Chapter 306: Skirmish
The news of the Spanish Army’s massive northward offensive finally reached Foumbam, the capital of the Kingdom of Bam.
When the Sultan of the Kingdom of Bam learned of the Spanish Army’s invasion, he panicked and organized the army, deciding to personally lead the troops south to resist the Spaniards’ offensive.
As the Sultan of the kingdom, the Sultan of Bam still had some military ability. Under his command were about 20,000 direct troops, and the subordinate troops from other tribes numbered about 10,
More than 5,000 of the 20,000 direct troops were equipped with muskets. Although most were muzzle-loading rifles, there were also about 500 breech-loading rifles equipped in the troops.
In addition, the troops were equipped with several rusty cannons, which appeared to be products from at least thirty or forty years ago.
It must be said that these indigenous people maintained their cannons quite well. Although the cannons were old, they could at least be pulled out and used.
After the Sultan of Bam assembled his troops, the Spanish Army had already advanced the borderline by a distance of more than ten kilometers.
The indigenous people here were scattered in large and small tribes on lands not far apart, which also delayed the Spanish Army’s offensive speed.
Each tribe had its own guard forces, that is, the armies controlled by the tribal chief. Depending on the population of each tribe, the scale of armed forces possessed by the tribe varied.
The capital of the Kingdom of Bam was in the north, and the larger tribes were also distributed on lands further north.
The south, due to its proximity to the Spanish Guinea Colony, had no large tribes.
This was good news for the Spanish Army. On the road northward from Guinea, the colonial division encountered no large-scale resistance forces.
When those large and small indigenous tribes saw the Spanish Army, they all panicked and fled, with no one able to rally troops to counterattack the Spanish Army’s offensive.
On the second day of the Spanish offensive, the Spanish Army finally encountered the Bam Army.
The place where the two sides met was at the foot of a mountain, with the Spanish Army at the foot of the mountain and the Kingdom of Bam’s army on the mountain slope.
Common sense dictated that the Bam Army, occupying the high ground, had the advantage. As long as their firepower was sufficient, they could completely suppress the Spanish Army at the foot of the mountain and easily reap the lives of the Spaniards.
Giuseppe, leading the colonial division, naturally also spotted the enemy. He observed the enemy’s situation on the mountain slope in detail with a telescope, then lowered it and said gravely, “Damn it, where did the enemy buy those cannons from?
Have the artillerymen prepare. We must knock out the enemy’s firepower points at the first opportunity, or we’ll be the ones at a disadvantage.”
In Giuseppe’s view, the only threat the enemy posed was those few cannons. No matter when they were produced, as long as they could be used, they could inflict huge casualties on the Spanish Army.
The orderly nodded hurriedly and conveyed Giuseppe’s order to the artillerymen.
On the Kingdom of Bam’s side, because they were in a higher position, they spotted the Spanish Army a bit earlier.
However, due to it being an encounter battle, they could only adjust their formation in a brief time, position their limited few cannons, and most of the time had already passed.
At this point, the Spanish Army also reacted, and both sides’ cannons opened fire almost simultaneously.
“Hey! Their cannons are there! Artillerymen, take them out for me!” At the moment the Kingdom of Bam’s cannons fired, the artillerymen had already spotted the opponent’s cannon positions.
Because there had been prior orders, the Spanish Army’s artillerymen did not hesitate and prioritized aiming their muzzles at the enemy’s cannons.
Although the Kingdom of Bam had purchased cannons through various means, they had not received proper military education.
This led the Bam Army to deploy their cannons in the same location, as they believed it facilitated cannonball loading and transportation.
On the Spanish Army’s side, the cannons were positioned at different locations to prevent the enemy from destroying all existing artillery positions at once.
However, it was clear the enemy lacked such awareness. The opponent’s cannons were mainly aimed at killing Spanish soldiers, with cannonballs fired toward the crowds.
Boom! Boom boom!
With one barrage after another, both sides’ positions were shrouded in gunpowder smoke, making it temporarily impossible to see the opponent’s situation clearly.
To be safe, Giuseppe did not order a ceasefire; instead, he instructed the artillerymen to continuously pour cannon fire toward the mountain slope based on their memorized positions.
