Early the next morning, when it was dawning, sporadic artillery sounds sounded outside the position, and the telephone in the headquarters suddenly rang loudly. ”

Six artillery positions, how many guns did the British have? Feng Zicai walked quickly into the sand table in the war room, glanced at it and asked, "Haven't marked it yet?" ”

"Right away." The staff officer on duty quickly replied, and as he spoke, several staff officers quickly marked the British artillery position on the sand table by comparing the direction of the report, and Feng Zicai glanced at it and ordered: "Pay close attention." ”

Before the words fell, Xu Mingliang walked in quickly and said, "The sky hasn't started before dawn, it seems that Napier is really in a hurry." ”

"If I change it, I'm also anxious." Feng Zicai said: "I know that we have reinforcements, but I don't know the situation of the reinforcements at all, can you not be in a hurry?" What's more, our position is not easy to attack, and if Napier wants to avoid being attacked on the back, it is the only choice to defeat Pretoria as soon as possible. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the sand table, "Look, the British artillery positions are located under the nose of the outer positions, which is obviously to reconnoiter our artillery positions." ”

After taking a closer look at the sand table, Xiao Mingliang said: "Be careful to sail the 10,000-year-old ship, and beware of Napier turning from virtual to real and raising the hot air balloon." ”

"Let's go up." Feng Zicai said that the biggest use of the hot air balloon is to observe the battlefield situation after liftoff, and with the wired telephone, he can know the entire battlefield situation well.

After the test firing correction, the sound of artillery gradually intensified, a shell raindrop generally fell on the peripheral position, for a time the explosion on the peripheral position was endless, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, standing on the hillside Napier held a telescope to observe carefully, the Qing artillery never returned fire, he said in a deep voice: "Order the artillery to be divided into two echelons, in a scattered line, continue to advance!" ”

Standing behind him George. White's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound, the first thing to do to storm the opposite position was to knock out the opponent's artillery, because the opponent's artillery would inflict heavy casualties on the charging infantry.

Napier adopts this style of play is to force the opponent's artillery out, this style of play is the most cruel but also the most simple and effective, so step by step, the opponent's artillery can not be hidden at all, but the casualties of the artillery are afraid that it is not small, in fact, Napier's mind is not difficult to guess, is to rely on the advantage of strength and the opponent to fight for consumption!

"What's that? Balloon? An officer behind him shouted in surprise, and it was no wonder that they were surprised, it was indeed too surprising to see a hot air balloon in barren and backward Africa.

George. White looked up and saw a huge orange hot air balloon slowly rising from the city of Pretoria, and the officers who had been quiet all the time exchanged their heads and ears, "In the Franco-Prussian War, the French did not use hot air balloons to escape from Paris, did the Qing army also learn from the French?" ”

"If the Qing army wants to escape, why should they stay here?"

"And what's going on with this hot air balloon?"

George. White couldn't help but glance back at everyone, and said softly: "It should be used to reconnoiter the battlefield situation, and the Qing Kingdom has already put corded telephones into practice." ”

Hearing this, all the officers immediately closed their mouths with interest, the hot air balloon can rise hundreds of meters into the air, as long as it rises 100 meters into the air, the situation of the entire battlefield can be seen at a glance, and with the wired telephone, it can be said that the situation of the entire battlefield can be grasped by the Qing army in time.

Napier looked at the orange hot air balloon that had stopped rising with a gloomy face, he really didn't expect that the Qing army would use the hot air balloon as a reconnaissance method to observe the battlefield, in this case, his side's every move could not be hidden from the Qing people, and this battle would become more and more difficult to fight.

Pretoria, Command.

According to the information constantly fed back, a group of combat staff officers were busy planting small flags of various colors on the combat sand table, and Feng Zicai propped his hands on the sand table and stared at the small red flag representing the British artillery that was gradually moving forward with a serious face.

Report ——。 A staff officer reported loudly: "According to the feedback statistics, there are about 320 artillery pieces in six artillery positions in three directions of the British army, and no heavy artillery has been found. ”

Feng Zicai raised his head and said, "Mortars are not included?" ”

"Mortars are not counted." The staff officer hurriedly added: "No mortars were found on the artillery positions either. ”

Hearing this, Xu Mingliang scolded without caring about his image: "Damn it, the artillery of our brigade is added again and again, and there are only more than 60 artillery, how can the British Army be equipped with so many artillery?" ”

Feng Zicai didn't say anything, the number of British artillery was indeed far beyond his expectations, he originally expected that the other side could have 200 artillery pieces, it would be good, after all, such a long-distance expedition, and no railway, even land artillery needs a lot of horses to pull, not to mention that the more artillery, the more shells, will cause huge pressure on logistics and supply.

