Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 367: The Boer War breaks out
The British's undeclared war turned the countries participating in the international investigation team into clowns in an instant, and also made themselves the target of public criticism.

All of a sudden, public opinion in European countries turned to the Boers, and the Dutch even clamored to form a volunteer army to go to the South African battlefield to help the Boers fight against Britain.

Speaking of the relationship between the Netherlands and the Boers, the Netherlands can be regarded as the Boers' motherland.

The name Boer comes from the Dutch word "boer", which means farmer. At that time, colonists led by Dutch farmers came to this land and established the Cape Colony, which was mainly based on farm economy.

In addition to native Dutch farmers, these Boers also included French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution and a small number of Germans.

This is also the reason why many European countries expressed support for the Boers, because the Boers are not local Africans, but descendants of European immigrants.

Of course, the support from most European countries was only superficial. Even the Netherlands, the home country of the Boers, only provided civilian assistance and did not dare to raise it to the level of government support.

Although they knew that their enemy was the most powerful country in the world, the Boers did not show any fear.

The reason why Britain set its sights on the Boers' land was precisely because there were large quantities of rich and precious mineral resources on this land.

After Britain declared war on it without warning, the Transvaal Republic spent a large amount of money and minerals to frantically purchase weapons and equipment from various European countries in an attempt to make up for the gap in weapons and equipment between itself and Britain.

On the other hand, after a real war broke out between the Cape Colony and the Transvaal Republic, under the impetus of capitalists and with the support of surging public opinion at home, the British Parliament finally passed a resolution to formally declare war on the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Republic.

Both republics were controlled by the Boers. Since Britain had decided to fight, it naturally could not let the other one go.

Just a few days after the outbreak of the war, the Transvaal Republic had already sent requests to European countries to purchase weapons.

As Britain's arch-enemy, the French government agreed to Transvaal's request to purchase weapons without any hesitation.

Spain was the second country to agree to the request and immediately transported a large number of weapons and equipment to the African battlefield.

It is worth mentioning that as soon as the news of the outbreak of the war reached Spain, Carlo immediately summoned the current Prime Minister Evan Bradley and Defense Secretary Jyoti, asking the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to come up with an operational plan against Morocco, which would involve the recovery of Gibraltar.

If Britain did not interfere in Spain's war against Morocco, Spain would not have completely turned against Britain. In this case, retaking Gibraltar was not within Carlo's plan, at least in the short term.

But if Britain is determined to interfere in Spain's war against Morocco, it means that Spain must fight Britain. In this case, Gibraltar must be recovered.

As long as Spain annexed Morocco and recovered Gibraltar, the rest of Portugal would naturally not be able to escape Spain's control.

The Boer War was a great opportunity that Carlo would never miss, nor would he allow anyone to ruin his plans.

On the third day after the outbreak of the war, a breaking news spread from Africa to Europe and soon attracted the attention of European countries.

The British army in the Cape Colony suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Boers, with more than a thousand casualties in just three days.

This scale of casualties is already quite exaggerated. After all, the war has just begun and both sides have not deployed many troops on the battlefield.

The reason why the British army suffered such heavy losses was not only because they underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Boers, but also because the combat effectiveness of the Boers was indeed strong.

The British army's attack direction was to attack northward along the eastern part of South Africa. Continuing northward from the northeast of the Cape Colony, passing through Natal and Zulu, it was the location of the only port of the Transvaal Republic.

As long as they occupied the ports of the Transvaal Republic, these Boers would be unable to obtain material support from European countries.

There was nothing wrong with the British army's move, but unfortunately, because they underestimated the fighting power of the Boer army, they were defeated in the battle with the Transvaal and Orange Allied Forces, and fled all the way back to the vicinity of Natal.

After the war broke out, the Boer coalition crossed the Drakensberg Mountains from East Orange and went all the way to the rear of the British army in Natal, causing the British army to suffer a disastrous defeat.

Although this victory could not end the war, it was definitely a huge boost in morale for the two Boer states of Transvaal and Orange.

The Boers were willing to give everything for their country and land, but the British army did not have such a strong desire to fight.

After the great defeat in Natal, the British army retreated all the way to the southern part of Natal, with the Cape Colony behind them, so their safety was guaranteed.

Northern Natal and the Zulus further north fell entirely into the hands of Transvaal and Orange.

As a result, not only did Britain fail to occupy the only port of the Transvaal Republic, but it also made the other side's coastline longer and made communication with European countries more convenient.

The Boers, who won the first victory in the war, did not become complacent. The Allied forces were divided into three groups, with the main force remaining in the Natal region to protect the Boers' only coastline.

The remaining small force was divided into two groups, one heading south from Orange, threatening the important east-west railway in the Cape Colony.

