Chapter 390 Persuading to Leave
The fall of Pretoria also meant that the Transvaal Republic had been basically destroyed. Pretorius Jr. and the government personnel of the Transvaal Republic fled to the Orange Free State. The only uncertainty at present is where is the main force of the Boers fighting against the Zulu Kingdom?
This reminded Ernst of King Wu's conquest of Zhou. The Shang Dynasty also fell because the main force of merchants attacked Dongyi and could not return reinforcements in time. The makeshift slave army defected in the face of the battle, leaving King Shang unable to save himself and could only set himself on fire.
Therefore, it is very important to ensure that there is a military force loyal to the royal family in the capital, which can respond to emergencies at any time. This is also the original intention of the establishment of the 101st Guards Division.
Of course, the slave troops in the Transvaal were generally qualified. Even after their collapse, they did not take advantage of the chaos to settle accounts with the Boers, but fled in all directions.
After occupying Pretoria, the East African Army gathered the citizens of Pretoria in the Transvaal Republic Parliament and announced its disposition of the Transvaal Republic to the Boers in Pretoria.
"The Kingdom of East Africa is an autocratic monarchy that yearns for order and justice. It is not welcome to any individuals or forces that oppose the monarchy, do not support the policies of the East African country, and have an unfriendly attitude towards the Kingdom of East Africa. Anyone in the Kingdom of East Africa is not welcome. All species are equal in law and will not enjoy any privileges. The land in East Africa is owned by the state..." Sweet was still talking, but the Boers below had already exploded.
There is no problem with absolute monarchy and it is acceptable, but the abolition of slavery is a big problem for the Boers. If they don't have slaves to work on their own farms? Of course it's not impossible, but nationalizing the land in East Africa will not give you a way to survive!
I don’t know who shouted below: “The Transvaal Republic does not welcome you invaders, get out of our land!”
This made Ernst, who was listening on the sidelines, appreciate his courage very much. He stood up from his chair and said to the Boers: "Who made the loud noise just now? Are you pretending to be a hero? If you can take the initiative to stand up instead of hiding in the crowd and being incompetent. Furious, then I respect you as a man."
After waiting for a while, no one took the initiative to admit it. Ernst said: "From today on, there will no longer be a country called the Transvaal Republic in the world. This is the land of the East African Kingdom.
As for those who are dissatisfied with the East African Kingdom, they can choose to leave here. We will not make it difficult for those who leave voluntarily. You can leave the land of East Africa with your assets and family property. If you want revenge, you are welcome at any time. In fact, East Africa There is no conflict with the former Transvaal Republic, and it even has a good relationship.
It is your president who caused all the consequences. You should never support the rebellion of the Ndebele people. This is just like someone supporting your enemy the Zulu Kingdom or your slave rebellion. Therefore, this war in East Africa is It is legal, reasonable and just. As for your losses, they should be entirely attributed to the random actions of your democratically elected president. "
Although what Ernst said was fallacious, the final result would be the same regardless of whether the Boers supported the Ndebele, but the pretext for war was indeed sent over by Pretorius himself.
After listening to Ernst's words, some Boers who did not have the ability to think independently believed that it was their own president's responsibility because the example Ernst gave was just right.
The Zulu were the Boers' biggest enemy before the East African attack on the Transvaal Republic. If there were really forces supporting the Zulu, then the Boers would definitely not agree if they were put in their shoes.
Of course, most Boers still know that this is just an attempt by the East African Kingdom to divert conflicts. Now the biggest enemy of the Boers is the East African Kingdom, not the Zulus.
"Excuse me, your Excellency, who are you?" a Boer asked unwillingly.
"I am the Crown Prince of the East African Kingdom, Ernst."
"Your Highness Ernst, supporting the Ndebele people is all President Pretorius' fault and has nothing to do with us..."
Ernst: "Since little Pretorius is the president you elected, what he does naturally represents the Transvaal Republic, and little Pretorius stole the chicken but failed to lose the rice. In East Africa, losers must pay the price.”
Those who lose the war will either cede territory and pay indemnity at the least, or subjugate the country and exterminate the species at the worst. This is the main theme of this era. Don't think that being from the European continent can exempt you. Colonists from various countries like the traditional colonies in West Africa are almost crazy.
The move in East Africa to allow the Boers to take away their property and move out of East Africa can only be said to be slightly less humane than the British in Cape Town. But that is not because the British are more conscientious, but because of the number of Boers in Cape Town. More, some compromises must be made. There is no need for such hypocrisy in East Africa. Relying on military strength, these Boers cannot make trouble.
Ernst said: "Okay, this matter has no value for negotiation. We welcome residents who are willing to stay in the East African Kingdom according to the East African way of life. If you don't want to, please leave, but I want to warn you not to cause trouble, otherwise the East African Army This is not a joke, and I am not afraid to tell you that we used more than 50,000 troops to invade the Transvaal this time, so I hope some people will not ignore good advice and insist on going their own way."
Ernst's words really worked. The Boers in Pretoria already understood that there was nothing they could do. The number of people in the East African Army alone was an insurmountable mountain. The Transvaal Republic gathered all the men in the country. It’s almost the same number. The question is, after removing the elderly and children, how much is left? There was no way to resist the East African Kingdom.
Some of the large Boer farmers had already fled with Pretorius the Younger, and the remaining farmers were also planning to go to Orange.
The Transvaal and Orange implemented a large land ownership system, and a few families could occupy land the size of a town. After Boer farmers settled in a new area, the first thing they did was to busy enclosing land and demarcating land boundaries. Name natural landmarks such as streams, woods, or hills.
The Boer Parliament issued certificates of land ownership. Because the enclosed land was too vast, some of the land was left untouched and deserted for decades after the encirclement.
Therefore, there are not many Boer farmers, and they need to be powerful to enclose land. Civilians do not have the ability to develop the land, and they also have to face indigenous threats such as the Zulus. Many Boers must unite to form militia groups, which makes The Boer population in Transvaal and Orange is concentrated, which saves the East African Army a lot of energy. If it is really one in the east and one in the west, it will be busy.
After the kind persuasion of the East African Kingdom, almost 10% of the Boers chose to leave, while the number of Boers who chose to stay was very small. Those who were unwilling to leave and chose to join East Africa were basically proletarian Germans.
The Boers are just a flexible name. They call themselves Africans, but there are immigrants from the Netherlands, Britain, France and Germany. After the British colonized Cape Town, some British immigrants broke away from the Boers. Returning to the embrace of the British and joining the Germans in East Africa is also the same reason. This part of the Germans has been purified, so there is no need to worry about any trouble in joining East Africa in the future.