On the "Voyager", Qin Lang told Morgan in a serious manner that "the army of the British Empire was never ready to fight a modern war against the Boers in South Africa", but two weeks earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Pretoria, the Transvaal, a "retired" German officer, Franz . Lieutenant Colonel Stiegler sternly reprimanded his new colleagues, young staff officers in the Boer army and police. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"You don't know what war is!"

The staff officers remained silent, and maintained a deep affection of humility and nervousness, though they did not think that they did not know what war was.

War is a very simple thing, which is to kill people, or rather, to kill as many enemies as possible at the least possible cost - of course, this is only the opinion of the officers about the war, not the view of politicians, lawyers, financiers, historians, or anyone else - but these staff officers happen to be soldiers.

They understand the ...... of war At least think you know about war.

But the Germans did not think that the people of their aid understood the war. In the past, the Boers fought only against the indigenous populations of southern Africa, and of course occasionally exchanged fire with invading British militants, but this experience was not instructive: the British regular army was not indigenous or militant in Africa, and it was impossible to gain experience in fighting against the rabble.

The Boers could not fight the British army on their own, and every general and staff officer of the General Staff of the Army in Berlin was convinced of this.

So Stiegler left Berlin and the German Army and came to Pretoria to help the Boer staff in planning the battle. Unfortunately, this work was the only reason the lieutenant colonel was angry - but more specifically, it should be divided into three parts.

In the first place, the "generals" of the Boer army did not see at all the great value of him and this staff body he led, and they agreed to form it only because the German Army suggested that they set up such a body, and not because they thought they needed it;

Secondly, due to the careless attitude of the Boer "generals" to the General Staff, Stiegler spent a lot of time and energy, even putting pressure on these guys who knew nothing about modern warfare through Berlin, to force them to agree in principle to act according to the plans of the General Staff;

In the end, because he spent most of his time dealing with the generals, Stiegler had to leave the Boer staff officers alone to make battle plans, and only then did he realize that his new colleagues were just as bad as their generals and completely incompetent for their new jobs.

The plan they had made was the worst he'd ever seen.

The worst, nothing worse than it.

Litter!

The lieutenant colonel's right index finger poked hard at the map on the table, glaring at everyone around him. "What you have developed cannot be called a battle plan at all! Maybe you think it's a battle plan, but it's not! It's just a bunch of complete rags! ”

After pausing for a breath, he shouted again: "A first-year student at an officer school has a better battle plan than what you have come up with!" ”

Of course, he exaggerated a little, and the battle plans drawn up by the first-year students of the military academy were in fact just as miserable, but they would never have made the low-level mistake that was obvious at a glance: concentrating forces and focusing on the enemy's weak points was one of the principles that military commanders had to follow, while the Boer staff officers scattered their insignificant army, and chose to attack either the focus of the British defense, which was meaningless, or did not devote enough force.

According to the plan they developed, the limited size of the Boer army was divided into four large tactical clusters: Commander-in-Chief Piette. The main force led by General Joubert, which Stiegler called Cluster A, was aimed at the Natal colony; General Delarry's troops, known as the "Lion of the West Transvaal", were led by General Delarry, Cluster B, which targeted the Western Cape colony; A number of Boer detachments in the south, Cluster C, aimed at rail transport in the Eastern and Western Cape colonies; General Princeloe's troops, Cluster D, were stationed in the Elephant River valley, far from the front line, to guard against the Pedi Indigenous uprising.

The whole Boer army, and of course the volunteers from Europe, was so completely divided by a bunch of fools, scattered in four completely different directions that could not help each other, and each tactical cluster was not capable of completely defeating its enemy - except for the D cluster.

But that's not the worst. As if they felt that their armies were not dispersed enough, the staff officers divided Clusters B and C even further: General Delarry's forces were to attack Kimberley and Maflotin at the same time, while the Boer forces on the Southern Front were to attack three targets that were not in fact in the same direction, Stormberg, Kolsberg, and De Arles, and the three objectives were of exact same priority.

