African Nationhood

The results of the war in the northern Transvaal spread throughout the world via telegraph in just a few days, and Western countries sent diplomats to Southwest Africa.

Ouyang Geng, who was originally staying in Berlin, Germany, almost instantly received invitations from ministers from various countries, hoping that he could take time to negotiate.

Prime Minister Balfour of the London Cabinet overturned his desk in anger as soon as he received the news.

And he was immediately called to Buckingham Palace by King Edward VII of England to ask, "What on earth is going on?"

Prime Minister Balfour, who was asked the question, was speechless and had a bitter look on his face.

The King of England instructed him to win a victory as soon as possible to cheer up the declining people's hearts, otherwise the British Empire would fall into disaster.

Prime Minister Balfour returned to Whitehall and immediately summoned the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Lord Garnet Joseph Wolseley.

"Gentlemen, what should we do now?"

Unlike before the war, Joseph Chamberlain was still full of confidence at that time, but now his face is not much better than that of the Prime Minister.

“For now, we can only hope for the outcome of the Pretoria battle.

If we win, we can end the military confrontation with Nanhua Company and start peace talks.

As long as they are willing to submit to the leadership of the British Empire, they can be given some preferential conditions.

If we are defeated, then we will have to negotiate peace with Nanhua Company.

We must win over them, otherwise the British Empire will collapse at any time! "

Joseph Chamberlain’s words are not alarmist, this is the worst foreseeable result.

The British Empire organized various armies to invade the territory of the South China Company, but the results of the invasion were not ideal.

Nowadays, most of the British troops sent by the British to attack have suffered severe blows, and reports of the losses of various ministries are sent to the Cabinet and the War Department every day.

The British Empire has spent more than 2.9 million pounds on military expenditures for the war in southern Africa, and it will soon reach 3 million pounds.

If this continues, the British Empire's finances will definitely collapse.

The secret weapon of Nanhua Company was even more coveted by the Ministry of War. They repeatedly asked the Army Commander-in-Chief to advise the cabinet to stop attacking Nanhua Company and to contact Nanhua Company as soon as possible to avoid being monopolized by other countries.

Otherwise, it is an indisputable fact that no matter how powerful the British Empire's navy is, it will be difficult to stop the powerful power of new weapons on land.

……

And the many colonies under his command are all like bottomless pits. Every place is desperately asking the cabinet for money, saying that it is to suppress the abnormal movements below.

Whether these reports were true or false, it was difficult for Minister Joseph Chamberlain to tell clearly for a while.

But it is true that the war is unsustainable. If all the finances are spent on the colonies, the national defense security of the British mainland cannot be guaranteed.

Germany, France and Russia all looked forward to the fall of the British Empire.

Just in 1900, France and Russia directly sent troops to occupy Britain's sphere of influence in the Black Sea. The British Empire could not allocate excess troops to regain the lost territory. This was a dangerous signal.

The British Empire cannot continue to bleed!

……

Lord Wolseley has become something of a mascot in London, as the former marshal suffers from Alzheimer's disease and his memory waxes and wanes.

In the original time and space, Lord Roberts should have returned to replace him as Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

It's a pity that this Lord was killed by Boss Shi, so this demented marshal can only continue to serve as commander-in-chief temporarily for a while.

After listening to Chamberlain's analysis, Prime Minister Balfour nodded with difficulty.

"Then you should leave as soon as possible and go to southern Africa."

……

When Douglas Haig was taken to the Eastern Route Army headquarters in the north of Pretoria, Shi Jintang was listening to the radio with his officers.

News from our station: The Sultanate of Sulu on Jolo Island killed 325 members of the invading Sabah state guard, of which the British captured 53, and seized accompanying weapons and British landing ships...

Douglas Haig could not understand Chinese, but he heard the sound playing in the wooden box.

Shi Ming came in to report, and Shi Jintang nodded, "Bring him in."