The Boers actually mentioned in the intelligence that the British army had a large logistics baggage force and used a large number of blacks, but he did not expect that the British would drag so many artillery pieces for a long journey.

After being silent for a while, he spoke: "There is nothing surprising, the British regarded our Qing Dynasty as the opponent of this war from the very beginning. ”

Before the words fell, a staff officer hurriedly reported: "The British artillery began to disperse and advance, and the front and rear were divided into two echelons. “

"It seems that the British will not rest until their artillery positions are forced out." Xu Mingliang waved his hand and retreated from the staff officer, and then he pondered and said: "You can't hide left and right, so you don't have to hide it anymore, use large-caliber infantry artillery to greet them, make them fearful, there will be big casualties on the first day, and it is easy to shake the morale of the army." ”

Feng Zicai didn't say anything, turned around and walked to the window and sat down, poured a cup of cold white water, Xu Mingliang followed, and said, "Worried? ”

"The chief treasurer instructed us to fight a big victory as soon as possible." Feng Zicai said slowly: "As soon as the large-caliber infantry artillery is fired, the British army may not stop attacking, and may even retreat. ”

Hearing this, Xu Mingliang was a little anxious, "How many casualties will be caused if you don't use large-caliber infantry artillery and let so many British artillery bombard indiscriminately?" ”

"Withdraw!" Feng Zicai said in a deep voice: "Retreat back and give up your position to the British army step by step." ”

Giving up the hard-built positions to the British army step by step? Xu Mingliang couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he smiled and said, "Are you luring the enemy deeper?" ”

Feng Zicai took out a cigarette and handed it over, lit one himself, and then said: "If you use large-caliber infantry artillery to fight back, the British army may retreat, and if you don't fight back, it will inevitably cause large casualties. As long as they enter the position, we don't have to worry anymore and go straight to kill! ”

"It works." Xu Mingliang nodded and said: "And the British army will not be suspicious, but if you want to withdraw, you will not be able to withdraw if you want to." ”

"Hmm." Feng Zicai bowed his head and said, "Give up the outer positions first." ”

In the interval between the advance of the British artillery, the Qing troops in the peripheral positions retreated on the whole line, because there were not many troops, and the troops stationed in the peripheral positions were not much, and the British artillery bombardment also caused some casualties, and the Qing troops who withdrew backwards looked sparse.

Seeing this, Napier, who had been shutting his face, finally showed a smile. White was also very excited, "No matter how good the trenches are, they can't resist the intensive shelling of artillery!" ”

Napier breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Keep an eye out for the artillery of the Qing army. ”

With the abandonment of the outer positions, the artillery positions that had been carefully disguised and camouflaged also took off their camouflage and began to retreat, and the three artillery positions, one position was sparsely pulled with only eighteen or twenty guns, compared with the more than 300 artillery pieces of the British army, it was simply incomparable!

Receiving the exact news that the Qing artillery had withdrawn from its position, Nepier felt much more relieved, and immediately ordered a regiment to be sent to take over the outlying positions of the Qing army, and at the same time ordered the artillery to advance slowly and carry out intensive artillery bombardment of the follow-up positions.

The British troops who took over the outlying positions confirmed that the Qing troops had indeed withdrawn completely, and the morale of the British troops was immediately high, and they advanced under the heavy artillery support, but there were still not many British troops entering the outlying positions.

Hearing this situation, Xu Mingliang scolded angrily: "Napier is too cautious!" ”

"It's going too well, so it's natural to be cautious." Feng Zicai said disapprerovingly: "Wait until tomorrow, they will be bolder." After a pause, he smiled and said, "Don't wait until tomorrow, at dusk, the British army will send additional troops into the outer positions." ”

Xu Mingliang reacted immediately and said with a smile: "The British army is afraid that we will recapture the position at night? ”

Feng Zicai nodded, "Although the British army fought well, one thing has not changed, we must attack Pretoria as soon as possible to avoid the situation of being attacked on the back of the enemy." ”

As Feng Zicai's judgment was, before dusk, the British army began to send a large number of troops into the outer positions to build fortifications, and Napier was indeed worried that the Qing army would recapture the peripheral positions by night, in his opinion, as long as the Qing army was steadily driven out of the trenches, the Qing army would not be far from surrender.

