Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 151: 11) Launch

Everything is ready. All you need is good luck!

Now all that is missing is an excuse, a chance for everyone to join forces and lash out.

The power of the capitalists was strong. In the 19th century, the age of the gold standard, no consortia dared to ignore the role of gold, and these capitalists were behind the British consortia of large and small!

The United Mining Co., Ltd., if not Edward's face is big enough, as a latecomer but does not belong to any of the British consortiums, and it is not qualified to come in to share a piece of the pie!

This opportunity soon came when, on March 12, 1895, De Beers Company, owned by the British capitalist Cecil Rhodes, discovered new deposits in the Transvaal region. News leaked out, and before they could be mined, they were confiscated by the Boers for illegal mining, and they expelled the representatives of De Beers Company.

The two sides clashed; unfortunately, a bullet hit one of the Englishmen, who died of severe injuries afterward!

The media has always been cheap, and under the role of the capital, the news has reached London and has become entirely tasteless!

The London Daily News, with its front-page headlines, announced the Boer "atrocities"! It became clear that De Beers's company representatives were in the Transvaal to purchase gold and that Boer soldiers had robbed the property and brutally murdered British citizens!

The Times headline was even crowned: This is a provocation to the British Empire!

Can the title be guessed from the content behind it? It has risen to the point of challenging the British world hegemony. If not to give them a good chance to taste, is it still the British Empire?

The Sun starts with a straightforward historical analysis, exposing the "shady history" of the Boers expelling British citizens for no reason, robbing them of their property, and attacking the government's inaction!

To sum up, the government should hurry up and start a war against the Boers, and whoever opposes it is a traitor to the British!

...

It alone is enough, the British have long wanted to take on the Boers, but hesitant Germans behind the Boers have not done!

Historically, the British, in exchange for German neutrality, agreed to the German partition of the Portuguese African colonies in connection with the Anglo-German partition treaty signed on August 30, 1898.

The treaty stipulated that once Portugal gave up its African colonies, they would be divided between Britain and Germany!

However, the British had the Germans on their side, and the treaty was only a "blank check". The following year, Portugal's financial crisis broke out, and the British provided a loan to Portugal, leaving the Germans behind.

On October 14, 1899, the two countries signed the Anglo-Portuguese Secret Declaration, in which Britain provided security for all Portuguese territories. The Anglo-Boer War broke out, and Portugal had to support the British actions.

None of this is happening now, and if we go to war now, the British will face much more trouble!

It was not in the British government's interest to declare war on the Boers in the short term, but that had nothing to do with Ferdinand.

The more trouble the British were in, the better it was for Ferdinand, who decided to add more fuel to the fire!

The "Cape Cairo" plan has been proposed for a long time. Historically at the end of 1895, the British colonial prime minister of South Africa, Rhodes, sent troops to sneak into the Transvaal Republic but failed!

Now it's just a matter of bringing this forward a little bit, and it's not a problem for the British capitalists!

After all, at the end of the 19th century, the British Empire was as strong as ever, and the capitalists were confident enough in their own strength that the little Boer Republic was already in their pocket!

Under Ferdinand's instigation, an undercurrent began to spread in London. The media kept spreading propaganda across broad areas, putting pressure on the British government, the capitalists were doing PR on parliamentarians, and the main war faction had the upper hand!

Colonial Prime Minister Rhodes of South Africa is much more confident and encouraged with more supporters than in the same period in history.

A direct ultimatum was given to the Transvaal Republic, ordering it to hand over the murderer within 24 hours and for the Boers to open up the right to vote, which was automatically granted to the British in South Africa.

Obviously, this is not even negotiable. The Boers are not that weak, and besides, if the murderer is handed over, it is not the same as admitting that the soldiers robbed and killed. How is this possible? For no reason at all, why should they take the blame?

Having the right to vote open is even more bullshit! A British national is automatically granted the right to vote in the Transvaal Republic? Isn't that a world-class joke? Only an idiot would agree to that!

They know very well that the British just want to create an excuse to do it, dodging this one and the next one. The two sides do not have to talk unless they give up all the gold mines!

Naturally, they did not hesitate to reject the insolent request of the British. They invited the international community to send investigation missions from various countries to uncover the truth of the matter on the ground!

The open invitation of the Boers was soon supported by the international community, with the Germans, the Dutch, the French, and the Belgians... all expressing their support and willingness to participate in this investigation mission.

Will the British compromise? Obviously, in front of the interests of the capitalists, the opposition is infinitely weakened. Not a little international public pressure can not scare them!

On March 26, 1895, an army of three thousand men, a combination of South African colonial troops and gold miners' thugs, brazenly crossed the border and launched an attack on the Transvaal Republic. (Five times as many as in history)

This plan, opposed by the then British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, who believed that Britain was not ready for war and that the chances of success of the risky plan were too small, ordered the plan to be canceled!

However, limited by the late 19th world, the poor transportation conditions, and the deliberate delay of certain people, by the time Chamberlain's order reached the hands of Rhodes, the prime minister of the South African colony, it was already too late, and the allied forces had already invaded the Transvaal Republic.

This rogue army, with a very complex structure, consisted of mercenaries, rogues, and gold diggers.

As a matter of fact, James, the British officer in charge of leading the troops, had limited command over this army and began to act on his own as soon as he entered the Transvaal Republic.

What had been prepared as a sneak attack suddenly turned into an intense assault. Unsurprisingly, the arrogant British army was severely defeated and almost completely wiped out by the Boer Kruger!

As anyone who knows anything about the Anglo-Boer War knows, Kruger led tens of thousands of Boer troops against over 200,000 British troops for three years of misery for South Africa!

Even if you lose in the end, it is still a great honor to lose! A group of the mob, facing a famous general, foolishly went up to attack. The result speaks for itself!

The Boers killed an army of three thousand men, more than eight hundred were killed, took more than thirteen prisoners, and finally, less than six hundred managed to escape back!

At this point, there was no need for Ferdinand to do anything else. Blood is the best catalyst. If the British could tolerate such a failure, it would be world domination in name only!

An all-out war by Britain as soon as possible!