A Fight in the Mountain Home of the Bandits

     Feeling the losses among the Boers and Scots the British no longer rejected the offered troops. Two units of Irregular foot were provided by the Governor. Still sniffing the air for trouble the English commander assigned these troops to the advance guard  with the idea that they were best placed in front of the British guns, just in case they went turncoat.

     Breathlessly climbing the ragged mountains on the interior the British troops pressed the bandit army as it fled. With each step the mountains towered higher above and the air became thinner but they pushed on with but one thought in their minds; the rescue of their captive brothers. Spurred by a righteous sense of vengeance they clambered over scree covered hillsides and jagged outcrops of stone until they came to the highland valleys that were the home of the bandits. The Scots felt oddly at home looking at the towering mountains that cradled the little green valleys; that is until they began to take fire from those same mountains, "Back to work Laddies, there is a battle to fight here" shouted the Sgt Major.

seen from the Bandit side; learning a lesson from the last encounter with British firepower the bandits used the ample cover to conceal themselves from the enemy

 

 

wary of ambushes the British advanced with caution

  

scouting the rocky hilltop their front the Native Allied located a bandit unit, 

they were pinned for their efforts by fire from that unit 

but were swiftly supported by long range rifle fire from the Scots and Irish

 

on the opposite flank the Ghazis used the wooded hill to advance toward the English right flank

 

frustrated with a lack of targets the British gunners took pot-shots at the village 

 

a view from the English right flank, the Ghazis are really stacking up behind the hill, 

the center is empty and the native Allies are taking the fight to the Bandits on the left

 

the same view from the other flank a turn later, the bandits on the near hill have been wiped out

 while the English have still not made contact in the center

 

the Ghazis broke cover in an uneven manner, the first unit was wiped out, the second surged forward out of the woods but fell just inches short of the mark, the third failed their Command roll and spent a turn picking wildflowers anf listening to the birds

 

the British gunners continued with their atrocities

 

the lone Ghazi unit was hammered by close range rifle fire before being charged by the Lancers ;

 the result two dead Lancers, but no Ghazis left at all

 

 with that sorted out the British resumed their stately advance, bringing the other Irregular Rifles under fire and causing considerable losses

 

pounded by fire that they did not have the range to return the Irregulars finally routed away

 

with a shout the British army surged forward to raid the village, to their great relief and joy they found the missing Irish soldiers that had been held captive in the small house