Three days later, at 6 a.m. on April 7, East African time, the well-prepared British army began an offensive on all fronts.

The British forced the crossing of the Tuguera River from five sections of the river at the same time, which made the defensive line of the 9th Brigade instantly open a huge hole.

This was expected by Aristotle, after all, the Ninth Brigade had limited strength, so it was impossible to rely on the Tuguera River to effectively defend the British army.

The defense line of the Tuguela River in East Africa is a "long snake formation", and the British army's multi-front offensive is "fighting snakes by seven inches", and the various units of the Ninth Brigade, which is scarce in troops, cannot effectively link up and support.

And the British army was surprised to find that the firepower in East Africa seemed to be weaker than it had been three days earlier.

This finding is not unusual, but there are two reasons, which the East African Brigade Department has already given.

Arridot's adjutant said: "Our fifteen heavy guns have retreated to the city of New Hamburg a day earlier, and the light artillery has also withdrawn a third of it, so the artillery support is weakened, making it easier for the British to cross the river." ”

Arridot waved his hand and said: "Even if these heavy weapons are left, it will not be of much use to us, just like now, the British army has forcibly launched an attack from many places, covering a line of more than a hundred kilometers, even if it is a light artillery that is convenient to move, it is too late to support."

So I have given orders to all the units on the front line to be divided into companies and to deal with the British troops in their jurisdiction. ”

Artillery movement was not an easy task, especially with the more than 200-kilometre-long and tortuous line of defense on the Tugela River.

By the time these artillery pieces were concentrated where they were needed, the war would be over, so Arridotus had already begun to organize the evacuation of artillery to the city of New Hamburg a day earlier.

In the port of New Hamburg, these guns could be concentrated against the enemy's attack, and the British troops on the Tuguela River would probably only cross the river cheaply.

"Our aim was to wipe out as many British troops as possible across the river, and the Tuguela line could not exploit our firepower superiority, so it was best to have the lower units carry light weapons."

……

At the time of Arridotus's speech, the various river crossing points in the jurisdiction of the Ninth Brigade, East Africa had already fought with the British army, and in the case of a half-crossing attack, without fire support, the soldiers of the Ninth Brigade could also play a good exchange ratio, but the British army was like a tide, and it was impossible to kill it at all.

The position of the second company of the seventh battalion.

"Company commander, we are already running low on ammunition, but there are too many British troops, I didn't expect that they would choose to use our jurisdiction as a breakthrough point, we can't hold out for long!"

"Send a report to the brigade headquarters and report our situation, the 23rd position is about to be lost, and we can retreat!" Hans, the commander of the second company, said.

Soon, with the loss of position 23, the defense line of the Tuguela River of the 9th East African Brigade was about to be abandoned.

The brigade headquarters, by telegram and heralds, ordered the various units to withdraw to the rear according to the plan.

The 2nd Company also received the order, and then the 2nd Company began to destroy the defensive position that it had built with its own hands, and at the same time loaded the trucks with important military supplies such as weapons, ammunition, and telegraphs.

In addition to the telegraph lines buried in the ground, the Ninth Brigade left the British with only corpses on the river beach and a pile of rubble, and the Tuguera River defense line was built for three months, but was destroyed less than a week after the outbreak of the war.

And this is also the helpless move of the 9th Brigade, even if the 9th Brigade really desperately tries to hold the defense line of the Tuguela River, it will actually be useless, after all, the British can still land and fight from the sea.

At present, control of the Indian Ocean around the port of New Hamburg is actually in the hands of the British, so the Tuguela River defense line can only be used as a temporary position.

……

Brigade Headquarters of the Ninth Brigade.

"The fifth battalion of the second regiment is responsible for staying behind to block the enemy's advance, and the other troops are withdrawing to the rear, how is the mission I gave you in Wild?" Arridot asked.

"Report to the brigade commander, at present we have concentrated nearly half of the brigade, seventeen machine guns, which have been deployed in the middle of the road in the village of Kronskop according to your requirements."

The village of Kronskop is the transit point for the withdrawal of the Tuguela River defense line to the city of New Hamburg and is the only connecting road that must be crossed.

Arridot planned to concentrate the machine guns and test them in the village of Kroneskop, which would have very good results for the British army, who were good at array.

"Very well, let's concentrate the troops in the village of Kronskop first, and if the machine guns can play their due role, I think this is a good opportunity to strike at the British." Arridot said.

……

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the British division commander Rost also crossed the pontoon bridge, and looked at the ruins of the Tuguera River defense line that had finally been taken, and Rost felt happy.

"What about the East Africans! Why are there so few of them? ”

"Report to the division commander, the East Africans have no intention of fighting, they took the initiative to withdraw to the north after trying to stop us from crossing the river, and the number of East African troops is probably smaller than we imagined, so they can't stop our attack at all, if we fight like this on the first day, I'm afraid we have already reached the port of New Hamburg!"

"How many East African troops are there?" Rost asked.

"Based on the positional situation, as well as our pursuit, East Africa should have deployed only one brigade of troops on the Tuguela River."

Rost: "Bastard, which means we wasted four days here because of a brigade?" ”

"Yes......"

Rost thought for a moment and said, "Are you really sure it's a brigade?" See for yourself! ”

"Well, it's just speculation based on the traces of the scene."

"Very good, since it is speculation, it means that the data is not accurate, according to my opinion, East Africa should have deployed at least one main division on the front line of the Tuguera River, otherwise why could they hold us back for so long, and there is strong fire support!" Rost said categorically.

And the subordinate also understood what Rost meant, and hurriedly said: "It's my judgment that is a major division in East Africa." ”

Rost looked at him with great admiration and said: "On April 7, 1888, our troops won a great victory on the Tuguera River, successfully repelling a division of the defenders on the front line of the Tuguera River in East Africa. ”

But then, Rost couldn't make it any longer, and it occurred to him that the number of the East African armies was not yet clear.

"Bring the captives of East Africa here, I want to question!" Rost ordered.

"Report to the division commander, we did not capture the East African prisoners, after our troops came ashore, the East African troops took the initiative to retreat, except for the corpses that were too late to dispose of, the only thing we found was a group of Indian prisoners." The subordinate said embarrassedly.

"Indian captive?"

"It was the Indian soldiers who were captured in the battle of crossing the river four days ago, these bastards did not fight to the death at all, but surrendered directly to East Africa, but the East African troops withdrew in a hurry and did not have time to deal with them, so we found out."

When Rost heard this, his face turned green! This group of deserters should all be shot.

"Are there any English, or Gurkha mercenaries among them?"

"Not a single one, our soldiers and Gurkha mercenaries died."

"Humph!" Rost was really angry.

The surrender of Indian soldiers is not a big deal, but none of the own soldiers and Gurkha mercenaries are alive, which is very revealing.

"Shoot them all to make an example!" Rost ordered viciously.

(End of chapter)