What a genius battle plan.

Stiegler had used up almost all of his strength to control the urge to shoot the group of guys in front of him. "Your battle plan simply won't work!"

"But......" A staff officer tried to argue, but was rudely interrupted.

"No but!" The lieutenant colonel roared, "No staff officer with basic training would have dispersed your already small combat unit so excessively as you!" Gentlemen, your strength is weak, and you want to make it even weaker! ”

"The guy who can come up with such a plan, if not a fool, must be a spy for the British!" Stiegler was the last to call.

Then he stopped and refocused his gaze on the battle map in front of him. A bunch of idiots! The lieutenant colonel reaffirmed the definition he had given his new colleague thirty minutes earlier.

Idiot!

The staff officers of the Boers were not aware of the evaluations given to them by their advisers and the chief of the General Staff - of course, even if they knew, they could not have expressed much opinion: Lieutenant Colonel Stiegler was a career officer from the German Army, and had worked in the General Staff, and was a real expert, so his opinion was not something that could be overturned by a group of half-way amateurs like them - but if Mr. Lieutenant Colonel's attitude had been a little better, Several staff officers thought they shouldn't be feeling as bad as they are now.

As if sensing the thoughts of the staff officers, Stiegler softened his tone. "You have to revise your battle plan."

"But we don't think there's a problem with this plan." It was as if courage had suddenly been gained, a staff officer said boldly.

"What!"

"We think the plan is reasonable, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." The staff officer continued, "It stipulates that every target captured is important, and we—"

"They are important, but your plans will result in your army not being able to complete a single mission!" The lieutenant colonel's tone became furious again, "Concentrate your forces!" Concentrate your efforts! Our principle is to concentrate your strength, not to scatter your meager strength! ”

"But ......"

"Keep your mouth shut and listen!" Stiegler roared. So, the Boer staff officer closed his mouth, and the lieutenant colonel put his right index finger on a certain point on the map. "Look here, Leddy Smith, the important British stronghold in Natal, your main obstacle to the capture of the port of Durban. The British army has four thousand soldiers here, and the soldiers you have assigned to General Joubert are only three and a half thousand......"

"And the German Volunteers." A staff officer couldn't help but interject.

"And the German Volunteers, thank you," paused, and Stiegler erupted. "But I think you should respect my authority, sir!"

"I'm sorry—"

"Shut up!" The lieutenant colonel raised his hand and pointed out the door, "Now, get out." ”

His request is an order. So the hapless staff officer had to leave the room, and Stiegler returned to his explanation.

"Even with the addition of the German Volunteers, there are still less than seven thousand men committed in this direction, and you are asking it to occupy a town with four thousand British troops stationed - of course, it can still be done, but be careful how long it will take to complete this task." The lieutenant colonel knocked on the table and emphasized, "If we delay too long at Ladysmith, British reinforcements will arrive there, or a new line of defense will be built in Durban." In this case, our strategic goals in this direction will be completely nullified. ”

The only objective of the Boer army's attack on the colony of Natal was Durban, and only by capturing it would the Transvaal and Orange have a chance to receive European aid and then continue the war. The staff officers were aware of this strategic objective, and none could afford to fail.

"We're going to fix that." They promised.

"It's not this one, it's all the mistakes!" Stiegler's tone finally softened a little, "Focus on attacking one or two targets, and take a defensive posture in other directions." Gentlemen, gather the troops, you are fighting against the British, not the natives. ”

"Yes, sir." The staff officers assured again, but only God knows if they really understood.

Stiegler shook his head to himself. "Now, take this stupid rag back and make a new one!" He smashed a stack of pieces of paper into the arms of one of the staff officers closest to him, and finally said, "You only have twenty-four hours." ”

As soon as his words fell, the staff officers rushed to action, almost in a mess. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )