In Natal, the main force of the Boer army surrounded about 8,000 British troops in the city of Lady Smith. The British troops in the city tried to break through, but lost about 1,300 people, including commander Major General Simmons, who was also killed and had to retreat to the city and rely on solid fortifications to defend.

Due to the lack of heavy artillery, the Boer army was unable to conquer the British city with strong defenses, so they could only siege Ladysmith City, waiting for the arrival of British overseas aids.

Lieutenant General William White, the British defender, held Lady Smith and asked Cape Town for reinforcements.

When Colonel Bolojevic led the "Volunteer Brigade" to outside Ladysmith, General Redworth Buller also led 20,000 British expeditionary forces to Cape Town.

The British did not arrive late until December. Boloevich used more than a month to train his men. Now the group of volunteers from the Netherlands and Belgium look like an army.

Admiral Loeb personally led the main force of the British army to rescue Lady Smith City, who had been besieged for two months. They came ashore from Durban and headed north along the railway line.

Without surprise, the rigid British march was expected by the Boers.

They used the terrain advantage to build an ambush position in the area of ​​Cosolon, waiting for the British to come in.

The British army in Loeb's hands included the British 2, 4, 5, and 6th Brigades and several cavalry regiments, with a total force of 23,000 and more than 30 artillery pieces. In addition, in order to strengthen firepower, 16 4.7-inches were removed from the "Terror" battleship and put them into combat.

Both in terms of number of people and firepower, the British army has an absolute advantage.

Boer's total strength was about 3,800 on the front line of Coronso, and more than 1,800 "volunteer brigade" commanded by Bolojevic was deployed as a reserve team in the back of the middle side. General Jubert, 68, was supposed to personally direct the battle in Coronso, but the veteran general unfortunately fell off his horse and fell injured before the war started, so he had to return to the farm to recuperate. General Botat, who returned from the Kimberley front, took over as the commander-in-chief of the front line.

Boloevich, who was born in a regular army, had nothing to say about the arrangement of the Boers. The Boers, who were good at field battles, set up a very clever ambush here. It can be foreseeable that if the British attack rashly, they would inevitably suffer setbacks here.

On the contrary, Bolojevic learned many surprising, mobile and flexible tactics from the Boers, which helped him become an outstanding commander in the future.

But in fact it has nothing to do with the overall situation, it is just a battle.

The British would have to win this war with all their might even for the sake of their face. If even a small Boer country with only four or five hundred thousand people could not be conquered, the British Empire would definitely be discredited.

Loeb commanded the main British army to launch an attack on the town of Colenso, southwest of Lady Smith on December 15, with the intention of forcing the crossing of the Tugela River to break the siege of Lady Smith.

The Tugela River flows from west to northeast across the periphery of the northern plateau of South Africa. The southern bank of the river is a gentle open area, while the north side of the river is some rolling mountains. Although it is not too high, it is also inconvenient to move. The Tugela River is wide, and except for the two bent shallows, most of the river sections cannot be wading through, which is extremely conducive to defense.

During this month, the Boers destroyed all the railway bridges and pontoon bridges on the Tugela River. Now the only thing that can be used is a highway bridge west of the town of Colenso. The north side of the bridge is a small flat open area, but it is surrounded by a circle of rolling hills.

The Boers used this terrain to carefully prepare a "pocket" for the British.

The Boers used the more than a month to siege Lady Smith to build solid fortifications and artillery positions on these hills with stones, sandbags and wood, and dug several crisscrossing infantry trenches in the vast area from the bank of the north bank of the Tugela River to the rear hill. The artillery positions and trenches of the Bu Army were carefully camouflaged and hidden in bushes and weeds. The soil excavated from the trenches was carefully transported to the distance and spread out. In addition, the Bu Army also built several fake artillery pieces with fake cannons made of corrugated iron sheets inside.

The British attack began. They set up cannons on the south side of the town of Corenso and shelled the Boer positions on the north bank of the river. Boloevich held a telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield in Bota's strong sheltering command center. As a senior officer from a high-level military school and with rich command experience, he now plays the role of chief of staff. After all, his combat knowledge and experience are far higher than these Boer generals.

Boole's offensive plan was to divide the troops into three routes, with the British army being the main force of the attack, including the British 2nd Brigade, the 4th Brigade and the 6th Brigade, respectively, commanded by Major General Hilgard, Littleton and Patton. They advanced along a dirt road parallel to the Natal Railway toward the Colenso Station and the Highway Bridge. The East Road was a cavalry gang commanded by Duntonner, and their mission was to protect the flank of the Second Brigade. The West Road was the 5th Brigade composed mainly of the Irish people, commanded by Major General Hart. The mission was to cross the river in the shallows at the bend of the Tugela River, and then quickly "go west" to reach the confluence point between the Dorinkopugan River and the Tugela River, and then advance along the north bank of the Tugela River to protect the left wing of Hilgard.

The first attack was the British 5th Brigade on the West Road. They advanced towards the bend of the Tugela River, trying to cross the river. In front of them were the Swaziland Police Force and the Sotpensberg militia, and in front of the right was the extremely hidden artillery position of the Boers. The Boers remained motionless under the British gunfire and ambushed in the trenches, patiently waiting for the British army to walk into a distance of only 500 from them. At this time, the 75mm rapid-fire cannon hidden behind the bunker suddenly opened fire, and the rumbling cannon sound was mixed with the sound of Mauser guns.

The British suffered heavy casualties under the firepower of the Boers and were unable to continue moving forward. There was only one captain, two lieutenants and more than 30 soldiers braved artillery fire and reached the opposite river bank. Here they were shot by the infantry of the Bundesliga and were all wiped out. The British army attacked the western route were about 600 casualties, while the Bundesliga only paid the price of one death and four injuries.

When the battle on the Western Front was in full swing, the British army in the middle also launched an attack.

What surprised Botat and Bolojevic was that the British army was walking in the front was an artillery. The British army of two artillery companies used a ox cart to pull 16 cannons and arrived at the frontier, which was only more than 1,000 meters away from the Bundesliga position, and then slowly unloaded the cannons from the ox cart to start installation.

"It seems that they treat us as the black natives, thinking that we are holding wooden javelins or bows and arrows." Boloevich was amused by the British surprise.

Botat immediately ordered the ambush artillery to launch an attack. One round of artillery shells exploded between the British cannons. The defenseless British artillery was either killed or injured. Only a small number of people jumped into the surrounding ditch to hide. However, Loeb ordered the British 4th Brigade behind these artillery soldiers to pick up the British 5th Brigade that was retreating to the west.

Now their artillery is unprotected.

Botat originally wanted to order his subordinates to pursue the victory, but the loose organizational weakness of the Boer militia was exposed. The Middleburg militia he wanted to attack took the initiative to support the Emilo militia that he had no losses in the right wing. Fortunately, there was also a "voluntary brigade" as a reserve team. Bolojevic immediately ordered his subordinates to take the initiative to attack, captured more than 200 British artillery prisoners who were powerless, and dragged the cannons back 500 meters, but gave up the range of his position.

Botat was surprised by Bolojevic's order, "Why not drag those cannons back to our positions?"
Chapter completed!