Chapter 705: Transvaal People's Calculations

Pretorius Jr.: "If the situation is really as you said, it would be great, but war is the most unexpected, just like we did not consider the ambitions of the East Africans towards us, so we can't take it lightly."

"Moreover, we cannot give up our original intention just because of the Nanfet River defense line. The ultimate goal is to recover our homeland. If we gain nothing from the war and instead shrink into fortifications and increase casualties, it will be a huge blow to domestic unity and ourselves."

In the eyes of Pretorius the Younger, the biggest disaster for the Boers would be if they could not get spoils on the battlefield.

First of all, the Boer population is small, and if a war breaks out, it is likely to experience negative growth, so war is inherently harmful to the Boer nation.

Secondly, if there is no territorial expansion, the accumulated ethnic conflicts in the country will also erupt. Now the Orangemen are only temporarily compromising. If they don’t see results, they will definitely rebel in the future.

The last problem is the debt problem, but for little Pretorius, it is not worth mentioning. He already owes the British enough debts, and he cannot pay them off even if he is sold, so it doesn’t matter anymore.

Of course, the British had actually gotten what they wanted. Now the only value of the Boers was to consume East Africa, and the British focus was actually the same as what Walspiegel thought, that is, the Mozambique colony.

The Mozambique colony is the place that can pose the greatest threat to East Africa. This area is close to East Africa's two major industrial areas and poses a huge threat to all important cities and capitals along the eastern coast of East Africa.

Although the British were unaware of East Africa's industrial investment in Matabele Province, accidentally intruding into it was enough to make East Africa feel the pain.

Moreover, Mozambique directly confronts the three military defense belts in East Africa, posing a threat to the three major military regions in East Africa.

The most typical one is the Southern Military Region, which corresponds to the Cape Town Colony and the Boer Republic. The Southern Frontier Province in East Africa is just a long and narrow province, sandwiched between the British Natal Colony and Maputo, Mozambique.

If the garrison in the port city of New Hamburg cannot withstand the pressure of being attacked from both sides, the starting point of the southern section of the Central Railway will inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy, which will directly threaten the Hechingen Province. Through the Hechingen Province, they can threaten the East African troops on the Orange River line from behind. They can also choose to go directly north by rail and enter central East Africa.

As a result, the entire south of East Africa is in danger of falling after Mbeya, after all, the Portuguese still have a colony of Angola in the northwest.

This was also an important reason why Ernst chose to prepare for war with the three countries after the opening of the Hesse Railway, because even if the southern line of the Central Railway was lost, East Africa could quickly support the southern battlefield from the north through the Hesse Railway.

Previously, the connection between the East African Central Railway and the east relied entirely on the important node of Mbeya. After the opening of the Hessian Railway, it was possible to detour via the northern railway. Although it took a little more time, it greatly improved traffic safety during the war.

"Don't worry, Mr. President. The Fetter River defense line is not so easy to break through. Since ancient times, the attacking side has always suffered the greatest losses. Moreover, our defense line is a group of fortresses. Losing one or two nodes will not affect the overall situation. We can still use these bunkers as strongholds and use guerrilla tactics with East Africa to make the East African army run around after entering the Transvaal Republic."

"We also have a large number of military facilities left over from the last civil war that we can put to use. However, our manpower is limited, so we can only organize militia forces as much as possible to harass the East African army."

During the Orange Free State Civil War, the Transvaal and Orange peoples built extensive military installations in what is now the Boer Republic.

In particular, many of the military facilities left behind by the Orangemen were built in a relatively concealed manner, which made them very suitable for guerrilla operations. This was related to the weakness of the Orangemen in the early days.

Moreover, the civil war took place in almost the entire territory of the Boer Republic except Bloemfontein, and the same was true for these military facilities. Therefore, if they could be used well, they could have inflicted heavy damage on the East African army. This was also the valuable experience that the Orangemen left for the Transvaal Restoration Army last time. Therefore, this civil war was not fought in vain, and the Transvaal armed forces did grow.

"Let's take it one step at a time. I'm not worried about the fighting will and preparation of our Transvaal. I'm mainly worried that the British and Portuguese are unreliable. If they compromise with East Africa, we may get ourselves into trouble." Little Pretorius expressed his true concerns.

Walspiegel: "President, there is no turning back now. Even if we don't take action, the British will force us to fight in East Africa. After all, such a large amount of support is not free, but forged with blood!"

From the very beginning, the Boers could not just board this pirate ship as they pleased, and the Boers were probably one of the builders of this pirate ship. The British, on the other hand, came from behind and incorporated the Boers' plan into their own grand strategy.

"So, this is exactly what we want. The Transvaal Republic is our obsession. Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, we will try it. Even if there are no British, we will not surrender to the East Africans!" Little Pretorius said firmly.

Walspiegel raised his concerns: "Mr. President, the problem now is that if we want to go to war with East Africa, what excuse and time should we use? And how can we make East Africa willingly and proactively go to war with our three forces at the same time? It is impossible for us to shed blood and sweat in the front while the British and Portuguese watch from the back and then reap the benefits after we bleed dry."

This is the problem that the Transvaal people are facing now. It has been plaguing the Transvaal leaders ever since Britain allowed the Orange Free State to regain independence.

The three parties already have ulterior motives among themselves, so naturally it would be best for the allies to do more while they just watch, so they must find a way to drag them into the water as well.

In fact, the people of Transvaal had this plan before, but this had long been discovered by the British, who did not give them this opportunity.

"The final outcome of the war still depends on the attitude of the British, so we must put pressure on the British and let them take the initiative to assume responsibilities instead of thinking about betraying their allies. As long as the British are dealt with, the Portuguese will naturally follow suit. After all, the Portuguese are also followers of Britain in Europe. Now that it concerns their actual interests, they have to be more attentive. However, someone must supervise them, otherwise they may really make peace with East Africa in secret." said Pretorius the Younger.

Young Pretorius was worrying too much about this. What East Africa wanted most was the Portuguese colonies, so East Africa would never give the Portuguese this opportunity and would even put the knife into the Portuguese's hands.

East Africa cannot take these non-indigenous forces lightly, and it also has to pay attention to some international morality. After all, being isolated by the international community or losing international credibility is indeed not easy. Tsarist Russia is a typical example.

Therefore, East Africa hopes that the Portuguese will take the initiative to give East Africa an excuse for starting a war, otherwise East Africa can only shamelessly frame it.

(End of this chapter)