After the Battle of the Brunsgan River, Britain and Burundi officially tore face, and on June 5, the British political axe officially declared war on the Transvaal after the ultimatum time had passed, and at the same time, the Boer political axe, who received the news, also submitted a declaration of war to the consulate in Cape Town.

On the same day, while threatening to crush the Transvaal, the British political axe also began to hastily requisition colonial garrisons in East Africa, the Mediterranean, and India, and announced that the entire operation of the East-West Cape Town Railway would be stopped from now on, in order to block the transportation channel between the Transvaal and the outside world.

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 today's Transvaal political axe is no longer the poor and backward "Boer old peasant" of the past, relying on the huge output of the Rand gold mine, this Boer regime has already made a lot of money, and in a few years it 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 tough British political axe, the Boers, who had no 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 June 7, the Transvaal announced a national mobilization, expanding the strength of the existing two divisions (Western establishment) of 16,000 men to more than 30,000 in four divisions, and subsequently establishing the Boer People's Corps, with a total of 110,000 men, so that 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.

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 Maxim 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 hands of 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 Boers between the ages of 18 and 34 were required to serve in the military and to fight for the 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 was faced with war, and in less than a week from the day of the general mobilization of the Transvaal political axe 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 availability of horses to carry them around, these armies were undoubtedly a combat force that moved quickly and had a great deal of mobility and flexibility.

In addition to a large number of cavalry infantry and artillery corps equipped with German Krupp cannons and Mauser guns, they also equipped each of their cavalrymen with CZ-1892 carbines produced by the Austrian Škoda 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 other countries of this period, especially the armies of 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 whether it is the sophistication of the troops, or the quality of the officers and men, the Buenos Arabs is an excellent army that can make the Transvaal political axe proud.

At the same time, although the British had already declared war on the Transvaal in South Africa and had been informed of their 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 difficult opponent they were about to face.

Not only them, but at this time, including the British intelligence services and the entire political axe, there was a serious idea of underestimating the enemy, and they all agreed that the "South African conflict problem" was just to deal with a rabble, and a British professional infantry of 20,000 men plus 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......

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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 into the southern British colony of Natal, and attacked Leddy Smith, the main force 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 morning, when most of the British soldiers were still asleep, the artillery of the British 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 unit under the command of Major General French of the British army defeated the Johannesburg militia commanded by General Kirk at Erleslag, with 250 killed and 900 captured.

However, the good fortune of the British army ended here, on June 21, 8,600 British troops of Ladysmith under the command of Lieutenant General George White in the city launched a counterattack on the left flank of the Cloth army, and did not want to meet the main force of the Cloth army commanded by Piette at the Nikalson Gorge when they were about to arrive at Dundee Fortress, and the British army, which had not expected to lose so quickly in Talarna, 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......

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