During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, Tsarist Russia fought fiercely with Japan.

The Russian army relied on the strong fortifications of the Arthur Pass fortress to defend, and the Japanese dug the trenches to a place that was only a few dozen meters away from the Russian position, and it was difficult for the Russian army to kill and injure the Japanese with ordinary artillery and machine guns, so the Russian artillery captain Nikolayevich tried to modify an old 47mm naval mortar gun on a gun carriage with wheels, and fired a long-tail shell at a large elevation angle, which effectively killed and injured the Japanese troops in the trench and repelled many Japanese attacks.

See, the inventor of the mortar has a name, which fully shows that the invention of the mortar does not require advanced knowledge or perfect equipment, and only needs a wit to invent a completely new weapon.

Compared with traditional artillery, mortars have many benefits, the main advantage is that the structure is simple, easy to operate, very suitable for the northern division of Rhodesia with low education, in addition, for Nyasaland, Congo Free State such tropical rainforest terrainforest terrain, mortar movement is more convenient than traditional artillery, traditional artillery is very difficult to move in the tropical rainforest, so it is difficult to accompany the troops, and mortars as long as the caliber is not too large, it can be done, with the load, hit and run.

That is, there is no market for mortars now, so Roque is not in a hurry to launch mortars, and if Nyasaland is not under British influence now, Roque would have ordered the arsenal to start researching mortars.

But just because there's no market doesn't mean there's no demand, and Ethan Barrett is now hoping for a weapon that can fight the Nyasaland snipers.

Martin is still very good at choosing a location, and the sniper position he chooses is at the corner of a river bay, and the mercenaries lack the weapons to effectively strike at the sniper position.

The tropical rainforest terrain of the Congo Free State is basically without roads, and the river has become the most natural road, and the Belgians colonized the Congo Free State along the dense rivers in the rainforest.

The mercenaries set out from Kinshasa with their guides, but on the first day they were attacked, the guides dispersed, which made Ethan Barrett even more afraid to leave the river.

Getting lost in the rainforest is no joke, let alone more than 2,000 people, even if more than 20,000 people rush into the rainforest, they will be swallowed by the seemingly calm and harmless rainforest.

The positions of the Northern Rhodesian Division were on the other side of the bend, and the mercenaries could only attack the positions of the Northern Rhodesian Division from the river by wooden boat.

But the wooden boats had almost no defense against the heavy machine guns, so after only two tentative attacks, the loss of more than a dozen wooden boats, and nearly a hundred people, the mercenary officers were divided again.

"Stop, it's impossible for us to get to Calemie without a hitch, and even if we do, how much will it cost us? And is there any ability to launch an offensive against Calemie? Charles had already given up, and from the first night's attack, Charles had fully realized that the mercenaries were not capable of fighting the Nyasalanders.

"It's less than a hundred kilometers from Calemie, we've had a lot of trouble getting here, and now you say stop, what about your work ethic? What about your chivalry? "Ethan Barrett does not agree to retreat, and if he retreats now, then Ethan Barrett will be ruined.

Sometimes I have to admit that there are still people in this era who are very dedicated, and soldiers in the 21st century, because they have a higher level of education, think more about life, human nature, and values.

Relatively speaking, people in this era are still relatively simple, for a simple ideal, many people are indeed willing to throw their heads and spill their blood, without accounting for the gains and losses of the benefits.

"When I decided to become a mercenary, I sold my soul to the devil." Robert's compassionate mending knife, you talk to war hyenas about work ethics and chivalry, and make fun!

In the Western world, mercenaries are actually a profession, in essence, mercenaries are the same as accountants and engineers, just a way to support their families, mercenaries also have families, and the reason why they go to the battlefield is also to live a good life for their families, money is the only thing mercenaries value, so don't expect mercenaries to have high professional ethics and chivalry, that's all coaxing.

In a word, mercenaries are actually ordinary people in essence, and their technical and tactical level is definitely not up to the standard of a warrior. You don't have to work hard to earn more, and you don't have to come to the Congo Free State to be with mud and crocodiles.

To put it bluntly, mercenaries can bully and bully ordinary people, and it is difficult for a strong man to fight a real army, Charles and Robert didn't know how strong the Nyasaland army was before, so they accepted the employment of Leopold II and rashly came to the Congo Free State, if Charles and Robert knew that they were facing such an army, even if Leopold II offered a high price, Charles and Robert would not accept it.

