The high mobilization rate of the Boers is a miracle in the history of warfare, almost all the young and middle-aged people in the two Boer republics joined the army in the Boer War, and the total population of 220,000 actually held back 88,000, a proportion that even the Mongol cavalry across the entire Eurasian continent did not have this record, right?

However, the high level of military force used in a state of war does not mean that these personnel are qualified soldiers. The militia that picks up a gun to fight is still a militia even if it is fierce, and an accident occurs at the slightest touch of a large-scale engagement. The vast majority of Boer victories in the Boer War were due to the British being lightly attacked and skirmished. It's not really hard to hit the nail on the head. And all Calyput has to do is convert these militias into real soldiers!

"Discipline, the most important thing is discipline, Your Excellency's troops can only be called militia and not army! It is impossible for an undisciplined, poorly trained and commanded militia to defeat an army. If your troops go to war with the British, they will have a chance to take advantage of the British's light enemy at the beginning to gain some success, but they will certainly not be able to engage on a large scale. Calipt said earnestly after seeing what the Boers called "large-scale" military exercises.

"Our number of personnel is already limited, our standing force is no more than two regiments, and almost all of our troops have a strong regional and familial character." Kruger admitted the accusations of the German advisers very calmly, and there was no way if he didn't admit it! After seeing the German army, it was already very face-saving for the Boer armed forces to be called militia.

The first thing Calyput did was to disorganize the Boers from all over the country and weaken the influence of the region and the family, and the first lesson he had to teach the Boers was obedience! Obey the orders of the commander instead of the patriarch or the farmer! When war breaks out at home, they need to follow their commander's orders to fight instead of going home to protect their farms. (Historically, the Boers have done such things.) Therefore, although the Boer warriors were fierce, they were indeed very poorly disciplined. ）

The second issue is to abandon the style of guerrilla warfare. Calyput, who came from the regular army, found a very peculiar phenomenon in the Boer army, and that was the preference for small arms and mobility. The Boers were very wealthy, whether it was the government or individuals, and they could accumulate a lot of wealth with gold and diamonds, so semi-automatic rifles and heavy machine guns, which were considered expensive to outsiders, were very common in the Boer army, especially semi-automatic rifles. In just a few years, the Boers bought 15,000 of them! The proportion of semi-automatic rifles in this unit is no less than that of the Blue Corps, which swept the Japanese army in the northeast that year!

And machine guns and various rapid-fire guns were also the favorites of the Boer army. WHETHER IT WAS THE GERMAN VERSION OF THE WICKS MACHINE GUN, OR THE 57MM RAPID-FIRE GUN AND THE 37MM MACHINE GUN, THE BOERS WERE EQUIPPED WITH A LOT OF THEM, AND THESE GUNS WERE SO LIGHT THAT TWO HORSES COULD PULL AWAY A GUN CART AND AMMUNITION CART. AND THE 75MM RAPID-FIRE GUNS OF THE ORIGINAL DIVISION-LEVEL UNITS WERE VERY UNPOPULAR. Because this gun and gun carriage are too heavy. Not suitable for maneuvering.

Some people may say that such a tendency is very good! Why not? The reason is simple, there is no future in guerrilla warfare alone! It was impossible to break through the important strongholds of the British, and it was impossible to open up foreign transportation lines. Then the resistance of the Boers would not have lasted, let alone won.

The biggest problem with the massive selection of light equipment after increasing mobility is that the firepower is too weak. You can let the Boers set up an ambush and launch a short assault with flexible machine guns and elite infantry, and in a confrontation at the battalion and regimental level, the Boers can also use their skilful personal qualities and fortifications to block the opponent's attack, but once the size of the troops is raised to the division level, or if the Boers are allowed to attack the fortifications, then the problem will come immediately!

SIMPLE FORTIFICATIONS CAN EASILY NEUTRALIZE THE ATTACKS OF 57MM GUNS AND MACHINE GUNS. Although the Boers were brave, they lacked scientific guidance. They don't know how to deal with obstacles, how to deal with minefields, how to take out the enemy behind the bunkers. The Germans found that in the Boer army, 100 defenders could easily thwart 5 times as many attackers! The Boers were very rough in their own right, and when they encountered setbacks, they often chose to avoid or retreat. And there is no future in doing so!

Why does the weaker side like to fight guerrilla warfare? Because it's easy. You don't need too many supplies, equipment, and personnel, as long as you have a good mass base, you can get thriving, at least on the surface. In fact, although the Boer War lasted 31 months, the Boers actually had the upper hand for only four months in the first phase. When the British got really serious and decided to have a good fight. The Boer army immediately withered.

And the second phase of the seven months was almost a constant offensive by the British, and a constant retreat by the Boers. First lost Orange, then Johannesburg. Over the course of seven months, the mass resistance of the Boers was finally defeated. For the next 20 months, the so-called Boer War was nothing more than a counter-guerrilla war. Of course, if you want to evaluate it objectively, the Boers fought really well, and even captured a British lieutenant general, but in fact the battle has entered garbage time to this extent, and defeat is a matter of time.

Guerrilla warfare is not unnecessary, but cannot be used as the main body of the battle, after all, the general mobilization of the Boers can have 80,000 troops, which is already a military-scale engagement, and if you want to defeat the British army, you can only fight with large corps, otherwise guerrilla warfare can only barely delay its decline.

Therefore, Calyput asked Kruger to establish a modern logistics and staff system. The establishment of a general staff to command the army, and at the same time the establishment of a sound logistics system to ensure the smooth flow of supplies, and even forced the Boers to learn how to face the British fortifications, learn how to break through these iron turtles, instead of harassing and simple siege methods to avoid problems.

Under the supervision of German instructors, the Boers had to learn how to break down obstacles, how to overwhelm their opponents with excellent artillery tactics on the frontal battlefield rather than knocking out a small artillery position by sneak attack. and how to overcome the problem of morale after a thwarted attack. In conclusion, Calyput did everything in his power to increase the resilience and discipline of the Boers. Teach them how to choose the right moment, inflict heavy losses on the opponent's living forces on the frontal battlefield, and how to pull out the key strongholds of the British, instead of the seemingly fierce but lacking persistence of the Cossack cavalry, which can only be destroyed but not occupied.

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