1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 480, Gold (4)

The tenth British Infantry Regiment persisted for a shorter period of time than the head of Austin had estimated. After half an hour of shelling, the Boers launched an offensive. At this time, there was only one heavy machine gun that the British could use, and it couldn’t be weaved into an effective firepower net at all. What’s more troublesome is that in order to speed up the advancement, Austin dropped his artillery, which made him lack of effective means to suppress the enemy’s machine gun. Under the cover of heavy machine gun firepower, the Boers quickly rushed into the trenches of the British army, and then the British army found that they had suffered a great deal from several weapons that they had not valued before.

The first horrible thing is the submachine gun sold to the Boers by the MacDonald Infantry Weapons Company, which the British also have. But because its range is too close, it consumes too much ammunition. So the British’s evaluation of this weapon is that it is more suitable for gang fights, and has limited effect on the regular battlefield. Moreover, various domestic tests have also proved that at the most common combat distance of about 200 meters, a new Lienfest rifle can easily suppress a submachine gun, because at this distance, the submachine gun’s bullets I don’t know where I flew.

However, now, the Boer’s machine guns and mortars pressed the British in the trenches and couldn’t lift their heads, and the rifle’s range advantage was naturally unable to be used. When it was in the trenches, the fierce submachine guns took advantage of it. . In addition to submachine guns, the combat shotguns sold by the United States to the Boers also caused the British to suffer.

In short, the 10th Infantry Regiment was completely unable to withstand the resistance until the afternoon of that day. They had been divided into several pieces by the Boers, and both Austin and Churchill felt that there was no point in continuing to resist. So head Austin announced his surrender.

“I hope that you can treat us humanely in accordance with the Huasheng’s declaration.” After seeing the Boer commander, the head of Austin made such a statement.

“Of course we will treat the captured persons in accordance with the spirit of the declaration, because we are civilized.” The Boer officer replied proudly, “As long as your people have not committed crimes that are not under protection, and as required by the declaration. If we cooperate appropriately in that way, we will not do anything against humanitarianism.”

However, something went wrong in the collection of British guns. At that time, the British came forward one by one to hand over their weapons, and soon it was Churchill’s turn. When Churchill handed in his McDonald’s pistol, the Sergeant Burr who was in charge of confiscating the gun suddenly blew his whistle, and he took the pistol and started playing.

“It’s a good gun,” the Boer said, and pulled the magazine out easily, and his face changed immediately.

“Dum bullets! They actually used dum bullets!” The Boer yelled, and Churchill was immediately surrounded by a large group of Boer soldiers.

A Boer officer came over and asked, “What happened?”

“Sir, there are dummies in that guy’s gun! He actually used dummies!” the sergeant replied angrily.

“This gun is his?” the officer asked.

“Yes, sir, that’s him!”

“Okay,” said the officer, “you drag him out and shoot him!”

Churchill didn’t have time to react just now, but now he knows that these bullets are causing trouble for him. He hurriedly shouted: “It’s not like this, please listen to my explanation!”

At this time, Regimental Commander Austin also rushed forward, stretched out his hand and grabbed the hand of the soldier who was about to pull Churchill out, turned his head and said to the officer: “General, Mr. Winston is just a reporter with the army. He is not a combatant. And he has been by my side since the battle, and he has not fired even a single shot at anyone. I think there must be a misunderstanding.”

“Really?” The officer said with a sneer, “Well then, Brit! I give your friend a chance to tell him what he is doing to the front with a pistol full of dummies. ?”

“This gun is not mine.” Churchill had already calmed down at this time. “I picked it up in a burnt down house in a small town. You can see that my gun was totally destroyed today. I have never shot it. The magazine is full, and the gun oil has just been applied. At that time, a soldier found this thing in a cabinet that was blackened by fire. I think this gun is better than my original British one. His pistol is much more beautiful, so I used my original pistol, plus a pound, and got it from his hand.”

The Boer officer skillfully pulled the boot box, looked inside, and then nodded and said, “This gun has indeed not been shot today. Even this gun has not necessarily fired twenty rounds until now. Almost It’s the same as a brand new one. David, you go out and see if any of our people have been injured or killed by a dum bullet.”

