African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 411: Chapter 88: Even Dogs Need to Be Slapped Twice

Ernst was unaware that Cape Town had already prepared to intervene in East Africa, and their initial plan was to start with Germany. However, Ernst knew before the war that there would be no peaceful resolution between East Africa and Cape Town. But the idea of starting with Germany to intervene in East Africa was just wishful thinking on the part of the British.

This time, East Africa’s strategic goal was to use mountains and rivers as boundaries, occupying easily defensible places and taking over South Africa’s mining areas. In many places with mountains and rivers in South Africa, the British had influence, the most typical being the Griqualand Republic, although it was north of the Orange River.

If the Griqualand Republic were south of the Orange River, East Africa probably wouldn’t annex it, as it would be difficult to defend and could become a bleeding wound.

Secondly, there was the border between the Zulu Kingdom and the Natal colony, which also lacked clear boundaries. This is understandable since the British previously regarded themselves as the dominant side in Africa, or at least without rivals in South Africa. Signing border treaties with these natives was unnecessary, as they may not have been deemed qualified, and it would have hindered their expansionist advantage.

Now, the East African Kingdom, like the British, disregarded this aspect. From the colonial era to the present, East Africa has only signed a border treaty with Egypt.

Firstly, Egypt has a strategically important location with a long history, which all major powers closely watched. Secondly, the area bordering East Africa is the Sultanate, characterized by a desert climate, leaving only a bit of arable land in the Jezira plain, making it unsuitable for military advancement. Thirdly, Egypt itself is not weak.

At least, East Africa considered Egypt capable of sitting at the negotiation table. However, even so, when Egypt and East Africa finally signed a treaty, Egypt was on the losing side, ceding some oil-rich ”badlands” of the Sultanate to East Africa.

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After not staying long in Pillar, following the 123rd Division’s support to Felix in the Zulu Kingdom war, the 514th Division, after a few days’ rest, was mobilized again. This time, the 514th Division’s destination was the Kingdom of Basutoland, known in a previous life as the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Now in South Africa, one could say even a dog has to take a beating from East Africa, with the Kingdom of Lesotho about to face such a blow.

The reason East Africa wanted to attack Lesotho was quite simple: Lesotho is the highest-altitude country on the South African plateau and serves as the water tower of South Africa. Many rivers originate here, such as some tributaries of the Orange River, the Fall River, and the Tugela River, which empties into the Indian Ocean.

In a previous life, the Kingdom of Lesotho and South Africa had a well-known water transfer project, which involved diverting water from Lesotho to solve the industrial water use problem in Pillar and Johannesburg, South Africa.

At the same time, the Kingdom of Basutoland happened to be the watershed between the Orange River and the Tugela River, so Ernst planned to annex the northern part of the Kingdom of Basutoland.

This would help East Africa use the Kingdom of Lesotho as the center to build a defense line with the Tugela River, Fite River (a tributary of the Orange River), Champagne Castle Mountain, Fall River, and Orange River as the main lines.

(Diagram)

Ernst called this defense line the Southern Defense Line, aimed primarily at the Cape Colony.

East Africa had already offended all factions in South Africa, including the Boers, Swazi, Zulus, Basutoland people, Griqualand people (Boers), and the British.

However, East Africa had to curb its ambitions and not be too aggressive towards Cape Town. So far, the conflict between East Africa and Cape Town could at best be considered a skirmish. However, taking action against Cape Town would be declaring war on Britain, not just a skirmish.

Although the Griqualand Republic was a part of the Cape Colony, it wasn’t vital, and Basutoland was also a British protectorate. But East Africa did not intend to erase it entirely from the map, choosing instead to leave half of it intact.

These main areas of conflict were subordinate regions to the Cape Colony, not its main part. Only the southeastern part of the Natal colony was one of the core colonies.

The East African Kingdom’s actions against these two regions were different from taking action against Cape Town. Cape Town was Britain’s ’son,’ while these two were ’grandsons,’ and the British mainland couldn’t directly manage these areas, primarily relying on Cape Town for oversight.

