African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 395: Chapter 72 Crossing the River

The East African army was divided into three routes heading south. Among them, Merk’s 411th and 412th divisions advanced southward from Botswana along the Limpopo River, all the way to the Orange River line. This area was part of the former British Bechuanaland colony in a past life and is now ”the Land of No Master.”

Felix’s 512th and 331st divisions pushed south along the eastern side of the Drakensberg Mountains, with the southern Swaziland kingdom as their endpoint.

The main attack force on the Transvaal Republic, led by Ernst and Sivert, consisted of the 111th, 123rd, 511th, 513th, and 514th divisions. They planned an attack on the Transvaal Republic from two directions: the western side of the Drakensberg Mountains and the western banks of the upper Limpopo River.

Under the cover of night, the East African army began crossing the long Limpopo River. As the border between East Africa and the Transvaal Republic, its length was substantial, so the limited number of Boers could only place a few sentries at important crossing points.

The East African army bypassed these crossing points and entered the Transvaal Republic from other parts of the river. Under the moonlit skies, Ernst, clad in military uniform, sat on a tall black steed, waiting by the riverbank for the main force to pass through.

The army constructed several temporary floating bridges over the river, significantly speeding up the crossing process as men, horses, and weapons made their way across the Limpopo River’s banks.

Nonetheless, the East African army remained cautious, with everyone fully focused to prevent falling into the river, as the Limpopo River was also known as the Croc River. Despite being previously cleared, one could never be sure if any crocodiles remained.

Sivert remarked, ”Principal, it seems the Boers really weren’t well-prepared for us. Our reconnaissance cavalry reported no sign of anyone for miles around.”

”Of course,” Ernst replied. ”It’s crucial to know that the combined area of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State doesn’t qualify as small on a global scale, yet their total population barely reaches over 400,000, highlighting how vast and sparsely populated the area is.”

Sivert added, ”Yes, if the Transvaal Republic were to invade our Matabele plateau region, they would face the same challenges our army does here.”

East Africa’s population in Zimbabwe was even smaller than that of the Transvaal Republic, although a large percentage comprised active military forces. Conversely, the Transvaal Republic primarily relied on militia forces, generally being herdsmen, who would only gather when war erupted.

The timing of East Africa’s attack on the Transvaal Republic coincided with the Boers’ main force fighting on the east against the Zulu Kingdom. To resist East Africa, the Boers would have to reassemble their militias.

Mobilizing troops from the east would not only be untimely but could also risk a Zulu counterattack into the Transvaal Republic.

The troops crossed the river successfully, with no casualties except for a few unlucky ones who fell into the water.

Ernst ordered, ”Have the militia prepare to cross the river in daylight tomorrow and attack the enemy in the crossing areas to seize control and open up supply routes.”

The militias were tasked with dealing with Boers’ forces in the crossing areas, which could be more accurately described as border personnel. The Boers on the southern banks of the Limpopo River operated in squads, posing little threat to the East African militias.

The reason the East African main forces didn’t choose to attack the Transvaal Republic via established crossing points was to avoid alerting enemies prematurely. While the forces stationed by the Transvaal Republic along the Limpopo River could be ignored, due to trade there were many Boer commercial personnel in the crossing regions.

If East Africa directly attacked the Transvaal Republic, some people would inevitably flee back to Pillar to sound an alarm.

Boer merchants typically had cattle and horses for transport, reaching the capital, Pillar, quickly. Consequently, upon catching wind of an invasion, the Transvaal Republic would promptly organize a counterattack, which was unfavorable for East Africa. Thus, the East African main forces crossed the river first, leaving enemy forces along the river for the militias to handle, who posed no great threat to them.

Sivert reported, ”Your Highness, the troops have successfully crossed the river. Awaiting your next orders!”

Ernst directed, ”According to the plan, proceed with the mission. Use Pillar as the central objective. The 123rd division will lead, controlling Boer farms en route. The 111th division will advance toward Pillar. The 511th and 513th divisions will push southward to the Fall River line, preventing the Orange Free State from supporting the Transvaal Republic. The 514th division will advance south along the Drakensberg Mountains to rendezvous with Felix’s forces in the south, preventing further Boer reinforcements.”

In this manner, the East African army formed a cross-attack posture, striking Boer settlements, including Pillar in both west and north directions.

The Transvaal Republic possessed a few cities, barely qualifying as urban, even its political center, Pillar, was equivalent to a town by East African standards (some provincial and administrative district centers in East Africa were towns), faring better than Harare encountered by Ernst but considerably lagging behind Bulawayo.

Focusing on livestock farming, the Boer population primarily resided in rural farms, negating the need for East African forces to fully occupy these areas. Simply severing their connection with Pillar would render the Boers disoriented.

While caution deemed necessary, East Africa aimed to control some farms, as lost Boers wandering aimlessly could still pose a threat.

Managing these farms operationally posed little issue; primarily divorcing the German, Dutch, and French Boers, employing Germans along with Dutch and French willing to submit to East African rule as interim farm overseers.

Not every individual on Boer farms owned them. East Africa would focus on winning over employees and commoners, as living conditions under East African rule changed little for them. Though the Boers were a newly formed amalgamated ethnicity, Dutch remained their primary language—closer linguistically to German much like the analogous relationship of Standard Mandarin to Henan or Shandong dialects in Far East history, contrasting starkly with styles like Cantonese or Wu dialects.

Much of Northern Germany could engage seamlessly with the Dutch; the Low German region (North German language area) did not abruptly stop at the German-Dutch border but extended into eastern Netherlands. Therefore, as a German dialect, Low German was prevalent in the eastern Dutch regions adjacent to Germany. Even Southern German dialects shared numerous commonalities with Dutch. The Habsburgs, too, once ruled over the Netherlands.

East Africa’s political and economic design specifically guaranteed these groups certain rights—not privileges since all East African citizens equally enjoyed these rights.

On one hand, East Africa increased its efforts to subjugate more natives under its governance. On the other, it actively abolished the slavery system, exporting domestic black slaves abroad.

The kingdom of East Africa was fundamentally built upon the oppression of slaves, effectively making its citizens a privileged class. Without the two million Black burdens, the nation would have disbanded long ago. Upon incorporating Boer and Zulu lands, it was predictable that East Africa’s Black population would increase again.

Hence, recruiting willing Boers posed no problems for East Africa, aside from the large farm owners. From the moment East African troops set foot in the Transvaal Republic, they began undermining Boer bases. If invaded by the British, Boers could negotiate, as the British were adept with a slow-moving strategy, initially protecting one’s interests but eventually reclaiming them through varied means. Were these approaches to falter, the British would tear away their facade.

This behavior marked a commonality between the British, Americans, and Australians. Expertly they planted ”landmines” among ”allies,” ”collaborators,” and ”friends,” extracting them when needed. Original promises? Mere hot air—the Anglo-Saxons would hardly be synonymous with honesty!

Conversely, East Africa portrayed itself with the brutish Prussian style. Cooperative? Get lost! Naturally, they acknowledged bullying’s reliance on tough opposition—a necessity only if Africa had any steadfast resistance.