Chapter 379: The British Empire in a quagmire

"The glory of the British Empire for hundreds of years has thrown those rice buckets into the Indian Ocean! Our ancestors have defeated the Spanish, defeated the prominent Dutch, and crushed the Napoleon empire that made the entire Europe tremble. In Kerry Mia! At the door of the Russians, we repaired the Russians with guns and rifles! And now? Decades have passed! Our army was in South Africa and was defeated by a group of herders! Descendants! This is unforgivable!" When the news of the Battle of Bloemfontein reached London, the furious Salisbury threw the documents in his hands to the side of the colonial minister Chamberlain.

"What do you say? The Boers can be completely solved in only half a year! Then we will get the entire South African gold mine! Our annual income will increase by at least 5 million pounds! But now? We lost twice in a row. A force of 40,000! The cost of the war has reached 35 million pounds! And the Boers have reached the Orange River! Where will they go next? East London? Or Cape Town?"

"Your Excellency, although our army in South Africa has suffered a heavy blow, the Boers have also paid a heavy price. Their casualties have exceeded 20,000. The two Boer republics totaled only 220,000. In the Cape area, there are no more than 600,000 people. Although they repelled our offensive on the frontal battlefield, they also reached the limit of strength. For a long time to come, apart from using cavalry to harass, they will not There will be another big military operation.” said General Meire, the military representative.

; For the British Empire, the loss of face was far greater than the loss of lining. The British army lost only 20,000 people. This was indeed the biggest loss in a single British battle after the Crimean War, even in the Napoleonic era. The British army rarely suffered such a huge loss, but 20,000 people would not be a big deal for the current British Imperial Army. It's just that this battle broke the golden sign of the Great British Empire's Great Master of Hundred Wars. The Great Master is right, but the title of Great Master is questionable.

In fact, the Boers suffered great losses in this war. Although the intelligence of 20,000 casualties is a bit exaggerated, there are still 12,000, and more importantly, the consumption of ammunition and supplies. In this battle, the Boers have spent 300,000 pounds to buy weapons and supplies, and now there are only 1.5 million pounds left in the Boer's vault. Compared with money, the transportation of ammunition and materials has also become a problem.

; The Boers need to obtain weapons and ammunition from the former Portuguese Mozambique and then transport them all the way to the north bank of the Orange River. In order to support the cavalry operations, they consume a lot of livestock and transportation capacity. Therefore, as the British said, this time the Boers’ The battle has reached its limit. They need to take a break and carry out the next round of in-depth mobilization in the Eastern Cape! And this all takes time!

"Then the Army has formulated a new response plan?" Saltsbury took off his eyes and wiped the sweat from his head with a hand towel. He knew that the urgent need to pursue accountability now has no value. How to solve the problem and how to defend the most important colony of the British Empire second only to India is the key!

; "In the next stage, the Army hopes to take over all things in the colony. This point hopes that the Prime Minister and the cabinet can pass. We will take some extraordinary measures in the next stage, which may harm the interests of some people." General Meire Said carefully.

"Talk about it." Salisbury did not immediately agree.

"We need to fortify the walls and clear the country. All the food and materials must be transferred to the fortress towns, and all that cannot be taken away will be burned! Even the water source must be destroyed when necessary. The Boer's cavalry brought them considerable mobility. Advantages, but at the same time it also increases the pressure on their logistics. They must obtain some supplies through looting, and what we need to do is to increase their logistics pressure."

"For any tribe or individual that colludes with the Boers, we must make a resolute blow. Only with blood and sabers can we deter these people who have two hearts with the British Empire! All suspects must be sent to concentration camps. Watch carefully! At the same time, we can also mobilize a limited number of cavalry into the Boer’s territory to attack! Although it will pay a great price, this is what must be paid to delay the opponent's action."

"We need more troops. The 150,000 army in the original plan is obviously not enough, because half of these troops need to be deployed along the transportation lines and important towns, and another part is a transportation unit. The number of people used in combat does not exceed 50,000, and this strength is obviously not enough! We only need 250,000 troops to stabilize the situation in South Africa."

"A large number of cavalry, at least three divisions of cavalry can deal with the Boer guerrilla forces. At the same time, we also need to deploy a large number of vehicles to tow artillery and transport materials, the actual situation is already obvious, the capacity and speed of the horses We have reached the limit. If our troops want to be faster, they must have new capacity."

"Finally, we need to build enough and dense enough bunkers and fortifications, and then link them with railways and roads, starting from Cape Town, directly to the Boer Republic! Use a huge net to slow the Boers down Hang slowly!" General Meyre told all the plans of the British Army~www.wuxiaspot.com~ That's it? I thought you were going to kill all the Boers, just let it go. If something goes wrong, the imperial government will take responsibility. You only need to remember one thing, that is, the British Empire must win the final victory, and we cannot afford to lose. Influence. "Salisbury said very simply.

"We also need to solve another important problem. If this problem can be solved, the difficulty for us to put down the Boer rebellion will be reduced by half!" said Chamberlain, who has not spoken.

"I know, you are talking about the weapons of the Boers, yes, all kinds of evidence and speculation now point to the Germans providing the Boers with weapons and ammunition, and the Americans, but what can we do? Economic and Trade sanctions? The empire’s foreign trade with Germany is in excess. We can make a lot of money from the Germans. If it is normal, sanctions can be taken, but not now."

"On the one hand, we need to support the expansion of the Japanese fleet and prepare for war. Half of their shipbuilding funding is actually a loan from the British government. On the other hand, we need to support the consumption of the Boer War! The British Empire’s money bag is now very tight, so the economy is suppressed. Don't mention it for now, this will have a greater impact on us."

"As for the exchange of political interests, it is not a last resort, and it is impossible, because the Germans want too much, their 3b railway ambitions are too big, the imperial government does not want to accept, therefore, the current diplomatic situation is difficult Change." The Prime Minister said helplessly.

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