North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 218 The Highest Respect
"Crack...!"

Colonel Franco's saber struck a heavy machine gunner's shoulder, cleaving the California National Guard soldier in two from shoulder to abdomen!
"what……!"

The heavy machine gunner was still alive, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Kill...kill them all...!"

Although Colonel Franco was over forty years old, he unleashed an unprecedented level of fighting power. With a long, gleaming saber, he slashed left and right, instantly cutting down several soldiers around him.

"snort……!"

Shi Dakai snorted angrily, released the trigger of the HM51 heavy machine gun, stood up, and drew two Colt revolvers from his waist.

"Snapped……!"

Shi Dakai swung his gun and fired, hitting Colonel Franco squarely in the neck!

"Pfft... Ah...!"

Colonel Franco was shot through the neck, and after a scream, he fell headlong from his horse.

“Pah pah pah pah…!”

Shi Dakai fired several shots in quick succession, knocking down all the cavalrymen in his line of sight.

At this moment, the defense line, which had been temporarily thrown into chaos, finally came to its senses.

More National Guard soldiers, facing the few remaining cavalrymen, raised their HM49 rifles.

"Bang bang bang...!"

In an instant, gunfire erupted, knocking all the warhorses and cavalrymen wielding sabers to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the battlefield fell silent.

Only the cavalrymen and their horses, lying in pools of blood, were not yet dead. They struggled, screamed, and neighed amidst the rampant flow of blood...!
"Clean up the battlefield immediately and reinforce the defenses...!"

Shi Dakai, carrying his two guns still shrouded in smoke, surveyed the distant night: "Since the enemy's reinforcements have arrived, they must be more than just this few men!"

"More reinforcements are on their way...!"

While calmly issuing orders, Shi Dakai surveyed the corpses and wounded scattered on the ground.

"Brigade Commander, there's a high-ranking officer here... who's still alive!"

The soldiers cleaning up the battlefield shouted excitedly at Shi Dakai.

Shi Dakai, carrying two pistols, walked up to Colonel Franco, who was struggling in a pool of blood.

"Three silver stars... he's a colonel...!"

Shi Dakai carefully observed the other man's rank and asked in a deep voice, "Colonel, how many men are in your reinforcements? What branch of service are they? When will they arrive?"

"Ho...ho...!"

Colonel Franco, whose neck had been pierced by Shi Dakai's gunshot, coughed up a terrible amount of blood and foam from his mouth and nose.

Franco clutched his gruesome wound tightly with both hands, but blood still flowed uncontrollably from between his fingers.

Colonel Franco stared intently at the young Chinese man before him with eyes full of hatred.

His throat moved, making a sound like "Hehe...!" as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

"What a pity...!" Shi Dakai looked at his injuries and knew he couldn't get any information out of him, so he could only shake his head slightly with regret: "A colonel who could personally lead cavalry and charge ahead."

“You are a warrior too!” Shi Dakai shook his head and said, “Unfortunately, we are enemies… The greatest respect I can give you is to grant you a quick death!”

As he spoke, Shi Dakai raised his gun and fired a shot that blew Colonel Franco's heart out.

"call……!"

Colonel Franco stared intently at Shi Dakai, his heart filled with resentment, before taking his last breath.

"Brigadier, there are a few soldiers here with relatively minor injuries...!"

……

After seeing Colonel Franco off, Shi Dakai immediately began interrogating the prisoners he had captured.

From these wounded soldiers and prisoners, Shi Dakai learned that the reinforcements were from the 5th Independent Cavalry Brigade of the New Grenada Army.

The vanguard of the Fifth Brigade consisted of only one battalion.

The man who had just died by his own gun was none other than Colonel Franco, the chief of staff of the 3rd Division of the New Grenada Army.

"So that means...!" Shi Dakai pondered, "There are more than three thousand cavalrymen behind the Fifth Brigade? Are they on their way to reinforce us?"

"Yes, sir...!" the wounded soldier replied tremblingly.

"When will the reinforcements arrive at Gamboashan?" Shi Dakai continued to ask.

"At the latest...at the latest by dawn today...!"

"It's dawn today...!" Shi Dakai pulled out his pocket watch: "At most, there are still three hours left!"

"Take them away!" Shi Dakai said in a deep voice. "Don't mistreat the prisoners of war, treat their wounds...!"

"Yes, Commander!!"

After the wounded soldiers and prisoners were taken away, Shi Dakai turned to the staff officers in the command post and said, "If we can wipe out this cavalry force of more than three thousand men...!"

"Not only will Gambo and Asan not receive any reinforcements for a short period of time, but we will also face no major obstacles on our way to the port of Coron!"

"Brigade Commander...!" an aide asked in surprise, "You mean, we not only want to capture Gamboa Mountain, but also wipe out the reinforcements in one fell swoop?"

Shi Dakai nodded: "That's right!" "The reason why Gambo Asan is resisting so fiercely is because they are still hoping that reinforcements will arrive and attack us from both sides to wipe us out."

"If we can wipe out this reinforcement, their morale will collapse rapidly in their despair...!"

