The Second Phase

The Battle of the Fett River shattered the fragile balance between East Africa and the Boer Republic. Overnight, East Africa breached the entire Boer defensive line south of the Fett River.

By the following morning, after tallying the results, East Africa had captured, wounded, or killed more than twenty thousand Boer Republic troops. The Boer front line collapsed outright.

However, a considerable number of Boer troops had also withdrawn from the front—estimated at around ten thousand. These Boer forces retreated at top speed toward Bloemfontein.

Merke said, "Once each unit has finished clearing the battlefield, continue the pursuit southward. The western route will target Kimberley, the northern route will target Bloemfontein, and the eastern force will support the northern-route troops."

As long as Bloemfontein and Kimberley were taken, the war against the Boers could basically be declared over. Thereafter, the Southern Military Region's operations within the Boer Republic would transition from hard-fought offensives to security warfare.

Bloemfontein and Kimberley were the Boer Republic's only two major cities. Once both places fell, the Boer Republic would have nowhere left to defend.

Of course, East Africa's greatest headache at the moment was dealing with the "legacy" left behind by the Boers on the Fett River front: first, treating the wounded; second, clearing away the corpses; and finally, handling the large quantities of weapons and equipment abandoned across the battlefield.

With so many wounded and corpses, East Africa's follow-up forces needed to deal with them carefully. Africa basically had no winter, so leaving these bodies here could trigger serious problems.

East Africa had captured a total of fifty-three artillery pieces. This was likely most of the entire Boer Republic's artillery assets, making the gap in firepower between the two sides obvious at a glance.

Yet East Africa's heavy artillery had mostly been left