Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 419 One Pot
As a few people were talking, suddenly a rapid alarm sound of "Dangdangdang" came from the direction of the earthen city wall. Cabinda, a Chinese immigrant town, suddenly woke up, revealing its sharp spikes.

"what happened?"

"Reporting to the Governor, a large number of indigenous black tribal warriors have appeared outside the city and are converging on Cabinda. Their intentions are unclear."

"Send the word, beat the drums, gather the troops, the militia will assemble immediately and march up to the city to meet the enemy."

"Yes, sir."

After a while
Governor Major General Pan Tianshou, surrounded by a group of people, came to the earthen city wall and looked at the large number of indigenous black warriors emerging from the dense woods on the north and east sides from afar. The expression on his face looked very strange.

On weekdays

These black tribes hid deep in the jungle, were wary and deeply wary of the colonists, and most of them had an "ostrich mentality."

With the mentality of not contacting, not being able to provoke, and being able to avoid, it is rare for people to gather together like this.

Isn't this delivering food?
"Since the enemy has come to our door, let's treat them well." Major General Pan Tianshou turned his head and looked meaningfully at Colonel Fang Shiwei who was standing next to him.

Colonel Fang Shiwei stood at attention and said firmly, "Yes, sir. Treat us well."

After saying that, he hurriedly left the earthen city with several officers and prepared to meet the enemy.

Li Jingxi stood beside the governor. It was the first time he had seen such a large-scale battle. He felt both excited and nervous, and was quite elated.

These black indigenous tribal warriors emerged from the mountains and forests on the north and east sides. They had exaggerated patterns painted on their dark faces and bodies, bright pheasant feathers on their heads, and spindle-shaped animal skin shields and bone spears in their hands. They jumped and shouted wildly.

It seems that the war atmosphere makes people excited and a little intoxicated.

These black indigenous tribal warriors who emerged like a tide numbered about twelve to thirteen thousand people and were densely distributed in the fields.

Behind these black indigenous tribal warriors, there were many tribal chiefs, high priests and other high-ranking officials, who gathered on the top of the hill and pointed in the direction of the earthen city.

more than twenty minutes later
The Chinese colonial armed forces that emerged from the west city gate quickly split into two and attacked the black indigenous tribal warriors head-on.

After walking forward three or four hundred meters, they stopped and began to deploy their troops.

"Uncle Fu, is that... a Gatling gun?" Li Jingxi asked in a low voice.

Li Fu nodded solemnly. He didn't expect that the Congo River Company even had such a heavy military weapon. This was a powerful weapon to deal with a larger and more powerful force.

The colonial army that came to meet the enemy in Cabinda numbered about 600 men, divided into two groups, with each front having about 300 men.

The front row was a black battalion of 200 people, all armed with swords and shields, and the back row was a Chinese expeditionary force of more than people, each armed with a magazine-fed Manila rifle.

This Manila rifle is an improvement on the French-made Chassaibo striker rifle. Its magazine can hold five brass bullets. It fires one round and pulls the bolt, providing excellent sustained firepower.

Many Chinese expedition members also brought their own revolvers, and these two guns, one long and one short, had quite powerful firepower.

At the rear of each front facing the enemy, Chinese soldiers were dragging two strange weapons, mounted on iron gun carriages and covered with rainproof tarpaulins.

This is the mysterious Gatling gun. The Chu army has a complicated attitude towards this high-rate heavy machine gun.

This thing is good, but it consumes too many bullets.

There was no large-scale equipment in the Chu military, only small-scale pilot equipment in the Royal Guard Division and the Manila Guard Division.

A batch was provided to the Congo River Company as an experimental unit.

When the chiefs of the indigenous tribes on the opposite side saw that the Chinese colonial army coming out of Cabinda City had stopped, they ordered their men to blow the attack horns. The shrill horn sounds echoed in the sky above the West African rainforest.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

Hearing the battle horn, these hideous-looking black tribal warriors in the paintings were like chickens with their blood pumped up. They let out sharp shouts, struck their animal-skin shields with their spears, and strode towards the Chinese colonists' army.

Standing on the earthen city

Li Jingxi could clearly see that all the mules, horses and donkeys in the city were gathered together and led by fully armed Chinese militia, ready to attack at any time.

