Chapter 1276: Conquering the fire, and converting the fire again (Third update, please subscribe)
Author: Xiaoyu’s Destiny
Chapter 1276: Conquering the fire, and converting the fire again (Third update, please subscribe)
Accompanied by the roar of the train and the smoke from the train, a train from the Bechuanaland Special District drove into the Pretoria railway station. On the platform, except for the black laborers and Transvaal officers unloading the goods,
In addition, there were two foreign officers wearing green military uniforms. They were Zhao Wenyu and Song Xueqian from the Military Attaché Office of the Ming Empire's Embassy in Transvaal.
The chief officer of the Military Attaché Division personally went out to receive the goods, which shows that the goods did not come easily.
After the train stopped, Zhao Wenyu took the list handed over by the conductor, checked it over first, and then led his subordinates to review it with General Smuts.
The list clearly lists various weapons and ammunition:
1,500 2-year-old 9mm revolvers.
500 boxes of first-year-style 7.5mm rifles (10,000 in total)
160 10-year-old 7.5mm machine guns
60 one-year 105mm mortars
18 Type 12 seven-and-a-half-centimeter field guns (with full set of gun carriage saddles)
25 boxes of 9mm bullets (100,000 rounds)
5,000 boxes of 7.5mm bullets (7.5 million rounds)
…
"Major, thank you very much for sending us the weapons we need so quickly."
General Smuts nodded with satisfaction. It only took half a month - from the time they submitted the order to the time the first batch of arms arrived.
It only took half a month.
"General, as promised before - the Ming Empire is your country's closest friend at all times. Just like back then, we all supported you in getting rid of the British rule, and now we also support you in your efforts to get rid of the British rule.
Fight to defend your independence!"
Zhao Wenyu's answer made Shimutzi nod.
"Major, please believe that we will never compromise like we did in 1877, and we will use all means to defend the independence of the Republic!"
The year 1877 Smuts mentioned refers to that year, when the British went to the Transvaal Republic to lobby and persuade it to accept British rule. Due to financial difficulties and the face of large-scale conflicts with the Zulu Kingdom in the east, Germany
The Transvaal Republic accepted the request to annex the United Kingdom.
During the three years of British rule in the Transvaal, they neither improved the living conditions of the middle and lower-class Boers nor increased investment to improve local financial, economic and political life. Instead, they allowed British businessmen to speculate in land and provide subsidies to the Boers.
The collection of taxes previously owed to the Transvaal Republic aroused widespread dissatisfaction among the Boers.
It eventually led to the Boer uprising at the end of 1880. Although the war only lasted three months, the Ming Empire, while remaining neutral, did not stand idly by and provided a large number of weapons to the Boers through merchants.
It was also from that time that a different kind of friendship was established between the Ming Dynasty and the Transvaal, which also led to the construction of the Bechuanaland-Transvaal Railway.
"General, I believe that the free will of the Boers will never accept British slavery!"
While watching the Boers counting the mountains of arms on the platform, Zhao Wenyu felt an uneasy feeling that a war was about to break out.
When will the war break out?
Shi Mozi happened to be here, so Zhao Wenyu asked.
"What happened to the negotiations between you and the British now?"
"Negotiation... I hope everything goes well!"
Smuts stared at the munitions on the platform. These munitions would be the last bargaining chip for their survival.
…
"It is impossible to make progress in negotiations."
In the office of the Military Attaché, Zhao Wenyu spoke first:
"Although we have not obtained more intelligence these days, what is certain is that the Transvaal officials will definitely not make any concessions on issues such as tariffs and explosives franchise. Once they make concessions, they will lose
everything!"
"That's true. Although the Rand Gold Mine is in the Transvaal, because the Boers are conservative and prefer to purchase land, they have little investment in gold mines. Therefore, most of the Rand Gold Mine is an investment by the British. Therefore.
, the Transvaal government was free to impose heavy direct taxes and profit taxes on the Rand gold mines. At present, the tax revenue from the gold mines reached seven-eighths of the Transvaal's annual revenue. In addition, the Transvaal also
It issued various franchises, monopolized the operation of explosives, and arbitrarily increased the tariff rate on goods imported or re-exported from the Cape Colony to the Transvaal. The import tax alone raked in more than 1 million pounds every year. The monopoly on explosives cost the government every year.
A profit of 600,000 pounds. This 1.6 million pounds is simply the lifeblood of the country. Under such circumstances, how could they give up!"
Sun Huatao, who looked tired, emphasized again when he spoke.
"In addition, the Boers are more worried that the continuous influx of British expatriates will take away their power with their votes in the next few years, so they have introduced discriminatory bills against foreigners. This is obviously unacceptable to the UK and is unacceptable to the Boers.
Even if we give in, the positions of both sides are fundamentally inconsistent, so how can the negotiation succeed? The only question now is when will the war break out!"
"war……"
Zhao Wenyu nodded and said:
"It seems that war is inevitable."
"Indeed, if, according to our intelligence, the British are mobilizing troops to Cape Town from India and the British mainland, although this intelligence needs further verification, the negotiations they are conducting now should be just to buy more time for reinforcements.
and deployment, once reinforcements are in place, they will definitely declare war."
Sun Huatao thought for a while and then said.
"So, I think we have to be prepared for this."
"Um!"
Zhao Wenyu nodded:
"I understand, war cannot be avoided no matter what. All we need to do is to help the Boers resist the British invasion as much as possible."
At this moment, the door was pushed open, Song Xueqian walked in and said in a low voice:
"A secret call came from China..."
"how?"
Zhao Wenyu asked.
"The domestic judgment is that the war should break out from the end of today to the beginning of next year. The domestic requirement is that we must try our best to help the Boers resist the British invasion before the war breaks out. If possible, we can use all means."
"In other words, the country has decided to side with the Transvaal?"
"Yes, it is very likely that the country has reached a preliminary consensus. We may not necessarily send troops to help them, but our support policy for them will not change. It is very likely that the country hopes to use them to weaken the power of the UK."
Zhao Wenyu lowered his face, thought for a while, and then said:
"Killing with a borrowed knife... This method is good, but the problem is that the population in the Transvaal is insufficient, which makes it impossible for them to take the initiative. As for setting up a place on the mainland where they can wait for work and lure the enemy to attack deeply... It seems that we are going to
Try to find ways to help them and resist as much as possible."
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!