The Cape Colony could be regarded as an independent country, although it was part of the British Empire and had some autonomy. Its main authority was the Cape Town National Assembly, composed of locals, but the head of state was the British Queen. The actual administrative chief was the British-appointed South African Commissioner, who also served as Cape Town’s Governor, Henry Barkley. The presence of British troops in Cape Town ensured that Britain could firmly control South Africa.

This setup was much like Australia, somewhat inferior to Canada, because, in 1867, the British Parliament passed the British North America Act, making Canada a British dominion with almost independent sovereignty.

If not for the intervention of the East African Kingdom, the white people of Cape Colony could have achieved autonomy this year, allowing for the establishment of a cabinet responsible to the parliament, realizing true autonomy.

However, the arrival of East Africa forced the white population of Cape Town to reconsider the necessity of previously striving for autonomy. Gaining autonomy was primarily about having more rights and fewer obligations, leveraging the importance of the Cape Colony to compel concessions from the British mainland.

But with East Africa as an enemy, the white people of Cape Town shifted their conflicts from the London central government and Cape Town local government to between Cape Town and East Africa.

Without the protection of the British Empire, how could the Cape Colony resist the militarily stronger East African Kingdom? So now, the white local forces of the Cape Colony needed to bow to London, which was not necessarily a bad thing for the British government.

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The East African Kingdom’s war against the Zulu Kingdom and Lesotho almost occurred simultaneously. The Zulu Kingdom was the most challenging place to conquer, but after the East African cavalry divisions joined the battle, the situation greatly improved.

In open terrain, the cavalry divisions could easily deal with the Zulu Kingdom, while the Zulu Kingdom struggled to retreat into complex terrains, unable to shake off the East African mountain divisions’ pursuit.

This caused great concern for the Zulu Kingdom. Part of the reason the Zulu Kingdom could effectively engage with the Boers on equal footing was the terrain advantage.

However, the East African mountain divisions comprised troops from mountainous regions, allowing them to move swiftly in the Drakensberg, even holding an advantage over the Zulus who lived there.

The Zulu Kingdom had only arrived and established itself in the area a few decades ago, with the Khoisan people inhabiting the region before. The whole of South Africa was formerly Khoisan territory, but now they primarily inhabit Cape Town and the East African Kingdom, as well as in what is today Namibia, with only about tens of thousands remaining.

The Khoisan are an independent group with a skin color leaning towards yellow. Due to the southward migration of Bantu people (including the Zulus), the eastern Khoisan in South Africa are of mixed race (maternally Khoisan), so they are slightly darker than the natives of the Dutch East Indies.

One could say all inhabitants, except the Khoisan, on South African soil are invaders, including the Zulu. The Zulu’s history in South Africa is almost contemporaneous with that of the Boers.

Additionally, as a nomadic people, the Zulus rarely ventured into the mountains, so their knowledge of the terrain was also limited.

The Zulus surrounded by the East African military had no choice but to flee further into more complex mountain areas. Although the East African mountain divisions were challenging to deal with, the cavalry units were even more difficult, leaving no routes open on the plains.

On June 8, 1872, the last group of resisting Zulu Kingdom troops was forced by the East African army into the left side of the Champagne Castle Mountain in the Tugela River valley. The East African army continued their pursuit until the remaining forces of the Zulu Kingdom entered the Natal colony through Champagne Castle Mountain, marking the end of the Zulu Kingdom.

On June 12, 1872, East Africa launched a surprise attack on the capital of Basutoland Kingdom (Lesotho), Maseru (located south of the Tugela River valley), forcing the Basutoland Kingdom to relocate its capital to Quthing, south of the Orange River valley, and seek assistance from the British.

On June 14, 1872, the Transvaal Republic’s government-in-exile arrived in Cape Town, with Little Pillotolius seeking to restore the republic.