After enduring the hardships of travel to reach Fashir, fighting Darfurians all along the way, Johnson had arrived only to discover that the East Africans had plucked the peach. It would have been strange if he could feel good about it.
"Hmph. Enter the city! I want to see what is going on. Is this Alidinar's empty-city stratagem, or has he defected to the East Africans?"
At this point, Johnson had not considered the possibility that Alidinar and his troops had already been taken down by East Africa. After all, it had taken him nearly two weeks just to travel from Khartoum to Fashir. How could the East Africans possibly have finished the battle so quickly?
Thus, in Johnson's view, the most likely possibility was that that bastard Alidinar had thrown in his lot with East Africa. This was common enough in overseas colonies. When weak countries or regions faced threats from one great power, they would often seek another as a backer or mediator.
With that, Johnson led the Lobsterbacks, the turbaned soldiers, and the tall-hatted soldiers swaggering toward Fashir's city gate.
In this timeline, the British Army had replaced its lobster uniforms relatively late. After all, it had not suffered the humiliation dealt by the Boers in the previous life, so military reform had not been pursued with much enthusiasm.
As for the South African War, East Africa was no force that the Boers of the previous life could be mentioned in the same breath with. Britain could simply use East Africa's vast numbers as an excuse for its defeat without fighting. Moreover, East Africa's concessions during the South African War had easily given Britain the same illusion it had held toward India in the previous life.
The history of India provoking a certain great power in the