五千年(敝帚自珍)

主题:【原创】德兰士瓦 五 纳塔 1 -- 橡树村

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家园 村长,请教一个关于那条壕沟的问题。

也许是俺记忆力太好,感觉《德兰士瓦(五) 纳塔(4)》里的关于安营扎寨这一段的描述和《祖鲁(三) 血河(7)》里的描述有一点点小小的不一样。血河里说的是“营地的南面,紧邻的就是一条深沟,有四米多深”,这里却写成“两三米高”。

个人以为四米可能合理一点。两米的话不要说身体素质极佳的祖鲁战士,就是普通人,两个人简单地肩踩一下,就能摸上来了。

这里有两个链接可以参考一下。

On 15 December 1838 Pretorius and his wagons reached the Ncome river and his scouts reported sighting a large Zulu army. Pretorius found the perfect spot to set up laager, on the western side of a large hippo pool, about 50 meters long and a long dry donga set at about 90 degrees from the hippo pool. He formed the laager of 64 wagons between the pool and the donga. The wagons were formed in the shape of a "D" with the straight side along the donga and the rounded side facing the north-west. Wooden barricades were placed in front of the the openings between the wagons to prevent direct invasion. The two cannon were placed in openings between two wagons. The 900 oxen and 500 horses were held in the middle of the laager.

外链出处

It was a 14 foot deep trench on one side and the Ncome river into which it flowed on the other side

外链出处

14英尺约等于4又1/4米。靠近河道的那一边应该更加深,所以四五米可能更加合理。

不过第一段描述中提到了在壕沟(donga)的末端,有一个与壕沟成90度的50米左右的河马池(hippo pool)。似乎图上面并没有画出这么一个重要的天然屏障。不知道这个河马池里当时有没有河马,如果有的话,肯定也吃掉不少祖鲁人吧。

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