African Nationhood

Chapter 329 Jameson Attack

Through the surveillance records of the military intelligence room, Shi Jintang speculated that Governor Rhodes had already formulated an invasion plan to raid the Transvaal Republic when he hosted a party of white gold mine owners of the Rand Gold Mine in mid-November.

Because not only the white gold mine owners of the Rand Gold Mine attended the party, but Leander Sal Jameson, the general manager of the Rhodesia Company, also attended.

The records show that Governor Rhodes had a very happy discussion with the party members that night. Governor Rhodes and Dr. Jameson entered the same room that night...

Seeing this, Shi Jintang couldn't help but smack his lips, "These two people are really a couple. No wonder they were buried together after death."

……

The gathering in mid-November was the key to the second step of Governor Rhodes's "Imperial Colonization Plan". The key to the success of this step was to eliminate the core of the Boer leadership.

As long as the raid is successful, kill the core leadership of the Boers.

Then the Boer country will fall into chaos, and the next step is for the Cape-Natal Colony to jointly send troops to quell the chaos in the Boer country, and take the opportunity to take the Boer country into their hands.

This step was successful, and the Rand gold mine fell into British control.

At that time, the white gold mine owners will share the interests of the mining rights and large amounts of gold vacated by the Boers.

This plan was naturally welcomed by white British gold mine owners. They gathered together to form a secret committee and agreed to launch a raid on Christmas Day, December 12.

After all, we are all Europeans, so we will naturally hide at home to celebrate Christmas. Who would have thought that there would be a surprise attack?

A group of white people rubbed their hands and shouted in unison: Kill the Boers!
  ……

Because the Nanhua Company transferred 30% of the right to supply black slaves to the Rhodesian Company, the Rhodesian Company could justifiably carry weapons into the Transvaal Republic in the name of transporting black slaves.

The Boers' national defense and police work have always been very loose, and there is no formal defense force and police establishment.

As long as the timing of the raid is chosen well so that the Boers cannot react and sufficient fire suppression is ensured, the success of the raid plan can be guaranteed.

……

There is also the second step in the raid plan, which is the white gold mine owners in the Rand Goldfields.

They were to launch an uprising in the Rand Basin at the same time that Pretoria was being attacked.

They wanted to control the gold mines in the Rand Basin and hold back the Boers in the gold mining areas so that they could not return to help Pretoria.

At that time, Governor Rhodes will contact Shi Jintang, warn him not to act rashly, and promise to distribute the profits to Nanhua Company afterwards.

Governor Rhodes did not have to worry about Shi Jintang's objections. After all, the Nanhua Company was a colonial company under British leadership.

As for why they did not discuss with the Nanhua Company to take over the Boer country together, they naturally did not want to share the fruits of victory with the Chinese.

After all, Governor Rhodes' next target is the Nanhua Company.

……

I have to say that this plan is very good, but the problem lies in the arrogance of the British and the long-term planning of the Germans.

It was a joke that they wanted to raid the capital of the Transvaal Republic with only a few hundred people.

In addition, they are too superstitious about the Maxim heavy machine gun. This weapon is inconvenient to carry and move on the battlefield.

……

In addition, after Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power, he began to oppose Bismarck's "continental strategy". He always wanted to implement a "world strategy."

Therefore, after Germany got rid of British diplomatic control in the Transvaal Republic, it established diplomatic relations with the two Boer republics. So that the later Neway Republic was naturally recognized by Germany and the Transvaal Republic.

When Governor Rhodes contacted the British Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, he informed him of his detailed plan, and the Marquess of Salisbury agreed with his plan.

The German spies lurking in Britain quickly learned of the plan and quickly informed the Kaiser.

The Kaiser immediately instructed the German consul in the Transvaal to inform Transvaal President Paul Kruger of the British conspiracy, so the incident became a joke from the beginning.

The Boers had opened their pockets, waiting for the British to fall into their trap.

……

What made Governor Rhodes even more unexpected was that on December 12, the Marquis of Salisbury, who was far away in London, learned through a spy that the Germans had known about the raid plan and informed the Boers.

In order to recover the losses, he hurriedly called Governor Rhodes to suspend the raid plan.

When Governor Rhodes received the telegram from London, he was stunned on the spot.

But he quickly reacted and called the white gold mine owners of Rand Gold Mine urgently to suspend the plan.

However, when the Rhodesian Company called back, General Manager Leander Sal Jameson had already led the team and set off. They should have arrived in the Transvaal Republic by now, and there was no way to contact him personally.

Governor Rhodes felt cold all over, but there was nothing he could do. He could only silently pray to God to bless Dr. Jameson.

……

In the Republic of Transvaal, Dr. Jameson was covered in stinky sweat. They had been traveling a long distance for a long time. They took the main railway line across the South China Company from the Rhodesia Company and arrived at Mafeking (today's Mafeking) on ​​December 12. Mefogen, South Africa).

Although this border town was under the control of the South China Company, the British felt like they were at home here.

After resting in this town for one day, Dr. Jameson and 1 white people escorted more than 800 black indigenous people into the Transvaal Republic.

Mafeking is only more than a hundred kilometers away from Pretoria, and you can reach Pretoria in one night of rapid march.

Therefore, Dr. Jameson did not follow the route towards Rand Fortress City, but instead headed towards Rustenburg (now Rustenburg, South Africa) in the northeast.

Dr. Jameson's plan was to release the more than 5000 black natives they had escorted directly after arriving in Rustenburg, intending to rely on these blacks to create chaos to attract the attention of the Boers, who would take the opportunity to sneak into Pretoria.

Unfortunately, not long after they set out, they were attacked by a large force of Boers.

The more than 5000 black natives they escorted ran into chaos immediately after being shot. As a result, Jameson's team was unable to defend well and lost many elite white soldiers in the first place.

With the establishment of the Maxim heavy machine gun position, and the random flight of the black natives also caused trouble to the ambushing Boers, the offensives of both sides temporarily reached a balance.

A fierce battle ensued between the two sides at the foot of Maghersburg Mountain until January 1896, 1. Dr. Jameson's team ran out of ammunition and food, and had no choice but to surrender.

The Boers successfully captured Jameson and his party and interrogated him. After learning of the raid plan, the Boers immediately contacted the media in Europe to announce the British's clumsy raid plan.

For a time, Britain became the laughing stock of various countries in Europe and caused great controversy.

Governor Cecil Rhodes finally paid the price for his recklessness and arrogance.

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  (End of this chapter)