Chapter 646 Situation in the South
At the end of the year, Ernst completed his trip to Europe and returned to East Africa. During this trip, East Africa was actually very popular, especially Germany.
This is the same as the welcoming attitude of European and American countries towards the Far Eastern Empire during the 2008 financial crisis in the previous life. In the 1970s, the importance of East Africa to Germany undoubtedly increased to several levels, and it was very important to the stability of Germany. The economy played an important role and also allowed Germany to realize some of the strengths of East Africa.
In the previous life, there was an Italy that was won over by all parties. Now Italy is divided into three countries, and part of it is occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, there is one less powerful country in Europe, and East Africa has entered Germany's sight. , but East Africa is in Africa after all, so its importance is not as important as that of the Ottoman Empire.
East Africa does not need to take sides as soon as possible, so its wooing of Germany is relatively ambiguous, but in essence it is still more inclined to Germany or the German camp.
After all, East Africa is also a country of the German system. It is naturally close to the German region politically, economically, culturally, and militarily. However, East Africa's geographical location and strength allow East Africa to continue to remain neutral.
"Ernst, you are finally back. Friedrich misses you so much!" Constantine said in surprise as soon as he saw his son.
"Dad, Mom!" Friedrich jumped into his arms as soon as he came up. This little guy was no stranger to him after not seeing him for half a year.
Ernst hugged the little guy and said to his father: "Father, now that I am back, you can leave other things to me."
Constantin said angrily: " I don’t want to bother with my old bones for a long time. It’s just the right time for you to come back. I still want to walk around more!”
Before Ernst went abroad, Constantine had stopped asking about government affairs and was instead wandering around East Africa. Now that Ernst is back, Constantine naturally wants to continue his retirement life. As for governing the country It is better to leave this kind of tiring work to young people like Ernst.
Karina also grabbed her son's chubby face and felt distressed. Originally, they only planned to stay in Europe for a few months, but the popularity of East Africa obviously delayed the family's schedule. There were countless banquets and receptions, which made Karina, who was used to freedom in East Africa, a little uncomfortable.
So in the second half of the trip, Karina kept complaining that she would come to Europe as little as possible next time, mainly because she was too tired from socializing and the facial muscles she used to smile every day were stiff.
The family returned to the First Town happily, but after being away for a long time and accumulating a lot of things, Ernst could not afford to rest and began to return to his workaholic state.
East Africa is highly centralized, which also means Ernst has greater pressure and responsibilities. So after handing over affairs with his father, Ernst began to look at the problems that had accumulated in East Africa over the past year.
The first is the Orange Free State. This issue has been a key concern in East Africa before Ernst left East Africa.
Army General Staff Officer Sweet has been responsible for keeping an eye on this matter, so he reported: "This year, large-scale wars between the Orange and the Transvaal broke out three times. The first two times were all in the name of the Orange. However, for the third time, in September of this year, the Transvaal, with the help of the British, changed the situation in one fell swoop and severely damaged the main force of the Orange coalition at Dillsville."
Although it was known that the Transvaal would gain the upper hand, it was only a matter of time. After all, East Africa could not provide unconditional aid to the Orange people like the British did, but had to pay for it.
But Ernst still wanted to know the details of what happened, especially why the Orangemen won the first two times. Sweet said: "According to the information sent back by our intelligence personnel and military advisers, the combat effectiveness of the Transvaal Restoration Army was low at the beginning. After all, the Boers did not have standing armed requirements at the beginning, so they lacked experience and were not as good as Oran." The traditional Boer armed force that governs people
However, as time went by, the Transvaal people accumulated enough relevant experience, their combat effectiveness level improved, and with the guidance of the British, the Transvaal people made rapid progress. ”
“The first of these battles took place in the northern Orange Free State, Excelsior, the Beltfontein garrison in the Transvaal and the Orange Allied Forces in Luce A large-scale fighting broke out in our country. This time it was the Transvaal who took the initiative. Attacked, but Russell used the terrain to set up an ambush. The Beltfontein garrison suffered heavy losses. This made the situation in the entire north instantly favorable to the Orangemen, and the Transvaal could only use their troops to The turtle shrank back within the confines of Beltfontein. "
"An important reason for the Transvaal's failure in this war was that they underestimated the enemy. Russell can be said to be the strongest in the north of the Orangemen, and the northwest is basically under his control. , but as a result, the Transvaal people dared to go there without even knowing the information, leading to a disastrous defeat. ”
Of course, because Russell was in the northwest of Orange, his troops could better contact East Africa and gain support from East Africa. There is no need to say this reason, and the Transvaal The important reason why people want to attack Russell is to cut off the connection between Orange and East Africa. The Northern Corridor
"In May there was a second large-scale conflict between the Orange and the Transvaal, this time mainly in the south-west, where the Transvaal had been actively compressing. The living space of the Orange people was therefore centered on Bloemfontein, and fortifications and strongholds were built in all directions.
Therefore, in order to break the situation, the Orange people in the southwest region cleaned up the Transvaal Restoration Army in the territory. For the Orange people, this was a local operation, so it was easy to obtain victory over the Transvaal people. victory. "
"The third large-scale conflict was still initiated by the Orange people. The first two major victories caused the Orange people to become a little swollen, so they gathered a large number of troops in the west and prepared to give them another blow. The Transvaal had suffered heavy losses and were even preparing to recapture Bloemfontein in one fell swoop. "
"However, the Orange people have obviously forgotten the advantages of their own province. Although the Transvaal Restoration Army's combat effectiveness is not high, it can be said to have clear powers and a detailed command system framework. , while the Orangemen fought on their own and were not united internally.
So in this frontal war, the Transvaal people faced a group of scattered Orange people and achieved an unprecedented victory, and the British also began to take the initiative and sent troops from near Kimberley, making the Orange people The Zhiren were attacked from both sides, and with the confluence of the two forces, the Orangemen's forces in the southwest were severely damaged, and most of them are now out of control.
Although the northern forces still exist for various reasons, they also participated in the third large-scale conflict and could not make waves in a short period of time. Therefore, the Transvaal and the British took advantage of the situation to expand their results. At present, the main battle zone has been moved to the north, and there were even several battles between the two sides on the south bank of the Fite River, which were observed by our army. ”
"In other words, the Orange people are now at the end of their tether?"
"It's almost the same. In the Orange Free State, only the north is still resisting because of us. In other areas, the Transvaal The people and the British have almost cleared up the problem, especially the Orange forces in the southwest, which were the most powerful at the time. Many have chosen to move towards the New The government surrendered. "
"New government?"
"The Provisional Government of the Transvaal formally abolished the original Orange Free State government, and now the Orange Free State can be said to be the only one left. One name still belongs to the Orange people, but the others have been ignored by the Transvaal people.”
(End of this chapter)