Wednesday, October 28, 1637. The temperature was sixteen degrees Celsius, the west wind was level 5, and the weather was clear.

A team of more than 200 people drove out the heavy iron-packed door of the Hezhong Fort in the early morning and gathered on the dock. Driven by local militia, more than 60 shackled Koisan slaves took eight small boats to serve as paddlers. The small boats were loaded with supplies needed for the battle: powder barrels, drinking water barrels, liquor barrels, cannons, armor, dry food, cured meat, canned fruits, hemostatic bandages and other supplies. Each small boat had several gun-carrying militias as escort personnel. Due to the lack of sufficient horse-drawn and poor road traffic facilities, most of the supplies needed for this expedition were more practical through water transportation.

On the shore, there were fully armed marching columns. The lead was the scout cavalry acted as the ones of five or six local residents. They rode a few precious Andalusian horses and wandered around the main force, reconnaissance of the surrounding situation, and occasionally feedback the reconnaissance information.

The main force was a company of army soldiers. They were wearing dark blue uniforms and high-tube boots, carrying rifles with a relaxed expression, and advanced neatly under the command of the officers. In front of them was a cold weapon army composed of more than 30 English and Dutch prisoners and some Coisan slaves, each carrying a three-meter spear. This was their entire equipment, and as cheap consumables, they were not qualified to have armor.

The empty plains are full of lush forests and meadows. The southwestern corner of South Africa has a typical Mediterranean climate with more precipitation. Unlike other tropical savanna areas that lack precipitation, there are rich vegetation here. Correspondingly, animal resources are also abundant and agricultural conditions are also good. Therefore, the excellent natural conditions here attract a large number of Koisan and Bantu people to hunt, grazing and farm.

Of course, now it attracts East Coast people to settle. The neighboring Coisans and Bantu people did not realize what kind of person their new neighbors were, and when they realized it was the darkest day in the memory of many of them.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the troops camped near the river bank. Army soldiers took off thick wooden stakes and circles of barbed wire from the dinghys. They used iron hammers to nail the stakes to the ground, and then pulled up several barbed wires along the stakes. They hung many bells on the wires again and again. Several military dogs who were excitedly jumping were also led by sentries and arranged in various corners.

These things are strictly required to be followed in the infantry rituals. If the troops outside marching do not build complete night camping facilities according to the requirements of the infantry rituals, or omit some steps in order to save trouble, they may be reported by soldiers or military judges, and their chief officers will be held accountable.

After everything was ready, the soldiers drove the slaves off the ship, and then tied them together with shackles. The slaves all received a promise in advance that if they were not dead after the battle, they would be free. Therefore, the slaves under the supervision of a few militia were still calm, silently ate the thick and dry food from their hair. Then they lay on the ground and closed their eyes to rest.

The soldiers' dinner was cured meat, wheat cakes, vegetable and soybean soup and canned fruits. The dinner for the officers and senior officers was slightly richer. In addition to the above food, each person could also get two slices of cheese, a spoonful of precious sugar and half a glass of beer.

Anda ate his dinner voraciously, then got up and poured half a glass of beer next to the barrel. He was a veteran non-commissioned officer and one of the platoon leaders, so he could enjoy this privilege. The one who managed the barrel was a young soldier who looked only seventeen or eighteen years old. He smelled the aroma of the beer and swallowed a little unyieldingly.

"Why did such a young child come out to fight?" Anda Fifteen said with a frown, "Where are you from? Are you eighteen years old?"

"Report to the sir!" The soldier who managed the wine barrel stood attentively and replied loudly: "I am from Henan Fort and I just turned 18 before the recruitment."

"What happened to your village chief and militia director? Isn't there anyone else? Such a young child is also sent out?" Anda Thirteen drank beer while habitually accusing the grassroots officials in Henan Fort. In fact, this is also a common phenomenon in the army today. Both officers and soldiers have a strong sense of responsibility and often point fingers at things they don't like. This also makes government officials extremely dissatisfied and is one of the root causes of the conflict between the two sides.

"I... my family is poor, and I am the only one in my family. My sister and my mother." The young soldier said stammeringly when he saw Anda Fifteen's face was not very good, "My sister just got married a few years ago. Zhao Zhao's brother-in-law is... an Italian who comes to the house and helps farm at home. The village chief saw that my family was in trouble, so he reported my name when the army recruited soldiers."

