At noon, the whole army was having lunch on the spot in the middle of this desolate mountain. The staple food for lunch was wheat cakes, and the food was canned soybean beef and cheese, and the soldiers ate their lunch in silence while taking a sip of the cold white open in the cowhide water bladder. This desolate mountain is full of fine gravel and sand, sometimes interspersed with some low bushes, which looks desolate and barren.

"I'm afraid that even the poorest shepherds won't want to come here." Private Zamparini, a senior in the 4th Company of the Army, said with a sigh. It's been so long since he came out, and his originally meticulous hair has now become a messy bird's nest. He also saw from afar in the morning battle, the tactical level and organizational level of those Xhosa blacks were amazing, they were able to calmly organize an ambush of hundreds of people, and at the same time they were able to safely organize a retreat while the enemy was pursuing, what level was this?

Anyway, Zamparini knew that if these people weren't veterans who had been in battle several times, they would never have been able to do this. Zamparini frowned at the thought of fighting such an enemy on the battlefield of their choice, maybe this sweep was not a good opportunity to make a fortune? It is said that the target had been set before this operation, and for every 500 people caught, the garrison headquarters would reward all combatants with three yuan each, and the distribution of the spoils of war would be calculated separately. But now that it has been more than ten days, there are only a dozen or so prisoners, and there is no loot at all; Not only that, but the 104th Company also lost more than 20 soldiers, no matter how you calculate it, this business is a loss.

"It's really a disadvantage!" An Dahai, who was sitting next to Zamparini, thought something in his heart. After the autumn harvest, their fourth company will be transferred back to the East Coast Army and return to the mainland as a whole, and it will be the second company of the army that will replace them and join the South African garrison. In other words, Ta Anhai's years in South Africa have only been a few months. Next time, it will be difficult to find such an easy place to make a fortune.

Now the home border is very calm. Both the gaucho bandits and the charuya are far from the people of the east coast. For fear of causing trouble. In other words, when they return to their homeland, they will have no war to fight, which means that there is not enough loot to distribute, which means that they will only be able to take that dead wage, which is already high in the eyes of many people.

During the two years of service in South Africa, An Dahai saved a lot of money. He participated in several sorties against the surrounding indigenous tribes and the large-scale sweep last year, and after several operations, the spoils distributed alone were sold for seventy or eighty yuan, not to mention that he had barely touched a penny of his military salary in the past two years. But it's still not enough. After returning to his hometown, he had to spend a lot of money to marry his daughter-in-law, and then his two younger brothers and one younger sister had to go to school and work. I really hope to make another profit on these Xhosa people before leaving!

No matter how careful the soldiers were and how strong their desire to fight was, Xie Hansan, who was conservative by nature, would not casually take any risks with his army, which was related to the safety of Fort Hezhong, especially when this army had already lost more than 20 people. This group of Xhosa people is no longer the weak and bully natives they have encountered before, they obviously have a certain degree of organization and combat effectiveness. The mountainous terrain leading to the river valley was rugged and full of terrain suitable for ambushes, and the hundreds of main forces under his command could not withstand such uncontrolled attrition. Everything will have to wait until the cavalry troops under the command of Leonid are contacted, and I hope they will not run into any trouble.

Just half an hour after lunch, the cavalry unit, which had lost contact for four hours, finally sent someone back to make contact. A few hours earlier, they had been besieged by a large number of Xhosa blacks in the valley of the Elephant River ahead. It is estimated that no less than 700 Xhosa blacks besieged them, and they were generally armed with large shields and spears. The will to fight is extremely tenacious, and he is well-trained and knows how to cooperate in battle. Leonid led 90 cavalry to take advantage of the flat valley to rush out, pistols and sabers in battle, and then he broke a gap and rushed out. After breaking out of the encirclement of the Xhosa, they still lost eight riders and five horses, in addition to nearly twenty riders who were wounded of varying severity, which was the heaviest loss ever suffered by the South African cavalry company.

Looking at the dusty cavalry in front of him, Xie Hansan was silent. At this point, the whole thing is already clear. The Xhosa blacks now have a strong organization, as well as sufficient men and experienced fighters, and their organizational skills and command systems are presumably developed in the course of perennial warfare, and should be relatively effective. So now the question arises, when the enemy has already taken obvious precautions and has already begun to ambush and besiege you, if you force your way forward, regardless of victory or defeat, the purpose of this battle has already been lost, right?