A quick count revealed that there were about three to four hundred riders.

Besides
More Chinese armed militiamen gathered and prepared to attack on foot, leaving a deep impression on these black tribal warriors who dared to invade.

Now that you're here, don't leave.

If they could keep all 12,000 to 13,000 indigenous tribal warriors, the Chinese colonists in Cabinda would take advantage of the situation and attack, and all the black indigenous tribes within dozens of kilometers in the surrounding area would be wiped out.

Following the colonial method of "first occupy a point, connect a line, and expand a surface", the Congo River Company has completed the task of "connecting a line".

The next step is to deepen the "expansion of one surface" and effectively conquer, enslave and control the black tribes in the region, thereby firmly controlling the Congo River region.

"Clap clap clap clap..."

A clear burst of gunfire brought Li Jingxi's thoughts back to the battlefield.

The black indigenous warriors charging ahead, after the dense volley of gunfire, screamed and fell like wheat being cut. Blood spurted out, and the deadly bullets easily opened one bloody hole after another.

The sound of war drums from the rear became more and more rapid, urging the black tribal warriors to attack with all their might.

Round after round of gunfire continued, and amid the terrified looks of these shouting black tribal warriors, row after row of tribal warriors were shot to the ground.

The route of attack was littered with corpses and wailing wounded.

The Chinese colonial army started firing volleys from a distance of 500 meters. Because they used a magazine, they could fire a bullet and pull the bolt, and the firepower was very sustained.

After fighting for more than ten minutes, no matter whether these black tribal warriors attacked from the front or the side, they were all shot to the ground without exception, and their offensive momentum was curbed.

At this time, the sound of wailing horns rang out, and the attacking black indigenous tribal warriors retreated like a tide, leaving behind hundreds of corpses along the way.

The first attempted attack ended in complete failure.

"It turns out that it is these Portuguese people who are causing trouble. I have recorded this account in my account book." Major General Pan Tianshou put down the monocular telescope in his hand and said with a look of contempt on his face.

Through his telescope, he could see the Portuguese white high-ranking officials, guarded by dozens of white musketeers, arguing loudly with the black indigenous tribal chief.
The Portuguese were the first to enter the Congo River Basin. Near the city of Cabinda, there were several Portuguese colonial towns and some plantations where black slaves were enslaved. It was one of the areas with a strong presence.

After such a long period of social, cultural, and geographical surveys, the Congo River Company had essentially acquired detailed local intelligence. Most Portuguese settlements were located around the Congo River and along the Atlantic coastline, not deep inland, and were mostly small in scale.

Most of them have 300 to 500 people, 700 to 800 people, or even 1,000 to 2,000 people. There is only one place with more than 2,000 people, and that is Kinshasa on the south bank of the Congo River.

Kinshasa is more than 440 kilometers away from the sea, which is neither close nor far.

By taking a boat up the river, which takes only a day and a night, you can reach this important town.

But if you travel by land, it will take more than a week to get there.

This is because the lower reaches of the Congo River are densely covered with tributaries, dense tropical jungles, swamps and other complex terrains. There are no roads at all, and everything is in a wild and primitive state.

After arguing for a while
Perhaps the promises made by the Portuguese moved the chiefs of the African tribes, and they once again sounded the horns of attack, commanding the tribal warriors to charge forward.

When these black tribal warriors attacked again, their momentum was obviously not as strong as at the beginning. They were shouting and yelling, and the noise was overwhelming.

This time

Only when the huge crowd of indigenous tribal warriors approached to a distance of more than 400 meters did Colonel Fang Shiwei, who was commanding at the front, order a volley of gunfire.

"Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah"

"Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah"

"Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah"

The deadly rain of bullets flew towards the dense formation of black indigenous warriors like a flying arrow. After each round of volleys, dozens of people would be knocked down, and lives were harvested efficiently.

Compared with the old-fashioned firearms from more than ten years ago, the firepower density of the magazine-fed Manila rifle has undergone a qualitative improvement, and it can fire more than a dozen rounds per minute.

Even though the black indigenous warriors launched a fearless charge, they were still unable to change the passive situation of being beaten unilaterally.

