"Let's go, let's go to Major General Smith's headquarters, I can't watch Kimberley fall."

The cold mountain wind blew, and Major General Duan Qirui raised his head violently, he had already made a decision;

Whether it is for self-help or to assist in defense, it is necessary to organize the Chinese miners as a reserve force.

During the war, the town of Kimberley was full of panic, many local residents closed their doors after purchasing enough food, and there were far fewer pedestrians on the streets.

At the gate of the headquarters of the Fifth Brigade, Major General Duan Qirui blocked Major General Smith and his entourage, who were about to go out to inspect the defense facilities.

"General Smith, I need to talk to you."

"I'm sorry General Duan, I'm really busy right now......"

"The Boers haven't come yet, and I only need 10 minutes, it's just a cigarette, and as an ally who has come all the way from Australia, I have the right to occupy you for a few minutes. Express your opinion. ”

"Okay then, but I'll only give you 10 minutes." Smith's Major General reluctantly backed down.

Major General Duan Qirui wanted to train and arm the Chinese miners, whether in name, weapons or funds, and he had to get the support of the British army, otherwise there was no possibility of implementation.

The two talked for more than 10 minutes, and finally the argument became louder and louder, and Major General Duan Qirui said with irrepressible anger in his tone;

"Unfortunately, I have felt alienated and unfriendly from the British Expeditionary Force, which is completely contrary to the purpose of our trip, and it seems that the British friends do not need our help.

In light of this

As the head of the senior military observation group, it is my duty to report this latest situation to His Majesty and the military department, and after all, this war in southern Africa is your own trouble, and we do not need to get involved.

We're going to get out of here as soon as we can, it's a ridiculous farce. ”

After speaking, Major General Duan Qirui turned around angrily and was about to leave, but Major General Smith hurriedly grabbed his arm; "General Duan, let's talk about it again, you can train those Chinese miners, I promise to provide all the support.

We have a lot of military uniforms and other supplies, and the 5th Brigade really doesn't have any extra weapons, and can only give you 30 rifles plus the same number of pistols at most, which is already my maximum ability.

But I can send someone to help you order some knives and guns, there are more than two dozen blacksmiths in this city, and I think it will be a few days before you have all the weapons you need.

Don't report some small problems everywhere, we're not scared to cry on Halloween, let's all mature a little, as long as we deal with these damn Boers, I'll give you 20 cannons privately. ”

"Don't talk about those inconsequential words, 200 rifles and the same number of short guns, this is my minimum requirement, and I also demand that if any British soldier is killed in battle, his weapons should be put to full use, and handed over to the Tang Volunteer Army, and no less than 100,000 pounds of funds should be allocated immediately."

"Uh...... This ......"

"Don't hesitate General Smith, I'm here to help you, don't think I don't know, there are hundreds of boxes of brand-new rifles that have not been opened in the town's warehouse, as well as all kinds of supplies piled up throughout the warehouse."

"Okay, okay, then it's settled." Major General Smith did not have the slightest look of embarrassment on his face, and he had already made up his mind;

I'll have to check it out later, which idiot leaked such an important military secret.

"We don't have enough cash, can we use diamonds to cover some of it, we can give more."

"Okay, this money is to recruit Chinese miners, and it will naturally cost some money to make people work hard."

"Understood, I can pay £40,000 and then give you £200,000 worth of diamonds, huh...... It's all taken from the Boer mine owners, you know what I mean? Major General Smith gave a lewd look.

"No problem." Major General Duan Qirui replied very simply.

He didn't want to dwell on these small issues at all, the other party's intention was nothing more than to use these diamonds of unknown origin to settle the account, and when he returned to Cape Town, he openly applied for the fees for the Tang Volunteer Army, and the pounds he got could be directly put into his pocket.

This additional funding may not only be 200,000 pounds, but it may be 300,000 or even 500,000 pounds, but this is none of the business of Major General Duan Qirui.

Major General Smith arranged for a platoon of British soldiers to follow the officers of the Military Observer Corps.

The Chinese miners of the Kimberley Mine were summoned, and all the involuntary notices were recruited.

Then, in a group of 100 people, they were taken away, bathed and haircut, cut off their braids, changed into British uniforms without military ranks, ate large pots of potato beef stew, roast chicken thighs and mushroom soup, and were taken en masse to give lectures.

After the officer's lecture, a large bounty of £10 per person was handed out.

The officer made it very clear that this was only the first reward, that there was a reward for good training, and that there was also a reward for fighting the enemy bravely, and that those who were excellent could be recruited as real soldiers and enjoy the same treatment as British soldiers.

After some enthusiasm, the Chinese miners, who had always been obedient, were moved.

