Little Pretoria immediately appointed Wiggins as Pretoria's city defense commander, but Wiggins had to recruit the troops himself. Little Pretoria had not rallied many people willing to resist the East African invasion, and he did not have many soldiers at hand either.
Little Pretoria said to Wiggins, who was a commander without a single soldier, "At this moment when the nation's survival hangs in the balance, many of our citizens still do not understand the Germans' ways. In truth, from the moment they invaded the Republic of the Transvaal, I knew they were no good. The Germans are attacking the Transvaal for nothing but land, yet some citizens foolishly believe that it merely means changing rulers. They have chosen not to resist, allowing the Germans to invade. One day, they will regret today's choice beyond measure."
In fact, some Boers did not care much about the so-called East African invasion. Were East Africans not simply Germans? What was there to fear? Most Boers were not particularly opposed to German rule. The Boers were mainly white immigrants from the Netherlands, Germany, and France, so they felt a certain kinship with Germany.
Of course, once Boer farmers learned of the Kingdom of East Africa's policies, they would certainly say, just as Little Pretoria had predicted, "Damn Prussian brutes!"
For now, East Africa's objective was to seize control of the entire Republic of the Transvaal. The Boer farmers had not yet seen the Kingdom of East Africa's methods and model of rule. Thus, many Boers who did not know the full story even voluntarily welcomed the "royal army." Before long, they too would become the staunchest anti-East Africans.
Wiggins said, "Mr. President, since you have entrusted Pretoria to me, I will defend it until the very last moment. But in return, I need