The subsequent development of the Boer War exceeded the expectations of all countries. The combat performance of the Boer army surprised all countries, and of course, what was even more surprising was the performance of the British army.
On October 12, the day after the declaration of war, the Boer coalition consisting of the Transvaal Army and the Orange Armed Forces moved eastward. General Piet Joubert, the commander-in-chief of the Boer Army, led the main force from the east.
The Orange crossed the Drakensberg Mountains, entered the Natal colony, and went straight to Ladysmith, where the main force of the British army in Natal was located.
In the early morning of October 20, the advancing Burundi army fought on Mount Tarana with a brigade of British troops stationed here to defend the outer defense line of Ladysmith. General Meir, the commander of the Burundi army, took advantage of the favorable terrain and the morning fog.
Cover, launched a surprise attack on the British army. The British army lost 544 people and the Cloth army lost 126 people.
Another Armed Forces, commanded by General Delare, known as the "Lion of the Western Transvaal", entered the territory of British Bechuanaland on October 11 and cut off the Western Cape railway line, thus blocking the opening of the border.
The connection between Prussia and Rhodesia. De La Rui divided the troops into two groups, one commanded by General Cronye to surround Mafetin, and the other (mainly Orange) commanded by Louis Botha.
Surrounded the diamond town of Kimberley.
The third Boer army crossed the Orange River and went south, absorbing a small group of Boer armed forces in the British Cape Colony, operating in the northeastern region of the Cape, threatening the East-West Cape Railway line. The British army had to attack the Orange River Railway Bridge
Keep a tight defense and beware of Boer attempts to blow up the bridge.
De Aar, the most important railway hub and military supplies distribution center on the Western Cape Railway, was also harassed by the Boers. In order to protect the normal passage of the Eastern and Western Cape Railway, the British had to install a 4.7-inch naval gun on the train.
, advancing slowly under cover, repairing the railway section by section.
On October 30, 1899, Ladysmith's 4,000 British troops, under the command of Lieutenant General George White, launched a counterattack against the Clothier Army and encountered the main force of the Clothier Army under the command of Joubert in Nicholson Canyon. The British army was defeated and suffered losses.
The rest of the 1,372 men retreated to Ladysmith and were immediately surrounded.
Due to Ladysmith's tight defense, Joubert was unable to attack the city several times, so he sent a reconnaissance force deep into the British hinterland, as far as the Estcourt line, to reconnoiter locations that could be used to hold the city. The rest of the main force was at
They camped and rested around Ladysmith, waiting for the arrival of the British Overseas Corps.
At the end of October, 20,000 British troops led by General Redvers Buller, commander-in-chief of the British reinforcements (South African Expeditionary Force) and who had suppressed the local uprising in Ireland, finally arrived in Cape Town.
Beginning in mid-November, the British army commanded by Buller launched a counterattack against the British army on three fronts: eastern, central and western. Lieutenant General Methuen lifted the siege of Kimberley on the western front, and Lieutenant General French attacked Orange on the central line.
In the Free State, General Buller led the main force to lift the siege of Ladysmith on the eastern front.
In the early morning of December 15, General Buller launched an attack on the Cloenso army at Colenso, a small station southwest of Ladysmith, in an attempt to forcefully cross the Tugela River to Ladysmith.
The forces under Buller's command included the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th brigades of the British Army, totaling 16,000 men. In addition, there were four light cavalry regiments and three lancer squadrons composed of colonial cavalry. The artillery had 5 artillery pieces.
company, 30 cannons, in addition to 16 naval 12-pounders and 4.7-inch guns. Including cavalry and artillery, Buller's total strength was 22,000 men.
The Boer troops that entered the Battle of Colenso included militia groups from eight regions including Johannesburg, Heidelberg, Krugersdorp, Freiheide, and Utrecht, troops from the Orange Free State, and Johannesburg and
Swaziland's white police force, total
Total 3,500 people. In addition, there is a 120mm German Krupp howitzer, a 75mm Krupp field gun, two 75mm French Schneider-Crusseau cannon, and a 37mm Maxim rapid-fire cannon.
