My Italy

The horse-drawn carriage and Maxim machine gun that Simonyi mentioned was something he accidentally came up with while observing the transport convoy.

For Simone, the most important thing to pay attention to when fighting the Abyssinians was their surprise attacks and various harassments. On the contrary, he was not worried at all about the large-scale gathering and head-on battles.

Especially that kind of sudden attack is extremely dangerous for the Italian army or the army of every country. This doesn't give the player much reaction time, and it's especially important for Simeone to focus on this. So he always had the idea of ​​​​moving the Maxim machine gun faster.

In fact, he is not the only one, the military also has this idea. To this end, they are starting from two aspects. One is to reduce the weight of the Maxim machine gun. Regarding this, Mr. Maxim of Beretta Arms Company is already doing this. On the other hand, before Maxim is reduced in weight, he is looking for ways to make him move quickly.

Simonyi followed this path. In view of the demand for Maxim machine guns on the battlefield, he came up with the idea of ​​using horse-drawn carriages to carry machine guns. The wheels of the machine gun are removed and fixed to the carriage, which can serve as a mobile firepower point.

Of course, he hasn't tried it yet as to its specific effects. This time it's just a test of his ideas.

Faced with Simeone's idea, Bartlett immediately thought it was an excellent idea after some thinking. It would keep the machine guns on alert at all times and give the infantry a quick attack against the Abyssinian raids. support.

Since both commanders agreed, there was nothing more to say.

More than 40 carriages were temporarily modified. They removed the carriages, installed thin steel plates on all sides, and then installed the Maxim machine guns with the wheels removed. This was not a major change, and it was completed in less than a day. In addition, in order to allow the machine guns to be redeployed, they also hung the removed Maxim wheels on the rear of the vehicle so that they could be quickly put back on when the carriage was not in use.

As for the troops deployed for this reinforcement, the two of them also made careful selections. First, the Sixth Mountain Brigade, which is very good at mountain warfare, will be transferred. In addition, the Seventh Artillery Regiment will transfer the remaining light artillery to form a mixed battalion. Then, an infantry regiment, a cavalry battalion, and some zero-zero generals will be transferred from the Third Army. The total number of troops reached more than 9,500.

The commander is Major General Pascal, the commander of the Eighth Division of the Third Army whom Simonyi trusts the most. As for why he did not let Zelos, the commander of the Sixth Mountain Brigade, take into account the seriousness of this mission, Simonyi can only use the one he is most familiar with. subordinates.

Setting up a support force kept Simeone and others busy for two days. Of course, it's not like they did nothing in the past two days except deploying troops.

They spread the news that due to reasons such as ordnance and supplies, large troops could not immediately go to support, so they could only send a team to take the lead and reinforce Mara.

Of course, how could opponents believe false news? For this reason, Simeone specifically requested that a large transport convoy be sent from Massawa to Mendefela. The reason is that this is ammunition and other military supplies that the expeditionary force urgently needs.

On the other side, they also mobilized troops to strictly block the Adi Kwara front line, making people believe that the expeditionary force did not want this news to be known to the enemy.

After these preparations were almost completed, the reinforcements led by Major General Pascal finally set off from Adi Kwara.

The large number of Italian troops setting off naturally could not be concealed from the eyes and ears of the Abyssinians. In fact, two hours after the reinforcements set off, the Abyssinian Emperor Johannes IV received the news.

Moreover, the emperor not only received news of the departure of reinforcements, he also knew that there was a large transport convoy heading towards Mendefera at Massawa Port.

This is not because the intelligence work of the Italian garrison was poor, but because many places in Eritrea were once within the sphere of influence of the East African empire of Abyssinia. Later, as the number of Italian colonists increased, the Abyssinians returned to the plateau.

Since they have a mass base, the Abyssinians' intelligence work is relatively good, and it is reasonable to know some of the movements of the Italian army.

After receiving the news, Johannes IV immediately knew that this was his opportunity.

Although he didn't know why the Italians had insufficient supplies, or it was a cover for the enemy. But he knew that as long as this reinforcement force stayed away from Adiquala, a stronghold where Italian troops gathered, the more than 100,000 troops he had on hand would be enough to let him know how powerful the Abyssinian warriors were.

Of course, necessary deployment is also necessary. For this reason, he summoned the princes and governors to hold a meeting to prepare for the reinforcements.

In the temporary big tent, everyone was listening to the speech of their emperor Johannes IV.

"Everyone, the Italians have taken the bait. Their stupid commander only sent 10,000 reinforcements this time to reinforce Mara. This is a perfect opportunity. We don't have to attack the Italians hiding in the turtle shell. This They walked out on their own this time, so we must seize the opportunity and annihilate them in one fell swoop.”

The encouraging words of Johannes IV caused a burst of cheers in the big tent. As the enemy only sent 10,000 reinforcements this time, no one thought that this would fail.

Seeing that everyone's morale was high, Johannes IV then assigned tasks.

"Duke Harar, I am reinforcing you with two thousand cavalry. You must lead them to harass the reinforcing Italian army as much as possible. At least they will not be able to walk 50 kilometers within four days."

The Duke of Harar, named by Johannes, has his territory in the eastern part of the plateau, because it produces more livestock, and his army is mainly based on cavalry.

Johannes IV wanted to take advantage of the cavalry to harass the reinforcing army and slow down its movement.

Although he very much wanted the Italian reinforcements to enter his surroundings, a qualified hunter who knew how to hide his purpose and let it march smoothly would definitely arouse doubts. It would be better to act as if he really didn't want reinforcements, and first Give them enough attacks to slow down their march and make them think they are really attacking Mara City.

"As you command, Your Majesty. You will see the reputation of the Harar Cavalry and will not fail to fall."

After receiving the reply from Duke Harar, Johannes IV continued to issue orders. "Send a message to Menelik so that their offensive on Mara can be suspended for a while. After we have dealt with the reinforcements of the Italian army, we can join him and jointly capture the city of Mara."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Then Johannes IV issued orders one after another, arranging other princes to protect the flanks and block the back roads. Basically every prince was assigned a task.

After all this was arranged, Johannes IV looked at the map again. He needed to decide where to place the ambush based on the map.

Two chapters updated