Lake Rukwa is a seasonal lake whose area changes significantly with the seasons. The rainy season is 150 kilometers long and 25 to 30 kilometers wide. It sometimes dries up in the dry season.
The amazing thing is that even so, Lake Rukwa is still rich in fish resources, but Tanganyika has not yet had time to develop Lake Rukwa, so Lake Rukwa is not well known.
Tanganyika is actually uniquely endowed with rich fishery resources. It not only occupies half of the North Sea, but also Lake Victoria, the largest in Africa. That’s why Rock coveted Tanganyika.
Helmut Castle was built between Lake Rukwa and the North Sea. Like Glory Castle, it was also part of the von Trotta plan.
After the rebellion at Fort Glory, the then Commander-in-Chief of Tanganyika, von Trotta, immediately ordered the Helmut Fort garrison to execute all Taite Hispanic workers and destroy all the unfinished Helmut Fort.
Blow it up to avoid being exploited by the Rebels of Fort Glory.
Therefore, the current Helmut Fort is a piece of ruins and has no use value in the eyes of the Germans. However, in the opinion of Zhong Duxing, the leader of the Second Division Teaching Group, Helmut Fort is just suitable for the teaching group to set up positions. p>
The teaching regiment of the Second Division has a total of 1,800 people. Including auxiliary troops during wartime, the total number of people is about 3,000.
Compared with the Second Tanganyika Division, although the teaching group is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, its equipment level and training level are far superior to those of the Second Tanganyika Division.
Moreover, the auxiliary force of the teaching group is composed of the Nyasaland militia. These people can also charge into battle at critical moments, so in terms of military strength, the overall gap between the two sides is not large.
"This is the first battle for our Northern Rhodesia Division to go abroad. We must show the prestige of our Northern Rhodesia Division. If anyone embarrasses our Northern Rhodesia Division on the battlefield, don't blame our brothers for being unkind and killing themselves.
It can also earn the family the status of a martyr's family member." Although the Northern Rhodesia Division has been reorganized into the Second Division, Feng Duxing still habitually uses the name Northern Rhodesia Division.
In fact, this is also the tradition of the British army. The three regiments of the newly formed 1st Cavalry Division also had their own names at that time. The teaching regiment of the Northern Rhodesia Division also had a name called Nyasaland Commando Regiment, but because at that time
Nyasaland cannot have troops, so this name is just an internal code name.
It doesn't matter now. After joining the Southern African Federal Government, the Nyasaland Commando Regiment no longer needs to be secretive.
Before setting off, all the members of the Nyasaland Assault Regiment had written suicide notes and were prepared to die on the battlefield. As the leader of the regiment, Feng Duxing set an example, and it took a long time to hold in his breath.
Since von Trotta took office and the conflict broke out in Tanganyika and Nyasaland, the regiments under the Northern Rhodesian Division have also been in turmoil. Martin has received bloody letters from his subordinates almost every day asking for battle. This time the General Staff chose
The Nyasaland Assault Regiment went on an expedition, and the other regiments of the Second Division were jealous and jealous. If they lost the battle, it would not only lose the face of the Assault Regiment, but also leave evidence to the Germans. In order to deceive others, all the officers and soldiers of the assault regiment, including Feng Duxing, used oil paint to dye their exposed skin black, and then put on various clothes, so that the assault regiment looked almost the same as the rebels of Fort Glory.
The officers who participated in the briefing had different expressions. The commander of the first battalion, who was responsible for frontal defense, and the commander of the second battalion, who was responsible for outflanking, both had happy faces. The commander of the third battalion, who was in charge of the reserve team, had a look of resignation.
There is no way around this. The assault group wants to fight a beautiful battle of annihilation, and Feng Duxing also needs to keep a force on hand to deal with various emergencies.
"Once again, we cannot abandon our comrades under any circumstances. We cannot leave any evidence to the Germans, otherwise we will not only have to face pressure from Germany, but London may also abandon us. Remember, we are
This was a secret battle. Even if we annihilated the 2nd Tanganyika Division, we might not get the honor we deserve, but this is a test for our assault regiment. I hope you will do your best to defeat our assault regiment.
Military prestige - "Randall Wesley, chief of staff of the Commando Regiment, is also from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, but his resume is not as dazzling as Derek Dodd.
As the Chief of Staff of the Assault Regiment, Randall Wesley is very aware of the training level of the Assault Regiment, but the training level is one thing, and actually going to the battlefield is another.
Before the Franco-Prussian War, the French army seemed to have a good level of training and was worthy of the status of "the world's best army". However, after the war broke out, the French army collapsed and lost the title of "the world's best army" to others.
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It was through the Franco-Prussian War that Germany made a splash and was in the limelight for a while.
Therefore, although Randall Wesley has confidence in the Commando Regiment, he still has some worries. Although the Commando Regiment has also experienced the test of Natal counter-insurgency, the strength of the Natal rebels and the Tanganyikad Army
Their qualities are different. It’s good to win this battle, but what if we lose——
The consequences are disastrous.