The sky is gradually darkening, the British artillery has already stopped shelling, Pretoria is unusually quiet, the headquarters is brightly lit, and a group of combat staff officers are still busy going in and out, in the war department, Xu Mingliang put down his teacup and raised his wrist to look at his watch, it is almost nine o'clock, according to the plan, a counterattack will be launched at three o'clock in the morning, the purpose is to recapture the peripheral positions.

"Lao Feng, is it really necessary to launch a counterattack?" He said in a sullen voice: "In case the fake show is really done and the position is recaptured, who shall we talk to to reason?" Besides, isn't this an unprovoked addition of casualties? ”

"Don't worry." Feng Zicai said: "The British army will definitely take strict precautions, and it is impossible for us to easily recapture the position." After a pause, he continued: "Singing a full set of operas, not fighting back at night, pretending to seize the position, Napier is not steady, is he?" ”

At three o'clock in the morning, a series of gunfire broke the silence of the night, the British army who was waiting for it quickly launched a counterattack, the gunfire instantly became dense, although it was a feint, but both the Qing army and the British army fought very fiercely and tenaciously, lasted for more than an hour, and the battle was over before dawn, and the British army firmly held the position.

This night battle also made Napier suspicious, urging him to make up his mind to expel the Qing army from the trenches as soon as possible, as soon as the morning dawned, the British army launched a fierce offensive, shells rained down on the Qing army's position, as the British artillery continued to advance, the Qing army had to retreat again.

By the afternoon, a small half of the Qing army's position had fallen into the hands of the British army, and a large number of British troops continued to enter the Qing army's position under the cover of artillery fire to sweep up

Pretoria, Command.

Xu Mingliang pointed to the small red flag on the sand table and said: "The number of British artillery in the frontal position is the largest, reaching about one hundred and fifty, and the two echelons in the front and rear have now all entered the range of our large-caliber infantry guns, and the British troops who have entered the position are also more than 10,000 according to statistics, and it is time to close the net." ”

Feng Zicai glanced at him and said, "Your appetite is too small, right?" ”

"It's not about appetite." Xu Mingliang said with a wink, turned around and entered the lounge, waiting for Feng Zicai to follow, he lowered his voice and said, "Do you still want to wipe out the British army in Pretoria?" ”

What do you mean? Feng Zicai glanced at him suspiciously, and said: "It is impossible to annihilate completely, such a good opportunity, it should not be difficult to hit hard, wait one more day, we can at least defeat half of the opponent's troops in one battle!" ”

"If you really want to kill half of the troops, the British army will be crippled." Xu Mingliang shook his head slightly.

See him hanging appetite. Feng Zicai said angrily: "Don't hide it, hurry up." As he spoke, he raised his wrist and looked at his watch, which was already past three o'clock.

Xu Mingliang smiled and said, "What did the big shopkeeper order?" It is necessary to use this war to deplete the strength of the Boers...... ”

After lighting a cigarette, Feng Zicai said in a sullen voice: "But the big shopkeeper also said that a big victory is needed." ”

"Destroying tens of thousands of enemies in a war is not a big victory?" Xu Mingming glanced at him, "The British must be allowed to preserve a certain amount of strength." There was no hurry to annihilate this British army, and at this time, they had to be allowed to wear down the strength of the Boers. ”

To be honest, seeing that the British troops were all in their pockets, but they tied up the bags themselves, Feng Zicai was a little reluctant in his heart, this was like eating meat in his mouth to make him spit it out, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "There are many Boers in the city, and there are two thousand Boer Wehrmacht ......." ”

"What can they know?" Xu Mingliang said slowly: "The annihilation of 10,000 enemies and the annihilation of 20,000 enemies are not much different for us, but the consumption of Boers is related to Yuan Qi's control of the Transvaal." ”

"Needless to say." Feng Zicai said in a deep voice: "Closing the net is." ”