African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 402: Chapter 79 Changing Hands

The Niggas were forced to launch a death charge towards the East Africa positions, wielding weapons made by ’all nations,’ directly advancing towards the 111th Division.

”Open fire!” Following the order from the frontline commander of the 111th Division, the East African Army took aim and pulled the trigger, ”Bang... Bang... Bang...” The interlocking and rhythmical gunfire shot at the Niggas, instantly knocking down a row of them.

Because the 111th Division was well-established to begin with, coupled with long-term training, their marksmanship was generally good, which was unfortunate for the opposing Niggas.

A distance of 500 meters was not very far, but for the Niggas, it was a tragic, point of no return. However, the marksmanship of the East African soldiers was clearly not enough to intimidate them, as terrifying as rifles could be, the deterrent effect was no match for the machine guns Wiggins had demonstrated to them before the battle.

It must be noted, Wiggins personally selected over twenty slaves to stand in front of the machine guns, allowing the other slaves to witness what it was like for flesh and blood to fly in an instant. That scene virtually became a nightmare for the Niggas. Compared to being blown to bits, having only a few extra holes in one’s body was noticeably better. Although it was still a death, at least one could leave a whole corpse, which might, possibly, reduce the pain of the soul after death.

Even though the Niggas were fearless of death, none could break through the network of fire formed by the Dreyse Rifle squad of East Africa. Without surprise, all the Niggas who joined the charge fell, although it was unclear if any were playing dead on the ground.

”Engineers, keep working and ignore everything else!” After destroying the attacking Niggas, the frontline commanders of the East African 111th Division gave their orders.

Meanwhile, Wiggins saw the result of the battle from the city wall and merely remarked, ”Useless.”

Yet, Wiggins chose not to continue with such meaningless attacks. The previous round alone had cost several hundred Niggas, which was supposed to be the East African Army’s lot, given they were on the defensive side.

Still, he couldn’t do nothing at all, so he ordered, ”Third Battery, aim a cannon at the German position and fire a shot for me!”

The already loaded 8-pound cannon shot towards the East African position, and soldiers from the 111th Division, who were staring at the city head, sensed that something was amiss when they saw the Boers adjusting the cannon’s angle. Fortunately, the trench beside them had already taken shape, so they entered the trench to take cover.

”Boom... Bang...”

A thick cloud of smoke from various countries rose behind the 111th Division soldiers, and the original flat land turned into a massive crater, covering the East African soldiers in the trench beside the crater in dirt.

”The Boers used artillery, let’s show them something too!” Chris gritted his teeth and said, ”Artillery, prepare!”

The 111th Division was equipped with 67 cannons, all of which were 3-pounders, a type once common in European armies but no longer used in large scale by countries like Prussia. East Africa continued to use 3-pounders primarily for ease of transportation, as it only required two horses to draw these cannons around.

As the 111th Division artillery was mobilized, 67 cannons started setting up artillery positions at a distance of 3,000 meters.

The 111th Division Commander: ”Fire!”

”Boom...”

In an instant, Wiggins seemed to see several bursts of fire flying towards him: ”Take cover.”

”Bang...”

Shells landed on the city walls or the streets and buildings of Pretoria, causing varying degrees of damage in several places, including the city walls.

”Damnit! When did the East African Kingdom get so many cannons?” Surviving by the skin of his teeth, Wiggins cursed.

In reality, the 123rd Cavalry Division also had artillery, but Ernst hadn’t deployed them. The current attack of the East African Army on Pretoria was like a cat playing with a mouse, not exerting full force.

”Commander, should we counterattack against the Germans?”

Wiggins said grimly, ”Aim the shells at the East African artillery positions and fire!”

Thus, the Pretoria artillery, with only five cannons, engaged in shelling with the East African artillery, while Wiggins and the Boers hid in the shelters prepared before the battle.

Although the Boer artillery had great power, the East African artillery had superior technique. The East African artillery was regularly trained, whereas the Boer artillery rarely used its cannons. Besides being expensive, the main reason was the lack of applicable scenarios. No other countries’ armies, apart from East Africa, had ever attacked the interior of the Transvaal Republic, Pretoria. The last use of these few cannons might have dated back to several years ago, left idle and covered in dust.

