Chapter 694 Blackmail
Bloemfontein.
"What? Let the Orange Free State regain its independence!" Little Pretorius was a little surprised when he heard Cape Town's request, but he was more worried.
In normal times, the Boers would definitely be very willing to be independent, because the ultimate goal of the Transvaal is to rebuild the Boer Republic.
But the current situation is special. The Transvaal people must rely on the British for their existence, and it is not a good thing for the Cape Colony to let the "Orange Free State" regain its independence.
"Are the British worried about being dragged into the water? The Orange Free State was annexed by Cape Town on its own initiative. Over the years, we have treated the British in the territory quite favorably. But now they want to do it because of the threat from East Africans. Should we just kick it away?”
No wonder little Pretorius thinks so. The British colonial status is now the protective umbrella of the Orange Free State.
If a war breaks out, the British will definitely not allow their colonies to be invaded or bullied by others. As a colonial empire, the British have so many colonies, so they must maintain their image as "masters", even if they beat dogs. You must first pass the "dog" owner level.
"Your Excellency, I am afraid that what you are thinking is not unreasonable. Although Britain is a world hegemon, its authority comes from having the largest number of colonies in the world. However, this also destined that the British power is relatively dispersed. We The Orange Free State is an insignificant existence to Britain, but it is a big trouble."
Little Pretorius looked ugly, although his subordinates told the truth. But it's still jarring.
He retorted: "Don't we, the frontline of the confrontation with East Africa, have no value at all? If they are so arrogant, then the entire African continent may be dominated by East Africans in the future!
So the British We cannot let go of our pawn. Their strength on the African continent may not be much stronger than that of East Africa! To suppress East Africa, we can only unite more allies. Although our Orange Free State is indeed not worth mentioning, Its location and military strength should be among the top ten in Africa.”
“Your Excellency, that’s not the case. I think the British have their own goals. After all, the Orange Freedom has been in place for many years. The number of British troops in the country has increased, and Cape Town has obviously made big moves, so they must also treat the threat in East Africa carefully. This is the basis for our cooperation. "
The British are not at this time. I will beat the Transvaal people. After all, the Orange Free State has a special position. If it makes people resentful and pushes this ally to East Africa, it will be more than worth the gain. Although the "little brother" of the Transvaal people also has his own little brother in his heart. , but compared with the direct threat in East Africa, it is nothing to mention. The size of the Transvaal people is not even a threat.
"Then you said that the British are letting us get rid of them at this time. What is the ultimate purpose of this sacrifice after many years of planning to get the colony?" Pretorius Jr. said.
"Your Excellency, this may be related to an issue of initiative. First of all, the British suddenly made this request after we first proposed to increase military assistance. This may mean that the British cannot meet our request. < br>
So they must have thought about this issue from a financial perspective. After all, it is not easy to help us raise an army.”
Little Pretorius affirmed: "this This idea is very novel, but it also makes sense.”
If it were Pretorius himself, he would certainly not be as generous as the British. This is of course due to the strong strength of the British. , but helping other countries train an army is thankless in itself, not to mention spending your own "taxpayers" money. If you have this time, it is better to recruit more cannon fodder and organize it in India. At least in the eyes of the British, Indians are " reliable".
"Yes, Your Excellency, after all, the British responded like this after we made this request, so it is certain that their finances are also relatively tight." During the Civil War in the Orange Free State, the British could say Single-handedly supplying the Transvaal and fighting the Orangemen with East African support.
The final gain is that a lot of money and time were spent fighting a war of little value. The gain is not as good as the Kingdom of Burma, which was won without wasting much effort. In this comparison, the British are definitely It feels like a huge loss.
As the financial backers behind the Orange people, East Africa naturally lost money, but for East Africa, it was a gain if it could consume the internal strength of the Boers in advance. Although because of the support of the British, the Trans The Vanuatu armed forces also grew up, but it was in the interests of East Africa to expend British energy in the Orange Free State.
“Secondly, the British idea is to prevent the situation from getting out of control. I guess the UK is definitely not ready to break up with East Africa. After all, the sanctions imposed by the UK on East Africa in recent years are the same as those imposed on East Africa in the past. The U.S. sanctions did not achieve much results, and East Africa, like the United States, achieved good development after the sanctions. This made the British realize that East Africa is different from ordinary colonies or countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. "
"What does this have to do with us?" someone asked.
Pretorius the Younger answered this question: "The British are not ready, but we in the Transvaal want to start a war as soon as possible, because our finances are a big problem, and the sooner the war starts, the better for us. This conflicts with the British grand strategy, so in order to prevent the situation from getting out of control, the British want to cut off from us and avoid being dragged down."
"Your Excellency, that's it, so we can only accept the British now. People's suggestions, but we can't just take advantage of the British. After all, they didn't think of this when they annexed the Orange Free State. This alliance doesn't want to kick us out without paying the price."
The senior officials of the Transvaal government still had to accept the British proposal. After all, they relied much more on Britain than Britain relied on them, so people had to bow their heads under the roof.
Of course, this also further makes Pretorius Jr. and others want to break away from the control of the British in the future. After solving the serious problem in East Africa, they must not compete with the "sinister British" who abandons his teammates at any time. "The country works together, otherwise if someone sells it one day, it will help the British count money."
“First of all, the British must solve the aid problem. We must at least maintain the army first. Therefore, the prerequisite for independence from the British is that the British continue to give us military spending. Set a small goal first, just five years. The quantity is good.”
This is a sky-high asking price, and the British will definitely not be able to agree to pay it back on the spot, but combined with the broken window effect, the British should be more likely to accept the next asking price of the Orange Free State.
“Secondly, we have less financial resources. We can only make money to the British businessmen and mines in the Orange Free State. I believe Cape Town will acquiesce to this.”
The British control the economy of the Orange Free State, so it makes sense for the Transvaal to now target these British businessmen and mine owners.
"If Cape Town does not accept it, then we will declare war on East Africa before we break away from the United Kingdom. I think this is not what the British want to see." Little Pretorius said insidiously smiled.
(End of this chapter)