After months of preparation, at the end of September 1898, Lord Roberts' troops finally began an all-out offensive against the Boers. At this time, Lord Roberts not only had an army of 250,000 men, but also tens of thousands of war horses and thousands of various artillery pieces. At the same time, after spending months of preparation, Lord Roberts had also repaired the railroad damaged by the Boers, and preparations for a full-scale attack were ready.

Fighting first broke out in Kimberley, a major town occupied by the Boers. Kimberley is a highland city known for producing high-quality diamonds. The city is located on the road from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and its strategic location is also very important. So when the Boers forced the British defending Kimberley to surrender, the construction of the Kimberley fortifications began. Time was always fair, and he gave the British time to strengthen their army in South Africa, which in turn gave the Boers time to build the Kimberley fortifications.

Under the guidance of Blackwater's advisors, and using the Kimberley's original mining system, the Boers established a defensive system that was both offensive and defensive. This defense system consisted of five 8-inch guns and 10 6-inch guns, which were often in the caves and could move freely using steel rails, as well as a number of trains and some spare parts under the guidance of Blackwater's advisers, long before the outbreak of war. As soon as the civilian supplies were delivered to the Boers, they were converted into four armoured trains.

And one of these armored trains was deployed in Kimberley. Around the Kimberley defensive positions, the Boers built two circular railways for armored trains. The armored train was armed with more than a dozen heavy machine guns plus four 4-inch guns. It can be mobile and flexible to reinforce those key positions at any time.

In addition to this, there were various barbed wire, trenches, light and dark pillboxes, and a garrison of more than 6,000 people.

Of course, the British also made a lot of preparations, first of all, according to the experience of the American army in Cuba, artillery fire support was extremely important for attacking fortified positions, so the British prepared much more artillery for this battle than the Boers. In order to attack, the British prepared nearly 200 guns of more than 3 inches, including 20 6-inch guns, 10 8-inch guns, and an 11-inch cannon removed from the navy's warships.

Although the British made a lot of preparations, the battle was still very difficult. The first problem they encountered was the Boer artillery fire. Due to the favorable high ground, the range of the 8-inch and 6-inch guns in the hands of the Boers exceeded the range of the various artillery carried by the British army. In addition, the Boers were equipped with the latest reconnaissance weapon, the power airship, and any concentration of forces by the British within range of these guns could be attacked by Boer fire. The Boers had already measured and test-fired positions near the fortified area, so their artillery fire always came quickly and accurately. The British did not fail to think of counterattacking and taking out these targets directly through guò artillery fire, but in order to do so, it was necessary to let their artillery move forward quite close to the forward positions of the Boers, which was too unsafe. Moreover, the Boers usually hid these cannons in the caves, and only dragged them out when they attacked, and generally pushed them back into the cave after a few more shots, only to emerge from another cave through the guò cave the next time the cannon was fired. This also made it very difficult to hit them with artillery fire.

But without taking the Kimberley, it will not be possible to advance towards the ultimate goal, Johannesburg. Some keyboard strategists with thighs made of strong interaction materials who are constantly shooting are always fond of playing the seemingly immensely tall "blitzkrieg" method of bypassing enemy strongholds and directly attacking the enemy's rear. But in fact, there are many prerequisites for bypassing the opponent's stronghold. One of the most important is that the troops in the opponent's stronghold are not mobile enough to threaten their own logistical supplies. For example, the military strategist of my Ming Dynasty who was guarded by hundreds of miles with a cannon, and even the city gate was blocked with stone bars, it was completely possible to bypass it, anyway, they themselves couldn't get a few people, and it was not dangerous to stay behind. But if you bypass the strongholds of troops that are no less mobile than you own and have a high desire to fight, isn't that tantamount to selling all your logistical supplies to the enemy? So in World War II, the Germans could easily bypass the Maginot Line, but they did not dare to bypass Stalingrad and Kursk. The Kimberley is also a stronghold that cannot be bypassed.

