Compared to the mercenaries armed to the teeth, the cavalry of the Sultanate of Najd, armed with Lee Enfield, was particularly shabby.

Of course, this shabby is relative, for most countries in the world, Lee Enfield is already the most advanced individual weapon, and the British army has not all been reequipped with Lee Enfield, and many colonial troops still use old single-shot rifles.

This "old style" is actually relative to the world, the French army is not equipped with magazine rifles now, the army still uses single-shot rifles, and it will not be until the First World War that the French troops will be reequipped one after another, so each Lee Enfield is already very advanced at the moment.

Unaware of the level of equipment of the Umbrella Mercenaries, Sabah was proud of the Lee Enfield of the Sultanate of Najd.

Now compared with the mercenaries of the umbrella company, Sabah realized the gap, compared with the dazzling advanced equipment of the mercenaries, the heavy weapons of the Sabah troops are only two thick and stupid water-cooled Makqin, this kind of gun is a tragedy for the water-scarce desert of the peninsula.

The mercenaries' heavy weapons are general-purpose machine guns and grenade launchers using tripods, as well as 60 mm caliber mortars with a maximum range of two kilometers.

"How much does such a mortar, or a grenade launcher, cost?" Sabah humbly asked Frank for advice, and if the price was not high and Southern Africa was willing to sell it, then Sabah would definitely suggest to Ali Rashid to buy these advanced weapons.

"Mortars and grenade launchers are not expensive, one or two hundred pounds, but grenades and artillery shells are expensive, and a 40 mm grenade costs one pound." Frank's offer sent Sabah's heart fluttering, and he immediately dispelled some unrealistic illusions.

It is true that he can't afford it, the power of advanced equipment is great, and the price is also very high, which is why Roque tried his best to maintain only two divisions of the regular army, and if it expands, even the national strength of southern Africa will not be able to sustain it.

The African divisions formed in southern Africa, that is, at the level of a Lee Enfield, were also heavily armed with heavy machine guns, not even mortars.

After all, southern Africa is rich in raw materials, and the raw materials needed for the production of weapons and ammunition can basically be produced by itself, and there is no need to purchase them from outside, and this is the real capital that qualifies southern Africa as an arms supplier.

Unlike the chaotic cavalry of the Sultanate of Najd, the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company were significantly more qualified, and they assembled in squadrons and then entered positions one after another.

Two kilometres north of Ahvaz, a group of refugee servants were digging trenches, and in the distance there was already a faint sound of gunfire from the reconnaissance forces of the Sultanate of Najd exchanging fire with Reza Khan's vanguard forces.

As the reconnaissance troops continued to send back news, the strength of the opponent gradually became clear, Reza Khan's troops were almost 5,000 people, all of them were cavalry, equipped with artillery, but there were not many of them, and the caliber was not large, and the technology was outdated, it was these artillery pieces that slowed down the Persian cavalry, Reza Khan's troops did not have trucks, and the traffic conditions in Persia were not good, fortunately, it had not rained in recent times, otherwise it would have been a huge disaster to drag these artillery pieces to the battlefield.

Compared with the Persian cavalry who were struggling to advance, the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company were much easier, and the artillery was also a high-tech branch of the Umbrella Company, this time the mercenaries brought twenty mortars, and Sabah assigned two companies of servants to serve the artillery, not only to help carry the equipment, but also to be responsible for transporting the shells.

When the smoke and dust caused by the actions of the cavalry appeared, all the men evacuated the trenches, but could not leave their positions, and when the battle began, they were also responsible for transporting ammunition, transporting wounded soldiers, and repairing the trenches, and the mercenaries only had to concentrate on killing the enemy.

Frank and Sabah were also on the front line, their command post was on the ridge of a hill, and the temporary command was reinforced with sandbags and covered with camouflage, ensuring a good view at the same time, and greatly reducing the possibility of being discovered by the enemy, when Frank came to the command post, the command post was still in chaos, the staff officers were busy drawing maps and making sand tables, the communications personnel were busy laying lines and installing telephones, and the generators were also being installed, ready to work at any time.

For Sabah, these devices are Zenith-level technology, and orders issued by the forces of the Sultanate of Najd must be manually transmitted through the heralds, and the umbrella company has realized that radio and wired telephones cooperate with each other, and radios are used to communicate with the headquarters in Port Elizabeth, and wired telephones are used to communicate with front-line troops.

