African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 747 Battle of Fetter River

Merke's statement is not an exaggeration, because the Boers did not have a power system, so they were unable to coordinate and organize counterattacks on various battlefields in a timely manner.

 The construction of telegraph lines in East Africa is second to none in the entire Africa, but there is only one professional telegraph line in the Boer Republic, which leads from Cape Town to the Kimberley mining area.

The current Boer Republic is not like its previous life, which controlled the gold mines of South Africa, so it is very backward in all aspects of construction. Moreover, they have to maintain a huge military force and have basically zero infrastructure construction.

As for the telegraph line in the Kimberley area, it was built by British businessmen in the diamond-producing area, the only important mineral and diamond-producing area in the Boer Republic, which was under British control.

 These were reported to the East African government by the East African Defense and Security Bureau. Therefore, the Boer Republic is not only a small country and has a small population, but is actually very backward. This backwardness is nothing short of very detrimental to the progress of the war in the Boer Republic.

 …

 Midnight.

There is silence on both sides of the Fete River. Although it is the rainy season in South Africa, the two sides of the Fete River, which is far inland, do not actually experience too much rain, which brings some convenience to East Africa.

East Africa is very well prepared for crossing the river. From the day the Transvaal Republic was eliminated, the East African government was clearly aware of the bad relationship with the Boers, so the two sides will definitely continue to fight.

This time, East Africa directly dispatched 30,000 troops. Under the cover of darkness, they began to cross the Fite River. Although it was located in the hinterland of the South African Plateau, the rain here was not very abundant, but the abundant rainwater from the Drakensberg Mountains supplemented the Austrian army. The various tributaries of the Ranch River.

Therefore, unlike the previous British army on the Tugela River, which was not even fully prepared for its ships, the East African side had prepared countless plans to attack the Orange Free State during peacetime, and ships that broke through the Orange River were indispensable. Equipment, almost every stronghold has a certain reserve.

 This is very similar to the Shabelle River and Juba River in Somalia. Rainfall in Somalia is scarce, but the abundant precipitation on the Ethiopian plateau makes these two rivers large rivers with considerable flow all year round.

The first person to discover the East Africans was Lawrence, a Boer drunkard. As a logistics worker, Lawrence could often get a lot of good things. For example, today, he got drunk with a few Boer soldiers during the day and ended up getting a lot of good stuff from Britain. I woke up and went to the river to solve my physical problems.

The East African army after landing was not so easy to deal with, and the reason for this result was the Boer's laziness. East Africa had been in a defensive posture in the previous three months and had not launched an attack.

 “The East Africans are coming!”

But the Transvaal people, who are the younger brothers of the British, do not have this consciousness. They can be said to have followed the British army in building their army, and it is more appropriate to describe them as "bandits".

The only pity is that East Africa did not give these "bandit armies" the opportunity to rob the East African mainland. This can be seen from the industrial layout of East Africa. The industrial zones in East Africa are all located in the rear, and even the agriculture on the southern border is not very good. development.

 In this state, the Boer frontline soldiers were easily paralyzed. In fact, this was also the case. The East African Defense Forces attached great importance to discipline construction because of Ernst.

The large-scale movements in East Africa were still discovered by the Boers, but at this time, it was supposed to be rest time. Many Boer soldiers did not even come out of the camp, and the East African troops had already landed.

Then with blurred vision, I seemed to see a faint light in the river, which was the light reflected from the East African steel helmet.

 Lawrence woke up instantly, but faced the increasingly approaching East African army, he was a little overwhelmed. It took him three seconds to react and started running towards the position.

 As Lawrence shouted, more and more Boer soldiers began to be awakened and hurriedly organized resistance. Facing the bustling Boers, they responded with artillery fire from East Africa.

As the East African army came ashore, the artillery began to organize attacks on the Boer bunkers. Of course, the artillery that crossed the river this time actually used grenades, which are lightweight portable small-caliber artillery that is widely used in the East African Army.

Although small boats can withstand the weight of East African heavy artillery, they are unstable and inefficient. In addition, they are not convenient to carry for night raids.

 But it should be enough to deal with the Boers. The Boers' equipment can be said to be the worst among the coalition forces, especially the lack of heavy weapons.

And their heavy weapons are useless at this time. Because of the night, they don't know the specific location of the East African army at all. They only feel that there are people everywhere.

It is hard to believe that the Boer defenses were very rough and even more defeated than before the war began. You must know that this was not done by the East Africans.

The real reason is that the rainy season caused the Boer defense line to collapse to a certain extent, and East Africa has not launched an offensive for a long time. In the past three months, the Boers have gradually become less concerned about maintaining the fortifications.

The Boer defense lines were originally built very roughly, mostly made of civil structures. Although there is little rain in South Africa, it also has a certain destructive effect on such rough fortifications.

 But the main reason was the improper maintenance of these fortifications by the Boers, and now the Boers have to pay for their carelessness.

As the grenade shells fell, these fortifications were completely vulnerable, and East African artillery generally made few mistakes in positioning the "fire".

Most of these fires were bonfires used for lighting or heating at night, and now they have become a reminder for the Boers.

Even if a smart person starts running into the darkness, he or she will easily be accidentally injured. The darkness itself also has certain dangers, such as tripping over debris or being pushed by others.

The entire Boer position was in chaos. After all, it was the first time to face such a scene in the dark, and it was difficult to be calmed down.

The Boer officers watched the chaos happening among their own soldiers, but could do nothing. Even if they wanted to organize a counterattack at this time, it was impossible to achieve it.

Because of the darkness of night, it can be said that the Boers do not know their generals or generals. Coupled with the loud noise of East African artillery bullets, it has made command more difficult. In other words, the command system of the Boer army is now completely paralyzed.

 After a round of artillery fire, the Boers had completely collapsed and the East African army began to harvest them. Of course, due to the darkness of night, many Boers chose to run away and did not confront the East African army.

At this time, it was very difficult for the East Africans to pursue these deserters. However, as long as the Boer riverside positions were captured, the Boer Republic in the rear would no longer be in danger, and the Boer Republic government would not be able to gather these troops in a short period of time.

The three-line offensive in East Africa went very smoothly, with only the western part encountering a little trouble. The British army there was obviously more experienced than the Boers, but they only lasted a little longer than the Boers.

Although there are currently a large number of Boer frontline troops, the short-term expansion of the army has also left the Boer army with a mixed number of soldiers, especially some Orangemen who have no intention of fighting.

Under their leadership, the Transvaal people also chose to flee. Only many of the original landlords of the Transvaal Republic were staunch resisters. After all, East Africa had actually harmed their interests before, and more of the lower-class Boers On the contrary, people collapse without fighting.

 (End of this chapter)