African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 399: Chapter 76: The Army Approaches the City

Less than sixty kilometers from Pretoria, there is a river, called the Murray Taylor River by the Boers. The East African army’s 111th, 123rd, and 514th divisions are camped on the north bank of the Murray Taylor River for rest.

After over ten days of high-intensity marching, the East African soldiers were generally exhausted. Even Ernst, riding on horseback, was finding it difficult to bear. Additionally, they had engaged in a skirmish with a small Boer unit in Petersburg previously, so the East African army needed to rest, and also wait for the supplies transport unit.

The battle at Petersburg was hardly even an appetizer for the East African army. The Boer troops numbered less than five hundred, and their weapons were more outdated compared to the East African army. An East African cavalry battalion was enough to rout these Boers.

At night, the gentle breeze brought a slight chill. From the military camp on the bank of the Murray Taylor River came waves of singing:

”Beside the small river of the Rhine village,

on the golden wheat field,

the fledgling eagle freely soars.

Who will pack this luggage for me,

who will help me wear this uniform,

will never forget the gentle girl back in the hometown.

The Rhine is my beautiful hometown,

who can forget the lovely homeland...”

The East African soldiers clapped in rhythm to the sound of zithara (a traditional Austrian instrument), singing in chorus around the campfire, with smiles on their faces, savoring this rare leisure time. This was an impromptu evening party organized by the East African soldiers to entertain themselves.

Ernst heard the singing of the East African soldiers, and unconsciously, his brows relaxed and the corners of his mouth lifted. It had been a long time since he’d heard such simple and honest songs!

In Germany, apart from Heixinggen, Ernst seldom went to rural areas, but attended numerous high-end concerts, which were, after all, an indispensable part of noble life. Songs with such German countryside and military style, Ernst had never experienced in either of his lifetimes.

Seeing the prince’s interest, Sivert explained from the side: ”The East African military has created quite a few military tunes. This tradition has existed since the First Town colony was founded. Tracing further back, it can be linked to the various German states, from which the initial mercenary teams mostly came. Hence, they could not help but be influenced by the military bands that each of these German states had. Lacking entertainment in the camps, songs from various parts of Germany quickly spread, and those with some musical talent began attempting to create music, crafting many popular songs within the military using simple lyrics.”

Ernst said: ”These are valuable cultural assets of the East African Kingdom. Once the war is over, let’s have the court musicians compile this music.”

As the chorus ended, the next program was quite surprising, at least very surprising to Ernst.

”The next performers are artists from the East who will bring us an Oriental opera — ’The Story of the Three Kingdoms’.”

A wave of applause rose, indicating broad audience anticipation. Many soldiers from Germany seemed to be looking forward to it, which piqued Ernst’s curiosity — could Germans understand it?

Then, a familiar music that made Ernst’s scalp tingle began playing. It was a piece performed with the Earth Pipa (Willow Leaf Zither), with distinctive features of Oriental opera.

Ernst had little contact with opera music, though he had listened to Yu Opera, Huangmei Opera, and Qu Opera. This was not out of preference; rather, his grandmother liked them, and he followed suit, especially with the stories of the Yang Family Generals.

What happened next was even more unexpected for Ernst. As the prelude ended, the man holding the Earth Pipa started singing, but he was singing in German?

Since it was in German, Ernst understood it. It was a story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Three Heroes Fighting Lu Bu. My goodness! The most astonishing thing was its rhyme in German! Ernst couldn’t help exclaiming: ”What talent! No, a genius!”

Ernst had never imagined someone would sing opera in a ”foreign” language, and sound good at that. Compared to Ernst’s excessive reaction, the soldiers sitting around the campfire were listening with great interest. It was hard to tell if it was the exotic charm of the Far Eastern Romance of the Three Kingdoms story or the unique Eastern singing style that was more appealing.

Ernst: ”Sivert, after the party, investigate the background of the person who knows Oriental opera for me.”

”Yes, Commander.” Sivert responded.

Sivert had already guessed why the commander was so surprised just now. To be honest, his first encounter with Oriental opera sung in German was also strange, but at the time, he didn’t think much about it. Due to the diversity of East African immigrants, encountering unusual things wasn’t rare. In East Africa, such instances were the result of numerous examples coming together. While East Africa could match Germany in infrastructure, culture wasn’t something the East African government could entirely control, though they could certainly guide it, such as the successful promotion of the German language.

...

After resting, the East African army continued their advance. Two days later, Pretoria lay before Ernst.

Ernst sat on horseback, taking the telescope fastened at his waist, and carefully observed Pretoria’s urban development, calculating in his mind.

Ernst: ”Pretoria, as the capital of the Transvaal Republic, is comparable to our First Town in size. It’s considered a well-developed city in Africa.”

Sivert: ”Commander, the Transvaal Republic’s total population is not much, even less than our Central Province, that’s even without us fully developing the Central Province.”

Currently, the population of the Transvaal Republic is estimated to be only around ten thousand. Without East Africa’s population records, it’s hard to assess accurately. Historically, during the Second Boer War, the population of the Transvaal Republic along with the Orange Free State was about four hundred and forty thousand, which was in 1899. Thus, now the Transvaal Republic’s population couldn’t possibly exceed two hundred thousand, likely just over one hundred thousand.

If the Boer population now exceeded two hundred thousand, considering their tradition of a citizen army, they wouldn’t be bullied by the small Zulu Kingdom as they were.

And seen from afar, Pretoria’s scale wasn’t much different from the First Town, likely housing no more than thirty thousand people. The three divisions under Ernst’s command currently had more than twenty-three thousand troops in total, meaning capturing Pretoria would be easy.

Thus Ernst said: ”Start preparing for battle. The 514th division will first carry out a probing attack on Pretoria!”

The 514th division is a second-line unit of East Africa, currently part of the regular army, a notch above militia forces. The 123rd division is a mobile cavalry force mainly responsible for mobile field battles; siege isn’t its strong point. It’s meant to counter the Boers’ cavalry, like in the previous operation in Petersburg, where it executed a subordinate unit from the 123rd division.

As for the 111th division, like the 123rd division, it’s an elite unit of East Africa, but the 111th division is a versatile force, second only to the 101st division, the Royal Guard Division. Though called a division, the Royal Guard Division should more accurately be described as an army, with a total strength of thirty thousand responsible for the defense of the Central Province, focusing particularly on the gateway cities of Bajamojo and Dar es Salaam.

Against Pretoria, Ernst planned to first use the 514th division to test the waters. The 514th is one of the original Southern Road Army units and has been the least combat-effective. Other Southern Road Army units are responsible for other strategic directions.

For example, the 511th and 513th divisions are advancing from the western bank of the Limpopo River in Botswana towards Transvaal. Meanwhile, Ernst personally leads three divisions attacking from the northern bank of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe towards Transvaal.

The middle-upper reaches of the Limpopo River form a large U-shaped bend, enclosing the western and northern territories of the Transvaal Republic. This also represents the strategic posture of the East African attack on Transvaal, including two more divisions under Felix approaching from the east. Although Felix’s troops are also passing through the Transvaal Republic, their main target is the Kingdom of Swaziland. The Kingdom of Swaziland, built on the eastern slopes of the Drakensberg Mountains, requires mountain warfare capability, hence the only mountain division in East Africa, the 331st, is under Felix’s command.