Chapter 358 War Preparation
While Soga City was being built, the Central Canal project was also in full swing, and the Ndebele people were organized and split into two groups to dig the canal. Coupled with the construction of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone and the Northern Industrial Belt at the same time, the eastern part of the East African Kingdom was developing rapidly.
When these projects were started, the army in Zimbabwe had already started military training, which mainly focused on how to capture roaming Boers in the wild.
"Faced with the kingdom's superior military strength and powerful firepower, the Boers will not confront us head-on. They will crawl around in dark corners like cockroaches and suddenly attack you from anywhere. At this time, your enemies are no longer the backward natives holding spears, but the Boers who have certain military experience and also master hot weapons. If we encounter Boers who fight in this way, how should we deal with them?"
As the instructor asked, the soldiers below began to talk. In fact, many people had seen guerrilla warfare, but it was the natives who did it before. The tactics were very effective, but without advanced weapons it was basically tantamount to suicide. Facing the sneak attacks of the natives, the East African soldiers could often deal with it calmly.
The natives who could use guerrilla tactics were already the smartest ones in Africa. Many more natives were defeated by East Africa without knowing why, or they simply could not organize themselves to fight against East Africa. The huge gap in weapons made the average natives not think of resisting.
“First, it’s the tactics of divide and encircle, guerrilla warfare, guerrilla warfare, guerrilla warfare, guerrilla warfare everywhere, so we have to confine the enemy to a certain area and prevent them from guerrilla warfare everywhere.
Secondly, it is necessary to cut off the communication between the Boers, ensure that the Boer soldiers in the jurisdiction cannot obtain any supplies from the Boer villages, and cut off their supply of food, water, etc., so that they cannot survive in the wild.
Finally, we must remember not to pursue the desperate enemy, do not be fooled by the Boers, and be careful of being ambushed. As long as we hold on to the settlements and regularly sweep the areas under our jurisdiction, the last living space of the Boer soldiers will disappear completely. "
This was basically the plan for East Africa: move out quickly, capture Boer cities and villages, and then respond to counterattacks from those who slipped through the net.
The Transvaal Republic established by the Boers was rather special, so East Africa had to take over its national power in a very short period of time, which placed very high demands on the capabilities of the East African Kingdom's army.
First of all, there must be detailed maps to guide the army. To this end, the East African Kingdom disguised itself as German merchants or expedition teams and entered the Boer settlements from the east. They conducted detailed explorations of the Transvaal Republic and supplemented the maps wherever they went.
These drawings were then transported back to the East African Kingdom from the sea and compiled by the Hechingen Military Academy. The information above was summarized and unified on military maps, and the terrain, rivers, forests, swamps, etc. of Transvaal were marked.
At the same time, feasible routes were drawn on the map for all the cities, towns and villages in the Transvaal Republic. As long as the military commander of the East African Kingdom marched according to the instructions on the map, he could occupy the entire territory of the Transvaal Republic in a very short time.
However, the premise is that the Boers will not resist, which is obviously impossible. Even if the East African Kingdom takes them by surprise, the depth of the Transvaal Republic is relatively large for the East African army.
"When dealing with the Boers, we must also be careful of foreign countries, including the Orange Free State and the British Cape Colony, who may take advantage of the situation. Our people must react quickly and take over the entire Transvaal Republic within more than a month. In this way, when the news reaches Cape Town, the British will have no way to deal with us. As for whether it is an effective occupation or not, it doesn't matter. We just need to let the British know that the East African Kingdom has annexed the Transvaal Republic."
The action against the Transvaal Republic had to be carried out at lightning speed, which placed high demands on the East African Army. In order to improve the physical fitness of the soldiers, the army began to improve the food, increase the amount of training, and ensure that the troops could march more than 40 kilometers every day.
The straight-line distance from the southernmost to the northernmost tip of the Transvaal Republic is about 500 kilometers. As long as the East African army can reach the usual training volume, it can attack from the north of the Transvaal Republic to the south of the Transvaal Republic within one month.
Regarding the attitude towards the Boers, the East African Kingdom decided to choose the good ones and keep them, and abandon the bad ones. There is also an Orange Free State to the south of the Transvaal Republic, which can be a choice for the Boers who are dissatisfied with the rule of East Africa.
In fact, the Transvaal Republic itself is extremely poor today. The climate in the Transvaal Republic is dry and hot, and the land is barren. The Boers can only make a living by running ranches. This is the livelihood of the Boers from generation to generation to support their families, but it is inevitable for the various drawbacks of a single economic structure and a weak economic foundation.
The country had no modern industrial enterprises, nor had it built an inch of railway. In 1866, the Transvaal Republic's total fiscal revenue for the whole year was only 66,000 pounds, and the Boers' treasury deposits were only nine shillings and twelve pence, less than one pound.
The reason why the Transvaal Republic can continue to exist as a country is because of its unity. The government stipulates that any male citizen of the Transvaal who is over 16 years old can apply to the state for 2,400 hectares of land in return. These Boers need to pay taxes and grain to the state, and serve as soldiers to fight for the country during wartime. Land means pastures, and conquering more land means more pastures, so the Boers constantly fight with black tribes at home and abroad.
The biggest enemy of the Boers was the black Zulu Kingdom. The Zulus and the Boers had a blood feud in the Battle of Blood River. But the Zulus were different from the ordinary black indigenous tribes. Not only were they brave and skilled fighters, but they also had an organizational structure that went beyond the primitive tribal form, established their own kingdom, and could fight in large groups.
The Ndebele regime that was destroyed in East Africa before was a branch of the Zulus. Their ability is indeed remarkable among all the indigenous peoples encountered in East Africa. The most cunning thing about the Zulus is that they are good at using diplomatic means, taking advantage of the contradictions between the Boers and the British, and sowing discord. The same is true for the Ndebele people to get support from the Boers.
However, the Transvaal Republic is now in dire straits without realizing it. East Africa is not like the British. The British were best at using deceptive tactics to acquire colonies (the Transvaal Republic was fooled into joining Britain in 1876), while the East African Kingdom, like the Prussian barbarians, has always advocated the use of force.
(End of this chapter)
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