Anda Fifteen was slightly stunned, and said nothing, stuffed the beer glasses left in his hand into the young soldier's hands, and then said, "War is not for the sake of making money! I can fight five new recruits like you, and you can't even have a life of reckless ghosts like you, let alone make money. Be smart when fighting tomorrow. Which of your squads are you? Follow your brothers closely, don't be afraid or excited, be careful. Take the wine and drink it. After drinking, send the cup to me."

"Sir..." the young soldier shouted in a stutter.

"Speak up what's the matter! I'm going to hold a regular thought meeting for my soldiers." Anda Fifteen said with a frown and a little displeased.

"I...If I...I'm dead tomorrow, can you please go and see my mother after you go back?" The young soldier was a little scared at first, but then he became more and more fluent in speaking: "My platoon leader is Sergeant Hans, but he is too fierce, I'm afraid of him. You..."

"Okay, I promise you!" Anda Fifteen said, "If you die, I will help you take care of your mother, don't worry. What's your name?"

"My name is Liu Dayou, from the second production team of Henan Fort."

"I remember, Liu Dayou. Stop thinking about it, go back to your job." Anda Shiwu waved his hand and said while turning around.

After dinner, the entire campsite fell into silence after arranging the staff.

There was nothing to say all night. Early the next morning, after breakfast, the whole team embarked on a journey in the morning light. According to the information we had obtained in advance, it was less than three hours away from the first Bantu black settlement. The soldiers took light steps and rested for ten minutes in the middle and quickly arrived at their destination.

The scouts came back on war horses, and they threw down several tightly tied Bantu blacks from the horses, all sentinels of the settlements.

"Prepare for battle!" Commander Xie Hansan pulled out his saber, pointed forward, and said, "There are all, one-line battle formation, the goal is: a village six hundred meters ahead. Hold the flag bearer, show the flag! The drum and trumpet master, play music! Go forward!"

"From forward, forward..." The drum trumpeter played the familiar "Victory belongs to the Army March" by the soldiers. Then nine platoons of riflemen divided into three rows, stepping on the drum beats, and lined up in neat formations. On both sides of them were more than a dozen heavy armored grenadiers, with pistols, sabers and medicine bags hanging around their waists, holding pots in one hand, and wooden boxes filled with small hand-throwing bombs in the other, wandering on both sides of the riflemen's formation.

The servants and spearmen acted more first than the riflesmen. The militia temporarily removed the shackles on their feet, and then once again announced to them that they would have freedom after the battle. The slave soldiers carried the spears with numb expressions, neither resisted nor excited, but walked forward silently under the urging of the officers.

The Bantu people had discovered these uninvited guests. According to the information investigated in advance, there were about 600 people in this Bantu village, of which less than 200 were strong men. However, it seemed that the information was obviously not very accurate at this time. The Bantu village occupied a large area, and a large number of Bantu people in animal skins walked out of the thatched huts they built with branches and weeds, and they also held weapons such as darts, spears, bows and arrows.

Surprisingly, the black men in Bantu were all iron weapons in their hands, which showed that they had the ability to smelter iron, or at least they could trade iron weapons or tools. This made the army soldiers slightly put aside their contempt for them, and the civilized level of these barbarians did not seem as bad as they imagined.

Driven by the artillery soldiers, the slaves of Coissan pulled several cannons up. There was no traffic facilities here that could be called roads, and it was inconvenient to move the cannons. Fortunately, the surrounding terrain was relatively flat, so the cannons would not be able to be pulled to the front line to play a role.

Just as the artillery and the bulky artillery were competing, the infantry brothers in front were about to fight with the enemy. These Bantu blacks saw two hundred obviously malicious enemies rushing up, but they didn't dodge and rushed forward with iron weapons.

Are these black people crazy? Such an idea came to mind involuntarily. Many of them had participated in small battles in China to suppress some Chalua or Guarani riots. The natives of South America had no courage to face the army soldiers lined up in close formations.

But these black people in front of you have it!

It's really strange. Is there anything different between the blacks in South Africa? Or are they particularly possess the innate courage to fight? The army brothers didn't have time to think about more, because hundreds of slave spearmen in front of them soon fought with these blacks. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better and faster!
Chapter completed!