Chapter 364: The Outbreak of the Boer War

The British unannounced attack instantly turned the countries participating in the international investigation mission into clowns, while also successfully making themselves the target of public criticism.

For a time, public opinion in European countries shifted toward the Boers; the Dutch even clamored to form volunteer armies, preparing to rush to the South African battlefield to help the Boers resist the British.

Speaking of the relationship between the Netherlands and the Boers, the Netherlands can be considered the motherland of the Boers.

The term "Boer" comes from the Dutch word "boer," which means farmer. At that time, colonists led by farmers from the Netherlands arrived in this land; they established the Cape Colony and relied primarily on a farm-based economy.

In addition to Dutch farmers, these Boers also included French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution and a small number of Germans.

This is also the reason why many European countries expressed support for the Boers, as the Boers were not indigenous Africans, but descendants of European immigrants.

Of course, the support from most European countries remained only on the surface. Even the Boers' motherland, the Netherlands, stopped at civilian aid and dared not rise to the level of government support.

Although they knew their enemy was the most powerful country in the world, the Boers did not have the slightest fear.

The reason the British set their sights on the Boers' land was precisely because of the large amount of rich and precious mineral resources existing on this land.

After the British launched their unannounced attack, the Transvaal Republic spent a large amount of funds and minerals to frantically purchase weapons and equipment from various European countries, attempting to bridge the gap in weaponry between themselves and the British.

On the other side, after the war truly broke out in the Cape Colony and the Transvaal Republic, pushed by capitalists and supported by surging public opinion at home, the British Parliament finally passed a resolution to formally declare war on the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State.

Both of these republics were controlled by Boers; since the British had decided to fight, it was naturally impossible to let the other one go.

A few days after the war broke out, the Transvaal Republic's requests to purchase weapons had already been sent to various European countries.

As the arch-enemy of the British, the French government agreed to the Transvaal's request to purchase weapons with almost no hesitation.

Spain was the second country to agree to the request and immediately transported a large batch of weapons and equipment to the African battlefield.

It is worth mentioning that the moment the news of the war's outbreak reached Spain, Luo Jie immediately summoned the current Prime Minister Evan Bradley and Minister of Defense Qiaodi, demanding that the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff produce an operational plan for Morocco, a plan that would involve the recapture of Gibraltar.

If the British did not interfere with Spain's war against Morocco, then Spain would not completely fall out with the British. Under these circumstances, the recapture of Gibraltar was not within Luo Jie's plan, at least not in the short term.

But if the British were determined to interfere in Spain's war against Morocco, that would mean Spain must fight the British. In that case, Gibraltar would also have to be recaptured.

As long as Spain annexed Morocco and recaptured Gibraltar, the remaining Portugal would naturally be unable to escape Spain's control.

This Boer War was a great opportunity; Luo Jie would absolutely not miss it, nor would he allow anyone to sabotage his plan.

On the third day after the war broke out, a piece of major news spread from Africa to Europe and quickly attracted the attention of European countries.

The British army in the Cape Colony suffered heavy losses in the process of fighting the Boers, with casualties exceeding one thousand in just three days.

Such a scale of casualties was already quite exaggerated, as the war had only just begun and the forces deployed by both sides on the battlefield were not yet large.

The reason the British army suffered such heavy losses, besides excessively underestimating the Boers' combat effectiveness, was that the Boers' combat effectiveness was indeed powerful.

The British army's direction of attack was northward along the eastern part of South Africa. Continuing north from the northeast of the Cape Colony, passing through Natal and Zulu, one reaches the location of the only port of the Transvaal Republic.

As long as the Transvaal Republic's port was occupied, these Boers would be unable to obtain material support from European countries.

The British army's move was sound, but unfortunately, because they underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Boer army, they were beaten into a rout during the fighting against the joint forces of Transvaal and Orange, fleeing all the way back to the vicinity of Natal.

After the war broke out, the Boer coalition forces actually crossed the Drakensberg Mountains from East Orange and circled all the way to the rear of the British army stationed in Natal, which was what caused the British army to suffer a crushing defeat.

Although this victory could not end the war, for the two Boer countries of Transvaal and Orange, it was definitely a huge boost to morale.

The Boers were willing to give everything for their country and land, while the British army did not have such a high desire to fight.

After experiencing the great defeat at Natal, the British army retreated all the way to the southern region of Natal, with the Cape Colony behind them, ensuring their safety.

Meanwhile, northern Natal and the Zulu lands further north fell completely into the hands of Transvaal and Orange.

In this way, not only did the British fail to occupy the Transvaal Republic's only port, but they also made the opponent's coastline even longer, making communication with European countries even more convenient.

The Boers, having won the initial victory, did not become complacent; the coalition forces split into three routes, with the main force remaining in the Natal region to protect the Boers' only coastline.

The remaining small-scale units split into two routes; one headed south from Orange, threatening the important railway running east-west through the Cape Colony.

