It is not easy to travel from a village of more than 1,000 people to a settlement fifty kilometers away. A broken home is worth tens of thousands of dollars. Even if these Somalis are not rich, they need to take away too many things, including pots and pans, pots and jars, cattle and
Needless to say, the sheep must be taken away, and the dogs and cats at home cannot be abandoned. Yang Mei walked around the village, and her expression was not relaxed when she came back.
"We may have to stay here overnight and can't set off until tomorrow morning." It is almost impossible for these Somalis to set off overnight. The terrain around Lugaya is complex, with high mountains and deep ravines, and rugged roads. It is inevitable to set off at night.
Accidents will happen.
"Then we'll camp here tonight and set off tomorrow morning." An Qi said in an easy-going manner. The night in Lugaya is not too cold. You can just wrap up a blanket and spend the night in the wild. The Gurkha mercenaries are not that delicate.
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Then camp on the spot. For safety reasons, the soldiers cannot enter the village. They camp on a higher hill near the village. Two armored vehicles, one behind the other, serve as defensive fulcrums to guard against possible accidents. The surrounding areas of the village are also
Patrol posts were set up to prevent these villagers from escaping overnight.
If you let these villagers go to residential areas, they will move slowly with their families. If you let them escape, they will move very fast and disappear without a trace overnight.
There was no talk all night. Early the next morning, the soldiers went from house to house urging the villagers to leave. At this time, another accident happened. Several old people in the village were unwilling to leave their homes. They would rather live and die with their homes.
The mercenaries didn't talk nonsense. After dragging the people out of the house, they started setting fire to the whole village and burned it down. This was also the command's request and they did not give the rebels any chance.
After much procrastination, it was already ten o'clock in the morning when the team set off. The villagers left the village almost step by step. The elder walked at the front of the team and sang a sad and sad song. The whole team was enveloped in a heavy
in the atmosphere.
"Order the troops to keep a distance from these villagers. Their current situation is very dangerous." An Qi reminded Yang Mei that this was a war between two ethnic groups. There was no tenderness, only cruelty and coldness.
Yang Mei nodded and said nothing. He had just graduated from Nyasaland Army Academy and it would take time to accept this colonialism.
Angel is commonplace. Although Angel did not participate in the Second Boer War, Angel has seen such scenes countless times on the Western Front.
Considering that even the French were forced to leave their homes during the world war, these Somalis had nothing to complain about. The end result of their weak strength was to be slaughtered by others without any ability to resist.
Looking at the time, An Qi asked the team to speed up and reach the settlement before sunset.
But this is not easy. Even if the troops are forced to march, it is impossible to cover 50 kilometers in one day, let alone these ordinary people with no organization and discipline, who drive squeaking ox carts and ox carts.
It was full of all kinds of so-called property that was almost like garbage. Sheep were their main property. Only a few families owned large livestock such as cattle and horses. There were not many women and children. Most of the villagers were young.
In their prime, this is probably related to their poor medical conditions. In Somaliland, many women die every year when giving birth. No one knows the exact number. The colonial government does not keep statistics and has no ability to change the status quo.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, four hours after the team had set off, it was less than five kilometers away from Lujiaya. This was already the result of repeated urging by the soldiers. Two bullock carts broke down and were forced to push into a deep ditch next to the mountain road.
, and a few sheep slipped and slid down the hillside, and another person fell to death trying to save the sheep.
"Let's take a rest and continue moving forward in half an hour -" An Qi chose to rest by a small river. She couldn't get to the residential area today and would definitely camp in the wild.
It was only now that An Qi discovered that the team of more than a thousand people, including ox carts and sheep, could stretch to about two kilometers. At this speed, it might not be possible to reach the settlement tomorrow, let alone the day after tomorrow.
And the key is that the longer they stay in the wild, the more dangerous the troops are. No one knows where Hassan is hiding. Maybe an ambush circle has been set up on a hill not far away. As long as the team steps in, they will be
Will be besieged by rebels.
An Qi also noticed this problem and sent two mercenaries during the break. They mounted their horses and returned to Berbera in advance to request support. Although the troops had made sufficient preparations when they set off, they still underestimated the difficulties.
What An Qi didn't expect was that shortly after the two mercenaries set off, An Qi heard vague gunfire from ahead.
"Our soldiers may have been attacked -" Yang Mei's face turned pale. She didn't expect to encounter such a bad situation on her first mission.
An Qi was decisive and ordered Yang Mei to lead the mercenaries to keep an eye on these villagers, while she pursued them with two armored vehicles following the sound of gunfire.
As soon as they rounded a forest, An Qi found a killed war horse on the side of the road.