"Okay, let's get ready. Remember, adjust the intensity of firepower appropriately so as not to scare away the Germans all at once -" Feng Duxing reminded again, in case the battle started and the battalion responsible for carrying it forward would use full firepower.
That could really scare the Germans away.
Measured by the firepower standards of this era, the firepower equipment of the assault regiment was abnormal. When the First World War broke out, the United States, the most powerful firepower in the world, only equipped one division with 300 machine guns, and the teaching regiment had 1,800 machine guns.
Hundreds of people, equipped with more than a hundred light and heavy machine guns, the firepower density is almost three times that of the US military during World War I.
If coupled with the Super Revolver configured at the squad level, if the Germans dare to form a dense formation, they will die as many as they come. The assault regiment is fully capable of turning Helmut Fort into a meat grinder like the Somme River.
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When the officers held a pre-war mobilization meeting, the officers and soldiers on the front line were also setting up positions.
Although the Northern Rhodesian Division did not have many opportunities to participate in the war, it often held various confrontation exercises internally, so the position setting was different from the linear positions popular in European countries nowadays.
Compared with the linear position, the assault regiment's position is closer to the trench position in the late World War I. It is more layered, more conducive to the use of firepower, and can also provide better protection for the soldiers.
The only drawback is that the construction of such a position requires more civil engineering work, so the assault regiment has auxiliary troops.
To put it bluntly, the auxiliary troops have to carry ammunition when moving troops, dig trenches before the battle, carry the wounded and carry corpses during the battle, and clean the battlefield after the battle, which is much more tiring than the regular troops.
Nyasaland's troops did not have a direct artillery unit at the battalion level. In order to strengthen the firepower of the first battalion, Feng Duxing deployed the regiment's artillery company to the first battalion's position, plus the 60mm caliber mortars equipped by the first battalion.
The firepower is pretty good.
The position of the first battalion, the artillery position is located at the left rear of the position.
Here I would like to introduce the terrain of Helmut Fort. The terrain around Helmut Fort is hilly. Helmut Fort is built on a fairly high hill. There is a reverse slope on the left rear of the 1st Battalion position.
Mortars have no impact, but they have a great impact on the field artillery equipped by German troops.
To put it simply, after the battle begins, the mortars of the first battalion can directly attack the attacking troops, but the artillery unit of the Second Tanganyika Division cannot suppress the fire of the first battalion.
Wait——
The Second Tanganyika Division has no artillery unit at all. The entire Tanganyika German Army is only equipped with twelve artillery pieces that are almost obsolete, and they are still unable to move on the Usombula fort. As for the more advanced field artillery
, the German government cannot even guarantee the local regular army, and does not have the strength to equip the colonial servant army.
That's why Feng Duxing is so confident, because Feng Duxing can't think of a reason why the Second Tanganyika Division can defeat the assault regiment.
Chen Ling is a machine gunner in the first battalion, company, platoon and squad. It can also be seen from the serial number that Chen Ling can be regarded as the best machine gunner in the first battalion. He has won the ranking in the internal competition of the Northern Rhodesian Division many times.
The Asalan Army Academy once wanted to transfer Chen Ling to the Army Academy as an instructor, but unfortunately Chen Ling still cannot speak English well, so the trip was not possible.
A machine gun team of the Nyasaland army usually consists of three people, one machine gunner and two deputy shooters. The machine gunner is mainly responsible for resisting the machine gun, and the deputy shooter is responsible for carrying spare barrels and bullets. If the machine gunner is in battle,
If you are killed in battle, then the assistant shooter must keep an eye on him in time. Considering the importance of firepower, the machine gunner will definitely be taken care of during the battle. Therefore, the machine gunner is a high-risk profession, and the normal salary is also very generous, and he does not even need to use trenches.
Dig it yourself.
Of course, this time because of the special situation, it was not the militia that dug the trenches, but the Glory Castle rebels.
"It doesn't work here. The width of the trench needs to be increased. Put a few more sandbags on the front. There is no need to reserve shooting holes -" A deputy shooter was teaching Mu Mu's men to dig trenches. In fact, it was useless to say all this, Mu Mu said
Most of my subordinates don’t understand English, let alone Chinese.
Traditional machine gun positions have shooting holes opened directly in front of the position, which can directly fire at attacking troops.
The assault regiment uses crossfire, so the firing holes are located on the sides of the position, with no openings at all on the front. This also reduces the possibility of the machine gunner being directly attacked.
Such a position is mainly based on trust in his comrades. As a special shooter, Chen Ling is very confident in his shooting skills and has enough confidence to ensure that no enemy in the shooting range can pass smoothly.
Similarly, Chen Ling also had confidence in the shooting skills of his comrades. While Chen Ling was protecting his comrades, his comrades were also protecting Chen Ling.
"Damn weather--" Deputy shooter Tang Yi wiped his military boots distressedly. Although the assault regiment did not wear military uniforms, they still wore the issued military boots. This habit cannot be changed for a while.