After the Battle of Brunsgan, the British and Burundi sides officially tore face, and on 5 June, the British government formally declared war on the Transvaal after the ultimatum had passed, and on the same day, the Boer government also submitted a declaration of war to its own consulate in Cape Town.

On the same day, while threatening to crush the Transvaal, the British government also began to hurriedly requisition colonial garrisons in East Africa, the Mediterranean, and India, and announced that the entire East and West Cape Town Railway would be suspended from now on, in order to block the transportation channel between the Transvaal and the outside world, in a vain attempt to restrict the Boer government from the issue of resources, in an attempt to surrender the troops without a fight, so that the other side had to "obediently submit".

Ten years ago, the Transvaal, which relied solely on shipping from the southern Cape to foreign trade, would have had to give in...... It is a pity that the current Transvaal government is no longer the poor and backward "Boer old peasant" of the past, relying on the huge output of the Rand gold mines, this Boer regime has already made a lot of money, and within a few years has built two railway arteries connecting German Angola and Portuguese Mozambique colonies respectively, and the resource constraints that the British have repeatedly worked can no longer play its original role. It must be said that, after all these years of rapid development, the thin wings of the Boers have long since become strong and plump, and they are no longer the poor agricultural country that was poor in those days, and can only live by picking up the leftovers of English and Australian wool merchants.

In the face of the brutal and hard-line British government, the Boers, without logistical pressure, began to fight without fear, and on the same day, the Transvaal held a huge parade and military parade in the capital Pretoria.

On 7 June, the Transvaal government announced a nationwide mobilization, expanding the strength of the two divisions (Western establishment) of the domestic army to more than 30,000 men in four divisions, and subsequently establishing the Boer People's Corps, which had a total of 110,000 men, and almost all the young and middle-aged men in the country joined the army. At the same time, the Transvaal announced the confiscation of the assets of all British-funded mining companies in Johannesburg on charges of conspiracy to subvert the state, and imposed heavy taxes on the rest of the British companies in the country.

The Transvaal government was not idle, and through the railway with the German colony of Angola, the Boers continuously imported a large amount of munitions, and various types of howitzers, cannons, rifled rifles and Makqin machine guns purchased from the Krupp company, the Skoda Arsenal and the French Schneider Crusoe group were transported into the warehouses of the Transvaal army in batches and equipped with the Transvaal army and local militias.

Because of the fact that the Transvaal had long had to fight against the indigenous tribes of surrounding Africa, the Transvaal had established a well-established military service system since the early days of the country. All towns and cities throughout the Transvaal had their own barracks, and according to Boer law, all male Boers between the ages of 18 and 34 were required to serve in the military and to fight for their country when necessary, shedding their blood.

Since the news of the war with the British was announced, the local Boer townspeople in the Transvaal Republic have taken up arms and marched to the assembly sites to join the militias, while the Boer farmers scattered in the vast South African highlands have rushed with their sons and nephews on horses and rifles in the direction of their nearest barracks......

The Transvaal had an innate military advantage over other Western countries as an early agrarian state - thanks to their unique geography and living environment, almost all of the local Boers were born cavalry.

Throughout the Transvaal, every local Boer had been hunting on horseback for pleasure since he was a teenager, and each had developed a pair of accurate marksmanship and skilled riding skills from an early age. Coupled with the fact that almost every Boer had horses, these advantages became apparent when the country faced war, and in less than a week from the day of the general mobilization of the Transvaal government on 7 June, the Boer barracks were immediately filled with a large number of qualified cavalry from all parts of the country. These Boer cavalry, who had been in the wilderness since childhood, were all brave and good at fighting, good at defense and surprise attacks, and even if they were only used as mounted riflemen, they were quite effective in combat. Because of the horses they had, they were undoubtedly a fast-moving, highly mobile and agile combat force.

In addition to a large number of cavalry infantry and artillery corps equipped with German Krupp cannons and Mauser guns, the Transvaal government also equipped each of its cavalrymen with CZ-1892 carbines produced by the Austrian Skoda Arsenal. Although the Seris soldiers in Asia have always believed that the Type 96 carbine they are equipped with is the best cavalry rifle in the world, as far as the armies of other countries of this period, especially the Western powers, are concerned, there is no doubt that the Skoda CZ-1892 is definitely the most advanced standard carbine at present.

It can be said that both the sophistication of the troops and the quality of the officers and men themselves, the Brazzaine Army is an excellent army that can make the Transvaal government proud.

At the same time, although the British government had already declared war on the Transvaal in South Africa and had been informed of its two previous defeats, the new British commander Richard and his large number of British soldiers who had just landed under his command still did not take the Boers seriously, and they did not realize what a formidable opponent they were about to face.

Not only them, but also the British intelligence services and the entire government at this time had a serious idea of underestimating the enemy, and they all agreed that the "South African conflict problem" was just dealing with a rabble, and that a 20,000-strong British professional infantry with small cavalry and artillery support could completely crush this small Boer country on the Transvaal Plateau.

