African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 707 - 11: Blackmail

Bloemfontein.

"What? Let the Orange Free State become independent again!" Young Pillotolius was surprised upon hearing Cape Town's demand, but he felt more worried in his heart.

If it were a usual time, as a Boer, autonomy would undoubtedly be highly desirable, since the ultimate goal of the Transvaal people is to rebuild the Boer Republic.

But the current situation is special. The Transvaal people must rely on the British presence, and having the Cape Colony allow the "Orange Free State" to reinstate independence is not a good thing.

"Are the British worried about getting dragged in? The Orange Free State was originally incorporated upon Cape Town's initiative, and over the years, we have treated the British within our borders quite generously. Now they want to kick us away because of the threat from East Africa?"

No wonder Young Pillotolius thinks this way, as the British colonial status is the protective umbrella of the Orange Free State.

If war breaks out, the British surely won't leave their colony to be invaded or bullied. As a colonial empire, the British have so many colonies that they must maintain the image of the "master," and even need to face off "dog" master before beating a dog.

"Mr. President, you may not be wrong. Although Britain is the world's overlord, its authority as a global hegemon comes from having the most colonies worldwide. However, it also means British power is somewhat scattered. To the British, we, the Orange Free State, are insignificant yet a significant headache."

Young Pillotolius looked grim. Although his subordinate spoke the truth, it was still harsh to hear.

He retorted, "Isn't our frontline position against East Africa valuable at all? If they are so arrogant, then in the future, the whole African continent might become East Africa's domain!

Therefore, the British cannot abandon us as a pawn. Their strength on the African continent is not necessarily superior to East Africa! To suppress East Africa, they can only unite with more allies. Although we, the Orange Free State, are insignificant, our position and military strength rank among the top ten in Africa."

"Mr. President, it is not to that extent, I believe the British have their purpose. After all, in recent years, the number of British soldiers within the Orange Free State has increased, and Cape Town evidently has significant maneuvers. Therefore, they are also prudently treating the threat from East Africa, which is the cornerstone of our cooperation."

The British will not pressure the Transvaal people at this time. After all, the position of the Orange Free State is unique. If they alienate this ally pushing them to East Africa, it would be a loss. Though the Transvaal, as a "little brother," has its own calculations, compared to the immediate threat from East Africa, it's insignificant, and the Transvaal isn't even a real menace.

"Then why do you say the British want us to break away from them now, after years of scheming to get the colony? What is their ultimate goal behind this sacrifice?" Young Pillotolius said.

"Mr. President, it might be an issue of initiative. First of all, the British suddenly putting forward this request came after we first raised the need for increased military assistance, which may imply that the British cannot satisfy our demand.

Thus, they must have considered this issue from a financial perspective, as supporting us in maintaining an army is not an easy task."

Young Pillotolius affirmed, "This line of thought is novel, but it does make sense."

If it were up to Young Pillotolius himself, he certainly couldn't be as generous as the British. Though it speaks to the strength of the British, helping other nations train an army is inherently thankless. Besides, it's spending the money of their taxpayers—it might be better spent recruiting cannon fodder in India, which, at least in the British view, is "reliable."

"Indeed, Mr. President, since the British responded after we made our request, it can be confirmed that their finances are indeed tight."

During the civil war within the Orange Free State, the British single-handedly supported the Transvaal people in their fight against the Orange people backed by East Africa.

The result was a costly war in terms of money and time, with no significant gains. The rewards were not even comparable to the conquest of the Burmese kingdom, achieved with minimal effort. In contrast, the British feel they suffered huge losses.

East Africa, as the financial backer behind the Orange people, naturally also lost out. Yet, for East Africa, depleting the Boer internal strength early is a gain. Although the British support allowed the Transvaal armed forces to grow, diverting British attention to the Orange Free State aligned with East Africa's interest.

"Secondly, the British intend to avoid the situation spiraling out of control. I guess Britain is not prepared to cut ties with East Africa now. After all, Britain's sanctions against East Africa in recent years achieved no better results than their sanctions on America did initially. Like America, East Africa gained considerable development even amidst sanctions, which led the British to realize that East Africa is not like other colonies or typical Asian, African, or Latin American countries."

"What does this have to do with us?" someone asked.

Young Pillotolius answered this question: "The British are not ready, but we in Transvaal want to go to war as soon as possible because our finances are a big issue. The sooner the war is initiated, the more beneficial it is for us. This clashes with Britain's grand strategy, so to prevent the situation from losing control, the British want to cut ties with us to avoid being dragged down."

"Mr. President, that's correct. Therefore, we can only accept the British suggestion for now, but we can't let the British off so easily. After all, when they annexed the Orange Free State, they didn't consider this. This alliance can't be ended without cost."

The Transvaal government senior officials have no choice but to accept the British proposal. Their reliance on the British is much greater than the British reliance on them. Being under someone else's roof, they have to bow their heads.

Of course, this also furthers the thought among Young Pillotolius and others to break away from British control in the future. Once they eliminate East Africa as a major threat, they cannot cooperate with an "insidious" nation like Britain that can abandon allies at any moment, lest one day they sell you out while you're still counting money for them.

"Firstly, the British must solve the aid problem. At the very least, we need to maintain the army, so the premise of independence from Britain is they continue providing military funding. Let's set a small target, maybe a five-year amount to start with."

This is haggling; asking for a high price to settle on a middle one. The British certainly won't agree to it, but considering the broken window theory, they should be more amenable to the subsequent pricing from the Orange Free State.

"Secondly, as our financial sources dry up, we can only target the British businessmen and mine owners within the Orange Free State. I believe Cape Town will tacitly approve this."

The British control the economy of the Orange Free State, so it's reasonable for the Transvaal people to target these British businessmen and mine owners.

"If Cape Town does not accept, we'll declare war on East Africa while still not having severed ties with Britain. I don't think this is what the British want to see," Young Pillotolius said with an insidious smile.