So an adjutant ran out, and after a while he came in and reported that he had not found any soldier hit by a dum bomb. So the Boer officer smiled, and then said to Churchill: “British, you are very lucky. Your life is temporarily saved.”

…

The annihilation of the Tenth Infantry Regiment was just the beginning. Taking advantage of the strategic mobility brought by the internal deployment of troops on the railway, coupled with the tactical mobility advantage brought by a large number of horses, the Boers continuously attacked and launched continuous attacks against the scattered British forces. In just one week, the Boers launched three large-scale encirclement and annihilation wars against the British army. As a result, the British army lost a whole three regiments.

After the British army suffered this series of blows, they could only retreat steadily. Less than half a month later, the Boer army once again appeared on the outskirts of Cape Town. In addition to Kimberley, the lost ground that the British army regained was once again turned into a lost ground.Now in Cape Town, in addition to the same fortifications, fortifications, and British navy as when the Boers attacked it last time, there are two more divisions’ garrisons, although both divisions suffered in previous battles. Not a small loss, but their remnants add up to more than 10,000 people. So compared to when the Boers first attacked Cape Town, Cape Town’s defenses are generally much stronger. On the contrary, when the Boers attacked Cape Town for the first time, not only were there fewer British troops in the city than they are now, but there were also Boers’ internal responses in the city. Even the railway outside the city is basically intact, so the Boers are more adequately supplied. Under such conditions, the Boers failed to conquer Cape Town. How can they conquer this fortress now?

Therefore, the Boers just sent some rangers to wander around Cape Town and did not gather troops here. Of course, the British also knew where the main force of the Boers went-they went to Kimberley. This is undoubtedly because there is also a British division surrounded in Kimberley.

The remaining strength of the British army in South Africa is definitely not enough to relieve Kimberley. If these British people leave Cape Town stupidly to rescue Kimberley, it will not be done well, and they will be killed by others on the way. So, now everything can only depend on the British forces themselves who are besieged in Kimberley. However, almost no one thinks they can really hold onto Kimberley until the new rescue force arrives from the other hemisphere.

What’s worse, Kimberley is now a city with no material reserves. These things were taken away or simply destroyed by the Boers long before the British regained Kimberley, and it is now the end of May. This season means early summer in Europe, but in South Africa in the southern hemisphere, it means winter. It’s coming soon. In such an environment, how can one of the troops be able to hold on?

…

The news of the British army’s series of failures caused the entire gold market to be turned over. Especially when the British army trapped in Kimberley had to shamelessly surrender to the Boers. Almost no one believed that the British would be able to surrender to the Boers. Suppressed the Boers in a short time. The scene where the British commander handed over the sword to the Boers reminded many people of the scene that happened in North America many years ago. Perhaps the next step should be that the British were forced to recognize the complete independence of the Boers. This has become a guess of many people.

“Scrooge, do you think the British will stop and will allow the Boers to be independent?” In Duck Castle, Rockefeller is having some useful discussions with Scrooge on the current situation.

“It’s impossible, John. The situation now is completely different from when United States was independent.” Scrooge replied, shaking his head.

“At the time when United States became independent, the United Kingdom had not yet established its status as an unshakable global hegemon. At least France was still competing with the United Kingdom on a global scale. Therefore, the United Kingdom needed to use its full strength to deal with France. This gave United States. Opportunity. But now, on this earth, who else is directly launching a full-scale challenge to Britain like France did? France? Now it is full of thoughts about how to defeat Germany and re-establish continental land rights. Germany? In industry, Germany does have the capital to challenge Britain. But for the time being, their navy is far from the British rivals. Unlike France back then. As for us in the United States, at least for now. We are still busy digesting what we got in the war. , So no one can hold the UK in the short term. The UK is fully capable of sending more troops to South Africa. And now South Africa is so important economically… John, would you just let it go because you temporarily lost a little money? After a big business that is destined to make money? Besides, Britain has already reached the top of the world. This is the most comfortable and dangerous position in the world. Countless pairs of coveted eyes are staring at him. If you face the Boers The weakness of performance will only encourage more people to challenge him. Therefore, Britain will never compromise.” Scrooge said.