In this war, Spain had invested heavily in military expenses, and with advance preparations, there was no need to conserve cannonballs.
Almost every half month, the Spanish Mainland shipped large quantities of weapons and equipment, bullets, and cannonballs to the African Colony, more than enough for this war’s consumption.
Giuseppe had previously commanded the Spanish Guard and fought richer battles than this, so he had no intention of conserving cannonballs.
Boom! Boom boom!
On the Spanish Army’s side, cannon fire continued incessantly, showing no pause even with the battlefield shrouded in smoke. After all, there were no Spanish troops on the mountain slope, so there was no worry about friendly fire.
At first, cannon fire from the mountain slope could still be heard, but after a few minutes, no more cannon sounds came from the mountain slope.
Instead, the sounds of cannonball explosions and the indigenous people’s screams from the mountain slope were quite piercing, proving that the opponent had already suffered considerable casualties under the Spanish Army’s bombardment.
After bombarding for more than ten minutes, Giuseppe finally ordered the artillerymen to cease fire and wait for the smoke to clear before assessing the enemy’s condition.
After the Spanish artillerymen stopped firing, the enemy showed no signs of counterattack, which relieved Giuseppe.
Once the smoke cleared, Giuseppe looked toward the mountain slope with his telescope and found that the original enemy artillery position had become a scorched wasteland. Bloodstains and gunpowder marks on the large rocks also revealed everything that had happened there.
Looking higher up, Giuseppe was surprised to discover that the enemy showed signs of retreat.
Although there were still many indigenous soldiers on the mid-slope, the indigenous army higher up was already withdrawing toward the mountaintop. Judging by their scale, even if this was not all the indigenous army’s soldiers, it was definitely the Kingdom of Bam’s main force.
Since it was confirmed that the army before them was the opponent’s main force, Giuseppe was no longer in a hurry to defeat them.
If the enemy insisted on withdrawing, the Spanish Army had no way to stop them. The opponents were not fools; after experiencing several rounds of Spanish cannon bombardment, the indigenous people had wisely dispersed, effectively reducing the Spanish cannons’ damage to themselves.
To defeat this indigenous army before them, the Spanish Army would have to launch a charge and annihilate them head-on.
But the problem was that the enemy held the high ground, and the Spanish Army charging uphill from the mountain foot would surely suffer heavy casualties.
This did not align with Giuseppe’s expectations, so upon seeing the enemy slowly retreating, Giuseppe immediately planned to hold them back.
After all, the Eastern Front still had more than 6,000 troops raiding the indigenous people’s capital. As long as Giuseppe could pin down most of the indigenous army, the Eastern Front had a good chance of succeeding in the raid.
To help the Eastern Front army capture the enemy’s capital faster, Giuseppe had specially equipped them with more than 20 cannons, nearly matching the colonial division’s number.
As long as the enemy’s main force did not return to reinforce, those 20 cannons alone could easily annihilate the indigenous army.
After all, the situation here differed from the Eastern Front battlefield.
The current frontal battlefield was still a long distance from the indigenous people’s capital, so the Bam Army could naturally choose a strategy of resisting while retreating, fighting as they withdrew.
But the Eastern Front battlefield was different. The indigenous soldiers there could retreat, but their capital could not.
If the Eastern Front battlefield’s indigenous soldiers chose to withdraw, they would expose the Kingdom of Bam’s capital Foumbam right before the Spanish Army.
Foumbam without army protection would be like fish on the Spanish Army’s cutting board, to be slaughtered at will.
Once the capital was conquered by the Spanish Army, these stubbornly resisting indigenous armies would also lose their fighting spirit.
After all, many soldiers’ and officers’ families lived in Foumbam. Once Foumbam was occupied by the enemy, how could they not worry about their families’ situation?
Because Giuseppe wanted to hold back the enemy main force on the mountain slope, he did not order the infantry to attack. Instead, he had the artillerymen continue bombarding the mountain slope and mountaintop, while the main force showed signs of setting up camp, making the enemy think they had successfully delayed the Spanish Army’s offensive.