The other army launched an attack westward into British Bechuanaland. British Bechuanaland is located directly north of the Cape Colony; if they could control this area, they could not only prevent the British army from circling behind to raid the heartland of Orange and Transvaal, but also influence the Cape Colony's railway again, leaving the British unable to attend to everything at once.

Sure enough, when the Cape Colony learned the news that the Boers had split into three routes, it immediately strengthened the protection of the Cape railway.

This railway was an important transport line for the Cape Colony and was also responsible for transporting supplies to the north during wartime. If the railway were destroyed, it would not only increase the difficulty of logistics and supply for the front-line army, but also disrupt the transport of materials within the Cape Colony.

To protect this railway, after deliberation, the British installed decommissioned 4. -inch naval guns on trains, which barely managed to protect the railway.

In the early stages of the war, the Boers held a comprehensive advantage, which was something European countries had not expected at all.

According to the development of this situation, it was really hard to say who would win and who would lose this war.

One must know that the reason the British won this war in history, besides their own strength far exceeding that of the two Boer countries, was that the British government also had its own schemes in diplomacy.

In the historical Boer War, the British first signed a treaty with Germany regarding the partition of Portuguese African colonies. The treaty stipulated that once Portugal abandoned its African colonies, these abandoned lands would be partitioned jointly by Britain and Germany.

As for why Portugal would abandon its African colonies, it certainly wasn't voluntary on Portugal's part.

Attracted by Portugal's African colonies, Germany expressed its willingness to remain neutral in the Boer War, which also caused the Boers to lose their only strong reinforcement in history.

Unfortunately, the alignment with Britain was just Germany's wishful thinking. Britain was unwilling to abandon Portugal as an ally, and the so-called treaty was just a blank check the British government gave to Germany.

Historically, after Portugal suffered a financial crisis, the British government immediately broke its promise, not only providing loans to the Portuguese government but also signing the "Anglo-Portuguese Secret Declaration" with the Portuguese government, promising to guarantee the safety of all Portuguese territories as an ally.

Of course, under the premise of British protection of Portuguese territories, Portugal also needed to support all of Britain's actions in the Boer War.

This operation by the British in history not only kept their most likely enemy, Germany, neutral, but also brought Portugal onto their side.

But now, the agreement between Britain and Germany regarding the partition of Portuguese colonies had not yet been signed, and Portugal had changed from a kingdom government to a republican government; naturally, neither of Britain's two diplomatic schemes had been completed.

Unlike the British side, the Boers received more support in this war than they did in history.

Out of an attitude of causing trouble for the British, France stood on the side of the Transvaal Republic. Spain, simply to oppose the British, also chose to support the Transvaal Republic.

Although Germany did not explicitly stand on the side of the Boers, the attitude of Kaiser Wilhelm II was already quite obvious. Not to mention there was also the Netherlands; although the Dutch government had not yet stated its position, the Dutch people were already impatient.

The Dutch not only donated a large amount of supplies to the Transvaal and Orange republics, but a volunteer army of up to a thousand people was also in the process of being formed.

Although this army of a thousand people could not have much impact on the war, the Dutch support for the Boers was already quite obvious.

On the fifth day after the war broke out, a British force of 4, 00 troops completed assembly in the northeast of the Cape Colony and marched toward Natal in a grand manner. The main purpose of their trip was to recapture the Natal region and drive the Boer army back to the north of Natal.

At Nicholson Canyon, the British army and the Boer army met, and both sides immediately engaged in fierce fighting.

Both sides suffered heavy losses in this battle, with British casualties reaching over 1, 00 and Boer casualties approaching 500.

If the canyon had not been so suitable for an ambush, allowing the Boers to seize the initiative, I am afraid the Boers' casualties would have also increased significantly.

The remaining three thousand or so British troops retreated to the southern region of Natal and established a tight defensive position.

The commander of the Boer army attempted to capture the position established by the British army, only to find that the British army's defense was too tight; unless they paid a huge price in casualties, it was not something that could be broken in a short time.

Seeing that they could not capture the British position, the Boer army changed its strategy.

While building defensive lines on the land they had already occupied, they scouted the terrain of southern Natal, looking for locations that could be held.

Besides dealing with the British army in the Cape Colony, they also had to deal with the British colonial auxiliary forces and the home army arriving in a steady stream from all over the world.

If they were greedy for success and advanced rashly, the British troops arriving from all over the world would have a high probability of surrounding the Boer army.

For their own safety, most of the war could only be conducted in the form of defensive battles.

The continuous failures in the war caused the British government to lose face, and Colonial Secretary Chamberlain personally issued an order to the Governor of the Cape Colony, Cecil Rhodes, demanding that he must achieve propaganda-worthy results within a week, otherwise he should wait for his replacement to arrive in the Cape Colony.

Under the urging of the British government, Cecil Rhodes had no choice but to formulate a counter-offensive plan to ensure the situation on the front line was not so bad.

