The Vast Disparity

Republic of the Transvaal government.

"Mr. President, we can no longer sit and wait for death. Reality is forcing us to act ahead of time; otherwise, it will only become harder to make a comeback in the future."

"Our biggest problem now is military spending. Maintaining such an enormous army is an immense burden for a country like ours. Calling it an army built at the cost of impoverishing the nation would not be an exaggeration. Even with the Orange people included, there are only around four hundred thousand Boers in the entire Orange Free State—only two hundred thousand men, and that is before excluding the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. A standing army of more than ten thousand men is simply an astronomical figure for us. We cannot possibly keep it afloat."

"Back when the Republic of the Transvaal still existed, rats often ran through the treasury because there was nothing in it. We simply could not afford an army. Now, even rats would leave with tears in their eyes. All that remains is a mountain of debt!"

"At this rate, even if we restore the nation in the future, we will only be endlessly repaying the British. Therefore, Mr. President, Britain must be made to choose: either provide more free aid, or the Transvaal Restoration Army will disband where it stands."

Little Pretoria listened to his subordinate's report with a dark expression. Because of military expenditures, the Republic of the Transvaal now faced two choices: either disband the army, or launch a war as soon as possible.

Neither choice was good for the Transvaal people at present. Disbanding the army would deal a severe blow to the government's authority.

After all, it was supposed to be an "army for restoring the nation," yet the army