African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 401: Chapter 78: Changing Master

Without heavy firepower support, the 514th Division could only advance slowly, like a turtle, searching for cover while responding with gunfire, as the East African army and the Pillar defenders entered a stalemate.

This made Wiggins quite pleased. He said to the ”Youth Patriotic Army”: ”I told you the Germans are no good. Who do they think their opponent is this time? The primitive Ndebele people!”

The patriotic youth of Pretoria also became relaxed from their initial tension. After all, they were facing Germans, and Germany is Europe’s battlefield, coupled with the images of Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. No one doubts the Germans’ combat strength, and although their numbers are many, their own side has just over two thousand people (not counting the indigenous), so it’s inevitable to feel nervous before the battle. But now, seeing the might of the 514th Division for what it is, they suddenly feel capable again.

Ernst summarized from the rear: ”Units like the 514th Division are more adept at bullying indigenous people using cold weapons on the open plains. When it comes to dealing with fortifications, strongholds, and cities, they don’t resemble a real army at all. Fortunately, the Boers helped us test our army’s weaknesses!”

The indigenous people certainly knew how to build fortresses, but their fortresses were quite primitive. Setting aside the Ndebele people who abandoned their fortresses to opt for field battles with East Africa, and the Zanzibar Sultanate that gave East Africa an easy ride due to internal conflict, the hardest battles that the East African Kingdom encountered in Africa were with the primitive city walls built by several indigenous kingdoms in the Great Lakes region.

These fortresses, without any courtesy, were simply a pile of stones stacked randomly with no aesthetic appeal. They might be used for defense against wild animals and neighboring tribes, but against more civilized forces, they are impossible. The only large fortress structure independently built by Black people in all of Black Africa (sub-Saharan Africa) is the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.

The walls of Pretoria were built tentatively before the war, with Wiggins using bricks and mud to mix earthen walls that connected the houses and buildings around Pretoria. Fortunately, it hasn’t rained in Pretoria these days, or this provisional wall might have collapsed. Although the construction was temporary, firing ports, batteries, and machine gun bunkers were fully equipped, and the thickness was enough to withstand two or three rounds of shelling.

However, so far, Wiggins has not used artillery or machine guns, as he knows that the East Africans have artillery too. Last time, during the Ndebele uprising, the small caliber artillery of the East Africans had a huge impact.

The Boers don’t have many artillery pieces, but the caliber and power are much larger than the small caliber artillery of East Africa. The only shortcoming is poor mobility, meaning they can’t be moved easily and can only be used for defense and sieges.

Logically, Boers don’t need such weapons to deal with other Boers, meaning the Boers purchased such artillery to deal with the British Cape Colony.

”Commander, why don’t we give the Germans under the city a taste of our artillery?” a Boer soldier suggested.

Wiggins waved a hand and said: ”You don’t understand. Right now, the Germans are just making a probing attack. Although the army in front is large, it’s not their main force. They haven’t used artillery, which shows they don’t take us seriously from the start. Now that their vanguard can’t make progress, the rear units will surely be impatient. That’s when we will show the power of our artillery.”

”Commander, since the enemy also has artillery, what about their artillery power?”

Wiggins: ”No need to worry. The German artillery equipped in East Africa is very weak, and the quantity is not much either.”

That’s understandable. Previously, apart from the coastal defense artillery, which East Africa paid more attention to, the Army’s artillery was more symbolic. Dealing with indigenous people only requires rifles, and artillery is used only to break the spirit of those fearless African tribes. Therefore, the East African Army is not equipped with many artillery pieces. The entire Southern Road Army has only about a dozen, and the 514th Division, being at the bottom, doesn’t have any. Only the 511th and 512th Divisions have artillery.

And without artillery, the 514th Division naturally cannot shell Pretoria and make progress. Of course, war isn’t guaranteed to be won by having superior firepower. The 514th Division is clearly not adapted for siege warfare, so they were unprepared for their first encounter with a city, leaving them helpless.

Thus, Ernst gave the order: ”Have the 514th Division retreat, it’s time to test the capability of the newly formed 111th Division.”

With Ernst’s order, the 514th Division began to retreat, which delighted the Boers, with some even mocking that the Germans were just so-so. Only Wiggins felt a bit heavy-hearted, realizing that the East African Kingdom didn’t even engage in a large-scale attack before retreating. While Pretoria, after his modifications, could put up a fight, it wasn’t nearly as impregnable as he had claimed to bolster morale. In fact, there were flaws everywhere.

After all, the defensive fortifications built in just a few days had very questionable quality, which Wiggins knew well. If the East African army just charged recklessly just now, they would surely have broken through, perhaps losing only a hundred men or so before reaching the outskirts of Pretoria. Clearly, the East African army didn’t want to pay even such a small price, indicating they had better means and methods to attack.

The newly formed 111th Division, one of East Africa’s main forces, was reorganized with the framework of officers from the Heixinggen Military Academy who had experienced the Franco-Prussian War. These officers were typical academia members, unlike the crash-course trained Heixinggen students from before.

For instance, the East African Army Chief of Staff, Sivert, came from a crash course background, and comparing him to those Heixinggen students who studied for three years is unfavorable in terms of theory.

What is most valuable is that these students have seen blood, having fought against, and won against France, the world’s number one army more than a year ago, giving them a credible record. As a result, they were confident when reorganizing the 111th Division in the Tanganyika region.

The 111th Division’s equipment also saw a significant upgrade, with the only major shortcoming being the large gap in artillery compared to the Prussian army.

With the 111th Division entering the scene, Chris, the division commander, began to command the army’s operations. Compared to the 514th Division, the 111th Division was noticeably more coordinated in command, with the various units beginning to work systematically once their respective areas of responsibility were assigned.

The 111th Division did not immediately use artillery but estimated a safe distance and approached Pretoria’s defenses with small detachments, around 450 meters. The Boer weapons were varied and had different ranges, but the 111th Division calculated, based on their Dreiser Rifles, that there was almost no impact at around 450 meters.

After building an initial defensive position at this 450-meter location, the sappers began their work, using shovels and pickaxes to dig trenches forward.

Wiggins, standing on Pretoria’s walls, also saw the movements of the East African army. With dust flying from either side of the trenches, the East African sappers soon disappeared from view.

”The Germans intend to advance using trench warfare!”

At this point, Wiggins hesitated a bit. At this range, rifles certainly couldn’t reach the East African army. While artillery could bombard the front lines of East Africa, their artillery hadn’t yet shown up. Wiggins still wanted to save his limited shells to restrain the East African army, so he could only first send troops to take the initiative to attack East Africa’s forward positions!

”Transmit my order; the third battalion is to leave the trenches and proactively attack the East African positions, interrupting their construction! We cannot let the East African plot succeed.”

Afterward, ninety percent Black Transvaal troops, under the coercion of Boer officers, reluctantly left the trenches to attack East Africa.

”Charge, all of you charge, damn it, why are you hesitating? Do you want to die?” The Boer officer kicked the hesitant Black soldiers’ backsides, forcing them to pick up rifles and charge toward the East African positions.

Though they had weapons, the Black soldiers didn’t dare resist the Boers, as before the battle, Wiggins had given them a taste of the Gatling’s intimidation, with the pitch-black gun barrels now pointed at them.