CHAPTER 286: CHAPTER 273 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY

Hearing Buckhaus say this, Vincent had to calm down. Thinking about it now, it was such a loss. Initially, I should have included the land across the river into my farm. At the time, I thought that there was no one on the west side anyway, so I would develop it when there were enough people on the farm. As a result, this so-called "East African Kingdom" took advantage.

As for the Khoisan people and other indigenous people living on the west bank of the Limpopo River, they aren’t considered "people" in the Transvaal Republic. Labor on Boer farms mostly consists of Black slaves. Although East Africa also uses slaves, East Africa doesn’t have explicit rules. In official East African documents, the indigenous people are "nationality unknown" laborers. In fact, African indigenous people mostly have no concept of nation; they only remember which tribe they once belonged to.

Both East Africa and the Transvaal Republic have slaves, but their use differs. For rule, East African civilians still have to work, but Boers are different. With slaves, who would still farm themselves? Vincent’s farm is the same; white people manage the force, ready to suppress slaves at any time.

"Hmm, Buckhaus, since those across are Germans, their appearance here isn’t to make a move against our Transvaal Republic, is it?" After calming down, Vincent started worrying.

"Well, boss, it’s hard to say. But according to their statement, as long as we do not cross borders, that is, do not go over the river, they won’t bother us."

"Is that so! Well, that’s good." Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. Vincent mainly feared these Germans would, like the British, try to exterminate the Boers.

In fact, at this time, the Boers were very afraid of the British; otherwise, they wouldn’t have fled directly from the Cape Town colony, crossing the Orange River and Drakensberg to re-establish a nation.

In 1834, the British issued regulations in Cape Town to abolish slavery, causing a great impact on the Boers’ slave farm economy. To avoid the British policy pressure, the Boers left the Cape Town colony and migrated into the South African interior.

This is also why the Boers, although arriving later than the Portuguese in Mozambique, could penetrate the African interior, simply because they were forced by the British.

The British only used policy pressure to make the Boers willingly leave the Cape Town colony; in the end, it was cowardice.

Until later, in the Bloemhof Dry River battle, where 77 out of 247 British soldiers died and 157 were injured, while only 2 Boer militia died and 4 were injured, this war directly made the Boers see through the British colonizers’ strengths and weaknesses. Only then did the Boers start daring to directly oppose the British, leading to the later outbreak of the Second Boer War.

Frankly, if the East African Kingdom wasn’t this name but was instead an Austria-Hungary colony, maybe the Boers would be afraid.

In fact, the East African Kingdom poses a far greater threat to the Boers than Austria-Hungary. Although Austria-Hungary is a great power, it doesn’t fare as well overseas as the Heixinggen royal family. Even the time to establish diplomatic relations with Far Eastern powers is almost simultaneous with East Africa. Moreover, the Austria-Hungary envoy to the Far East is also concurrently the envoy to Japan and Siam, with his office located in Tokyo, Japan.

However, the Boers don’t know this. If Buckhaus weren’t a German, Vincent might even mistake the suddenly appearing East African army for British forces.

"Boss, it’s still better to inform the government about this matter. Don’t try to deal with it on our own. The cavalry across the river alone might be hard for the entire Transvaal Republic to handle, let alone they supposedly have tens of thousands of troops on the other bank." Buckhaus advised.

Buckhaus’ words were not exaggerated. Just by looking at the unified attire and weapons of the East African Kingdom’s army, one can tell it’s a regular army, while the Transvaal Republic’s regular army totals only a few thousand.

The whole Transvaal Republic has a population of just over two hundred thousand, and adding other Boer nations, it’s close to four hundred thousand. Meanwhile, East Africa alone has thirty thousand troops heading south.

Of course, the numbers can’t be calculated like this. Although the Boers have a small army, ordinary people also carry guns. Take Vincent’s farm, for instance, where all male whites are issued firearms, which become sources of militia in wartime. As for the militia’s combat effectiveness, the British have already provided an answer.

This is also why Ernst doesn’t intend to make a move against the Boers. If the Boers engage in guerrilla warfare with East Africa, they not only won’t gain South African land but could also disrupt East Africa’s control over Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The Transvaal Republic has vast land with sparse population, and the Boers all have horses. In no time, they could vanish without a trace, so anyone wanting to act against the Boers must learn from the British, sending more people.

Of course, the people referred to are armed immigrants, not the simple army like the British. Every outpost established by immigrants will erode the Boers’ living space, eventually solving the Boer problem.

As for the Second Boer War, where the British sent a force of forty-five thousand, although the numbers exceeded the Boers’, those forty-five thousand non-working troops just played cat and mouse in the South African interior with the Boers, making the military expenses astronomical, which only the wealthy British could afford.

"You’re right. Since we can encounter the East African Kingdom army here, there must be more in the north. So the several tens of thousands of troops these East African Germans claim might really exist." Vincent analyzed.

The Limpopo River is over a thousand kilometers long. Excluding the segment of Portuguese colony, there are still about six to seven hundred kilometers. If the East African Kingdom were to fortify along the Limpopo River, northern deployments should be more because we are already very close to the source of the Limpopo River.

(Image: Vincent’s Farm — marked in red font)

Quickly, Vincent reported the news of the East African army appearing on the west bank of the Croc River (Limpopo River) to the government.

Not only Vincent, but other Boer farms near the Limpopo River also did the same, marking the first time the East African Kingdom entered the Transvaal Republic’s sight.

The Transvaal Republic can only analyze information about this new force through the brief reports from informers, and the conclusion is pessimistic. The sheer number of East African troops heading south makes the Transvaal Republic’s upper echelon dare not act rashly. The good news is that East Africa currently shows no interest in the Transvaal Republic.

East Africa has basically completed its deployment along the Limpopo River, with a total of over fifteen thousand troops stationed along the river, and over ten thousand more at the Mozambique border.

East Africa used the army to completely cut off any possibility of further Portuguese and Boer expansion into the African interior, unless they declare war on the East African Kingdom.

Whether they will overestimate themselves and declare war on East Africa is really hard to say, especially Mozambique, which lacks a clear geographical boundary with East Africa. The likelihood of future conflict between the two sides is high.