Chapter 385 Incitement
Then Pretorius the Younger appointed Wiggins as the garrison commander of Pretoria, but Wiggins needed to recruit the soldiers himself, because Pretorius the Younger organized Not many people responded to the invasion of East Africa, and he didn't have many soldiers.
Little Pretorius said to the polished commander Wiggins: "At the time of the country's survival, there are still many citizens who don't know much about the German style. In fact, when they invaded the Trans From the moment the Transvaal Republic came to power, I knew they were not a good enemy. The Germans attacked the Transvaal for nothing more than land. However, some citizens naively thought it was just a change of rulers and chose not to resist and allowed the Germans to invade. , they will definitely regret their choice today.”
In fact, some Boers don’t care much about the so-called East African invasion. Aren’t East Africans just Germans? So what are you afraid of? In fact, the vast majority of Boers are not disgusted with German rule. The Boers are mainly composed of white immigrants from the Netherlands, Germany and France, and they have some affinity with Germany.
Of course, if the Boer farmers knew the policy of the East African Kingdom, they would definitely say to East Africa, as Pretorius the Younger said, damn Prussian barbarians!
Nowadays, East Africa aims to control the entire Transvaal Republic. The Boer farmers have not yet been exposed to the governance model and methods of the East African Kingdom. Therefore, many Boers who do not know what is going on even take the initiative to welcome the "King's Master" and cannot get through. How long will it take for them to become the most determined anti-East Africans?
Wiggins: "Your Excellency, since you have handed over Pretoria to me, I will keep it until the last moment, but in contrast, I need manpower, even if it is not many, Guarantee to complete the initial recruitment and mobilization, and use all the power of Pretoria to fight against the East African gangs."
Little Pretorius nodded and said: "Yes, but I can only leave you one person! Team members."
Wiggins: "That's enough!"
Wiggins's view is the same as that of Pretorius. East Africa is not here to help the Boers. If you just want to rule the Transvaal Republic, you don't need to start a war. You can talk first and fight later.
If Ernst knew about Wiggins's idea, he would definitely sneer at it. It sounds nice to talk first and ask later, but I don't know whether the Boers negotiated with the British or with East Africa. The East African Kingdom does not have such great prestige. , convinced the Boers through negotiations, and he They can completely wait for a price between Britain and East Africa, or even choose no one and continue to be autonomous. Ernst's attack on the Transvaal Republic is to prevent the Boers from making any response. When the time comes, the Boers will have no choice. Rights, that's what war is, winner takes all.
After handing over the management authority of Pretoria, Pretorius Jr. took a group of his supporters south to the Orange Free State, and Wiggins, who was in danger, was preparing to fight in Belgium. Pretoria launched a general mobilization to resist the East African Army here.
Wiggins, who has monopolized the military and political power in Pretoria, first faced the issue of conscription, so he first launched a public opinion offensive against the citizens of Pretoria. Now people in Pretoria towns are panicked , war, everyone is familiar with it, and no one knows what the military discipline is like on the other side or what the attitude is towards civilians, so Wiggins used rumors to make the people of Pretoria re-understand the East African Kingdom.
“Citizens of Pretoria! You may not know much about the so-called East African Kingdom, but I believe that some of you definitely know about Prussia, and the East African Kingdom is a more barbaric and more barbaric kingdom than Prussia. The Soldier Kingdom implemented a reign of terror. As a Boer who once served in the prison of the East African Kingdom, I can tell you some of the conditions in the East African Kingdom 'truthfully'."
Sure enough, Wiggins's words caused a stir. Intense discussion among the citizens of Pretoria.
"Harred! Your ancestors are Prussians. You should know what Prussia is like, right?" Willett, who is of Dutch descent, asked his neighbor.
"Willit, you are asking the right person. My grandfather fled to Africa from Prussia. He told me that under the rule of Prussia, people really did not take people seriously and raised troops to fight every year. , recruiting soldiers from civilians, and the military discipline of the troops is extremely poor. Noble officers often withhold food and use sticks to educate the soldiers below..."
Hared said Spraying Prussia’s crimes all over the place, in fact, these are all true. In Grandpa Halled’s time, Prussian rule was like this. It was not the Germany it is today, nor the reformed Prussia. In Grandpa Halled’s time, many German immigrants were I chose to leave for various reasons. The former German region was indeed unlivable. Who could bear the taxation and war every year? Willett: "Oh my God? It's terrible. We must not let the Transvaal become that kind of country!"
At this time, Wiggins, who was speaking, went on to say: "While I was being held by vicious East Africans, I also noticed their makeup and way of life. The entire East African Kingdom is just a big military camp. There are no so-called free people. Everyone must accept the sanctions of strict laws and accept the rule of the East African Kingdom like sheep. The king of the East African Kingdom is the Prussian Hohenzollern family. A member..."
What Wiggins said was true. In fact, he had no contact with civilians in East Africa. In order to prevent him from stealing intelligence, the East African Kingdom imprisoned him in the palace in Bulawayo and did not allow him to contact anyone, so Wiggins's domination of East Africa is conjecture, exaggeration and smear.
However, the Boers below believed that what Wiggins said must be right. After all, many Boer ancestors at the scene really came from Prussia. Wiggins's statement was in line with the image of Prussia mentioned by his grandfathers.
Seeing that the crowd's emotions were aroused, Wiggins said: "Then can everyone allow the East African tyrants to impose Europe's backward autocratic monarchy on us!"
" Of course not!”
“Then can you allow the East African Kingdom to turn beautiful Pretoria into a ghastly military camp?”
"Not allowed, defeat the East African invaders, long live the Republic of Transvaal!"
......
Wiggins achieved the great cause of conscription by mobilizing public sentiment, which seems to have been completed so far. , Pretoria citizens enthusiastically joined the army, allowing Wiggins to gather an army of more than 2,000 people.
The next headache for Wiggins is how to defeat the East Africans. Pretoria is originally a defensive town, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Defense is not difficult. If Pretoria can be used well Leah, it's not that difficult to hold on until reinforcements arrive.
Based on the situation of the East African Army during the last Ndebele uprising, Wiggins began to carry out targeted education for his soldiers to weaken the image of the East African Army. “Although the East African Army imitated Prussia in every aspect, they did not learn the essence. , just in appearance, in the battle between the Ndebele and the Germans, the East African army The performance is such that any European instructor will shake his head. It is full of loopholes. The reason why we can achieve victory is entirely due to advanced weapons. In addition, the Ndebele people lack training. Many people do not know how to operate muskets. The weapons we provide are very effective for them. Their hands turned into fire sticks, which is why the Ndebele people failed.”
According to Wiggins, the East African Army is vulnerable and will be defeated as long as it encounters an army with some experience. The Boers, not to mention an army that has fought hundreds of battles, are often in tit-for-tat with the Zulu Kingdom in the East, so the advantage lies with us. , using the terrain and architecture of Pretoria to give East Africa a head-on blow.
(End of this chapter)