Research on wireless telephony was also underway in distant Nyasaland, and with the invention of the three-electrode vacuum tube, the emergence of the wireless telephone was already possible, and even without Nyasaland's participation, the United Kingdom and the United States completed the first transatlantic wireless telephone communication in 1915, but it was not until 1927 that this technology was used in the commercial field.

Sabah has also been numb to the endless advanced equipment of the umbrella company, and when Frank took the telescope and began to observe, a staff officer also sent a telescope to Sabah.

Poor Sabah didn't even know how to use a telescope, and he had to be reminded by his staff to know that he had to take off the lens cover to see things.

Then Sabah had confidence.

Compared to the professional and efficient mercenaries, Reza Khan's troops were a bit amateurish.

In Persia, Reza Khan's troops can already be regarded as elite troops, but when the troops are advancing, they still can't even maintain the basic formation, Reza Khan's troops are mixed with a lot of temporarily recruited people, and there are not many wagons to transport supplies, it can be seen that Reza Khan's troops are not ready for a big battle, which is also due to Reza Khan's contempt for the umbrella company.

In fact, they are all using each other, just like the Umbrella Company using Reza Khan to seek Khuzstan, Reza Khan is also using the Umbrella Company to enhance the strength of the troops under his command, maybe Reza Khan's plan is to get advanced weapons and equipment, and then kick the Umbrella Company away.

It's just that Reza Khan couldn't have imagined that the ambition of the umbrella company is far beyond that of ordinary commercial enterprises, and the strength must be far exceeded, the mercenaries in Port Elizabeth are only part of the mercenaries of the umbrella company, in southern Africa, in the East Indies, in Madagascar, and in the Adan Islands, the umbrella company also has more mercenaries, which are enough to launch a war at the level of annihilation.

Looking at the messy Persian troops, then at the mercenary positions that were in full swing, and then at the equally chaotic cavalry of the Sultanate of Najd, Sabah was in a heavy mood and did not have much joy that victory was about to come.

Reza Khan is using a protective umbrella, the Sultanate of Najd is not, a jungle society of deceit, pie never falls from the sky, after the establishment of the Sultanate of Najd, some people inevitably have the idea of independence, including Sabah, everyone wants to have unfettered rights.

Before he really came into contact with the mercenaries, Sabah had also fantasized about the prospect of the Sultanate of Najd getting rid of the control of the Umbrella Company, and now those careful thoughts have disappeared, in the face of the strong strength of the Umbrella Company, Reza Khan's so-called elite troops will be bloodied, and the same is true of the Sultanate of Najd, any small advantage can change the situation by accumulating to the extent of qualitative change, not to mention that it is crushed by this all-round strength, and there is no ability to resist at all.

"Sir, the enemy is already within artillery range." When the staff officer alerted, Reza Khan's troops were still moving forward in the lens of the telescope.

"No fire, let them keep going." Frank was in no hurry and put more enemies within artillery range.

Unlike Frank, Sabah was more concerned about the Najd Scouts who had already engaged in a firefight with the enemy's vanguard.

Those who are qualified to become scouts are elite, and their personal strength does not need to be emphasized, they can also shoot on the back of a violently bumpy horse, but the hit rate is definitely not guaranteed, and it is necessary to rely on platoon gun shooting to make up for the lack of hit rate.

Reza Khan's troops and the troops of the Sultanate of Najd are equipped with Lee Enfield provided by the umbrella company, although the range of the gauge is 1,000 meters, most of them can only play a role within 200 meters in actual combat, but there will always be some talented guys in the army, their range is far beyond the average person, and there will be a high hit rate within 500 meters, so the scouts of the Sultanate of Najd must keep a certain distance from Reza Khan's troops, and no matter how brave and daring the guys are, they dare not come close to observe.

At a distance of 500 meters, the target of a person is relatively small, but the target of a horse is very large, so even if the distance is maintained, there are still Najd cavalry who are constantly hit, and in this case, as long as they are knocked off the horse, they are basically declared to be sentenced to death, and no matter how they run, they can't run on four legs.

The cavalry chase continued until 500 meters in front of the mercenary position, when the vanguard sent by Reza Khan discovered the mercenary position, at which time Reza Khan's main force had all entered the range of the mercenary's artillery, and as long as Frank gave the order, Reza Khan's troops would be hit with overwhelming fire.

Reza Khan was still a chicken thief, and after discovering the mercenary position, he did not rush to attack, and when ordering the troops to deploy, the first thing he sent was an officer with a white flag, and he sent a war letter written by Reza Khan himself.

Afternoon!

Good old stuff.

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The whole book