The Boer artillery virtually became a decoration, and naturally, their technique couldn’t match the East African artillery. As the East African artillery continued to calibrate, a shell accurately fell near a Boer cannon, with a loud ”Boom,” the thick cannon barrel along with the base tumbled downwards, creating a pit at the base of the city wall.

It wasn’t that the East African artillery had great power, but the shoddy construction failed to withstand the test, and the external side collapsed, bringing down the cannon placed on top of it.

This infuriated Wiggins greatly, but what was even more frustrating was that their side had run out of German shells. After all, they had been a decoration for several years, so they hadn’t purchased many shells. But while they were out of shells, the East African artillery remained completely intact, which was the most infuriatingly frustrating aspect of it all.

”Commander, what do we do next?”

”What do we do! We have to fight to the death now. Everyone get ready, from now on, we won’t waste a single bullet. All bullets loaded, bayonets ready, and position all machine guns properly. Once the East African Army reaches us, we’ll fight them directly!” Wiggins stated.

The East African artillery bombardment continued, and soon Pretoria was riddled with holes. Even the so-called city walls had collapsed in many places, creating huge breaches. However, Wiggins chose to continue resisting to the end.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been when the artillery fire finally ceased, and Wiggins was thrilled: ”Brothers! The East Africans have run out of shells!”

But before he could celebrate, he discovered that the East African engineers had taken advantage of the time when East Africa was shelling Pretoria to covertly dig tunnels that had reached within a hundred meters of the Boer trenches.

”Those on the city wall, mount the machine guns and keep all guns aimed at the East African trenches. Work with our trench comrades; as soon as the East Africans show themselves, hit them hard for me!”

Thus, the Boers watched as the East African engineers dug tunnels getting closer and closer to Pretoria, one hundred meters, ninety meters, eighty meters... forty meters.

The Boers initially thought the Germans would keep digging until they reached their front, but the East African engineers suddenly stopped, and no more soil was coming out of the tunnels.

Just as the Boers were wondering what the East Africans were up to, the East African engineers, exhausted, started returning the way they came along the tunnel.

”Commander, the passage is dug!”

”Very good, get the grenadiers ready, and the artillery as well, to suppress the Boer fire on the city wall,” Commander Chris of the 114th Division said.

So, while the Boers, seeing no movement from the East Africans after waiting for a while, were just beginning to lower their guard, something flew from the tunnel into the Boer-built trench.

A Nigga saw something emitting white smoke fly into his trench. What was that? Before he could think it through—”Bang”—he was sent away by a grenade, without any pain.

The Niggas around him also suffered heavy casualties. Those who died outright were fortunate; those who survived, missing arms and legs, could only wait for death.

Thus, in the aftermath of the East African grenades’ baptism, the Boer trench instantly turned into chaos. At this point, the Niggas had completely lost control, frantically fleeing the trench and running in all directions, completely ignoring Boer commands. Shooting them was to no avail, and at this time, the East African artillery rose to power again, with their vanguard also pressing forward. Thousands of Niggas scrambled towards Pretoria inside, even as Wiggins personally shot at them with a machine gun, it was to no avail.

”It’s over! All over!” Wiggins collapsed onto the ground. Without the Niggas as cannon fodder, the remaining Boers had no chance against the East African Army.

Soon, the East African army climbed over the mere two-meter-high walls of Pretoria and planted the East African lion flag atop them.

”Commander! The East Africans have come in! What do we do?”

Wiggins looked at the young men around him and said, ”We lost, but it was all my fault. I’m the one who got you all into this mess. You need to get out of here quickly!”

”Then what about you, Commander?”

”Don’t worry about me! Go quickly.” Wiggins shoved them away, saying, ”I’m destined to be a failure. Just let me stay here...”

After sending off the soldiers around him, Wiggins drew a pistol from his pocket, looked at it, and then placed it under his chin: ”Farewell, Transvaal.”

Bang...