Sure enough, when the indigenous army on the mountaintop saw that the Spaniards were not launching an offensive and were only firing a few long-range cannon shots, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The Sultan of Bam even smiled and declared that the Spanish soldiers had become afraid of the Bam Army, daring only to fire a few shots from afar without launching an offensive or engaging the Bam Army in frontal combat.
Since the Sultan had said so, the Kingdom of Bam’s officers could only agree with their Sultan.
Occasionally, some officers doubted that the Spaniards would be so timid, but seeing the Spanish Army at the foot of the mountain setting up camp, they could only believe the Sultan’s words.
For a time, the two armies fell into a stalemate.
The Bam Army, compelled by the Spanish Army’s powerful firepower, did not dare to descend to the mid-slope to fight the Spanish Army.
And the Spanish Army showed no signs of launching an offensive, with soldiers occasionally firing a few shots and the artillerymen bombarding at will based on their mood most of the time.
On the indigenous army’s side, the smile on the Sultan of Bam’s face grew more evident the longer the delay. He firmly believed in the Spanish Army’s timidity and even looked down on other European colonizers.
If not for the Spanish Army’s firepower being too powerful, the Sultan of Bam might have even ordered the army to descend the mountain and launch an offensive.
Although briefly suppressed on the mountaintop by the Spanish Army’s firepower, during a meeting with several officers under him, the Sultan of Bam discussed the next plan.
As soon as the Spanish Army showed signs of running low on cannonballs, the Sultan of Bam would order the army to advance south and show the timid Spaniards how the brave and fearless Bam people fought.
If the Spaniards had sufficient cannonballs, they could just stalemate here. After all, they could transport large amounts of grain and materials from the capital Foumbam. As long as the rear was safe, even a long stalemate with the Spanish Army here was acceptable to the Sultan of Bam.
After two days of delay, Giuseppe decided to do something to attract the indigenous army’s attention.
Giuseppe was quite worried that these indigenous people would realize he had no intention of attacking and quietly withdraw back to the capital Foumbam for defense.
If all of them returned to Foumbam, conquering Foumbam would not be so easy.
After all, the enemy also possessed a certain number of rifles, and in urban warfare, it would definitely cause heavy casualties to the Spanish Army.
Moreover, the enemy was more familiar with the terrain here, so a rash offensive by the Spanish Army would only disadvantage themselves.
In these two days, Giuseppe carefully considered his plan.
He decided to put on a good show with these indigenous people before him, making them mistakenly believe they could defeat the Spanish Army and become more proactive in engaging the Spanish Army in combat.
This way, Giuseppe could easily delay these indigenous troops. Once those three colonial defense regiments conquered Foumbam, it would be time for the general assault.
The three colonial defense regiments that conquered Foumbam could advance south at any time, and under a pincer attack from north and south, these indigenous troops before them could not break out of the Spanish Army’s encirclement even with more rifles and cannons.
On the third day of the two armies’ encounter, the Sultan of Bam was surprised to discover that the timid Spanish Army had actually begun attempting an offensive.
Although the number of attacking enemies was not large, compared to the calm situation of the previous two days, it was indeed a considerable change.
To be safe, the Sultan of Bam immediately ordered his army to prepare for battle with the enemy at any time and moved his most elite troops—the 5,000 equipped with rifles—to the frontline position, ready to give these attacking Spaniards a surprise.
After a few minutes, the Spanish Army had slowly approached the mid-slope.
The Sultan of Bam grew impatient. He looked at the increasingly numerous Spanish Army and issued the order to open fire.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
As the order was conveyed, the Bam Army proactively attacked the Spanish Army.
It must be said that whether muzzle-loading rifles or breech-loading rifles, when hitting a person, they created a huge wound with basically no difference.
The drawback was that the Bam Army’s accuracy was poor; with thousands firing a volley, only a few soldiers on the Spanish Army’s side were hit.
However, because Giuseppe had given prior instructions, many soldiers pretended to be wounded, screaming in panic and continuously retreating to the rear.
Some soldiers, to make it more realistic, even abandoned their rifles. From his high position, the Sultan of Bam also saw the chaos in the Spanish Army. He was excited, believing that the timid Spaniards had lost all fighting spirit.
“Take them out! These damned Spaniards are scared witless. Let them see who the real masters of this land are!” the Sultan of Bam shouted excitedly.
