no medicine, no bandages, not even planks to fix the severed limbs, the soldiers have no tents, the fire that ignited last night destroyed everything, by the way, there is not much food."

"It was a complete disaster, and we underestimated the cunning and cruelty of our opponents and received the most severe punishment."

The Count de Santis, who was a little weak from bleeding profusely, but was in good spirits, continued with a sigh; "You're right, Mr. Colonel, it's time to put an end to this, we need a peace talk, a decent and peaceful end to this little mistake."

"I'm sorry General, but I can't understand exactly what you mean."

"Dear Colonel Pelini, as a career officer of noble birth, I don't think I need me to remind you of the awkward situation you are facing, especially as the Treaty of Usali is about to be signed, and this fiasco from Africa will bring shame on the kingdom, eh...... How so? The glory of the conquest of the kingdom is greatly degraded, and I think this is not a situation that His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister would like to see, it is simply terrible. ”

The Count de Santis showed his keen sense of politics, and when he realized that something could not be done, he wanted to get himself out of the way.

So, he continued in an accentuated tone; "Think about what His Majesty would think of this? Think about the military department again...... No one wants to be glad that others are pulling back when they are in the most glorious,

Perhaps death is not terrible, but the honor of the nobility will be forever disgraced by it.

Wake up, Mr. Colonel, at times like these...... We must think more about ourselves so as not to become scapegoats for the military department. ”

These words were like a flood of bells, and they completely woke up Colonel Pelini.

Only then did he understand the purpose of the Earl's remark of settling this little dispute in a dignified and calm manner.

First of all, this is not a war, not even a conflict, but just an innocuous little contradiction.

The army didn't come to fight either, uh...... The live exercise is a good excuse.

As for the officers and soldiers who died innocently and tragically in the artillery fire last night, that is even less of a problem.

Colonel Pelini was originally a great nobleman from Turin, with the title of viscount, and a deep and huge power in the local area, it was easy to hide the number of untouchables who had fallen in battle, and the number of officers and soldiers killed and wounded was reduced by a 0.

As for the reason...... Plague, disease, falling off a horse, falling off a cliff, accidental injury or being bitten by poisonous insects, anyway, there are many reasons, and it is even possible to be recruited by the local African indigenous chiefs to be sons-in-law, wives and daughters like clouds, and enjoy a happy life without shame.

The Italian character is full of enthusiasm and imagination, and as long as you get past this hurdle in your heart, the rest is not a problem.

The conquest of Africa is itself a very dangerous military operation, how can it not be dead?

Colonel Pelini is no stranger to the small trick of breaking into pieces, and the biggest difficulty is that those noble children in the army must speak in unison and hide this fiasco.

Well, if the Earl's reason can convince himself, he must also be able to convince the young noble officers.

If you are not willing to cooperate...... Then go die.

"That's really...... A small accident. "Colonel Pellini figured it out, and went on very cooperatively with the Earl's words, but he asked with some difficulty;" Everything else is easy to do, but Colonel Campera ......"

His meaning was very clear, the death of some low-ranking officers and untouchables was well concealed, but the hapless Colonel Campera was directly hit by artillery fire, the thin tent did not play any defensive role at all, and the corpse was blown apart.

"Didn't you say that Mr. Colonel's horse was frightened by the sound of gunfire, and poor Mr. Colonel broke his neck, which was an accident that no one could have foreseen, and it was really very painful, so we executed Mr. Colonel's groom." The Count de Santis, forgetting the crushing defeat he had just suffered, continued in a light-hearted tone; "You see, this way you can solve the two casualties, and things are going in a good direction."

The conquest of Africa was indeed an adventurous journey, and due to the extremely inconvenient transportation, it was impossible for the fallen Italian soldiers to be sent back to the mainland for burial, so it was not a problem for Colonel Campera's body to be torn apart, but there were some minor troubles to explain to the commander.

The Count de Santis was confident that he would be able to convince Mr. Commander, who was having an affair with the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister......

Belch...... There is not much to say about the secrets of these aristocratic circles.

Anyway, it is necessary to conceal this disastrous conquest.

"Sir...... Big things didn't go well, those Australians came again, and they brought more than 2,000 cavalry this time. A young officer rushed in, looking terrified.

"What's the panic? It's not the end of the world yet. The Count de Santis reprimanded with a majestic expression, turned his head, and looked at Colonel Pelini with a trusting gaze and said; Mr. Colonel, I think it is fitting that you should come forward to settle this little dispute. ”

"As you wish, your Excellency Earl."