Chapter 400 Non-aggression Pact
Cape Town still has to wait to send a message to London, but East Africa will not wait for the British to move. At present, the East African Army has completed all the work, and the next step is to finish the work and preserve the results.
Ernst: "We must first stabilize the Orange Free State and not let them have unrealistic ideas. After this war, except for Cape Town, only the Orange Free State has the strongest strength in South Africa. Strong, we need to send negotiators to the Orange Free State to first determine the boundaries and at the same time express our goodwill to the Orange Free State."
“Your Highness, the situation regarding Griguaran is somewhat complicated. How should we express our position on this?”
Ernst: "To emphasize the low value of Grigualand, we must sell face to the British, but it is impossible for us to withdraw from Grigualand. We can order Merk to strengthen the military strength opposite Kimberley, at least Put a brigade on the other side of the Fal River, conduct a small exercise, fire a few cannons, put some pressure on Cape Town, and force them to take the initiative to compromise."
“Your Highness, will this cause future criticism from the British?”
Ernst: "It doesn't matter. The British can't do anything to us. Our next energy will not be focused on expansion. We will slowly digest the current results and wait for the news to pass before we talk about other things."
Rather than saying that Ernst is forbearing, it is better to say that East Africa is full this time, and any more greed may really cause a collapse. South Africa and East Africa are also separated by Zimbabwe. The long supply line is a heavy burden for the East African kingdom. But the good news is that the telegraph line in Zimbabwe is being repaired here. After the telegraph line is set up in South Africa, communication and command will not be as embarrassing as now.
…
Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.
When the Friendly Republic of Transvaal was attacked by the Kingdom of East Africa, the Orange Free State government originally wanted to send troops to help. However, the astonishing results in East Africa forced the Orange Free State government to reconsider this matter.
The Transvaal Republic collapsed too quickly. The most important thing was that the Transvaal Republic did not cause too much damage to the East African Army. Therefore, after assessing its own strength, the Orange Free State government concluded that the Orange Free State The state was unable to deal with the East African kingdom.
However, the Orange Free State still carried out emergency mobilization, ready to respond to the invasion of the East African Kingdom at any time. Fortunately, after occupying Winburg, the East African Army did not choose to go south, but began to build a stronghold along the Fite River. It seemed that there was no Not planning to attack, Sweet subsequently sent an envoy to the Orange Free State on behalf of Ernst to eliminate the hostility between the two countries, or in other words, the Orange Free State's vigilance towards East Africa.
Sweite: "Hello, President Brand, I am the special envoy of the Kingdom of East Africa, Sweet. This time I will communicate with your country specifically on security issues between the two countries."
Brand asked: "Hello, Mr. Sweet, I wonder what the meaning of your East African kingdom's stirring up troubles in South Africa this time is?"
Sweite said straight to the point: "For no other reason than the interests and the strategic security of the East African Kingdom."
"Safety? East Africa's military strength has been demonstrated in South Africa. Is there anything more threatening than you?" Brand said.
Whitt said: "Of course, we do not pay attention to other forces in South Africa, including the Orange Free State, but no country in the world can turn a blind eye to the existence of the British."
It is true that you Germans and British are not good people, Brand cursed in his heart.
“There is such a long distance between your East African Kingdom and the British. Are you still worried about the British? If we are really on guard against the British, I’m afraid we in the Orange Free State should be the most worried.”
The Orange Free State is the country next to the Cape Colony. Originally, Britain had recognized the independence of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic after the Bloemfontein Agreement, but with the increase in Kimberley's mineral resources development, the British became interested in the Orange Free State again.
As a result, the British have not calmed down, and now the Germans have come from the north. This is really too difficult for the Orange Free State.
Damn little Pretorius! Brand cursed in his heart that this guy was all responsible for the trouble, but as an ally, Brand still wanted to say a good word for the Transvaal Republic: "Your Excellency Sweet, little Pretorius is just a A fool who relies on his father's protection and whose actual abilities are at a disadvantage should be discussed separately from the Transvaal Republic."
"Well, you don't have to talk to us about this matter. It is impossible for the Transvaal Republic to be restored. The winners and losers have been decided. Now the Transvaal Republic is the spoils of our East African Kingdom. Naturally It’s impossible to hand it over,” Sweet said. Brand: "Then why did you come to the Orange Free State?"
Sweet said: "What our East African Kingdom means is very simple, that is, the two countries sign a non-aggression treaty. The Kingdom is actually not very interested in the Orange Free State. We also need a buffer state as a buffer between the East African Kingdom and The buffer zone between Cape Town colonies, of course, provided that you cannot surrender to Cape Town, then we will never sit idly by."
"Haha, has your country always been so domineering?" Brand said with an angry smile.
Sweet: "If I say no, you will definitely not believe it either, but our East African Kingdom always values its promises and will never break its promises easily."
Brand said: "But how can you guarantee that you have no ambitions for the Orange Free State?"
"Hahaha, Mr. President, you are trying to treat a gentleman with a villain's heart! Our East African Kingdom says it is not interested in the Orange Free State, but we really are not interested. I will reveal a number to you. You Just to know if I lied, this time our East African Kingdom dispatched a total of nearly 60,000 troops, and this was without organizing indigenous cannon fodder," Sweet said.
War madman!
“Since your East African Kingdom has dispatched so many troops and occupied so many places, it is not contradictory to say that it is not interested in the Orange Free State?”
“Mr. President, I believe that many citizens of the former Transvaal Republic have fled into your country these days. This is a fact!”
“Of course I know this.”
“Then you said that if our East African Kingdom expels these people from their original land, will they resent East Africa?”
"this…"
"The answer is yes. If it were you, would you put these people in a country that may be hostile to you?"
“Of course not possible.”
"That's right. The arrival of these people in the Orange Free State will actually increase your power, and they will be a staunch force against East Africa. Why do you think East Africa is doing this?"
"this…"
Brand couldn't answer, and Sweet said at this time: "Our expulsion of these Boers to the Orange Free State is essentially to strengthen your power, and to put it bluntly, the Orange Free State has nothing worthy of East Africa." The thing that the kingdom covets, to put it more harshly, is that our army is fully capable of annihilating the Transvaal Republic, and then you. The main force in East Africa is still in Pretoria, and there is no intention of dispatching it. It is Fett. The Kingdom’s army along the river is enough for you to drink from.”
After Sweet convinced people with "reasons" for a while, Brand also understood the current situation. It was not that the East African Kingdom was afraid of losing ground in the Orange Free State, but that they did not care about the Orange Free State at all. The strength gap is too big.
“Okay, Mr. Sweet, what does your country want us to do?”
Whitt: "As I said just now, we signed an agreement to ensure the independent status of the Orange Free State and did not favor any party between the Kingdom of East Africa and the Cape Colony. Apart from this, we in East Africa do not have any additional requirements."
This made Brand feel relieved. It was considered a good condition and did not harm the interests of the Orange Free State. Therefore, the two sides signed a "Mutual Non-Aggression Treaty" for thirty years. .
(End of this chapter)