Chapter 386： Soldiers approaching the city

Chapter 386 The troops are approaching the city

There is a river less than 60 kilometers away from Pretoria, which the Boers call the Murray Taylor River. The 111th, 123rd and 514th Divisions of the East African Army camped on the north bank of the Murray Taylor River to rest.

After more than ten days of high-intensity marching, the East African soldiers were generally exhausted. Even Ernst, who was riding a horse, couldn't bear it. In addition, he had previously fought a battle with a small group of Boers in Petersburg. , so the East African Army needs to take a rest and wait for the troops to transport food and grass.

The battle of Petersburg was not even an appetizer for the East African Army. The Boer army did not have 500 people in total, and the weapons they used were lagging behind those of the East African Army. East Africa dispatched a cavalry battalion and overwhelmed these Boers. .

At night, the breeze came slowly, bringing a bit of coolness to people, and bursts of singing came from the military camp on the bank of the Murray Taylor River:

“By the river in the Rhine village,

On the golden wheat field,

The young eagle soars freely.

Who can pack this bag for me?

Who puts on this armor for me?

The gentle girl who never forgets her hometown.

The Rhine is my beautiful hometown,

Who can forget my lovely hometown..."

East African soldiers sang to the sound of the zither (a traditional Austrian musical instrument) while sitting around the campfire. It was a rare leisure time with a smile on everyone’s face. This is a party organized by the East African soldiers themselves to relieve their boredom.

When Ernst heard the singing of the East African soldiers, he inadvertently raised his brows and raised the corners of his mouth. It had been a long time since he heard such a simple song!

Ernst rarely went to rural areas in Germany except Hechingen. He listened to a lot of high-end concerts. After all, this was an integral part of aristocratic life. Songs like this with German rural and military styles, Ernst I have never experienced this in two lifetimes.

Seeing that His Highness was interested in this, Sweet explained: "East African soldiers created a lot of military music. This tradition has existed since the establishment of the First Town Colony, and can be traced back to the German states. Most of the members of the first mercenary team came from the armies of various German states, and every German state has military bands, so we in East Africa are inevitably affected by this. At the same time, in military camps that lack entertainment, songs from all over Germany are very popular. It quickly became popular, and some people with a little musical literacy began to try to compose music, and they were able to write many popular songs in the military using simple vocabulary."

Ernst said: "These are precious cultural treasures of the East African Kingdom. When the war is over, the court musicians will collect these music."

As the chorus ended, the next program was quite surprising, at least to Ernst.

“The performers of the next show will invite artists from the East to bring us an Oriental opera - "A Tale of Three Countries"."

There was a round of applause. It seemed that the audience was quite wide, and many soldiers from Germany seemed to be looking forward to it. This made Ernst a little curious. Can the Germans understand?

Then a burst of familiar music sounded that made Ernst's scalp feel numb. It was a piece played on a native pipa (willow leaf harp), and it clearly had the characteristics of oriental opera.

Ernst had no contact with opera, but he had heard of Yu Opera, Huangmei Opera and Qu Opera. This was not because Ernst liked it, but because his grandmother liked to listen to opera when he was a child, so he followed suit, especially the story of the Yang family generals. most.

What happened next was even more unexpected than Ernst expected. As the prelude ended, the man holding the lute began to sing, but he actually sang in German?

Because it was in German, Ernst also understood it. This is the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where the three heroes fight against Lu Bu, what a guy! The most exaggerated thing is that he even rhymes with it! Rhymes in German! So much so that Ernst directly exclaimed: "Talent! No, genius!"

Ernst had never thought about someone singing in a "foreign" language, and it sounded good. Compared to Ernst's overreaction, the soldiers sitting around the campfire listened with gusto. I don't know if it was because of the Far East of the Three Kingdoms. The exotic story is fascinating, but the unique oriental singing is even more attractive. Ernst: "Sweeter, wait until the party is over and give me the information about the person who knows Eastern opera."

“Yes, Principal.” Sweet responded.

Sweet had already guessed why the principal was so surprised just now. To be honest, it was the same for the first time he saw an Oriental opera sung in German. It was very strange, but he didn't think much about it at the time. Because of the diversity of East African immigrants, it was not surprising that some weird things appeared. Strangely, this is not an isolated case in East Africa, but a large number of examples piled together. Although East Africa can make the whole of East Africa the same as Germany in terms of hardware, culture is not something that the East African government can control. At most, it can only create a The guiding role, such as promoting German, has been very successful.

…

The East African army continued to advance after resting, and two days later, Pretoria appeared in front of Ernst.

Ernst sat on his horse, took out the telescope on his waist, and carefully observed the urban construction of Pretoria, thinking in his mind.

Ernst: “As the capital of the Transvaal Republic, Pretoria is basically the same size as our first town, and it can be considered a well-developed city in Africa.”

Whitt: "Principal, the Transvaal Republic does not have many people in total, and it is not even comparable to the population of our Central Province. This is even if we have not fully developed the Central Province."

The current population of the Transvaal Republic is estimated to be only a few hundred thousand. After all, there is no demographic data like that of East Africa, so it is difficult to evaluate. However, during the second Boer War in history, the Transvaal Republic plus the Orange The population of the Free State was only about 440,000, and that was in 1899, so the current population of the Transvaal Republic would definitely not exceed 200,000, and it would be more likely to be in the early hundreds of thousands.

If the population of the Boers now exceeds 200,000, then based on the level of all their people being soldiers, they will not be bullied into that by the small Zulu Kingdom.

From a distance, the size of Pretoria is similar to that of the first town, which should not exceed 30,000 people. The total number of the three divisions under Ernst reached more than 23,000, which meant that it was very easy to capture Pretoria.

So Ernst said: "Start preparing for battle. Let the 514th Division launch a tentative attack on Pretoria first!"

The 514th Division is a second-line force in East Africa, but it is currently a standing army, one level higher than the militia. The 123rd Division is a cavalry mobile unit, mainly responsible for mobile field operations. Sieges are not its strong point. It is mainly used to deal with the Boer cavalry. Before Peter The lower-level troops of the 123rd Division were dispatched from Fort.

As for the 111th Division, like the 123rd Division, it is an elite force in East Africa. However, the 111th Division is an all-rounder. It is the second infantry division in East Africa. The first is the 101st Division, which is the Royal Guards Division. Although the Royal Guards Division Called a division, it should actually be more accurately called a military force. Its total strength reached 30,000 people and was responsible for the defense of the entire Central Province, including the two first towns of Bagamoyo City and Dar es Salaam City. The city's gateway is the focus of its defense.

To deal with Pretoria, Ernst planned to test the waters with the 514th Division first. The 514th Division was one of the old foundations of the Southern Route Army and the one with the worst combat effectiveness. As for other units of the Southern Route Army, they would be responsible for strategies in other directions. .

For example, the two troops of the 511th Division and the 513th Division attacked the Transvaal from Botswana on the west bank of the Limpopo River, while the three troops led by Ernst personally attacked the Transvaal from Zimbabwe on the north bank of the Limpopo River. .

The middle and upper reaches of the Limpopo River present a large, horseshoe-shaped bend, enclosing the western and northern parts of the Transvaal Republic. This is also the posture of the East African attack on the Transvaal. In fact, there are also The two divisions led by Felix, although Felix's troops also passed through the Republic of Transvaal, Felix's troops mainly went towards the Kingdom of Swaziland, which was built in Dera. There is a need for mountain operations on the eastern slopes of the Kens Mountains, so the 331st Division, the only mountain division in East Africa, is also in Felix's hands.

(End of this chapter)