The British also had a "very clear" strategic plan, according to which the British army would storm the capital of the Boers, Pretoria, through the three railway lines of the Eastern and Western Capes and Natal, in a vain attempt to end the war before Halloween that month...... But the situation will soon turn out to be beyond the expectations of the British, and the Boers, who are all soldiers, are already on the back of their hands and ready to fight to the death with the British......

……

And that day is coming soon!

Contrary to the expectations of the British commander, before their own side launched an attack, the Transvaal army in the north had actually "dared" to attack first!

On June 15, 1899, the Boer army stationed in Pretoria suddenly moved south, and on the same day, the French Huguenots and the hero of the First Boer War, General Piette, the commander-in-chief of the Boer army, led the main force from East Orange over the Drakens Hill, entered the southern British colony of Natal, and attacked Leddy Smith, the main seat of the British army in Natal.

While the British were slightly surprised, they still did not show any concern about the situation at the front, but they were really surprised by the Boers' "initiative to call for battle", and these overseas soldiers stationed in the port of Cape Town were really a little surprised.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand the actions of the cloth army, since it is already destined to fight a war with the British, according to the resource capacity of the other side, it is definitely better to fight late than early, and the sooner the other side fights, the fewer reinforcements from the overseas colonies. What's more, when Britain and Burkina did not clash before, the local British colonial army had already lost a large number of troops, and the Burundi army launched an offensive at this time to naturally take advantage of it. You must know that up to now, the total strength of the British troops in the South African colonies plus the overseas corps that was urgently reinforced during this period is only about 30,000, and at this time the Boers have a full army of more than 100,000 people.

Just looking at the direction of operation chosen by the commander of the Brunese Army, Piette, at this time, the British army stationed at Leddy Smith was only 8,000 men in one division, while the Brucellos Army had two brigades from Pretoria, Heidelberg, Freyhead, Utrecht, Middelburg and Wackerstroom, as well as a large number of militias, and its total strength exceeded 57,000 if the left and right flanks were all counted. In this case, it is no longer difficult to understand why the commander of the army, Piette, commanded his troops to launch a preemptive offensive.

On the evening of 19 June, the vanguard of the Cloth Army arrived at Leddy Smith's left outpost, Fort Dundee. On the orders of Pierre, the commander-in-chief of the Bruneville Army, his subordinate Major General Melle led a brigade of his troops to arrive here first, and prepared to divide and surround the British garrison here...... Unfortunately, at this time, the 600 British troops originally stationed in Dundee had already escaped before the arrival of the Cloth army and retreated to Leddy Smith.

In the early morning of the same day, the main force of the Cloth Army, which had marched all the way, also fought with the British 29th Brigade stationed here to defend the outer defense of the city in the area of Mount Tarana to the right of Ladysmith.

The Utrecht and Wackerstrom militias from the Transvaal quietly occupied a vantage point behind Mount Tarana on the first night, which had been neglected by the British, and placed their artillery on the flat heights at the top of the hill, while the rest of the troops were divided into two wings under the command of the commander Piette......

In the early hours of the same day, while most of the British soldiers were still asleep, the artillery of the Cloth Army launched a surprise attack on them under the cover of powerful terrain and morning fog!

Just looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the equipment, the range of the 75mm Krupp field gun of the British army is more than that of the British army's Woolwich 15-pound 76.2mm standard gun, coupled with the advantage of being on the top of the mountain, the originally flat terrain at the foot of the Tarana Mountain instantly became the graveyard of the British infantry, and at the same time, the heavy troops on both wings of the Cloth army, which had been waiting for a long time, also launched an unstoppable offensive like a tide in an instant.

During the scuffle, the British commander, Major General Simmons, was shot dead by snipers from the Boer militia. In the end, except for the cavalry units of the 29th Brigade who broke out of the encirclement when the situation was not good, most of the entire British army stationed in Tarana was annihilated by the Cloth army.

In the Battle of Mount Tarana, the British army lost 2,465 men and the Burnese army lost 355 men. On June 19, the cavalry of the British Army, commanded by Major General French, won a small victory over the Johannesburg militia commanded by General Kirk at Öllethlag, killing 250 men and taking 900 prisoners.

But the good fortune of the British army ended here, on June 21, Leddy Smith's 8,600 British troops under the command of Lieutenant General George White in the city launched a counterattack on the left flank of the Cloth army, not wanting to meet the main force of the British army commanded by Piet at the Nicalson Gorge when they were about to arrive at Dundee Fortress, and the British army, which was not expected to lose so quickly in Talana, was instantly defeated by the opponent in the front and rear of the Cloth army, and the British troops of Lieutenant General White lost 1,729 men in the chaotic battle. Fortunately, due to Carlson's terrain, the cavalry superiority of the Cloth army was not exploited, allowing most of the remaining British troops to escape under the leadership of their commander, General George White.

But even so, the fate of Lieutenant General George White and others did not disappear, and the day after the remnants of their British army retreated to Ladysmith, the main force of the Cloth Army and the Mailer Army, which had been stationed in Dundee Fortress, surrounded them to death......