Half a month later

October 26, 1899

Kimberley Town

It is a mining town located in the eastern highlands of the Cape Province, at an altitude of 1,220 meters, and is world-famous for its diamond production, with railway links to important towns such as Cape Town and Mefugan.

Kimberley is a mining town with a permanent population of about 70,000 people, and in peacetime, this mining town has 3~40,000 miners, and at its peak it reached 50,000 people.

Most of the miners were black, but a few were Chinese and white, and the town's most important asset was the diamond pit, as they used their rudimentary hammers and crowbars to dig through the rocks in search of rare diamonds.

The diamond pit was close to Kimberley Town, and Major General Duan Qirui was standing by the diamond pit with a frown, and the intermittent gunshots in the distance made him feel very bad, and he couldn't help but feel retreat in his heart.

Next to him stood Brigadier General Shi Fusheng and Colonel Bian Chunsong, both with solemn expressions.

Brigadier General Shi Fusheng is Duan Churui's old subordinate, this is an excellent general born in the Eagle School, the former commander of the Third Regiment of the Railway Cavalry Division, participated in the famous Snow Mountain Town (Sad Heart Ridge) defensive battle, during the Luzon War, served as the colonel of the first division of the Royal Praetorian Guard, deputy division commander and commander of the first regiment.

After the war, he was promoted to brigadier general for meritorious service.

I heard another fierce burst of gunfire, and it seemed that I was getting a lot closer.

Brigadier General Shi Fusheng hesitated and said;

"Brother Duan, the momentum of the Boers is very evil, it seems that the other party has a master of tactics, this battle is like an antelope hanging its horns, suddenly to the east, suddenly to the west, it seems that there is no trace.

But when you look closely, you can always feel a rope gradually grabbing the throat of the British army, tightening little by little.

Since the start of the war

The Boer cavalry gave full play to the advantages of being familiar with the terrain, attacking sharply and accurately marksmanship, inflicting great casualties on the British army, but suffering few losses of their own.

It seems that the time has come to reassess the combat effectiveness of the Boers.

If the battle goes on like this, with the current outdated and rigid infantry tactics of the British, I don't think the momentum is good, and it is possible to lose! ”

"What do you think of Brother Chunsong?" Major General Duan Qirui asked.

"General, with the sharpness of the current artillery, I don't think there is a castle that cannot be attacked." Colonel Bian Chunsong raised his eyes and looked around, a hint of worry appeared in his eyes, obviously lacking confidence in the British army; "To be honest, I was amazed by the performance of the British army, whose infantry tactics seemed to be still stuck in the period of the anti-French alliance, rigid and unreasperative, like a clumsy giant facing an opponent who was nimble with a knife, constantly being bled out."

"Sadly...... It's still an arrogant giant. Major General Duan Qirui smiled bitterly, turned his head to look at the Kimberley diamond pit with thousands of walls, and frowned even deeper.

Standing on this huge hand-dug diamond pit like a barrel, with a vertical height of more than 800 meters, standing on it and looking at the dense miners below are like ants, the timid legs tremble with fear.

Because war is coming

In an effort to reduce the pressure on defenses, more than half of the black miners in Kimberley Town were evicted, and now there are fewer than 20,000 left, of which about four to five thousand are Chinese or white miners, and the rest are black miners.

This blunt move by the military has provoked an outcry from local mining companies, large and small.

However, the protests were ineffective, and everything had to be subordinated to the overall situation of the battlefield.

The Boers have been operating in southern Africa for more than 300 years, and their influence permeates every aspect, who knows if there are any ghosts among the black miners?

Once the fight broke out, the black miners in Kimberley Town would have a lot of fun.

No one dared to take such a risk, and the British army was very resolute in the matter, and all suspected mining companies (Boers) had to close their doors and the miners were expelled from the country in order to relieve the pressure on internal defenses.

The nearest building is just over 20 meters from the pit, and the houses are built on solid rock, so you don't have to worry about falling down.

Duan Qirui and the three of them stood on the platform outside the house, with a vertical cliff under their feet, and the mountain wind blew, making people's scalps tingle.

This huge pit has the effect of amplifying sound, and standing here, the gunfire that rang out for several kilometers around can be clearly heard, which is quite magical.

Producing tonnes of high-quality diamonds each year, the Diamond Pit is a core asset of the Kimberley and even the Cape Colony.

Therefore, Kimberley Town was garrisoned by the Fifth Brigade of the British Army, with a total strength of about 3,000 people, and the British commander was Major General Smith, who was familiar to Major General Duan Qirui, a rigid but very brave aristocratic general.

It's been more than half a month since the war began

The Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State were the first to attack the British, gaining an early strike.

At the beginning of the war, the Boers had 50,000 men in the war, and the British expeditionary force had only 25,000 men, which were inferior to the Boers in terms of quality and quantity, so they were defeated by the Boers.

Strategically important places such as Leddy Smith, Medfugan, and Kimberley were successively surrounded by Boer troops, and the East and West Cape Town Railway was also destroyed by Boers.