When Major General Haig attacked the rear guard camp that day, he was knocked unconscious by the shock wave of an anti-infantry directed mine, and his ribs were broken by the horse in front. Although there was internal bleeding, it was not a serious problem.

When Wei Defu and Wu Dayi reported the battle, they also reported the news that Major General Haig was still alive.

Shi Jintang immediately asked someone to send the future British marshal over.

... When Major General Haig entered the tent, he deliberately looked at the radio and not at anyone else.

The officers of the South China Army stared at the square-faced British man, who unconsciously continued to stare at the radio.

Shi Jintang chuckled: "Are you curious about the radio? I can give you one."

Hearing this, Major General Haig looked up at Shi Jintang, "What's the use of this?"

Shi Jintang pointed to the antenna of the radio and explained: "This machine can receive electromagnetic wave signals propagating in the air, and then restore the electromagnetic wave signals into sound."

Major General Haig obviously did not understand the principles explained by Shi Jintang, but he still knew the goods, "Well, it's a good machine."

At this time, the battle report on the radio finished playing, and the cut-scene music began to play, which was "500miles" sung by Shi Jintang.

Major General Haig understood now, and he couldn't help but asked curiously: "Why did it change here?"

"Because the sound source was changed on the signal source, it turned into music."

“Can’t this machine choose what to listen to?”

Shi Jintang shook his head, "No, but the radio can choose to change the frequency or other channels."

After speaking, Shi Jintang turned the button, and noise appeared on the radio. After a while, other sounds came from the radio.

"FM 6.3~8.9 kilohertz, the latest information is broadcast below. The British army has recently received 5890 soldiers, and the total number of soldiers in Pretoria has reached 6.2..."

Shi Jintang returned to the previous frequency, and the music continued.

"When was this thing invented? Why isn't it on the market?"

“This thing should have been developed a few years ago, and the reason why it has not been put on the market is to keep it confidential.

High-end things should be hidden and taken out at the end to gain the most benefits.

Just like this war, if I take out the new weapons first, you British will use them to attack my Nanhua Company.

How nice now, my soldiers with secret weapons defeated you British.

And you can only bear the humiliation of failure silently in front of me. "

Major General Haig wanted to refute, but he was just a prisoner at the moment and was not qualified to refute at all.

"Remember 60 years ago, you British used strong ships and cannons to blast open the door of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, you were arrogant and wild, but now you are speechless. Isn't it ironic?

There is an idiom in Chinese called "retribution cycle, not happy at all", which means that there will be no mistakes in the retribution that good and evil deserve.

This time it's retribution for you British people and you should remember that. "

Major General Haig half understood Shi Jintang's words. He was a dull person, so he continued to remain silent.

"One more thing, you should thank me. It was my people who taught you how to fight.

This was just a small failure, and if you can learn from it, you should be able to avoid bigger failures in the future.

Only then will you wake up, thanks to Baron Henry for educating me.

General Haig, do you remember what I said? "

Major General Haig nodded, stared into Shi Jintang's eyes and muttered: "I will remember your words."

Shi Jintang nodded and smiled, if you make the same mistake again during the Battle of the Somme, then you really deserve to die.

……

"Take him back and lock him up with that guy Churchill."

The British generals captured by the Boers were handed over to the custody of the South China Army when the British captured Pretoria.

As for Churchill, he was captured by Louis Botha at the beginning of the war.

He immediately found the opportunity to escape and ran from the jungle to Mapu Port, hoping that Nanhua Company could send him to Cape Town or Durban.

At that time, Nanhua Company had just made peace with the British, and this request was not excessive.

But Shi Jintang happened to discover Churchill from the reported documents, and instructed Mapu Port to detain this guy.

Now that Churchill is locked up with a group of British marshals, it is a network bonus for him. It can be regarded as boss Shi investing in him in advance.

……

On March 3, with all preparations in place, Shi Jintang issued a general attack order, and the eastern and western armies attacked Pretoria at the same time. (End of chapter)