Without it, money can make ghosts grind.

These Chinese miners all came to South Africa by selling piglets, and worked hard in the mines every day, the diamonds did not belong to them, and most of the money they earned was taken away by the mining companies.

Under the brutal exploitation of the mining companies, the Chinese miners worked in the mines, ate worse than pigs, worked more than cattle, and died of exhaustion every year.

Since the commander promised to give a large amount of money, meat to eat, military uniforms, and a future birth, whether or not to join the army in the future, he was free from the day he was drafted, and the contracts signed with the mining companies in the past were written off.

This has brought infinite longing and hope to the Chinese miners, so what is there not to do?

These Chinese miners are very instigated, they are all unconcerned bachelors here, they work hard in the mines all day, as long as they give enough benefits and promise a bright future, naturally there are a lot of people willing to participate.

After the reorganization, there were 3,660 Chinese miners, and 360 infirm people were eliminated, all of whom were assigned to the logistics team, responsible for cooking vegetables, raising livestock, taking care of the transportation of materials, and other matters, and also participated in military training in peacetime.

After the reorganization, 3,300 capable laborers were obtained, and they were divided into 11 battalions according to a battalion of 300 people, and military training began immediately.

Lost the first battle

After the news was transmitted back to the UK, after public opinion reports, there was an uproar in the society, and the proud British people could not accept such a situation anyway, which was simply a naked slap in the face

London seized the opportunity to create public opinion and publicize how despicable the Boers were, and took advantage of the fact that the English gentlemen were committed to peace negotiations and brazenly declared war, which caught the British by surprise.

For a time, the British Isles were excited, and the whole people hated the same enemy.

Parliament passed the War Appropriations Act as quickly as possible, and the Army mobilized a large number of reinforcements to rush to the battlefield, mobilizing a total of 100,000 troops from the mainland, the Mediterranean, Egypt, India, Burma, Canada, and New Zealand, and transporting them to all of Africa by sea.

The British Empire was furious, and the consequences were severe.

Let's be honest

London really invested a lot this time, only the local army was withdrawn from 4.6 people, plus the 25,000 people of the Cape British Expeditionary Force, and more than 55,000 people from various colonies, a total of more than 126,000 soldiers, and the Boers only had more than 50,000 people, which was already two and a half times the strength advantage.

The British Army has a total of only 270,000 troops, and with such a large number of troops, some reservists have been mobilized in the British mainland, which shows its great determination to solve the South African problem.

The British Continental Army and the four brigades stationed in the Suez Canal Zone were the first to arrive, and they arrived in Cape Town in early November, which greatly boosted the morale of the British Expeditionary Force.

It is curious that London did not send a request for the transfer of troops to the Red River Valley.

If you think about it, it is still the pride of the British Empire, not to mention the colonies of Egypt and India, and the British have governors in places like Canada and New Zealand, which are still under the Dominion.

But the Ocean Empire is different, although it is a member of the British Commonwealth, it is very independent, there is no governor, and it is a separate country.

The so-called British Commonwealth is composed of colonies and protectorates of the British Empire, and the Ocean Empire belongs to the latter type, with a status equal to the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic, with a stronger independence than Canada, and the United Kingdom Queen Victoria as the nominal monarch.

The Commonwealth is not a country, and there is no central government, the Queen of England is the nominal monarch and head of state of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth has no authority, and the United Kingdom and its member states send high commissioners to each other as diplomatic representatives, which is a relatively loose inter-state organization.

In London's opinion, such a large number of troops was enough to settle the two Boer states in South Africa, without the help of the Ocean Empire, which was a strong pride at work.

However, the situation on the battlefield in South Africa took London by surprise.

After a large number of reinforcements arrived in Cape Town, British General Buller regrouped and launched a full-front counteroffensive against the Boer army in mid-November, the British army on the western front to relieve the siege of Kimberley, and the British army on the central line launched an attack on Orange, and Buller personally led 22,000 troops to relieve the siege of Lattice Smith on the eastern front.

At this time, Kimberley had been besieged for more than a month, and the Boers bombarded the town fortress with more than 20 Krupp cannons in their hands, destroying a large number of buildings in Kimberley Town, and the British 5th Brigade suffered heavy casualties, counting nearly 1,000 casualties and losing 1/3 of the troops.

If it weren't for the Tang People's Volunteers to rise to the top in time to make up for the gap in military strength, Kimberley would probably have changed hands at this moment.

Even so

The Kimberley was still precarious, and the Boers concentrated more than 8,000 heavy troops to surround them, repeatedly bombarding the defensive positions with artillery, putting great pressure on the defending army.