After a few minutes
The black indigenous tribal warriors, who had endured huge casualties, finally approached within 70 or 80 meters. This gave them hope of revenge, and they rushed forward with strange roars.

At this moment

The long-awaited Gatling heavy machine gun came into play. The rain tarpaulin was lifted, and the hand-cranked Gatling gun "da da da da" like a monster spitting tongues of fire, began to reap lives madly.

Each Chinese colonial team had two Gatling heavy machine guns, a total of four. When they fired at the same time, the monotonous and terrifying "da da da da" sound of the heavy machine guns echoed over the rainforest.

It was like four fire whips, lashing fiercely at the formation of black indigenous tribal warriors. Every whip would clear out a large number of people, and the killing efficiency was astonishing.

In a few minutes, these black indigenous tribal warriors completely collapsed and turned around and ran away.

At this time, the city of Cabinda sounded the clarion call for a full-scale attack. The cavalry galloping out of the city divided into two groups and quickly encircled the rear of the black tribal warriors.

Then, Chinese armed militia rushed out of the city, with 6 teams of more than people in each team, and attacked fiercely from the front.

The sounds of gunfire, shouting and screaming mixed together and resounded through the sky, and a big melee began.

Those frightened black indigenous tribal warriors ran everywhere like frightened rabbits, but were driven back one by one by the cavalry.

Although they are called cavalry, they are actually armed militia riding on mules, horses or donkeys.

After all, four legs are much faster than two legs. These cavalrymen quickly surrounded the black natives' retreat and drove them back like ducks.

After the defeat, the black indigenous tribal warriors were in disarray. They did not have the courage to face the black muzzles of guns, and their spirits had long been shattered.

There were sporadic gunshots, and a large number of black indigenous tribal warriors dropped their weapons, squatted down and surrendered with their heads in their hands.

The last and most intense battle took place north of the city of Cabinda.

Major General Pan Tianshou saw dozens of white people through the telescope. Seeing that his plan had failed, he immediately ran away.

But two legs are not as fast as four legs. The cavalrymen who rushed out of the city of Cabinda quickly surrounded the rear and quickly occupied the advantageous terrain.

There was a brief exchange of fire between the two sides. After more than a dozen people were killed or injured, these white people decisively surrendered.

If we continue to resist, we will only die.

During the entire battle, the Chinese colonists in Cabinda killed more than 3,000 enemies and captured more than 9,000, with almost no one escaping.

The army suffered 11 casualties, 9 of whom were killed or wounded during the exchange of fire with the Portuguese whites, resulting in three deaths and six injuries on its own side.

There is no doubt that this was a resounding victory.

However, there was not much joy after the victory on the face of Major General Pan Tianshou. This kind of military achievement of besieging and killing the colonial natives was the lowest, and the best he could do was a telegram of commendation.

Military merit is also divided into different levels. The highest level is naturally the killing and capturing of officers and soldiers of the British and French Allied Forces during the Anglo-French War. Each one is very valuable.

In terms of promotion in military rank and position, the Singapore Expeditionary Force has experienced a glorious past where all its personnel were promoted one level. The expeditionary force commander, Major General Ho Rulin, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and awarded the title of Earl.

Rewards include money, women, houses, almost everything.

By the way, the current Lieutenant General He Ruolin is the Governor of Patagonia. He has gone to South America to cultivate his body and mind.

This man's prestige soared after the Anglo-French War. Some gossipy newspapers even called him the "Military God of Chu State" and praised him with all kinds of flattering words, elevating him to a very high status.

Under the flattery of the media, Lieutenant General He Ruolin also made some exaggerated remarks.

In order to calm Lieutenant General He Ruolin down, he was first transferred to the Manila Army Advanced Infantry College as vice president for three years, and then kicked off to South America.

I estimate that he won’t be able to come back for at least five or six years.

The next level of military merit was the reward for military merits of third-rate European powers such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and the standards were significantly lowered.

The least valuable thing is the encirclement and suppression of backward indigenous peoples in front of us, whether they are the East Indian natives, the Patagonian Indian natives, or the West African black natives, and most of the praise is verbal.

Relevant combat records will be entered into the officer's personal file for reference when considering promotion and rank.

Then there is no more then.

(End of this chapter)