Even Britain could not ignore the opposition of all of Europe. But it would have been impossible for the Boers to hang the British expatriates like that. If it was the French or the Germans, the British government would probably have expressed regret, but if it was a Boer, the British government would have only expressed regret, and it would be too unambitious. It's like, the same locals have been caught selling drugs in a foreign country and are going to be sentenced to death. If it is a rabbit that captures people, then express regret, if it is Indonesia, then strongly condemn it, recall the ambassador and threaten economic sanctions, if it is me, this ...... It happened for the first time. The Piece War and the Second Raven. Piece of War.

However, before they could do so, the British always had to make some peace efforts, so the British sent envoys to the Transvaal Republic to demand that the Boers change the verdict.

In response to the demands and hinted threats of the British, President Kruger of the Transvaal Republic summoned government officials and officers in the army to discuss countermeasures.

"General Delarry, how is our army preparing?" President Kruger asked.

"Mr. President, the army's redress training is still ongoing. It will take at least two to three months to fully master the new weapons and new ways of fighting. ”

"It takes so long?" President Kruger furrowed his eyebrows slightly. President Kruger had also served in the army before, fighting with the Zulus and even the British. In his time, the Boer army was just improvised peasants with their own weapons. But with their bravery and excellent command, they were able to beat the Zulus and the British every time.

"Yes, Mr. President." General Delarey understood the president's doubts and replied, "The war is different now than it was before. If nothing else, it takes a lot of time just to construct field fortifications and train in the firepower of various weapons. For example, artillery is now using high-explosive shells, and the Yankees have invented a tactic called 'barrage Xu Jin', which is very powerful, but requires a very high level of training and skillful coordination. There is also an attack cover for machine guns, which is a little less difficult, but it is not something that can be learned without training......"

"Well, my general, I don't understand these technical questions very well, I'm old. We just need to know when the lads will be ready. "As soon as General Delarey talks about the new tactics, President Kruger has no choice but to interrupt him, or else the meeting will turn into a science conference on the new tactics.

"Mr. President, in two months, my soldiers will be able to master some basic tactical skills. It takes about a year to master all these skills and master them well. And, I also need more ammunition for training...... Much more than originally planned. General Delarry replied.

"But General, the amount of money we have allocated to the army for training is much higher than normal." Before President Kruger could answer, Finance Minister Hijek asked.

"Originally, we didn't expect the training to consume ammunition like this." General Delarry shook his head helplessly and said, "Especially the artillery barrage Xu Jin technique, without live ammunition, it really can't be trained." ”

"But lately, the expenses have been very large, and there is not so much money in the treasury unless the Legislative Council can allow us to increase taxes." Hiyek said.

Raising taxes is easy to say, but when it comes to doing it, the resistance is always very high. Although the situation is critical, the people understand this and are willing to support the government. For if the Transvaal Republic were defeated and the entire Transvaal became a British colony, they would have to suffer even greater losses. But in fact, it's hard to say. All in all, getting people to get money out of their pockets is always very tough at any given time. For example, when Li Zicheng's soldiers were under the city of Beijing, I was reluctant to take out the money. Although they knew that Li broke into the city, he must be better than Chongzhen if he wanted money.

Therefore, it is not a good idea to increase taxes unless absolutely necessary. But in the current situation, the military demand is overwhelming. In the current Transvaal Republic, in order to survive, they must carry out the "military government first" that satisfies the needs of the army first.

"What happens if we sell mining licenses?" President Kruger thought for a moment and said so.

The sale of mining licences is also one of the most lucrative means of the Transvaal Republic. Hiyek thought for a moment and said, "Maybe, but, because of the current situation, our mining license may not be as valuable as it used to be." ”

This is natural, because at the moment even a fool can see the risk of war in South Africa. Spend a lot of money to buy a mining license, and then spend a lot of money to buy machinery or something, and then just about to mine, but the Transvaal Republic is fighting with the British, so isn't it possible that the previous investment will be completely lost? With such a high level of risk, this thing is certainly not as valuable as it used to be.

"How about issuing special government bonds?" President Kruger asked.

"It's doable. At least domestically. Hiyek replied.

"Okay then, you guys study it and come up with a plan first...... Ah, how long will it take for the fortress to be built? ”

"Your Excellency, if one qiē is normal, the construction of the fortress will take another two and a half years. If some other force majeure factors happen in the middle of the process, it may take more time. An official replied.

"It's too slow." President Krueger said. When the project was approved, no one could have imagined that such a thing as the Jensen expedition would happen. Therefore, the two-and-a-half-year construction period is not unacceptable. But now the situation is different.

"Is there a way to speed things up?" President Kruger asked.

"It's difficult, because the bottleneck is not in the construction, but in the transportation of raw materials." The official replied, "The British know what we are doing, and naturally they will not let us use their railways and ports to transport the cement and steel that we need to build the fortifications, so we can only rely on the ports of the Portuguese." And the throughput of that port is nowhere near as good as that of Cape Town, and it can't all be used for the ships that deliver to us. And our railway connecting the Portuguese port is only a single-track railway, and the capacity is quite limited. Unless we can lease the port of the Portuguese and replace that railway with a double line. However, this is not possible, because the expansion of the railway itself does not necessarily take less time than the construction of the forts......"

"That is, at least for now, we are not ready to turn the other cheek directly with the British?" President Kruger asked.

"Yes, Mr. President."

"Well, then, we must now compromise with the British." President Krueger said.

"The British were not prepared either." General Delarry seemed a little unconvinced.

"Yes. But General Delarry, the British preparations will not be greatly affected by the current situation. And we are different. Once we got into a fight with the British. According to our last study. Our best course of action is to preemptively seize all available ports, including Cape Town. to prevent the arrival of reinforcements from the British. In terms of readiness now, do you think we can do that? President Kruger asked.

Listening to President Kruger's words, General Delarry was silent. He is not sure that he will send troops to occupy the whole of South Africa now. Although the British colonial soldiers were not very good, the Kepler defense of the British was really good. In addition, the British have always been at odds with the Boers, so the defense of these ports is also very different from ordinary ports, and when they are built, they not only consider how to deal with attacks from the sea, but also consider attacks from land. And once they can't take these places, on the premise that they are already at war with the British, those countries that originally traded with them will be under strong pressure from the British, and it is difficult to say what will happen at that time. Not to mention anything else, for example, those American instructors in the army, the contract signed by the Transvaal and them clearly stipulates that once the war breaks out, they can terminate the contract and withdraw early. Not only these military instructors, but also the technicians in charge of the construction of the fortress. So, it really started fighting at once, and the plan for military training, the plan for the construction of the fortress was eight out of ten. Nine will be in the soup.

"But the dignity of the law cannot be trampled on." said the Minister of Justice.

"It's nature. However, as president, I have the right to pardon. "Let's go talk to the British, and if they agree to some conditions, I'll promise amnesty for the rebellious British nationals." And return to them all the captured British mine policemen. In order to prevent the British from deliberately stirring up trouble, we must be more proactive in unleashing 'goodwill'......"

……

That afternoon, the Associated Press sent out another piece of news. The content is an exclusive interview with President Kruger by an Associated Press reporter, in which President Kruger, after the reporter mentioned the problem of British expatriates, said: "There is no problem with them breaking the laws of the Republic, and the verdict is just." So I'm not optimistic about their appeal on that. However, I also know that these people are being taken advantage of, and some greedy fellows have deceived them and used them in order to provoke wars and make profits. They are all poor creatures who have been sold and have helped people to make money. We also have sympathy for such people. But you know, the law is the law. Of course, I also have the power to pardon them according to the law......"