, 24 Maxim machine guns.
As the Boer army first concealed its artillery positions, and the British commander's command errors led to the dispersion of troops and rigid tactics, the British army suffered a disastrous defeat in this battle, with 2,335 killed, 471 missing, and 15 cannons lost. The Boer army
Only 12 people were killed and 30 wounded.
During the same period as the Battle of Ladysmith, the British army also suffered defeats at Kimberley on the western front and Stormberg on the central line, losing more than 3,500 men. In just one week, the British army lost 3,500 men.
There were more than 6,300 people, and the losses of the Bu army were simply negligible.
The British Empire suffered such heavy losses. In addition to its own poor command, the gap in weapons and equipment was also not small. For example, in terms of artillery, although the Boers had fewer artillery, they all purchased the latest artillery from various countries. Another factor was that
The Boers purchased many machine guns.
Compared with the original time and space, the reputation of machine guns has become even louder. Because Italy has used a large number of machine guns in several foreign wars, many countries have purchased a lot of weapons that can continuously provide fire suppression.
As for the two Boer countries, they purchased a lot of machines
Guns. According to statistics from Beretta Arms Company, the manufacturer of Maxim heavy machine guns, the two Boer countries purchased a total of 83 heavy machine guns. Of course, this is only an apparent statistic. As for the actual situation, it is not clear. So compared with
Casualties in history, this time the British Empire suffered even greater losses.
Such a poor performance by the British army caused an uproar in all countries. As for the British side, the incompetent General Buller was even blamed for his resignation as commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force.
Due to the defeat, the British people were even more passionate. They could not accept that the world's most powerful country was defeated by two small Boer countries. Prime Minister Salisbury also shouted the slogan "Carry the war to the end."
Under this circumstance, Prime Minister Salisbury first appointed Roberts as the commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force. At the same time, he also mobilized troops from all over the world in an attempt to further increase the number of troops, expand the scale of the war, and overwhelm the small army with absolute superiority.
of Boers.
As the British Empire mobilized its troops, a arduous negotiation finally came to an end in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Petersburg.
"Ambassador Gorek, you are an excellent diplomat. Congratulations to our two countries for finally reaching a consensus."
Foreign Minister Ramzdov, who was the Russian negotiator, sighed after shaking hands with the Italian ambassador.
"Congratulations to our two countries for reaching a consensus."
Ambassador Gorek responded in the same way. He was also very tired from the negotiations in the past two months, but at least the negotiations were finally concluded.
Yes, the contract to purchase battleships has finally come to an end. After two months of negotiations and wrangling, Italy and Russia have reached a consensus on the purchase of battleships.
Italy sells two Genoa-class battleships under construction to Russia. In addition, Italy will also deliver a full set of construction drawings for the Genoa-class battleships, and it also needs to provide technology to Russia.
To this end, the Russian government needs to pay 23.5 million rubles to Italy. Among them, the price of two Genoa-class battleships is 18 million rubles, and the price of a complete set of drawings and technology is 5.5 million rubles. (This is all the credit of the French, allowing more time for negotiations.
It also took a while)
This ship purchase contract is very satisfactory to Russia. On the one hand, the performance of the purchased warships is very satisfactory, and on the other hand, the delivery time is also good.
Because these two battleships are directly appropriated from the Italian Navy, the delivery time will be very fast. After the contract is signed, the Russian Navy will need to send people to Venice to prepare to familiarize themselves with the battleships.
Of course, Japan will be dissatisfied with this ship purchase contract. But Japan cannot influence Italy's decision and can only endure it silently.
As for the British Empire behind Japan, the Boer War was already disgraced. The key was to deal with the cunning Boers first, and nothing else could be taken into consideration.