The staff officer asked doubtfully, "Brigade Commander, but our original battle plan was to capture Gamboa Mountain within twenty-four hours...!"

Shi Dakai shook his head and said, "There are no fixed formations in warfare, just as there are no fixed forms in water... Now that Gambo Ashan's will to resist is so firm, even if we can take it down through a strong attack, we will definitely pay a huge price in casualties."

"Instead of continuing to launch a strong attack on Gamboashan, we should besiege the stronghold and attack the reinforcements, and wipe out this Fifth Cavalry Brigade."

"As long as the reinforcements are eliminated, the will of Gamboashan's defenders to resist will be greatly weakened, or even collapse."

"In this way, the difficulty and cost of conquering Gamboa Mountain will be greatly reduced."

After careful consideration, the advisors felt that the argument made sense.

"However, brigade commander, we are under immense pressure to wipe out a cavalry brigade while we need to be wary of a counterattack from the Gamboashan garrison. One wrong move and we could be surrounded!"

"Haha!" Shi Dakai suddenly laughed: "If the garrison of Gambo Ashan dares to counterattack, that would be a good thing!"

"They hide in trenches and fortifications like turtles, and without heavy artillery, it's difficult for us to break through their shells."

"If they stick their heads out of their turtle shells...!" With that, Shi Dakai used his hand as a knife, and with a swift stroke, "I'll chop off their turtle heads!"

"Commander, you mean...!"

Shi Dakai stared at the battle map on the table: "From Kolon Port to Gamboa Mountain, there are two routes, one to the south and one to the north."

"I have personally walked both of these roads."

"The road to the north is shorter, but it crosses many hills and is winding and narrow, which is not conducive to the movement and deployment of cavalry."

"The main road is to the south. Although it is a bit longer, the road is wide and flat, which is conducive to the movement of large cavalry units."

"The vanguard of this 5th Cavalry Brigade came from the southern main road."

"I judge that the cavalry of the Fifth Brigade that follows can only arrive to provide support via the southern road."

"And on both sides of the main road to the south are dense jungles, which are very conducive to ambush operations...!"

The staff officers understood that they were going to take advantage of the 5th Cavalry Brigade's eagerness to support the Gamboa Mountain battlefield and ambush this cavalry force of several thousand men.

"Brigadier, what about the forces Gambo and Ashan are using to counterattack...?"

Shi Dakai pondered for a moment and said, "The garrison at Gamboashan has a commanding position and a wide field of vision!"

"If they discover that the reinforcements sent to their aid have been ambushed and are in imminent danger, will they urgently send troops to their aid...?"

"This... a siege attack on a key point to lure reinforcements... a double attack?!?"

……

Just over two hours later, the main force of the 5th Independent Cavalry Brigade of the New Grenada Army, more than 3,000 cavalrymen, led by Brigade Commander Barbos, arrived at the outer edge of the battlefield.

In the morning glow, Mount Gamboa, several kilometers away, was already visible in the distance.

At this moment, the battle on the mountain was in full swing, with explosions, gunshots, and shouts of killing echoing in the air, carried faintly by the wind.

The 5th Cavalry Brigade, which had halted its advance, observed the battle on the mountain for a moment through binoculars, and said in a deep voice, "Fortunately, our reinforcements arrived in time. Gamboa Mountain is still in our hands!"

"Brigade Commander, how should we deploy reinforcements?" an aide asked.

Brigadier General Babos replied, "Judging from the situation on the mountain, the battle won't end anytime soon."

"In that case, we won't rush to storm the mountain immediately!"

Brigadier General Barbos pondered for a moment and said, "Pass on my order: the main force will advance to search."

"Find the enemy command post as soon as possible, and do our best to strike directly at the enemy command post and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop."

"If we can't find the enemy's command post, then we can find the enemy's main force and launch an attack from the rear, which can also annihilate most of the enemy in one fell swoop."

Looking at the dense jungle on both sides of the road, Barbos said, "Send two companies as the vanguard, dismount and enter the jungle to search and advance, and be wary of any possible ambushes."

"Yes, sir!!"

At this point, Barbos asked again, "Is there any news about the First Battalion, which was the first to set off to reinforce last night?"

All the advisors shook their heads.

Brigade Commander Barbos frowned slightly: "Where did that Franco lead my First Battalion?"

Brigade Commander Babos and his staff did not think much of it.

They simply believed that the First Battalion's continued absence meant they were either lost in the dark or already engaged in battle with the enemy somewhere.

……

Meanwhile, the two battalions of the National Guard had already withdrawn overnight.

At this moment, the First and Second Battalions, one on the left and one on the right, were lying in ambush in the dense tropical rainforest, enduring the ubiquitous mosquito bites.

"Click, click, click...!"

Xu Lin, the company commander of the first company of the first battalion, who was lying in ambush on the left side of the road, suddenly twitched his ears and heard the sound of tree branches breaking and messy footsteps not far away.

"Company Commander...!"

A soldier crawled up to Xu Lin and whispered, "A company of enemies dismounted and searched the area..."

(End of this chapter)