"You bastard, are you trying to betray your honor!" Ethan Barrett roared to his feet, apparently trying to teach Robert a lesson.

In the past, some people have begun to dissuade it.

Not this time, the officers, including Charles, watched Ethan Barrett get up and walk towards Robert, and they all watched coldly.

It's really a bad battle situation, everyone can see that continuing to advance towards Carlisle is to die, even if Carlisle has a mountain of gold now, then there is a life to earn.

"Now, put your troops in order, move on, and don't let your family be disgraced because of you!" Ethan Barrett was almost screaming against Robert's face, and the spitting stars must have been sprayed in Robert's face, but Robert was indifferent.

"What's more, my army is now less than a hundred people left, how do you let me advance, you want me to attack, okay, give me more people, and I'll let them die to show you!" Robert didn't show weakness either, standing up and confronting Ethan Barrett.

Both of them were angry,-for-tat, panting thicker than cattle, and their voices were one high, and the mercenaries who were resting nearby were alarmed, and many of them stood up with their guns on their guns, looking indifferently at Ethan Barrett and Robert, who were arguing.

"Alright, now the troops have a rest, let's discuss a more secure plan." Charles still came out to play a round, otherwise if these two clashed, the blow to morale would be immeasurable.

"Safe? What is the safest approach? How can I retreat safely? Ethan Barrett had been carried away and turned back to Charles for another blow.

Charles had no choice but to spread his hands, this very good person couldn't do it.

The atmosphere froze for a while, only the river around them flowed quietly, the mercenaries who participated in the attack before did not even snatch back the corpses, all fell into the river, and now the river is churning, blood is surging, no need to ask, it must be the wild animals in the river tearing the corpses of the mercenaries.

This is an incomparable blow to the morale of the mercenaries.

"We're launching an attack, and if it doesn't work this time, we'll retreat—" Ethan Barrett calmed down, and finally admitted that he had underestimated the Nyasalanders, in fact, it was the best option to retreat directly now, but they had all come here, and if they didn't try again, Ethan Barrett was really unwilling.

What if, on the other side of the river, the Nyasaland people have reached the end of their crossbows?

In fact, Ethan Barrett also knew that this was just a fantasy, and from the beginning of the battle, the mercenaries did not cause any effective casualties to the Nyasalands, and Ethan Barrett even suspected that the Nyasaland people might not have been injured until now.

"Yes!" Charles still gives face, as long as Ethan Barrett does not insist on going his own way, Charles is still willing to cooperate.

If they don't flee back to Kinshasa like this, Charles will have nothing to do with the mercenary industry in their lives, and will even become the laughing stock of the world.

In addition to being depressed, Charles is now frantically complaining about Leopold II in his heart, blaming this bastard, why provoke the Nyasaland people if he has nothing to do?

Even if the people in the Antwerp company were disobedient and provoked the people of Nyasaland, why should they deal with it in such an extreme way, is it not good to lose money and pay people?

And the bastards of the Antwerp company, they all deserve hell -

Spit and complain, the war is imminent, and the officers are not even in the mood to speak, they are all thinking about their own affairs, or sorting out their equipment.

In any case, it is still necessary to play a game.

In the silent rainforest, a terrible wail suddenly sounded: "Enemy, we have enemies behind us, and the Nyasaland people are behind us-"

Behind!

Charles scrambled to his feet and looked at the river behind him.

Sure enough, on the river about three or four hundred meters behind him, more than a dozen wooden boats were in the shadows.

It's too far away to see who is on board, but their flag is clear, it's the British flag of the United Kingdom.

There is no doubt that they are Nyasaland!

"How can the Tminiyasalans be behind us?!"

"It's over, we're done!"

"I want to go home—"

The mercenaries were suddenly in a mess, and in the rivers of the tropical rainforest, there were interceptions in front and pursuers in the back, no matter which direction they went, it was a dead end.

Don't think about getting into the rainforest to escape, that's almost certainly the way to death, but there is still a chance to survive if you continue along the river or break through with all your might.

It is impossible to attack, and the sniper forces in Nyasaland have proven that their defenses are impregnable, and continuing to attack can only lead to death.

It is also impossible to break through with all your might, and in the terrain of the river, two heavy machine guns are enough to block the entire river-

Not a single one can run.