At this time, someone suddenly shot at the armored vehicle in the woods on the roadside.
An Qi was not willing to fight and directed the armored vehicle to retreat and stay out of the attack range of the rebels in the woods. The rebels had no artillery and the rifles were not powerful enough. As long as they kept the distance, the rebels had no chance of defeating the armored vehicle. Even if the armored vehicle ran out of ammunition,
Armored vehicles can also use their speed to evacuate.
When the gunfire rang out, Yang Mei was also in trouble.
After An Qi left, Yang Mei ordered the soldiers to gather. When a soldier passed by a group of villagers, a villager suddenly grabbed the soldier's rifle.
The soldier reacted quickly and hit the enemy with the butt of his rifle. He pulled out his machete with his backhand and slashed through the enemy with one blow.
More than one villager rushed forward. They really hated the mercenaries. They roared and rushed toward them while still calling for more Somalis.
The soldiers also realized that rifles were not convenient to use at this time, and machetes and pistols were the weapons for close combat.
In about two or three minutes, 135 villagers died and 12 Gurkha mercenaries were injured. Most of the mercenaries were bitten or bruised. Only two mercenaries were seriously injured. They were hidden by the villagers.
Stung by a dagger, a mercenary bled to death before he could wait for help from his companions.
Yang Mei ignored the villagers and directed the soldiers to set up defensive positions by the river. The troops were well prepared when they set off. They only brought four heavy machine guns with enough bullets, but Yang Mei did not forget to tell the machine gunners to use bullets sparingly.
, Yang Mei still doesn’t know how many rebels there are, so it’s definitely right to use bullets sparingly.
Like Yang Mei, An Qi was also cautious. When the armored vehicle was attacked, it only fired two bursts of fire into the woods as a deterrent shot, and then retreated to the river to join the large troops.
"They are indeed rebels, but I don't know how many there are. They are hiding in the woods." An Qi informed Yang Mei of the situation. The situation is a bit complicated now. The two armored vehicles An Qi brought did not carry wireless telegraphs and could not communicate with Bai Bai.
Get in touch with Perla.
"You rush out with the armored vehicle to ask for help. I will lead the troops to defend on the spot. The number of rebels cannot be too large, and their combat effectiveness is limited. We have heavy machine guns, which can completely withstand the rebel attack." Yang Mei was decisive. At this time
Don't think about annihilating the rebels first. How to preserve yourself is what a qualified commander should do.
"No, I'll stay with you." An Qi was calm and commanded the soldiers to remove the large-caliber heavy machine gun from the armored vehicle to strengthen the defense. The armored vehicle would be lighter and could run faster.
"It's useless for you to stay. It's more important to bring reinforcements and eliminate those rebels." Yang Mei hopes that Anqi will be out of danger. If nothing else, if the son of the governor of Nyasaland dies in Somalia——
Whether to retaliate or not will be discussed later. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if word spread?
"I am the supreme commander. I will never leave early when the troops are in danger. Do you understand me?" An Qi growled. Although she was born in a distinguished family, An Qi does not lack courage.
Just when An Qi and Yang Mei were arguing, the rebels had surrounded them from all directions. Now it's better, no one can leave now.
"Prepare for combat and save bullets. The enemy is only allowed to fire after entering the 200-meter area. Stop shooting after entering the 50-meter area and prepare for counterattack. Get your grenades ready-" An Qi and Yang Mei no longer argued. In fact,
It doesn't matter whether we send armored vehicles or not. Berbera has reconnaissance planes that fly in the sky every day. As long as they fly over, they will find the fighting happening here.
After the troops set off, if they do not return to Berbera within the normal time, Berbera will also send troops to search for it. Therefore, it does not take too long, at most one day and one night, before Berbera will discover the situation here.
Of course, the most convenient thing is wireless telegraphy. After returning to Berbera this time, Angel will suggest that Rock equip more armored vehicles with wireless telegraphy. Technically, this is no longer a problem. The only constraint is the production of wireless telegraphy.
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The rebels also knew that time was running out and did not give An Qi and the others much preparation time. The large-caliber heavy machine guns on the armored vehicles had not yet been removed, and the rebels couldn't wait to launch an attack.
When sporadic rebel figures appeared on the distant hills, An Qi had not yet realized that the rebels had begun to attack. You must know that on the Western Front, troops usually carried out artillery strikes for several hours or even a week before attacking.
, now that the battle starts so silently, An Qi is not used to it.
The machine gunner strictly followed An Qi and Yang Mei's orders to save bullets. The machine gunner would never fire unless the rebels entered within 200 meters.
It was the precision shooters who fired first. The two vehicle crews An Qi brought actually had four precision shooters. Now the opportunity for the precision shooters came.