Another army launched an attack on British Bechuanaland in the west. British Bechuanaland was located just north of the Cape Colony. If it could be controlled, it would not only prevent the British army from attacking the hinterland of Orange and Transvaal from behind, but also affect the railways of the Cape Colony again, making the British focus on the front and not the rear.

As expected, when the Cape Colony learned that the Boer troops had divided into three groups, it immediately strengthened the protection of the Cape Railway.

This railway was an important transportation route for the Cape Colony and was also responsible for transporting supplies to the north during the war. If the railway was destroyed, it would not only increase the difficulty of logistics supply for the front-line troops, but also disrupt the transportation of supplies within the Cape Colony.

In order to protect the railway, after discussion, the British installed obsolete 4.7-inch naval guns on the train, which barely protected the railway.

In the early stages of the war, the Boers had a comprehensive advantage, which was completely unexpected by European countries.

With the situation developing in this way, it is hard to say who will win or lose in this war.

You know, the reason why Britain won the war in history was not only because its own strength far exceeded that of the two Boers, but also because the British government had its own plans in diplomacy.

In the Boer War, the British first signed a treaty with Germany to divide up Portugal's African colonies. The treaty stipulated that once Portugal gave up its African colonies, the abandoned land would be divided between Britain and Germany.

As for why Portugal gave up its African colonies, it was not voluntary.

Attracted by Portugal's African colonies, Germany expressed its willingness to remain neutral in the Boer War, which also caused the Boers to lose their only strong ally in history.

Unfortunately, Germany's move towards Britain was just wishful thinking. Britain was unwilling to give up Portugal as an ally, and the so-called treaty was just a blank check from the British government to Germany.

Historically, after the financial crisis broke out in Portugal, the British government immediately broke its promise. Not only did it provide loans to the Portuguese government, it also signed the "Anglo-Portuguese Secret Declaration" with the Portuguese government, promising to guarantee the security of all Portuguese territories as an ally.

Of course, on the premise that Britain protected Portuguese territories, Portugal also needed to support all British actions in the Boer War.

Historically, Britain's actions not only kept Germany, its most likely enemy, neutral, but also made Portugal stand on its side.

At this point, Britain and Germany had not yet signed an agreement on the division of Portugal's colonies, and Portugal had changed from a royal government to a republican government. Naturally, neither of Britain's two diplomatic plans had been completed.

Unlike the British side, the Boers received more support in this war than they had ever received in history.

France sided with the Transvaal Republic in order to disrupt Britain, while Spain also supported the Transvaal Republic simply to oppose Britain.

Although Germany did not explicitly stand on the side of the Boers, the attitude of Kaiser Wilhelm II was already quite clear. Not to mention the Netherlands. Although the Dutch government has not yet expressed its position, the Dutch are already impatient.

The Dutch not only donated a large amount of supplies to Transvaal and the Orange Republic, but also a volunteer army of thousands of people was being formed.

Although this army of thousands of people did not have much impact on the war, the Dutch support for the Boers was already quite obvious.

On the fifth day after the outbreak of the war, as many as 4000 British troops assembled in the northeast of the Cape Colony and marched towards Natal. The main purpose of their trip was to recapture the Natal region and drive the Boer army back to the north of Natal.

At Nicholson Gorge, the British army and the Boer army met and a fierce battle immediately broke out between the two sides.

Both sides suffered heavy losses in this battle, with British casualties reaching over 1300 and Boer casualties reaching nearly 500.

If the canyon had not been so suitable for ambush, allowing the Boers to gain the upper hand, I am afraid the Boers' casualties would have increased a lot.

The remaining 3,000 or so British troops retreated to southern Natal and established a tight defensive position.

The commander of the Boer army tried to capture the positions set up by the British army, but eventually found that the British army's defense was too tight and could not be broken in a short period of time without huge casualties.

Seeing that they could not capture the British positions, the Boer army changed its strategy.

While building defenses on the land they already occupied, they scouted the terrain of southern Natal, looking for places that could be defended.

In addition to dealing with the British army in the Cape Colony, they also had to deal with the British vassal troops and the home army that continued to come from all over the world.

If they were to act rashly and greedily, the British troops coming to support them from all over the world would most likely surround the Boer army.

For the sake of their own safety, most wars can only be fought in a defensive manner.

The successive defeats in the war made the British government lose face. Colonial Secretary Chamberlain personally issued an order to the Governor of the Cape Colony, Cecil Rhodes, requiring him to achieve publicizable results within a week, otherwise he would have to wait for his successor to go to the Cape Colony.

At the urging of the British government, Cecil Rhodes was also forced to formulate a counterattack plan to ensure that the situation on the front line was not so bad.

Of the three Boer armies, the main force in Natal was the most difficult to break through.

