African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 759 - 63: Morale Usable

Fite River Defense Line.

As the longest and most robust defense line constructed by East Africa, it has withstood over a dozen attacks from both the Boers and British forces since the war began.

In reality, the Fite River Defense Line in East Africa seemed like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut against the Boers, much like the Macedonian defense line wasn't meant to resist Germany but rather Belgium.

Merk has already begun personally directing the Fite River campaign, preparing to end the passive defense that has lasted for three months.

"Tonight at twelve o'clock is the time for us to cross the river. We must eliminate the Transvaal forces on the other side in a short time. Our army is ready to attack from three directions to thoroughly resolve the Boer Republic, a thorn in our side," said Merk in the military headquarters.

Hertzendorf asked, "General Merk, why launch a night battle? You have a complete advantage in both manpower and firepower, and there is no need to counterattack at night, which might lead to errors due to the interference of darkness."

"Indeed, night is not an ideal time for battle, especially when the enemy on the other side of the river is well-prepared. You will face various issues, including unfamiliarity with the terrain and enemy defensive stances," Prittwitz also emphasized from the side.

Merk explained, "No need to worry about that. We have already figured out the enemy's defensive deployment. Although the Boers have built fortifications on the other side of the river, their engineering cannot compare to ours. Don't be fooled by the indestructibility of our Fite River Defense Line; it was built with a massive amount of manpower, something the Boers simply cannot achieve."

The biggest weakness of the Boers is their sparse population. Historically, the Boers should have had over 400,000 people at this time, but after all the wrangling with East Africa and themselves, the national population is probably only close to 400,000.

Naturally, East Africa used a large number of "black slaves" to build the Fite River Defense Line, which is not something necessary to detail with the military advisors from Germany and Austria.

Merk continued, "Over the past three months, the Boers have constantly launched attacks on our army. However, judging by their recent offensives, they are likely at their limit. So, I reckon the situation has long shifted in our favor. Now, the Boer morale is likely at rock bottom, and in our lackadaisical passive defense, their will has been exhausted."

Indeed, the situation for the Boers is as poor as Merk described, both because they cannot break through the East African Fite River Defense Line and because of lower-tier soldiers' aversion to war.

The Boer Republic, with its modest size, maintains an army of nearly 50,000, which means one in six Boers is a soldier, and children and the elderly are also commonly seen in the Boer army.

Without British supplies, the Boer army would likely have collapsed by now. Even so, the mental state of the Boers is already in a dire state. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Over two thousand years ago in the Far East Empire, there was an ancient war called the Battle of Changshao, where a man named Cao Gui said that victory is achieved on the first beat, declines on the second, and exhausts on the third; ultimately, they won by draining the enemy's morale."

"In East Africa, we actually adopted a similar method, gradually wearing down the enemy's morale. After three months of attacks with no success, the recent Boer offensives seemed lackluster," Merk explained.

Currently, as an immigrant nation, East Africa is not lacking in various aspects, except that it requires time to foster a sense of national belonging among its citizens.

The Southern African war is seen by the East African government as an opportunity. Presently, all East African fronts are in a defensive phase. This state of only taking hits without being able to retaliate is certainly frustrating for East African soldiers.

Other than the top-ranking officers, the troops harbored the desire to repay the "free" beatings of the past few months with vengeance.

Under these circumstances, the East African soldiers' sense of belonging is rapidly increasing; no matter where everyone came from, now they have a common external enemy.

After three months of honing, the unity of the East African army is unprecedented, and this is the result the East African government wants to see. Now, victory in the war is all that's missing to instill national pride and honor.

This is also the predicament of an immigrant nation, or more accurately, East Africa's predicament. Unlike East Africa, the U.S. probably wouldn't face this issue.

Also as an immigrant nation, the U.S. has various methods to bamboozle the masses without them realizing it, while East Africa lacks such conditions because, in the world scene of the 19th century, American ideology was the most "advanced."

East Africa, as a monarchical state, lacks those effective means and also doesn't have Europe's well-established aristocratic system.

Europe's aristocratic system can be said to be a strong force in maintaining both the royal power and political stability of Europe, especially locally, where nobles hold great prestige among the people.

East Africa also has a corresponding political model, mainly in singing praises to the "Heixinggen Royal Family," very similar to the former North Korea.

However, this situation definitely can't be maintained long-term, especially after the generations of "grateful" immigrants pass away. Currently, the East African government mainly aims to develop toward the German political model.

Germany can use nationalism as a banner, but East African nationalism isn't too reliable. To change this situation, fostering a sense of identity among East African nationals is essential.

One way to gain a sense of identity is through war. If East Africa wins the South African war, it can rapidly accelerate national integration.

The U.S. may have a century of history and has gone through long-term integration, something East Africa lacks. There's no more effective means than war to make up for this, so the South African war, in Ernst's mind, is East Africa's real founding battle.

As for the previous East-Portuguese War, although it had a similar effect, defeating Portugal, a setting sun nation, doesn't bring the same shock to the East African populace as defeating Britain, the world's leading power.

Hertzendorf and Prittwitz naturally do not understand East Africa's pursuit in this ideological aspect, as neither of their countries faces such dilemmas.

Of course, the Austro-Hungarian Empire certainly has, but its situation is vastly different from East Africa. This is the difference in mental patterns between Europeans and the Far East people.

Hungary, despite occasional independence, still supports the Habsburg family and, while its relations with Austria are a bit poor, everyone is accustomed to it.

Ernst definitely does not want East Africa to follow the old path of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as this political model has been shown to have no combat capability in the world wars.

Merk: "For this war, we are launching an attack from three major directions simultaneously. Even if things don't go smoothly here, it doesn't matter in the eastern Warm Castle area, where we border the Boer Republic directly on land. Also, in the west, the Orange River forces are providing support. As long as we gain an edge in one direction, we can deliver a heavy blow to the Boers."

"Also, launching a night counterattack will be challenging for the Boers because this is the first time East Africa has taken the initiative to strike. It will be hard for them to anticipate such a situation, and with their outdated intelligence system, by the time we're at the gates of Bloemfontein, they might just be realizing it."