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罗克渡口战役
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'''罗克渡口战役'''('''Battle of Rorke's Drift'''),又称为'''罗克渡口防御战'''('''Defence of Rorke's Drift'''),是[[祖鲁战争]]当中的一场战役。属于[[皇家工程兵团]]的[[约翰·查德]]中尉在英军兵败[[伊散德尔瓦纳战役|伊散德尔瓦纳]]之后,带领罗克渡口传教站守军,成功击退进攻的祖鲁军团。
=== 防御淮备 ===
作出决定后,查德和布罗姆黑德命令士兵作好防御淮备。400名士兵用玉米袋迅速兴建了一个防御阵地。<ref>Knight, Ian, ''Rorke's Drift 1879, "Pinned Like Rats in a Hole"''; Osprey Campaign Series #41, Osprey Publishing 1996,ISBN 1-85532-506-3, p. 28, "With 400 men to build them..."</ref>防御阵地包围了一座仓库、一座医院和一座石制土著栅栏。上述建筑的外墙上面凿有射击孔,外门后面设有家私堆砌而成的障碍。
祖鲁军队在早上8点作用离开营地,开始急行军,在下午4点30分抵达距离出发点30公里的渡口。祖军在行军后,用了将近十一个半小时猛攻渡口守军。
祖鲁士兵多数使用经过改良的轻型短矛(Iklwa)和牛皮制盾牌。<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bfcfOrihAvAC&pg=PA462&dq=zulu+rifles&client=firefox-a&cd=8#v=onepage&q=zulu%20rifles&f=false ''World History of Warfare'', By Christon I. Archer] University of Nebraska Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8032-1941-5, p.462 "They had a national army of twenty-five thousand men equipped with cowhide shields, assegais and clubs. Lock, Ron; Quantrill, Peter (2005). ''Zulu Victory: The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-up''. Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-505-9, p.62, John Shepstone, Acting Secretary for Native Affairs at the time on the Zulu army – "Equipment: Each man carries his shield and assegais, and a kaross or blanket if he possesses one, he may also have a war dress of monkey skins or ox tails, this is all."</ref>所有士兵都受过个人作战、团体作战的训练。部分士兵配备旧式火枪、步枪,不过缺乏训练,也没有足够和良好的火药。<ref>Knight, Ian, ''Rorke's Drift 1879, "Pinned Like Rats in a Hole"''; Osprey Campaign Series #41, Osprey Publishing 1996,ISBN 1-85532-506-3, pp. 33, 38, 39.</ref>
== 战斗经过 ==
4点20分,战斗开始。在奥斯卡堡执行警戒任务的土著骑兵队首先与祖鲁前锋交战。<ref>Knight, Ian, ''Rorke's Drift 1879, "Pinned Like Rats in a Hole"''; Osprey Campaign Series #41, Osprey Publishing 1996, ISBN 1-85532-506-3. p.36, and on p.88 this is described by Knight as "the first shots of the battle".</ref>骑兵队经过之前在伊散德尔瓦纳的战斗后,很快就因为体力不足、弹药缺乏,撤往海尔普默卡尔。骑兵队的指挥官亨德森将敌军来袭的消息告诉查德,并且对他说“他的队伍不听命令,逃往海尔普默卡尔”。<ref>Morris, Donald R. ''The Washing of the Spears'', Da Capo Press, 1998, p. 401.</ref>
=== 退守医院 ===
查德意识到士兵不能在祖鲁军队的持续进攻之下守住北墙,在下午6点命令士兵退到玉米袋筑起的防御阵地,过程中,守军放弃了医院当中的前两个房间。医院开始变成难以防守的据点。守军如果透过射击孔开枪,步枪很有可能被祖鲁士兵夺去。但如果守军对射击孔置之不理,祖鲁士兵又会用自己的枪械,透过射击孔向守军开枪。防守医院的士兵有:威廉·威尔逊·阿伦下士(William Wilson Allen),二等兵科尔(Cole)、邓巴(Dunbar)、希契(Hitch)和霍里根(Horrigan)、约翰·威廉斯(John Williams)、约瑟夫·威廉斯(Joseph Williams)、阿尔弗雷德·亨利·胡克(Alfred Henry Hook)、罗伯特·琼斯(Robert Jones)和威廉·琼斯(William Jones)。
== 维多利亚十字勋章及杰出指挥奖章 ==
有11名战役参与者获颁维多利亚十字勋章,当中有7个人属于第2/第24步兵团,至今仍然是在单一行动中获奖最多的团。不过,参与者获得最多维多利亚十字勋章的单一行动并非这场战役,而是[[印军哗变]]中的[[第二次勒克瑙解围行动]](Second Relief of Lucknow)。<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24717|startpage=3177|endpage=3178|date=2 May 1879|accessdate=2007-11-28}}</ref>
=== 参考 ===
*Colenso, F.E. ''History of the Zulu War and Its Origin'', London, 1880.
*''Military Heritage'' discussed Rorke's Drift and the politics of the Victoria Cross (Roy Morris Jr., ''Military Heritage'', August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, p. 8).
*Morris, Donald R. ''The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879'' Da Capo Press, 1998, ISBN 0-306-80866-8.
*Knight, Ian, ''Rorke's Drift 1879, "Pinned Like Rats in a Hole"''; Osprey Campaign Series #41, Osprey Publishing 1996, ISBN 1-85532-506-3.
*Snook, Lt Col Mike, ''Like Wolves on the Fold: The Defence of Rorke's Drift''. Greenhill Books, London, 2006. ISBN 1-85367-659-4.
*Thompson, Paul Singer. ''Black soldiers of the queen: the Natal native contingent in the Anglo-Zulu War,'' University of Alabama Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8173-5368-2.
*Whybra, Julian. ''England's Sons'', Gift Ltd., 2004.