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Music It's May 17, 1900, outside the city of Maffeking Cape Colony in what is now South Africa.

37-year-old British Army Colonel Brian Mathen urges his skittering

horse on as rifle shots echo around them. Behind him, hundreds of British soldiers follow

across a dusty plane. They've been entrusted with an urgent mission to lift the siege

of Mafeking. Seven months ago, war broke out in South Africa. The Boers are descendants of

early Dutch colonists and have formed their own independent republic out in South Africa. The Boers are descendants of early Dutch colonists and have

formed their own independent republics in the region, but they have repeatedly clashed with the

British who are the dominant colonial power here. During the latest conflict between these two

groups, the Boers have laid siege to the city of Mafeking, trapping a British garrison inside.

Now, after more than 200 days,

a relief force under the command of Colonel Mahan has arrived. It's forced its way through the enemy

lines to within sight of the city, but the boers aren't giving up without a fight. A bullet

whistles past Colonel Mahon's head as he turns to see a boar sniper ducking for cover behind a large rock.

The colonel knows he has just a few seconds before the enemy soldier has finished reloading

and will be ready to fire again. So he draws his sword and kicks his heels into his horse's

flanks. The animal darts forward toward the rock. The colonel readies his sword as he approaches,

but then the sniper rises from behind the rock, his colonel readies his sword as he approaches, but then the sniper

rises from behind the rock, his gun ready, and his finger on the trigger. But Colonel Manhattan

...