Wild North America 1846

In the first few days of the early 20th century,

London, England

Downing Street Prime Minister's Official Residence

At the just-concluded high-level military conference, it was confirmed that the commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force will be Lord Kitchener. The next step will be to increase the number of troops to South Africa to 450,000 within 4 to 5 months.

Amid rising anger, the House of Commons of the British Parliament passed the South African Special War Budget, increasing allocations for this year by 44 million pounds, equivalent to 220 million Tang dollars.

Please note that this is an increase in the original military allocation. The Anglo-Saxon nation is roaring like an enraged lion.

Parliament has given the green light to further expand the war, Liberal leader Sir Arthur Balfour said in a speech in parliament during the debate on increasing the war budget;

"South Africa's military operations have suffered setbacks, and the heroic soldiers are still fighting bloody battles. What I want to say is that this is not the end but just the beginning..."

"The Queen's government must take the strongest stance and fight back hard against those who oppose us. The dignity of the empire cannot be underestimated."

"Now... right now, we need to crush those Boers to death one by one like bedbugs."

Sir Arthur Balfour's tough speech received thunderous applause from the House of Commons. The special proposal to increase the war budget was passed with an overwhelming vote, indicating that South Africa thousands of miles away will face a stronger storm.

advent.

Outside the Prime Minister's Office

Prime Minister Lord Robert Cecil was walking in the corridor with Chamberlain, Secretary of the Colonial Office. He saw Admiral Kitchener standing at the door of the Prime Minister's Office and nodded.

"Dear Mr. General, come to the office to talk. We still have time."

"I am happy to obey your orders, Your Excellency Prime Minister."

The three people walked into the office one after another. Lord Robert Cecil turned around and snapped his fingers and said to Cabinet Secretary George Edmonton who followed closely behind;

"Mr. Edmonton, if it is convenient, give us each a cup of hot coffee. It will make us feel more relaxed."

"Okay, Prime Minister, please wait a moment."

Prime Minister Lord Robert Cecil walked to his desk and sat down. He raised his hand to signal and said, "Sit down and talk, gentlemen, where should we start? What I want to know now is...why did the Tang Dynasty

We had a smooth sailing in the East Indies, but when it was our turn it was difficult, what was the problem?"

Colonial Secretary Chamberlain shrugged his shoulders without an answer and turned to look at Admiral Kitchener sitting aside. It was best for him to answer this professional question.

Admiral Kitchener was a typical British gentleman, rigorous and well-organized, with a deep understanding of wars taking place around the world. After a moment of consideration, he said;

“Your Excellency Prime Minister;

Regarding the war launched by the Tang State in the East Indies, the military believed that it was a typical colonial expansion war, just like they did in Mexico, Cuba and Colombia, and was intended to further colonize the Western Pacific region.

It must be admitted that the time chosen by the Easterners is very subtle and can minimize the hostility from Europe.

It can be considered that this is an excellent expansion strategy.

The Tang Dynasty has always been like this. They have an Emperor Richard who can be called the world's most outstanding international geostrategist, a wise monarch who can go down in history.

Only from a military perspective

The geographical environment of the East Indies is an archipelago that is separated and difficult to communicate with each other. After the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty completely destroyed the poor maritime power of the Dutch with a small number of people, it became several isolated and separated battlefields.

Because it is located in a tropical area, and the Dutch colonists have hardly invested heavily in infrastructure for hundreds of years, the road conditions are very bad, and there are large areas of tropical rainforest that are difficult to navigate.

After losing control of the sea, coastal transportation also came to a standstill.

Even if they are on the same island, it is difficult for coastal towns to pass through each other, which gives the Tang army the best chance to defeat them one by one.

in fact

The Tang army did the same thing. They adopted a step-by-step approach, consolidating a town after conquering it, and then started colonization and construction, firmly controlling it.

After several months, the entire island was gradually occupied.

Due to the obstruction of dense tropical rainforest, the Dutch army could not cross dozens or even hundreds of kilometers to attack the Tang army's logistics and weak points. This was also the biggest difference.

on the battlefield in south africa

The Boer cavalry took advantage of their familiarity with the terrain and often penetrated hundreds or even thousands of kilometers to attack weak links such as our army's logistics transportation lines, outposts, warehouses, and hospitals.

This resulted in beacon fires everywhere on the battlefield, numerous surprises overnight, and a passive situation in which our officers and soldiers were exhausted to deal with. These situations do not exist in the East Indies."

At this time, the door opened.

Cabinet Secretary George Edmonton was holding a tray with four cups of hot coffee on it. He gave one cup to each of the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for the Colonial Office and General Kitchener, leaving the last cup for himself.

The British Cabinet Secretary is not a secretary in the ordinary sense, but the highest official in charge of 370,000 civil servants. He has the right to attend cabinet meetings and is a typical position of real power.

At the same time, he is also the close chief of staff to the Prime Minister.

In this office, he is the second owner, so no one is surprised when he sits down with a coffee cup.

After hearing General Kitchener's explanation, Prime Minister Lord Robert Cecil was not satisfied. Every British Prime Minister is a seasoned veteran in the political arena and is not easily fooled.

General Kitchener neither talked about the command errors of his predecessor, nor pointed out the essence of the glorious victory won by the Tang army. He only mentioned it lightly.

Therefore, Prime Minister Lord Robert Cecil frowned slightly and asked;

"Mr. General, the Tang army captured more than 50,000 Dutch people. Just saying that the geographical environment is different, I am afraid it cannot explain why the combat effectiveness of these Dutch people has shrunk sharply?

Could it be said that the tropical jungle has caused such great harm to them?

In a frontal battle, should we learn from the strengths of the Tang army?"

General Kitchener nodded in agreement and replied;

"As the Prime Minister said, the Tang army is indeed remarkable in many aspects, and the military has also heard about it.

They were the first to use armored tanks in the war, which are tracked motor vehicles covered with iron armor. They can defend against dense rain of bullets in frontal attacks and cause a lot of damage to local areas.

As an innovative ground weapon, it played a major role in the war against the Dutch.

The British Army is also studying this type of armored fighting vehicle, but due to the short time frame, it is temporarily unable to provide similar equipment to the troops, which is a pity.

But we have the confidence and ability to completely strangle the Boer farmers.

I planned to adopt step-by-step tactics and build extensive bunkers and barbed wire fences on the South African battlefield to restrict Boer cavalry raids and strangle their space for movement.

And all the civilians who provided logistics for the Boers were thrown into the concentration camps, leaving them without food, ammunition, and logistics supplies, and eventually inevitably perished.

South Africa will definitely belong to the British Empire. This is the solemn commitment of the military."

"Well said, Mr. General, I look forward to this day coming." Prime Minister Robert Cecil said with encouragement.

In fact, his confidence is not that strong. (End of chapter)