Chapter 386: Enemy at the Gate
Less than sixty kilometers away from Pretoria, there is a river, which the Boers called the Murray Taylor River. The 111th, 123rd, and 514th Divisions of the East African Army camped and rested on the north bank of the Murray Taylor River.
After more than ten days of high-intensity marching, the East African soldiers were generally exhausted. Even Ernst, who was riding a horse, could not bear it. In addition, they had previously fought a battle with a small group of Boers in Petersburg, so the East African Army needed to rest and wait for the troops transporting food and grass.
The battle of Petersburg was not even an appetizer for the East African Army. The Boer troops had less than 500 people in total, and the weapons they used were inferior to those of the East African Army. The East African Army only needed to send out a cavalry battalion to defeat these Boers.
At night, the breeze blew gently, bringing a slight coolness to people. From the military camp on the banks of the Murray Taylor River, bursts of singing came:
"Beside the river in the Rhine village,
In the golden wheat fields,
The young eagle flies freely.
Who will pack this bag for me?
Who put on this military uniform for me?
Never forget the gentle girl from my hometown.
The Rhine is my beautiful homeland.
Who can forget my lovely hometown..."
The East African soldiers beat the rhythm to the sound of the zither (a traditional Austrian instrument) and sang around the campfire. Everyone had a smile on their face during this rare leisure time. This was a party organized by the East African soldiers themselves to relieve boredom.
When Ernst heard the singing of the East African soldiers, his brows relaxed and the corners of his mouth turned up. It had been a long time since he heard such a simple song!
In Germany, Ernst seldom went to rural areas except Hechingen, and he attended a lot of high-end concerts. After all, this was an indispensable part of aristocratic life. Ernst had never experienced songs like this with German country and military style in both his lives.
Seeing His Highness's interest in this, Soft explained, "East African soldiers created a lot of military music. This tradition has existed since the establishment of the First Colony. It can be traced back to the German states. Most of the first mercenary teams came from the armies of various German states, and each German state had a military band, so we in East Africa were inevitably affected by this. At the same time, in the military camps that lacked entertainment, songs from all over Germany quickly became popular. Some people with some musical literacy began to try to create music, and they could write many popular songs in the army with simple words."
Ernst said: "These are all precious cultural treasures of the East African kingdom. When the war is over, let the court musicians collect these music."
As the chorus ended, the next program was quite unexpected, at least for Ernst.
"The next performer of the show is an artist from the East who will bring us an oriental opera - A Story of Three Countries."
There was a round of applause, and it seemed that the audience was quite wide. Many soldiers from Germany seemed to be looking forward to it. This made Ernst curious. Could the Germans understand it?
Then a familiar music that made Ernst's scalp tingle sounded. It was a song played on the Tu Pipa (willow-leaf harp) and had obvious characteristics of oriental opera.
Ernst had little exposure to opera, but he had listened to Henan opera, Huangmei opera and Qu opera. It was not because Ernst liked them, but because his grandmother liked to listen to opera when he was a child, so he followed suit, especially the story of the Yang Family Generals, which he listened to the most.
What happened next was beyond Ernst's expectations. As the prelude ended, the man holding the lute began to sing, but he actually sang in German?
Because it was in German, Ernst understood it. It was a story from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where three heroes fought against Lu Bu. Wow! The most exaggerated thing was that he even rhymed it! He rhymed it in German! Ernst exclaimed, "Talent! No, genius!"
Ernst had never thought that someone could sing in a "foreign" language and it would sound good. Compared to Ernst's overreaction, the soldiers sitting around the campfire listened with gusto. It was not known whether it was because the exotic story of the Far East, such as the Three Kingdoms, was fascinating, or because the unique oriental singing style was more attractive.
Ernst: "Sweet, wait until the party is over and find out the information about the person who knows Oriental opera for me."
"Yes, Principal," replied Whitt.
Siwei Te had already guessed why the principal was so surprised. To be honest, he felt the same way when he first heard oriental opera sung in German. It was very strange, but he did not think much about it at the time. Due to the diversity of East African immigrants, it is not uncommon to see some strange things. This is not an isolated case in East Africa, but a large number of examples piled up together. Although East Africa can make the entire East Africa and Germany indistinguishable in hardware, culture is not something that the East African government can control. At most, it can play a guiding role, such as the successful promotion of German.
…
After resting, the East African Army continued to advance, and two days later, Pretoria appeared in front of Ernst.
Ernst rode on his horse, took out the telescope on his waist, carefully observed the urban construction of Pretoria, and thought in his mind.
Ernst: "Pretoria, as the capital of the Transvaal Republic, is roughly the same size as our first town, and is considered a well-developed city in Africa."
Siwei Te: "Principal, the total population of the Transvaal Republic is not that large, not even comparable to the population of our Central Province, and this is when we have not fully developed the Central Province."
The current population of the Transvaal Republic is estimated to be around a few hundred thousand. After all, there is no demographic data like that of East Africa, so it is difficult to assess. However, during the Second Boer War in history, the population of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State was only about 440,000, and that was in 1899. Therefore, the current population of the Transvaal Republic will definitely not exceed 200,000, and a little over 100,000 is more likely.
If the Boer population was more than 200,000 now, then given their level of universal military service, they would not have been bullied to that extent by the small Zulu Kingdom.
From a distance, the size of Pretoria was similar to that of the First Town, so it should not exceed 30,000 people. Ernst's three current divisions had a total of more than 23,000 people, which meant that it was easy to capture Pretoria.
Ernst said, "Begin preparations for battle. The 514th Division will launch an exploratory attack on Pretoria!"
The 514th Division is a second-line force in East Africa, but it is currently also a standing army, one level higher than the militia. The 123rd Division is a cavalry mobile unit, mainly responsible for mobile field battles. Siege is not its strong point, and it mainly deals with Boer cavalry. The lower-level troops of the 123rd Division were dispatched to Petersburg before.
As for the 111th Division, like the 123rd Division, it is an elite force in East Africa, but the 111th Division is an all-round player. It is the second infantry division in East Africa. The first is the 101st Division, which is the Royal Guards Division. Although the Royal Guards Division is called a division, it should actually be called an army to be more accurate. Its total strength reaches 30,000 people. It is responsible for the defense of the entire Central Province, among which the two gateways to the first towns and cities, Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam, are its defense priorities.
To deal with Pretoria, Ernst planned to test the waters with the 514th Division first. The 514th Division was one of the oldest units of the Southern Army and also the one with the worst combat effectiveness. As for the other units of the Southern Army, they would be responsible for strategies in other directions.
For example, the 511th and 513th Divisions attacked Transvaal from Botswana on the west bank of the Limpopo River, while the three troops led by Ernst himself attacked Transvaal from Zimbabwe on the north bank of the Limpopo River.
The middle and upper reaches of the Limpopo River form a large horseshoe-shaped bend, encircling the western and northern territories of the Transvaal Republic in the middle. This is also the situation of the East African troops attacking the Transvaal this time. In fact, there are two divisions led by Felix in the east. Although Felix's troops also passed through the Transvaal Republic, Felix's troops were mainly heading towards the Kingdom of Swaziland. The Kingdom of Swaziland was built on the eastern slope of the Drakensberg Mountains and had a need for mountain warfare, so the only mountain division in East Africa, the 331st Division, was also in Felix's hands.
(End of this chapter)
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