"Fire!"
Bang... Bang... Bang...
"Second rank, ready!"
One hour earlier.
On the shores of Lake Malawi, Karonga.
The Sixth Company had only just arrived when it clashed fiercely with the locals. For the same reason, after the Sixth Company and Fifth Company split up in Mbeya, it headed south.
The local "Leta" tribe was fairly large, numbering several thousand people, and occupied the northwestern part of Lake Malawi.
The arrival of the Sixth Company instantly put the Leta tribe on alert. As the overlord of this region, the Leta tribe had swept through Karonga without finding a single rival.
Its chief, Haru, was quite an accomplished leader. Ever since he took power, he had embarked on the grand endeavor of conquering the Karonga region.
Those small tribes with only a hundred people, or even just a dozen or so, were no match at all for the Leta tribe, which possessed several hundred warriors.
Just as Haru was smugly thinking there was no enemy under heaven who could stand against him, the arrival of the Sixth Company gave him an opportunity.
A Portuguese expedition had once come here and been wiped out by the Leta tribe. The Portuguese had made no move, because explorers were in a high-risk profession in this age. They believed that explorer had likely wandered into the mountains and forests, or had already ended up in the belly of some beast.
Thus, having gained "experience," the Leta tribe did not take this force of only a few hundred men seriously.
After receiving reports from its subordinate tribes, Haru decided to lead the expedition himself. Every warrior in the tribe was summoned, and after being baptized in the High Priest's holy water, the Leta tribal army set out.
They blocked the Sixth Company's path along Lake Malawi, and the two sides began a standoff. Haru led the Leta warriors as they observed the Sixth Company's strength.
The Sixth Company's clothes were all made of cotton cloth. In Karonga, textiles were a rare curiosity worth their weight in gold. Karonga's tribes could only purchase a very small amount through trade with tribes in the Zimbabwe region.
Thus, in Haru's eyes, the Sixth Company was prey. As for the flintlock muskets carried by the Sixth Company, Haru directly took them for a peculiar kind of "spear."
Haru had never seen a flintlock musket. One of the Portuguese men the tribe had killed had carried a pistol, but without bullets loaded into it, Haru had fiddled with it for half a day without figuring it out. In the end, it was hung in Haru's "palace" as a trophy.
Haru blew his horn, and the Leta tribe charged over in a single rush with cries of "Wah! Awoo..." Haru took the lead, raising his spear as he attacked the Sixth Company:
Haru's spear had been made from that unlucky Portuguese man's knife, tied to a shaft with rope. Every day, Haru carefully sharpened its blade.
Gripping his "divine weapon," Haru believed victory was in the bag. Yet those fools opposite him actually lined up in a row and held their "spears" level in their hands.
Haru had never seen "spears" used like that. His own spear was sharp and long. The fools opposite had no blade on their "spears," and they were short as well—merely strange-looking sticks. An inch longer, an inch stronger; Haru was going to teach these savages, who did not even understand weapons, a lesson.
The Leta tribe charged ahead like a herd of boars. In the eyes of the Leta warriors, this was an opportunity to make a small fortune, and they scrambled to rush forward for military merit.
Yuri, the Sixth Company's commander, was dumbfounded! It was his first time seeing natives this overbearing and arrogant. Who had given them the courage to launch a frontal clash against a modern army with so few men and such primitive weapons?
If these natives had relied on the terrain and mountain forests to wage guerrilla warfare against him, that would certainly have been troublesome. But if they dared to attack directly like this, even twice as many would not have made Yuri feel any pressure.
Yuri calmly directed the Sixth Company to prepare, aiming their guns at the natives. Though their training had been brief, the men could still arrange their flintlock muskets into lines by instinct, divide into three groups, and begin lining them up for execution.
Bang... Bang... Bang...
Haru was startled by the gunshots, but his past experience made him instinctively charge forward. In battle, courage was everything!
With their chief still charging at the front, the Leta warriors' spirits rose. Though they could not understand what the thunderous blasts were, they still followed Chief Haru onward.
After the first volley, the distance was still not close enough, and only a few natives were wounded. Commander Yuri was not flustered in the slightest.
"Second rank, ready. Third rank, prepare. First rank, reload."
"Fire!"
Bang... Bang... Bang...
As smoke rose from the muzzles, the native warriors charging at the front fell at the sound. Haru was shot as well, wounded in the arm.
But Haru truly was a reckless brute. Even wounded, he did not throw himself into disorder. At this point, the army's morale had already begun to waver, but Haru kept his face calm and said, "Warriors of the tribe, do not panic. The enemy is not far away. As long as we run a little faster, their weapons will be useless!"
At this moment, Haru had realized that the enemy's weapons attacked from afar, but he could not hesitate now. As long as they could get close to the enemy, there was still a chance. Otherwise, they could only suffer a defeat like a mountain collapsing.
The Leta tribe truly lived up to its reputation as the overlord of Karonga. Even facing the enemy's terrifying weapons, it did not lightly speak of giving up.
Yuri's expression did not change as he watched the native tribal soldiers charge faster and faster. He ordered, "Third rank, fire!"
Bang... Bang... Bang...
This volley achieved even better results. More than twenty natives fell at the sound, but Haru once again escaped death by sheer luck. His soldiers, however, had completely panicked.
After three volleys, nearly fifty men had lost their ability to fight. Some wanted to flee.
But Yuri gave them no chance. "First rank, fire!"
"Second rank, ready! Everyone else, fix bayonets!"
After two consecutive attacks, the natives lost more than forty more men. For the Leta tribe, which had only several hundred warriors, all that remained now was to run.
Before they had even touched the enemy, they had lost nearly one-sixth of their own force. It was not as though they could not continue fighting, but seeing their comrades fall one after another placed immense pressure on them. Even Haru could no longer hold them down. Morale collapsed, and the entire force fell into chaos as they searched for a way out.
"Pursue!" Yuri drew his saber, raised it high, and charged at the head of the force.
The positions of attack and defense had changed. Having lost all ability to organize, the Leta tribe was hunted down everywhere by the Sixth Company's soldiers. Having tasted blood, the Chinese soldiers killed with red eyes.
By dusk, the war had ended. Yuri began directing the cleanup of the battlefield. The Leta tribe had suffered more than three hundred dead and wounded, while sixty-two had been captured, including the wounded chief Haru. During the battle, apart from two men wounded in combat, the Sixth Company had only one man twist his ankle during the pursuit.
Without question, this was a great victory, and the first recorded victory won by the newly formed Chinese troops of the East African colony.
The Sixth Company took no further action against the Leta tribe, instead choosing to drive them away. Leaderless, the Leta tribe scattered in the direction of Zimbabwe.
Because of the battle, the Sixth Company had not had time to set up camp, so it simply occupied the Leta tribe's village.
Most of the houses in these villages were built from vines plastered with mud and stood only as tall as a person. Only Haru, as the tribal chief, had a slightly larger hut. The men could only make do for the night.