Chapter 491 The attack failed
In this way, the East African Army at the Songo military stronghold watched while the Portuguese were busy outside the city, but the Mozambican army itself was restrained by black people, because the French might be training them. Teach them how to make siege equipment!
It’s not like Africans can’t even make ladders, but this kind of craftsmanship depends on the region. For example, the indigenous people in tropical rainforest areas will build their nests on trees. Wooden ladders are an indispensable tool. Some Aboriginal kingdoms with a higher level of development also have similar needs and can make some simple wooden ladders.
And these wooden ladders are generally made of single logs with concave surfaces dug out, or tied with straw ropes. There are almost no wooden ladders with mortise and tenon structures or fixed with iron nails, so the ladders made by Africans It is also not suitable for sieges. If you use this kind of wooden ladder during a violent siege, you may be afraid that your own people will beat you first, and the East African Army may laugh out loud.
The indigenous people in East Africa are even less good. Most of them live in the savanna area and build shelters with plant fibers, woven strips or mud. They are often circular shacks less than two meters high. Or a square earth house, there is no need to climb up and down, so the simplest climbing tool, the ladder, has no application scenarios.
Kerry could only curse and lead people to personally guide the production, which wasted a lot of effort. It took him half a day to produce more than 20 aircraft.
Looking at the already darkening sky, Rhodes suggested: "Second Lieutenant Kerry, why not wait until tomorrow! We may have to spend the night here first."
Kerry is quite dissatisfied. Said: "No matter what, we must get the ladder ready tonight and launch the attack early tomorrow morning!"
As for the East African Army, they were just watching the fun and did not bother the Portuguese at all, because of intelligence reasons , the Songo military stronghold has long known that this may become the front line of fighting.
After the scout cavalry obtained information from outside Tete, it took them only two days to send the information to the Songo stronghold. Despite the small size of the Songo stronghold, a telegraph was installed, and they immediately The message was sent to Harare, the capital of Matabele Province.
The defense of Matabele Province is mainly under the jurisdiction of the 512th Division, so the 512th Division headquarters immediately ordered a company of troops to support the Songo stronghold that day. Just the day before the Portuguese finally arrived in Songo, the first batch of Songo's troops Reinforcements arrived.
So the current number of troops in the Songo stronghold has actually reached more than 500, which is no more than
The commander of the 512th Division: "First hold the enemy back, and let go of the weapons and ammunition. , the large force will arrive in three days. Don’t take the initiative to attack. It’s better to hold the Portuguese there.”
The order given by the 512th Division to the Songo defenders is to delay the Portuguese, even in East Africa. The army was fully capable of destroying the Portuguese vanguard outside the city, but East Africa still stood still.
As for the so-called large force, it is being mobilized from the South Salzburg Province towards the Zambezi Railway Bridge via the Central Railway. It is expected to arrive at the Songo stronghold in three or four days. This was carefully selected for the Portuguese army in East Africa. opponent.
The black army formed in East Africa can come in handy, but the direction of Mozambique's attack was not sure before, so the black army has stayed in South Salzburg Province. If the war suddenly breaks out, East Africa can also use the central railway to quickly deliver to various places. section.
So, like pigs, more than 30,000 black uncles were stuffed into train carriages to support the inland areas by the East African Army, sent to the Central Railway Bridge of the Zambezi River, and then all the way along the Zambezi River to the downstream pine trees. Ge area is quite close.
The rest of the black troops were waiting on the shores of Lake Malawi, waiting for the Mozambican soldiers to surrender.
The Songo defenders looked at the Portuguese who were still busy and mocked: "It's getting dark, why don't the Portuguese attack?"
"The so-called Portuguese Kingdom's army is like this Vice virtue? They didn’t even prepare anything and just decided to take advantage of the Songe stronghold, relying on their thoughts?”
It is true that Mozambique's vanguard troops are too shabby. They have no heavy weapons and they have not even prepared siege equipment. They have to wait until Songo to start making them. This makes the Songo defenders who have been preparing for several days feel very different. It is really serious. Are you here for a picnic?
"Company Commander, why don't we open the door now and fight out? The Portuguese black soldiers seem to have no experience at all. What combat effectiveness does this kind of army have? And there are too few of them."
< br>"I would also like to deal with these Portuguese people in front of us immediately. The problem is that the superiors issued orders that we are only allowed to defend and not attack."
"Then we just wait for the Portuguese to attack. That's too much. Passive. "Why are we passive? Now that we have bunkers and fortifications, as long as Fort Songo is not lost, we will have the initiative in the war. Are you afraid that the Portuguese army will be overturned?"
< br>
"Company commander, our four machine guns can give the Portuguese a head-on blow and let them know that times have changed." the machine gunner said.
Songe Stronghold originally had two machine guns. With the arrival of a company of the 512th Division, two more machine guns were added.
"Put away all the machine guns and don't let the Portuguese see them! What if you scare the Portuguese? Never use them except as a last resort."
Machine guns in East Africa preceded heavy artillery It was popularized to lower-level troops, so that even the companies of the 512th Division used machine guns. If these four machine guns were combined with great strength, then Mozambique's leading troops would not be enough to consume.
So in order to prevent the Portuguese from being too scared to increase their bets, the Songo stronghold had already removed the machine guns from the city head before the Portuguese came.
"Our stage is prepared for the black people behind. If the Portuguese are scared away, this battle will not be fought."
Machine guns are used to deal with infantry, especially infantry without countermeasures. , is almost the same as cutting leeks, so the Portuguese must be given the illusion that the equipment of the East African Army is similar to theirs.
In fact, the two are still far apart. First of all, East Africa is a defensive and counter-attack style, so it has an advantage in geographical location. Secondly, the Mauser and Dreiser rifles equipped by the East African Army are very effective against the Mozambican colonial army. Said, so even if East Africa does not use heavy weapons and colonial troops, it is still a dimensionality reduction strike.
After waiting all night, the Portuguese finally began to attack the Songo stronghold. As the defenders expected, the weapons equipped by the Portuguese army were relatively backward, so they were barely able to fire the Dreiser rifle at four or six, and were completely defeated. Mauser rifle suppression.
With the help of the city of Songo stronghold, its commanding position, and the advantage of shooting range, the Songo defenders completely suppressed the Portuguese army trying to charge.
Kerry: "Charge three times in a row and move towards the Songo stronghold."
But because of the lessons learned from the past, the black man who was driven forward carried the ladder as soon as he set off and lay motionless on the ground. Coupled with the constant gunfire in East Africa, Kerry thought they were dead. As a result, the gunfire in East Africa subsided slightly, and the black men lying on the ground got up alive again, which really allowed them to move forward a lot.
So much so that the East African commander ordered: "When you see the enemy who has just fallen down, don't hesitate to shoot me two or three more times."
These tricks of pretending to be dead can only be used in It was effective for the first time, and the bodies lying on the ground behind them might be shot again, which made the black Portuguese army try to retreat.
Kerry was supervising the battle from behind with a rifle: "Don't stop, charge forward, anyone who retreats will die!"
As he spoke, he picked up his rifle and shot directly at the black man who was trying to escape. In a stronghold like Songo, we must work hard to succeed, so we cannot let the fear of war expand.
However, the black soldiers did not give any support to Cree. The rhythm was disrupted and everyone behind them became timid. Several tentative attacks failed to work. Instead, nearly a hundred people were lost.
Kerry had to order to stop the attack. He said to Rhodes: "We need heavy firepower, or the East Africans take the initiative to go out of the city to fight, otherwise there will be no chance to break through Songo. Even if we can break through by luck, I'm afraid our people will It will also be polished.”
(End of this chapter)