The present war situation was very unfavorable to the British army, and the Boers pressed forward step by step, and the large army marched in three directions, playing triumphant songs in the early battle, presenting a grim situation of encircling Cape Town.

The town of Kimberley, which was heavily garrisoned by the British army, guarded the railway artery leading to Cape Town, and it was the most important source of finance and taxation in the Cape Colony, that is, the outer barrier of the capital Cape Town, and an important node for the British counterattack.

Once the town is breached, the battlefield situation will completely collapse.

What a breath!

Duan Qirui did not expect the British army to fight so aggressively after the war, his 47-member senior military observation group was distributed in important towns such as Leddy Smith, Mainroot, and Kimberley, basically with 5~7 people as a military observation group, scattered in the vast Cape colonial area, and now they can't take it back.

There can be no doubt that even if the important place were captured, the Boers would not harm the foreign observers of the Military Observer Group.

But in the offensive and defensive battles of bullets, who can guarantee that there will be no accidental injuries?

The entire high-level military observation group was led by Major General Duan Qirui, including two brigadier generals, five colonels, 11 lieutenants, 22 majors, five captains, and one lieutenant.

Even if these officers make a mistake, the responsibility will fall on Major General Duan Qirui, who will make him the regiment commander?

Therefore, Major General Duan Qirui is in a very bad mood now, and he has the urge to scold his mother.

"Is Reitmargen's group back?"

"Hmm...... They had already returned, and they were in danger as they approached the Kimberley from Reitmagen, and the Boer army had approached the town of Kimberley, and they had made a great circle from the north, evading several groups of Boer cavalry, and finally ran into four Boer scouts who were eating dry food in a col, but fortunately they were quick to shoot first, killing them and galloping wildly, and they came back without danger, and no one was injured. ”

"That's good, that's good, so that our military observer group will gather 26 people, Ladysmith and Mefugan's people can't be withdrawn for the time being, these are the important places where the British army is heavily garrisoned, it should not be easy to be breached, send a telegram to them to pay attention to their own safety and stand by in place."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Colonel Bian Chunsong raised his hand and saluted, then turned to deliver the order.

The Kimberley garrison was already equipped with wireless telegraphy equipment, and although the British army was divided into islands by the Boer army, there was no problem with the transmission of information, and there was no need to risk sending cavalry across the enemy's blockade.

The Kimberley garrison was already equipped with wireless telegraphy equipment, and although the British and others were divided into isolated islands by the Boer army, the situation was not good, but there was no problem in transmitting information, and there was no need to risk sending cavalry across the enemy's blockade line.

After Colonel Bian Chunsong left, Brigadier General Shi Fusheng walked over and looked at Major General Duan Qirui with a solemn look and comforted; "Brother Duan, you don't have to worry about the situation of the old horse, Ladysmith is a traffic artery, the British will not know that he is powerful, he will definitely defend it to the death, and the old horse is a veteran who has experienced a hundred battles, and he is experienced in the enemy, so he is safe."

"That being said, it's not always solid, these damn Brits." Major General Duan Qirui pinched his eyebrows with a headache and couldn't help complaining; "I'd suggest they group up all the Chinese miners and the white miners to fight in the town defenses, these miners are hard-working, tenacious, and the best reinforcements, but you know what that bastard Smith says?"

"How did he answer?"

Smith said; My 5th Brigade is not a shelter, it only needs brave soldiers who have undergone rigorous training, and rest assured General Duan, those Boers will be bleeding from their heads in the Kimberley, I can guarantee that. ”

Major General Duan Qirui learned Major General Smith's London accent with subtlety, and his whole face darkened.

Obviously, there is a ready-made living force that is not needed, and the tactics are rigid and arrogant, if it weren't for the fact that Kimberley has been encircled, Major General Duan Qirui would have brushed his sleeves away.

It's a pity that the two of them are now grasshoppers on a rope, and they can't walk if they want to.

For his own safety, he didn't want the Boers to come in.

The problem is that Major General Smith doesn't listen to any opinions, and Major General Duan Qirui doesn't have a single soldier under him, so he really feels like a clever woman can't cook without rice.

Brigadier General Zheng Fusheng knew the crux of the problem, thought about it and said; "Brother Duan, can we go past Major General Smith and ask Admiral Buller in Cape Town to arrange a miner's defense?"

"It's not a good idea, and it will make the British suspicious and think that we are doing something in private." Major General Duan Qirui shook his head, Admiral Buller is also an aristocratic general with radical and conservative thoughts, and he does not trust Chinese soldiers very much.

The present situation is so critical, and Admiral Buller sends urgent telegrams to London several times a day, asking for the support of the home army, turning a blind eye to the allies in front of him.

For the high-level military observation group led by himself, the British served them with good food and drink, and they seemed to be intimate, but in fact, they rejected people thousands of miles away.

The arrogance of the British has penetrated into their bones, and in front of them is a famous defense expert, Major General Duan Qirui, who created the "Sad Ridge" campaign, and is well-known in the world's military circles.

In Major General Smith's dictionary, there are no these four words.