Among the Boers' three armies, the main force located in Natal was the hardest to break.

Most of the troops of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State were gathered here, and these two countries were still transporting reinforcements in a steady stream.

It would be very difficult to break the Boers' main force in one battle; it would be better to set their sights on the other two Boer armies in southern Orange and the Bechuanaland region.

After thinking it over, Cecil Rhodes finally set his sights on the British Bechuanaland region.

As long as they could eliminate the Boer army here, the British army could easily reach the Boers' rear.

This place was only 200 kilometers away from Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic; whether it was to harass the Boers' rear or directly attack the capital of the Transvaal Republic, it was clearly more cost-effective than launching a counter-offensive on the front battlefield.

Thinking of this, Cecil Rhodes did not have the slightest hesitation.

He immediately organized an army of 2, 00 people, carrying several machine guns and artillery, and marched toward the Bechuanaland region in a grand manner.

Machine guns did indeed play a huge role at the beginning.

The Boer army's formation was relatively dense, and the machine gun fire soon caused heavy casualties.

But the Boers were not fools; they soon understood the characteristics of the machine gun as a weapon.

The advantage of the machine gun is its wide range of fire coverage, which can effectively kill and wound enemy troops standing in relatively dense formations.

But the disadvantages of the machine gun are also quite obvious; first, machine guns consume a large amount of ammunition, and the British army clearly could not withstand continuous machine gun fire.

Secondly, there is the machine gun's poor accuracy. As long as they did not huddle together and the troops were completely dispersed, the machine gun's lethality was not that high.

Although machine guns could also suppress the Boers' attacks, relying solely on firepower suppression was a huge test for the British army's logistics.

The British machine gun fire had gaps; in the middle, it was necessary to change the ammunition belts.

The time taken to change ammunition in the middle was also an opportunity for the Boer army; after they found this trick, they would suddenly launch an attack when the British machine guns were changing ammunition, catching the British army off guard.

Although there were not many Boer troops in the Bechuanaland region, under the constant harassment of a guerrilla-like war, the British army failed to completely clear the Boer army from the Bechuanaland region.

Nearly half a month had passed since the war began, and reinforcements and material supplies from both sides had arrived in the South African region in a steady stream.

It is worth mentioning that the material supplies from France and Spain were transported to the Boer ports openly, almost under the noses of the British.

But there was no help for it; the British government was completely helpless against such open behavior by France and Spain.

If they intercepted the transport fleets of France and Spain, it would inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of these two countries. France and Spain both had grudges against Britain, and Britain did not want to let these two countries interfere in the war too early.

Regarding the behavior of France and Spain in so openly supporting the Boers, the British government could only turn a blind eye.

Anyway, the supplies the British were transporting to the Cape Colony were only increasing, and coupled with the steady stream of troops from other colonies, the British were confident that the Boers could not contend with them.

At the end of March 1895, the South African Expeditionary Force organized by the British officially arrived in Cape Town. The commander-in-chief of this expeditionary force was General Redvers Buller, who had suppressed uprisings in Ireland.

This expeditionary force was composed of 20, 00 British home troops; they were well-equipped and their combat effectiveness was quite powerful.

From this, it could also be seen that the British were truly serious. The poor results in the early stages of the war made the British government furious, and the proposal in Parliament to dismiss the colonial governor Cecil Rhodes had already entered the voting stage.

After arriving in the Cape Colony, the commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force, General Redvers Buller, took over command of the Cape Town army.

The performance of the Cape Colony army was too poor, so the garrison commander of the colony naturally could no longer hold command of the army.

The garrison commander of the Cape Colony would even face a British military court regarding the poor results in the early stages.

With the support of 20, 00 British troops, the British counter-offensive could be considered to have some confidence.

In early April, the British began to plan a comprehensive counter-offensive against the Boer army on the east, middle, and west fronts. Lieutenant General Methuen would lift the siege of Kimberley on the western front, Lieutenant General French would attack the Orange Free State on the middle front, and General Buller would lead the main force to lift the siege of Ladysmith on the eastern front.

These British home troops and colonial troops also displayed a significant gap. Although Britain dominated the world with its navy, the combat effectiveness of the British Army was not weak either.

Even if it could not compare to countries like Germany and France that dominated Europe with their armies, it was at least at an upper-middle level.

Once these twenty thousand British troops were committed to the front line, they immediately achieved good results.

Britain not only made gains on the Western and Central front lines, but even on the main Eastern front, they pushed the battle line northward by more than ten kilometers in a short period of time.

The Boers could only fight while retreating; they were fundamentally unable to construct a reliable defensive line in a short time and could only move their defensive front northward into their own territory, where a more solid defensive line had long since been built, and with their own motherland behind them, they also had a morale bonus when fighting a defensive war.

Second update of 5, 00 words, requesting monthly tickets!

I am very sorry for being a few minutes late; there will be more updates tonight.

(End of this chapter)