Chapter 491 The attack failed
In this way, the East African Army at the Songo military stronghold watched the Portuguese busy outside the city, while the Mozambican army itself was restrained by black people, because the French might have taught them how to make siege equipment when they were training them!
Africans are not unable to make ladders, but this craft depends on the region. For example, indigenous people in tropical rainforest areas will build their nests on trees. Wooden ladders are an indispensable tool. Some indigenous people with a higher level of development The kingdom also has similar needs and can make some simple wooden ladders.
Moreover, 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 are not suitable for sieges. If you use this kind of wooden ladder during a violent siege, I'm afraid your own people will beat you up first, and the East African Army will laugh out loud.
The situation is even worse for the indigenous people in East Africa. Most of them live in the savanna area and use plant fibers, woven strips or mud to build shelters. They are often round shacks or square mud houses less than two meters high. There are no There is a need to climb up and down, so ladders, the simplest climbing tools, have no application scenarios.
Kerry could only curse and lead people to personally guide the production, which wasted a lot of effort. It took half a day to produce more than 20 aircraft.
Looking at the already darkening sky, Rhodes suggested: "Lieutenant Kerry, why not try again tomorrow! We may have to spend the night here first."
Kerry was quite dissatisfied and 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. Due to intelligence reasons, the Songo military stronghold had long known that this might become a front line for fighting.
After the reconnaissance 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, it also installed a telegraph and then sent the message to Matabe. Harare, the capital of Leh 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 people, which is no more than
The commander of the 512th Division said: "First hold back the enemy and release the weapons and ammunition. The large force will arrive in three days. Don't take the initiative to attack. It is best to hold the Portuguese where they live."
The order given by the 512th Division to the Songo garrison was to delay the Portuguese. Even though the East African Army was fully capable of destroying the Portuguese vanguard outside the city, the East African army 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 is a carefully selected opponent for the Portuguese army in East Africa.
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 by the East African Army to support the inland areas, sent to the Central Railway Bridge over the Zambezi River, and then moved all the way along the Zambezi River towards the Songo area downstream.
The rest of the black troops were waiting on the shores of Lake Malawi, waiting for the Mozambican soldiers to fall into their traps.
The defenders of Songo looked at the Portuguese who were still busy and mocked: "It's almost dark, why don't the Portuguese attack?"
“Is this the virtue of the so-called Portuguese Kingdom’s army? They plan to capture the Songo stronghold without even preparing anything, relying on their thoughts?”
It is true that the Mozambican vanguard was too shabby. They had no heavy weapons and no siege equipment was even prepared. They had to wait until Songo to start making them. This made the Songo defenders who had been preparing for several days feel very different. It was really serious. Are you here for a picnic?
“I would also like to deal with the Portuguese people in front of me 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 passive." "Why be passive? Now we have bunkers and fortifications. As long as Fort Songo is not lost, we have all the initiative in the war. Are you afraid of this? Did the Portuguese army turn things upside down?"
“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.
Songo stronghold originally had two machine guns. As a company of the 512th Division was stationed, two more machine guns were added.
“Put away all the machine guns and don’t let the Portuguese see them! What if the Portuguese are frightened? They must not be used unless absolutely necessary.”
Machine guns in East Africa were popularized to lower-level troops before heavy artillery, so much so that even the companies of the 512th Division used machine guns. If these four machine guns were combined with great force, the leading troops in Mozambique would not be enough to consume.
So in order to prevent the Portuguese from being too frightened to increase their bets, the Songo stronghold had already removed the machine guns from the city head before the Portuguese came.
“Our stage is for the black people behind us. If the Portuguese are scared away, this battle will not be fought.”
Machine guns are used to deal with infantry, especially infantry without countermeasures. It 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-offensive style, so it has an advantage in geographical location. Secondly, the Mauser and Dreiser rifles equipped by the East African Army are for the Mozambique colonial army, so even if East Africa does not Using heavy weapons and colonial troops 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 could barely fire the Dreiser rifles and were completely suppressed by the Mauser rifles.
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.
Kerri: "Charge three times in a row and move towards Songo's stronghold."
But because of the lessons learned from the past, the black people who were driven forward carried the ladder as soon as they started and lay motionless on the ground. In addition, the continuous gunfire in East Africa made Kerry think they were dead. As a result, the gunfire in East Africa weakened slightly. These black men lying on the ground jumped up again, which really made them 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 effective the first time. The corpses lying on the ground behind may be shot again, which makes the black Portuguese army try to retreat.
Kerri was supervising the battle from the rear with a rifle: "Don't stop, charge forward. Anyone who retreats will die!"
Speaking, he picked up his rifle and fired directly at the black people who were trying to escape. In a stronghold like Songe, our side must work hard to succeed, so we cannot let the fear of war expand.
However, the black soldiers did not give any favor to Cree. The rhythm was disrupted and everyone behind them became timid. Several tentative attacks failed to work, and nearly a hundred people were lost.
Kerry had to order the attack to stop. 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 am afraid that all our people will be defeated. "
(End of this chapter)