The purpose of this second sweep was not to defeat the Xhosa blacks, but to capture as many local indigenous people as possible and provide sufficient cannon fodder labor for the upcoming Madagascar development project. In the hot, humid, rainy, and disease-ridden part of the Falklands, you can't even build a small castle without investing tens of thousands of people, let alone the planned base designed to accommodate a large number of immigrants for production and life.

Xie Hansan of course had the ability to gather all the troops at this time, and then let the soldiers put on their cuirasses, and then rushed into the Xianghe River valley area in front of him step by step, those Xhosa blacks would definitely not be able to stop them, and they would not dare to stop them. But the question is, what if you take it there? What about the population you need? A few tribes of Xhosa over there are not stupid people, they can run away with their soft and soft animals, and they can run away, will they be stupid and wait for you to catch them?

What's the matter with you fighting the black Xhosa soldiers and getting a lot of damage and getting nothing? Not to mention the endless wars and frictions that could ensue after the conflict escalated. There were only a few East Coasters in South Africa, more than 3,000 people in the full battle, and the thought of fighting a large and rising indigenous tribe, especially since this tribe probably had more than 10,000 battle-hardened warriors, who had even learned how to use muskets now, Xie Hansan couldn't help but feel a toothache. Although he would be stepping down from his post as commander of the South African garrison in a few months, he felt that he could not rashly provoke a formidable enemy for Fort Riverwater before leaving. Although the enemy is currently at war with the East Coasters, the conflict has not yet expanded, and perhaps things have taken a turn for the worse.

Of course, the most important thing is that now that the enemy is prepared, there is no point in this war anymore. When his thoughts drifted here, Xie Hansan immediately made a decision, and he immediately sent several heralds to return to Hezhong Fort quickly, pass them to Mo Ming, and ask for instructions on what to do next. After all, he, the commander of the South African garrison, is also a nominal subordinate of the captain of the South African Pioneer Team.

After doing this, he ordered all the soldiers to put on their cuirasses, and then marched forward in formation, the first task now was to get the cavalry out. Although he did not want to continue the useless war with the Xhosa, it seemed that retreating without a fight would also hurt morale, so it was only right to continue to advance to the edge of the valley to join the cavalry units still lingering there, and then set up their defenses on the spot and wait for orders from the rear.

After three hours of rapid marching, after eliminating two groups of delayed sexual harassment attacks by the Xhosa, the three detachments of Shehan finally succeeded in joining up with the cavalry troops. Leonid's cavalry retreated all the way back after breaking out of the encirclement in the valley, but was again volleyed by a group of Xhosas on the way, which reduced them to another twelve men (four killed, seven lightly wounded, and one seriously wounded).

"Fuck, who said these blacks are stupid? Even guerrilla warfare has been learned! Seeing that the cavalry unit had suffered nearly forty casualties before and after, and even the commander Leonid was slightly injured, Xiao Baitu, who was born in the cavalry, finally couldn't help but scold, "Why do you think that we are like those little devils who went to the countryside now, we are not familiar with the place, and there are enemies everywhere." People rarely fight you face-to-face, and you can't do it with all your strength. Who said that those Zulus liked to fight the British and Boers head-on, grass! ”

"This is a Xhosa, not a Zulu." Xie Han glanced at him expressionlessly and said, "I think these blacks are already very close to the level of slave society, maybe they are already at the early level of civilization of slave society. And the war of the slave society is tactical, not to mention that they are still fighting and annexing with other tribes all year round. What is so strange about producing an army that dares to fight and fighting, and a few generals who have not systematically studied military theory, but who secretly cooperate with the art of war in their actions? ”

The soldiers quickly found a flat and open ground, and then began to drive piles, pull barbed wire, hang bells, and strictly set up separation belts and fire ditches between each unit. At this time, it was getting late, and it was purely to seek death by discrediting the mountain road, so it was bound to camp here tonight. If you camp in the wilderness and don't repair the fortifications well, you are simply joking with your own life.

The soldiers of the Eight Banners brandished shovels and sapper shovels and began their earthwork work in full swing, while the soldiers of the fourth and 104th companies lined up and prepared for a possible enemy attack. The cavalry troops, who had been fighting for a day, helped the medical officers in the camp to treat the wounded and chop wood for fire. Some of the wounded horses were also dragged away and slaughtered under the gloomy eyes of the cavalry, and these were to be used as a meal for the wounded soldiers in the evening.

When everything was ready, the night finally slowly covered the land. (To be continued......)