African Nationhood

(Some book friends think that military affairs should not be such a trivial matter, but the reality is so magical. The most obvious case is Chang Kaishen and his generals. Don’t do too many tricks.)

The turmoil in London was surging. Although the Marquis of Salisbury resigned, the Conservatives in the House of Representatives still held a majority, and the next prime minister to form a cabinet was still a Conservative.

Arthur James Balfour, the nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury, emerged and became the heir to the political legacy of the aristocratic scholar prime minister.

Known as "Bloody Balfour" for his bloody suppression of the Irish independence movement, his policies against the Boers in South Africa would only become more tough and cruel after he came to power, but the problem lay in Queen Victoria's illness.

The longest reigning monarch so far, she created the "Victorian Era", led Britain to become the most powerful in the world, and was the first British monarch to be called "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India".

Her life was coming to an end, and she spent far more time asleep on the Isle of Wight than awake, unable to see things at all.

However, the new prime minister must obtain the approval of the British monarch before taking office. Now it seems that the new prime minister will not take office until the new king succeeds to the throne.

……

The war in southern Africa came to a temporary lull, and the Nanhua Company also seized this rare period of quiescence to accelerate the pace of immigration.

Last year's "Fist Rebellion" in the Qing Dynasty allowed Nanhua Company to accept more than 20 additional immigrants, plus more than 20 Qing immigrants from the outer northeast.

Last year, a total of 112 million immigrants were immigrated. Now the immigrant population of Nanhua Company has exceeded 980 million, and the goal of a population of million is about to be achieved.

……

At the end of 1900, Mr. Guo Songtao, who had been saved for a long time by the medical staff of Nanhua Company, also came to the end of his life.

Shi Jintang, together with his wife Kelly, went to the Guest House in Mapu Port to express their condolences. This Qing man who had set his sights on Europe also expressed condolences to the Guo family.

While paying their condolences, Shi Jintang and his wife met Wang Zhongyi and his wife, and these two actually became Guo Songtao's disciples.

After Guo Songtao moved to the Mapugang Guesthouse, he suddenly became more open-minded.

He not only opened a lecture hall on Chinese customs, but was also very keen on communicating with many officials of Nanhua Company.

Wang Zhongyi and his wife, who had just returned not long ago, met Guo Songtao at this time.

Both of them were very interested in Chinese customs. In addition, under Guo Songtao's enthusiastic introduction, General Manager Wang Zhongyi became familiar with the second son of the Guo family, so the second son of the Guo family was transferred to Mapu Petrochemical Corporation by Wang Zhongyi.

The second son of the Guo family is not as famous as the third son of the Guo family, but he is very practical and has won Wang Zhongyi's trust.

Shi Jintang also saw Li Jingmai among the guests. His face was full of sadness, and it could be seen that he valued the friendship between the Guo and Li families.

……

The Queen of England passed away on January 1901, 1. The British mainland and the British colonies all mourned the British monarch.

The new King Edward VII succeeded to the throne and approved Arthur James Balfour to succeed as Prime Minister.

War cannot be fought during the period of national mourning, so the new prime minister began to review the battlefields in South Africa and Egypt and North Africa.

Colonel Kitchener, the governor of Egypt and the colony of Cyrenaica, came into the new prime minister's sight.

In order to cut off the foundation of the "Senusi Order", Colonel Kitchener began to build concentration camps on a large scale and brutally massacred all local indigenous people who dared to associate with the "Senusi Order".

With his bloody repressive policy, the prestige of the "Senussi Order" plummeted and its personnel were greatly reduced. The resistance activities in Cyrenaica were greatly reduced.

So he had Colonel Kitchener recalled.

Prime Minister Balfour asked Colonel Kitchener about his views on the war situation in South Africa. Colonel Kitchener felt that dealing with these rebellious Boers was the same as dealing with the ignorant and cruel Cyrenaica natives.

Modern war is a resource war, and no soldier, no matter how powerful, can last long without guns, ammunition and supplies.

Therefore, against the Boers, a larger-scale "root eradication strategy" can be adopted, and the final victory can be achieved by cutting off their war potential. Prime Minister Balfour recognized Colonel Kitchener's strategy, and it was feasible to launch a brutal suppression of the Boers.

All he cared about was time.

"Then how long do you think it will take for the war against the Boers to end?"

This question troubled Colonel Kitchener. In his opinion, the natural conditions in the Boer country were much better than those deserts in Cyrenaica that had nothing but sand.

Even if he implements the "root eradication tactics" to completely eliminate the Boers' will to resist, the time required will never be short.

"Sorry, Prime Minister, I can't give you a specific time, because the Boers are much more difficult to deal with than the natives of Cyrenaica.

And the war potential of the Boers is more abundant than the desert of Cyrenaica..."

Prime Minister Balfour nodded with difficulty, "Well, I understand your answer very well, but His Majesty the King is very concerned about the bug-like things of the Boers, and the people are also looking at us. I hope you can take up the responsibility and do it faster and better." Deal with the Boers!"

When Colonel Kitchener heard this, he already understood that the new Prime Minister had decided to entrust him with the position of commander of the South African Expeditionary Force.

It's a lie that he's not excited, but it also means he's picked up a hot potato.

"Thank you for your trust. I will do my best to get rid of the Boers for the British Empire and His Majesty the King."

……

On February 1901, 2, the British War Department issued a promotion order.

Colonel Horatio Herbert Kitchener was promoted to Army Lieutenant General for his outstanding performance in the North African battlefield and assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief of the South African Expeditionary Force.

……

On March 1901, 3, Lieutenant General Kitchener arrived in Cape Town from afar.

After arriving in Cape Town, the serious-looking general did not meet with the officers for the welcome banquet. Instead, he convened a meeting with the military judges.

The military judge, authorized by the commander, began to arrest soldiers and officers who violated the rules in Cape Town.

For a time, Cape Town's prisons were overcrowded, and accordingly the security situation in Cape Town improved.

Governor Milner's impression of the new commander has greatly improved. He believes that this cold-faced commander will bring a new trend to the war situation in South Africa.

Kitchener, who took office as a new officer, gathered all the captured soldiers and officers and held a meeting.

At the meeting, the new commander told his soldiers that if they want to vent their indulgence, don't do it on our own territory, and go to the Boers' territory to have fun.

As long as you are willing, you can do it. I have no restrictions on you.

As soon as this order was issued, the decadent and frightened British soldiers were refreshed, and the morale of the British army was greatly boosted.

Lieutenant General Kitchener summoned Colonel Douglas Haig and asked him to use the style of cavalry troops coming and going like the wind, to carry out retaliation and sabotage operations against Boer settlements as much as possible, and all captures belonged to the soldiers.

The cavalry force had no constraints, and the destructive effect was immediate.

Lieutenant General Kitchener ignored the instructions and ordered his men to build forts along the communication lines and pull up barbed wire fences, and then sent all the Boers, men, women, and children, captured by the frontline troops to concentration camps.

No one cared about the life or death of the Boers in the concentration camp. He had only one purpose in doing so, which was to cut off the Boers' source of vitality and soldiers.

Only such a decisive attitude can force the Boers to bow their heads and admit defeat as soon as possible. (End of chapter)