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Chapter 362 South Africa's fierce battle

Just as the prince was about to dig the Austro-Hungarian walls, the Boers and Americans were waving their hoes to dig the British Empire. However, the British Empire was so easy to dig? The Boers had only had certain advantages in the early stage of the war. With the advantage of military strength and full preparation, the Boers' army successfully brought the entire Eastern Cape region into its own control under the command of Kruger, and hundreds of thousands of Dutch descendants ate pots to welcome the royal army.

The inclusion of the Eastern Cape region provided the Boers with continued personnel and funds. Not to mention anything else, the base of the number of people who could be mobilized was more than doubled! The British army's warehouses, materials and infrastructure in the Eastern Cape were also taken over by the Boers. Although the powerful Boers did not conquer Durban in the end, the port was also white by the war. Even if the British still occupied this place, it would take a long time and great energy to turn it into a bridgehead to attack the Boers!

However, the British who were actually mobilized still put great pressure on the Boers. The war has been going on for half a year. If history follows, the Boers have lost the ability to fight to the death of the army head-on, and the war mode will change from regular war to "political war". However, at this time, after obtaining Bavarian weapons and American support, the Boers confronted the British army in a place called Bloemfontein...

This is the southern gate of the Boer Republic, and it is also an important intersection of railway lines for the Boer people. If the British took this place, they could use it as a base and go straight to Johannesburg along the railway line, and even Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic. This war was solved in one fell swoop, and if the Boer people stuck to this key point, the motor cost of the British troops who lost the railway would increase greatly. After all, if there were no trains, then all the British army's equipment and supplies could only be transported by horses, and it was obviously very difficult for a large army to cross half of South Africa to Johannesburg!

The British had concentrated 20,000 British local British troops, 5,000 Australian troops and 15,000 Indian troops, which had been concentrated in half a year, confronting the 27,000 Boers here. Kruger not only concentrated the most elite Transvaal First Division here, but also had American artillery and Orange's elite troops. The battle situation between the two sides was forced to turn into positional warfare.

The British had the advantage of numbers and firepower, but they were the attacking side, and the opponent had the advantage of terrain and was backed by their own motherland, so it was easy to replenish supplies and personnel. So the two armies were as powerful as angry bulls. For a moment, no one could do anything to each other.

There is a fatal crisis hidden under the stable battlefield. According to the plan formulated by Kariput for the Boers, after taking down the Eastern Cape, the main force should be quickly concentrated and advanced to the hinterland of the British army. No matter how many places it can be occupied, at least the entire South Africa's transportation system, material warehouses and important transportation centers must be completely destroyed. However, Kruger's actions were slower after all.

With the Eastern Cape already in hand, Kruger even used his precious military power to expand the territory of the "Future Boer Republic" as much as possible, and in order to expand the territory of the "Future Boer Republic" as much as possible, Kruger even used his precious military power to the west (Botswana in later generations) and South Rhodnia in the north. The Boer Legion was not large in number, and after dispersing the troops, he naturally lost his military advantage. When Kruger realized that he had used his precious military power to unnecessarily, he concentrated his efforts to move south again, the British had already concentrated a large number of troops and set off from Cape Town to fight towards the Boer Republic along the railway line!

In half a year, the British mobilized 100,000 troops and as many as 30,000 livestock, of which 12,000 mules were ordered and 30 ox cart transportation companies were formed, each with 100 ox carts. But even so, facing the transportation network that had been destroyed by the Boers, the British could deploy 40,000 people in Bloemfontein, which had reached the limit of transportation.

And in this case, the British did not dare to launch an offensive because they had calculated that once a large-scale offensive was launched, not to mention whether they could break through the opponent's positions, the ammunition consumed during the attack was not something that the British army could bear now. "In a maximum of 3 days, we can exhaust the logistics troops and transport ammunition for more than half a month. If the offense fails, then we will even have a problem with defense. Because all our ammunition is now transported from Cape Town, East London and Port Elizabeth, and the port closest to us are more than 400 miles away! And these railways are intermittent!" Lord Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the British army, wrote in his diary that the British army's supply dilemma can be seen.

Of course, the Boers are not easy. In addition to the fact that food can be collected in old places, the Boers' weapons transportation routes are farther away than those of the British. The weapons and equipment transported from Germany will first arrive at German Mozambique, which has now become a German colony, and then it can be transported to the front line through a long transportation line. Fortunately, no one destroyed the Boers' transportation route, and railway transportation is still smooth. Although it is farther away, the logistics supply pressure is not high. The troops' food, clothing, housing and use are effectively guaranteed.

But this stalemate battle made the Boers themselves unable to bear it. The opponent is an empire, the most powerful enemy country in the world! Isn’t it seeking death to compare consumption with it? For the British, maintaining a situation of unbeaten for the time being is victory! With the British for a few months, the British can mobilize another 100,000 troops into South Africa. At that time, what will the Boers take to face the British?

"The British Bloomfontein's troops have more defenses and insufficient progress. If we can further weaken this supply line, then when the opponent's material storage is reduced to a certain level, we only need to consume it, and then a fierce attack can make a breakthrough. Then go south and defeat the British before they gather a stronger legion. We must give full play to our maneuver advantage and burn the war to the rear of the British!" Pershing said bluntly at a military meeting.

The idea is very good, but it is difficult to implement it. The British have already had 100,000 troops in South Africa! In addition to the 40,000 people in front, the remaining 30,000 people are deployed on the railway line along the way, while the other 30,000 are used to defend important cities and fortresses. Although these troops deployed along the way are scattered, they still have various firearms including machine guns and rapid-fire cannons. Many of them are marines composed of Royal Navy sailors, which are better in terms of technical and tactical level and artillery skills.
Chapter completed!
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