Chapter 382: Crossing the River
The East African Army advanced south in three columns. Merck's 411th and 412th Divisions moved south through Botswana, following the Limpopo River all the way down to the Orange River region. In the previous era, this area was the British Bechuanaland Protectorate, but it is currently "no-man's land."
Felix's 512th and 331st Divisions advanced south along the eastern side of the Drakensberg Mountains, aiming finally for the southern Kingdom of Swaziland.
Ernst and Sivitt led the main force—Divisions 111, 123, 511, 513, and 514—in attacking the Transvaal Republic from two directions: the western side of the Drakensberg Mountains and the upper west bank of the Limpopo River.
Under cover of darkness, the East African Army began crossing the long stretch of the Limpopo. Since it marked the border between East Africa and the Transvaal Republic, it was certainly long enough to allow infiltration. The Boers, few in number, had only deployed small guard units at certain key crossing points.
By avoiding these crossing points, the East African Army entered Transvaal territory at other stretches of the river. In the moonlight, Ernst—wearing full battle dress and mounted on a tall black horse—stood at the water's edge, waiting for the main body of troops to pass.
They built a few makeshift floating bridges over the river, greatly speeding up the crossing of personnel, horses, and weaponry. Even so, the East African Army remained cautious, everyone on high alert to avoid falling into the water, because the Limpopo is famously teeming with crocodiles. Although they had tried clearing them out once before, there was no telling if any were missed.
Sivitt said, "Headmaster, it seems the Boers really aren't on guard against us. Our scouting cavalry reports there's not a soul for over a dozen miles around."
Ernst responded, "Of course. You have to realize that, although the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State together occupy a territory that wouldn't be considered small worldwide, their combined population is only around four hundred thousand. It's a vast land with very few people."
Sivitt nodded. "Yes. If the Transvaal Republic were to attack our Matabele Highlands, they would run into the same problem we're encountering now."
In Zimbabwe, East Africa's population is even lower than Transvaal's, but it has a high proportion of full-time soldiers. Meanwhile, the Transvaal Republic relies mainly on militia—herders in peacetime who only muster for war.
At the moment, the Boer main force was stationed in the east fighting the Zulu Kingdom. For them to defend against East Africa, they would have to raise the militia again. If they redeployed troops from the east, it would be too late, and the Zulu would likely seize the opening to attack Transvaal territory from the other side.
The crossing went smoothly, apart from a few unlucky ones who fell in. There were no casualties.
Ernst gave the order: "Have the militia ready. Tomorrow during daylight, let them cross the river and strike at any defenders in the crossing-point areas, then take over those crossing points to open our supply lines."
It would be the militia's job to deal with Boer forces around the crossing points. In reality, describing them as border guards is more accurate. The Boers on the southern bank of the Limpopo were in small squads of only a few men each, posing no real threat to the East African militia.
The main East African force had not directly assaulted the established crossing points to avoid alerting the enemy. Though there were barely any Transvaal troops along the Limpopo, many Boer traders operated around those crossing areas due to trade. If East Africa blatantly forced its way in, some would surely escape and carry word back to Pretoria. And because Boers typically owned oxen or horses, they could return to the capital quickly. Forewarned, Transvaal would organize a counteroffensive sooner, placing East Africa at a disadvantage. So the main force crossed first, leaving any Boer troops along the river to be handled by the militia. Those Boers wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble in front of East African militiamen anyway.
Sivitt reported, "Your Highness, the crossing is complete. Please give your next order!"
Ernst answered, "Proceed as planned. With Pretoria as the central objective: the 123rd Division will go first, taking control of the Boer farms along the way. The 111th Division will advance straight toward Pretoria. The 511th and 513th Divisions will push south until reaching the Vaal River region, guarding against any support the Orange Free State might send. The 514th Division will follow the Drakensberg Mountains south and link up with Felix's force to the south, cutting off the Boers' main force from coming back."
In this way, the East African Army would form a crisscross offensive from the west and north, launching attacks on the Boer settlements including Pretoria.
The Transvaal Republic didn't have many cities—whether they even counted as full-fledged cities was debatable. Even the political center, Pretoria, would barely qualify as a town by East African standards (some of East Africa's provincial or regional centers are already well-developed towns). It was better than Harare, which Ernst had passed earlier, but lagged behind Bulawayo.
Because Transvaal's economy depended on herding, the Boers were mostly scattered on rural farms. East Africa didn't need to occupy them all. Just severing their links to Pretoria would cause them to flail about like headless flies. Of course, to be prudent, East Africa would still occupy some farms; headless flies tend to crash into people as they buzz around.
Taking over those farms wouldn't be difficult in practice. First, separate out the Boers who have German, Dutch, or French backgrounds, then use German-speakers, as well as Dutch or French people willing to accept East African rule, to temporarily manage those places. After all, a Boer farm isn't made up solely of the farm owner; hired hands and laborers also live there, and those people would be East Africa's prime targets for recruitment. Their lives under East African rule wouldn't differ too much. Although the Boers had merged into a new ethnic group, they still basically spoke a Dutch-based tongue. Dutch is close to German, somewhat like the difference between the "common tongue" of the Far East and various local dialects—closer than Cantonese or Wu is to Mandarin.
In northern Germany, most people can communicate easily with the Dutch. The Low German dialect doesn't stop right at the German-Dutch border, but spreads into parts of eastern Netherlands. Even in southern German dialects, there's quite a bit of shared vocabulary with Dutch. Don't forget the Habsburgs once ruled the Netherlands too.
Moreover, East Africa's unique political and economic structure means they can offer them certain privileges—though not "privileges" in a narrow sense, because all East African citizens share these same "rights."
On the one hand, East Africa is stepping up the push to enslave more natives—folding them into its administration. On the other, East Africa is also actively ending slavery within its own borders by exporting Black slaves elsewhere. The entire East African Kingdom was founded on oppressing slaves, so effectively every East African citizen belongs to a special privileged class. Without the labor of two million Black people, the country would fall apart. But once East Africa annexes Boer and Zulu lands, its Black population will grow even more.
So East Africa has no problem welcoming Boers who "know which way the wind is blowing," but the big farm owners are excluded. The moment the East African Army crossed into Transvaal, it was uprooting their foundations. If the British had invaded, the Boers could negotiate—Britain's biggest specialty is using "a blunt knife to bleed" people. They might preserve your immediate interests while quietly preparing to reclaim them later. If that fails, Britain abruptly discards its mask.
That's the shared tactic of the British, Americans, and Australians: they're skilled at burying "land mines" under the feet of their "allies," "partners," or "friends," then detonating them when needed. As for the promises they once made, well, you can just treat them as empty words. Since when have Anglo-Saxons become synonymous with honesty?
East Africa is different, revealing its Prussian "barbarian" side everywhere: "Cooperate? You think you're worthy? Get lost!" Of course, they do admit to bullying the weak and fearing the strong—provided there's someone truly strong in Africa.
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