Most of the military forces of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State are gathered here, and these two countries are still transporting reinforcements in a steady stream.

It is very difficult to defeat the main force of the Boers in one battle. It is better to focus on the other two Boer armies in the southern Orange and Bechuanaland areas.

After much thought, Cecil Rhodes finally set his sights on the British Bechuanaland area.

As long as the Boer troops here can be destroyed, the British army can easily reach the Boers' rear.

This place is only more than 200 kilometers away from Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic. Whether it is harassing the Boers' rear or directly attacking the capital of the Transvaal Republic, it is obviously more cost-effective than launching a counterattack on the front battlefield.

Thinking of this, Cecil Rhodes did not hesitate at all.

He immediately formed an army of 2000 people, carrying several machine guns and artillery, and marched towards the Bechuanaland area in a mighty manner.

The machine guns did play a huge role at the beginning.

The Boer troops were positioned in a relatively dense position, and machine gun fire could quickly cause heavy casualties.

But the Boers were not fools, and they quickly understood the characteristics of the machine gun.

The advantage of a machine gun is that its firepower has a wide coverage area and can effectively kill densely positioned enemy troops.

However, the disadvantages of machine guns are also obvious. First of all, machine guns consume a large number of bullets, and the British army obviously cannot withstand the continuous machine gun fire.

The second problem is the poor accuracy of the machine gun. As long as the troops are not crowded together and are completely dispersed, the lethality of the machine gun will not be that high.

Although machine guns could also suppress the Boer attacks, relying solely on firepower to suppress them was a huge test for the British army's logistics.

There were gaps between British machine gun firings, and the magazine belt needed to be replaced in between.

The time for reloading was also an opportunity for the Boer army. After they found this trick, they would suddenly launch an attack when the British machine guns were reloading, catching the British army off guard.

Although there were not many Boer troops in the Bechuanaland area, the British army was unable to completely eliminate the Boer troops in the Bechuanaland area due to constant harassment similar to guerrilla warfare.

Nearly half a month had passed since the war, and reinforcements and supplies from both sides had been arriving in South Africa.

It is worth mentioning that the supplies from France and Spain were transported to the Boer ports almost under the noses of the British.

But there was no way. The British government could do nothing about the blatant behavior of France and Spain.

If the transport fleets of France and Spain were blocked, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction in these two countries. France and Spain had hatred with Britain, and Britain did not want to let these two countries interfere in the war too early.

The British government could only turn a blind eye to France and Spain's blatant support for the Boers.

Anyway, the supplies that Britain shipped to the Cape Colony were only a lot, and with the constant influx of troops from other colonies, Britain was confident that the Boers could not compete with it.

At the end of March 1895, the South African Expeditionary Force organized by the United Kingdom officially arrived in Cape Town. The commander-in-chief of this expeditionary force was General Redvers Buller, who had suppressed the uprising in Ireland.

This expeditionary force was composed of 20,000 British native troops, who were well-equipped and had considerable combat effectiveness.

This also shows that Britain is really serious. The poor results in the early stages of the war made the British government very angry, and the proposal of Parliament to remove the colonial governor Cecil Rhodes has entered the voting stage.

After arriving in the Cape Colony, Admiral Redvers Buller, Commander-in-Chief of the South African Expeditionary Force, took over command of the Cape Town Army.

The performance of the Cape Colony Army was so poor that the colonial garrison commander-in-chief naturally could no longer command the army.

Even because of the poor performance in the early battles, the commander-in-chief of the Cape Colony garrison was brought to a British military court.

With the support of up to 20,000 British troops, Britain's counterattack was confident.

In early April, Britain began planning to launch a full-scale counterattack against the Boer army on three fronts: the central, eastern and western fronts. Lieutenant General Methuen lifted the siege of Kimberley on the western front, Lieutenant General French attacked the Orange Free State on the central front, and General Buller led the main force to lift the siege of Ladysmith on the eastern front.

There is also a big gap between these British native armies and colonial armies. Although Britain dominates the world with its navy, the combat effectiveness of the British Army is not weak either.

Even though it is not as good as countries like Germany and France whose armies dominate Europe, it is at least at an upper-middle level.

As soon as these 20,000 British troops were deployed to the front line, they immediately achieved good results.

Not only did Britain gain some results on the Western and Central Fronts, but it also pushed the main battlefield on the Eastern Front northward by more than ten kilometers in a short period of time.

The Boers could only fight and retreat. They were unable to build a reliable line of defense in a short period of time, so they could only move the defense northward to their own territory, where a more solid line of defense had already been built. Behind them was the Boers' own homeland, which also boosted their morale when fighting a defensive battle.

The second update of 5000 words, please give me your monthly votes!

I am very sorry for being a few minutes late. There will be an update tonight.

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(End of this chapter)