The Fite River is the natural border between East Africa and the Orange Free State, and in addition to Wimboldt, an important transportation hub, there are a number of military posts along the Fite River, including Fort Tenison.

On the north bank of the Fite River, Tenisenburg was originally a farm in the Transvaal called Tenisen, which was renamed Tenisenburg after the East African Defence Forces built fortifications here, and it is only 79 kilometers away from Bloemfontein, and its strategic position is quite prominent.

East Africa is so close to the capital of the Orange Free State, which is one of the important reasons why the Orange people were wary of East Africa in the first place, but the area of the Orange Free State is not very large, and Bloemfontein is located almost in the center of the country, so it is not necessary to move the capital.

Because it is not a good place to go in the four directions, whether it is southeast, northwest, or northwest, there is Kimberley in the west, and the Kimberley occupies an important position in the economy of the Orange Free State, and the income from diamonds alone is quite rich.

Control of this rich land was in the hands of the British, who paid the Orange government only a small symbolic rent each year.

Moreover, Kimberley is on the west side of the Farr River, which is very close to the province of New Baden (British Bechuana) in East Africa, so it is threatened by both Britain and East Africa to the west.

As for the eastward direction, it is an important part of the former territory of Lesotho, now an important part of the southern frontier province of East Africa, and it is also a heavily guarded place in East Africa.

To the south is the Cape Colony, where the Orange people had already taken refuge in the British, so naturally they would not go any further.

Because the original intention of the Orange people was to use the tiger skin of England to protect their interests and prevent the tragedy of the destruction of the Transvaal Republic from repeating itself in their own right.

However, it turned out that the Oranges took it for granted, and the main reason was that they miscalculated the brotherhood with the Transvaals, and the complaints of the Transvaals about the Oranges were more that the Oranges did not support the Transvaal's Northern Expedition.

The contradiction between the two was exploited by the British, and the Transvaal wanted to use the power of the British if they wanted to go on a northern expedition, and at the same time, the Transvaals, like the British, were outsiders relative to the Oranges, so the two had a basis for cooperation.

Ernst was naturally quite interested in this kind of ungrateful plot, of course, the main reason was that it was beneficial to East Africa, and the division of the Oranges and the Transvaals would be beneficial to East Africa in the Orange Free State.

Fort Tenissen became a point of contact between East Africa and the Orange people, and the Fite River was no more than a dozen meters wide, and the East African Defence Forces turned a blind eye, so the Orange people could easily bring goods over.

In fact, even without the civil unrest in the Orange Free State, the Orange merchants would not have given up their cooperation with East Africa.

Not to mention that the Orange merchants had a good impression of East Africa, even the Transvaals, the British, who had no good relationship with East Africa, and their merchant groups would not turn away such a large supplier of raw materials and markets in East Africa.

As for the contradictions between the Transvaals and the British in East Africa, they have nothing to do with them, and if they have milk, they are mothers, and as long as East Africa can bring them rich, it is okay to sell national interests.

It's just that now that civil strife has broken out in the Orange Free State, trade with East Africa was previously hidden, and now it can take advantage of the chaos to be more unscrupulous. person

In mid-March, the East African Defence Forces (EDF) on the border received orders to show goodwill to the Oranges, but preparations continued until April, after all, the Orange uprising was an emergency, and East Africa had no relevant plans.

So the aid was postponed for some time, but East Africa did not do nothing, and after the government meeting, the East African Defence Force gave the Oranges some convenience in terms of ammunition and artillery shells.

The Orange people had a mixed source of weapons and no related military industry, so they relied on imports, some of which were imported from Germany.

Therefore, East Africa can provide some German-made weapons and ammunition, although it cannot meet the needs of the Orange people, but it can solve the urgent need.

The East African Defence Forces (EDF) on the front line had allocated a portion of their ammunition stockpiles to the Orange people.

"General Hurlbut, thanks to the help of East Africa this time, we can deal with the British and traitors, but the ammunition provided by your country last time was only enough for one-sixth of our troops, which is still in a fairly economical situation, and our German-made weapons in Orange are not very many, and the loss is quite high, can your country provide more guns?" Judley, the representative of the Oranges, asked Hurlbut, the military governor of Fort Tenison.

"Don't be impatient, Mr. Judley, we know your difficulties, but you also have to be considerate of our East African difficulties, not that we in East Africa do not help you Orange people, but that this happened too suddenly, and we had to report it to the government before, and it took a lot of time to come and go.

The government had only sent a telegram agreeing to help you, but as you know, this is the border, and the core of our East Africa is in the east, so the preparation is not enough.

In the end, it was the Ministry of Defense that a portion of the weapons and ammunition that was taken out of the stockpiles of our defenders to support the Orange people's cause of freedom, which is used by our active troops, shows our efforts. Hurlbut explained to Judley.

Judley said with a sad face: "It's not that I want to embarrass your country, but now the war has entered a very difficult situation, although we Orange people are brave and good at fighting, but in the face of the continuous firepower advantage of the Anglo-German coalition army, it is difficult to change the situation of the war in one fell swoop, the materials in our hands are not much, and now the war has been happening for a month, even if there is your country's previous support, there is not much left, so I am afraid that the previous preparations will fall short." ”

Hurlbut, however, had foreseen this, because the Orange revolt was too child's play, and of course, it had to do with the conditions of the Boer state.

The Boer states did not have a strong state apparatus, and this was especially true of the Orange Free State, and the revolt was the result of the conspiracy of large landowners everywhere.

They were all equals, not subordinates, so they were still fighting separately on the whole, and fortunately the Orange people did not have many opponents, otherwise the revolt would have been suppressed long ago, rather than spread to the entire territory of the Orange Free State.

However, the Transvaal still have an advantage over the Oranges, first of all, there is a representative figure of Little Pretorius, who can unite the former ministers of the former Transvaal Republic and form a provisional government of the Transvaal Republic, with a standing armed force such as the Transvaal Restoration Army.

The central government of the Orange Free State was overturned by the British and the Transvaals, and most of the officials of the former Orange Free State government were placed under house arrest in Bloemfontein by the Provisional Government of the Transvaal Republic.

Therefore, the Orange resistance force can only be composed of local Orange forces that are dissatisfied with the British and Transvaals, but the local forces have limitations after all, and cannot control the overall situation and confront the Anglo-German coalition.

The local armed forces in Orange in the north are a little better, they are backed by East Africa and can more easily obtain material support, while many of the forces in the south are simply in the wait-and-see stage.

This is also the reason why the Oranges are eager to turn to East Africa for help, and if they want to open up the situation, the support of East Africa is indispensable, otherwise they will definitely be liquidated by the British and Transvaals.

(End of chapter)