……

The war was raging in the Kimberley for more than a month. The British attacking forces suffered heavy casualties, and even according to their own reports, they had already paid more casualties than the total number of Kimberley defenders. With a numerical advantage of several times and a firepower advantage of more than twice the number, such a record made the whole of Europe almost laugh off its teeth. Some German newspapers even ridiculed the British army for being inferior to the police. Some newspapers even started YY to see what would happen if the British Army and the German Army were to play a friendly match. At the same time, the Germans began to move around the world, taking advantage of the British war to act as-stirring sticks in North Africa.

In the end, however, after more than a month and 25,000 casualties, the British finally took the city, which was called the mill of flesh.

……

"Your Excellency, the defenders of the Kimberley are no longer able to support the fight. They suffered so many casualties that they could no longer hold the line. The enemy had already advanced to the core, so I sent General Meir an airship and agreed to the surrender of the Kimberley defenders to the British. General Piette Joubert said to President Kruger.

"That's what we expected, wasn't it? As long as General Meir returned safely, it would be enough. With a mere 6,000 men inflicting more than 20,000 casualties on the British, our lad has done quite well. "President Kruger said,

"It's just that after the loss of the Kimberley, the British are not far from here." General Piette Joubert said, "Mr. President, according to the plan, the Government and the Parliament, as well as the State Treasury, must be evacuated. ”

"Yes, Piette, do you think I'll ever come back here again?" President Kruger asked suddenly.

"Surely, Your Excellency! Johannesburg's defense is not comparable to that of the Kimberley. Even if the British filled in their more than 200,000 troops, they would not be able to capture Johannesburg! General Piette Joubert said firmly, "When they are exhausted, it will be time for us to win." ”

"Okay, I'll leave it to you." "Now, we're going to start the evacuation. ”

……

According to the plan, after the evacuation begins, President Kruger will go to Europe to solicit more support. And some other important officials also have their own tasks. In addition to the evacuation of people, there was also the evacuation of supplies, the most important of which was gold in the treasury. In the future, the government will have a lot of money to use, and if the gold remains in Johannesburg, it is foreseeable that it will not be available for a long time, so it will have to be moved to a safe and convenient place. This issue was discussed by the Kruger government before the war, and there seemed to be only one elimination, and that was the colony and Portugal bordering them.

However, after the start of the war, the attitude of the Portuguese, who had been relatively friendly to the Boers, changed dramatically under British pressure, which made the plan to transport the gold out of Portugal much more risky. Fortunately, at this time, Blackwater's advisors came to sell them weapons. While the coast was completely blocked by the British Navy, the Americans swore that they could bring in the weapons safely and on time, but at a higher cost, because they had transport submarines that could carry out such tasks.

This naturally made the Boers take a liking to it, and since they could bring in weapons, they could naturally transport gold out. Of course, this is not the time yet, but contacts with the Americans can begin. Moreover, judging from the dealings between the Boers and the Americans, although the Americans love money very much, they still have some discipline, especially the MacDonald family, which has always been full of discipline and trustworthy.

……

The capture of the Kimberley won a chorus of applause in Britain, but those with knowledge of the situation were not optimistic about the development of the war. They all know that the fortifications of the Kimberley differed greatly from the fortifications of Johannesburg. Johannesburg was well studied, defended, and fortified, and it would have cost ten times as many casualties as Kimberley to conquer it. In other words, it is not necessarily enough to kill all the troops in South Africa in one case. And if the means of siege are adopted, because Johannesburg has abundant reserves and peaceful residents, and there are only soldiers in the whole city, the consumption is relatively small, and if you want to test the effectiveness of the siege, I am afraid it will take several years. And Britain can't afford to be dragged down by a small city for years. If this were to happen, not only would the British Empire lose its prestige, but God knows what the Germans and Americans would do in the world. Compared to the Boers in South Africa, these guys were the biggest threat to the British Empire.

"Do our military experts have any suggestions?" Lord Salisbury, the British Prime Minister, asked his cabinet members.

"Prime Minister, someone has built that we can use that terrible new weapon in South Africa." A cabinet member replied. R1058