The Genius of Smuts.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 217, 13 October 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Genius of Smuts.

CONQUEROR OF GERMAN EAST AFRICA. A LEADER WHO ALWAYS WINS.

Tho succvess that has attended the efforts of General Smuts in German East Africa has been largely a matter of personality. The fighting in this portion of the Dark Continent has been altogether apart from that characteristic of other campaigns. There have been special difficulties to overcome from the outset. In the beginning there was something of a minor disaster, and for a while ilttlc or rather no progress was made. Then came the appointment of General Smith Dorrien, and not long after that, the news that General Smuts, who had been Botha's chief assistant in the South-Western campaign, had been placed in charge of operations. With Smuts' appointment there began a vigorous prosecution of hostilities, and a gradual but sura lipmming-in of the enemy forces. Just how the success lias been gained is told in part in the following interview with Major J. t.'. Wedgwood, M.P., given in a recent Weekly Dispatch.

Returning from German East Afrin after six months' experience on the staff of General Smuts, 1 feel impelled to pay tribute to his wonderful gifts fev the pecular kind of warfare w,o are waging in the la.-t of tho German Colonies, first remark'ng that Smuts is as good a general as any man cotiul servo under. | Tho particular feature of General Smuts' tactics is their success. His remarkable enveloping movements invariably achievo their object, and one realises how invaluable in this part j! tho world is the experience of. the Boo." cavalry. To his knowledge of loca! conditions and the way to deal witn them he adds absolute secrecy as to his plans. No one but himself knows what he proposes to do until the last noment. Such a general would be the despair of the most skilful espionage system in the world. i I hate to use such a hackneyed phrase as "the strong, silent man," but this aptly describes the brain of the German East African campaign. Once engage him in conversation and he s most interesting, impressing you by hi; tcorough liberal-mindodness. In our talks about the war nothing struck me more keenly than his fear of German influence. His strong anti-German has was clearly revealed. As to tho war in its larger aspects. General Smuts is disposed to say little. No doubt his immediate preoccupations are sufficient to call for his undivided attention. General Smuts does nots pare bin: ' self in the field, and to see him up at tho front is to be afforded a revelation of his energy. One would have smiled t»i see him pushing his motor-car whenever it got stuck in the mud or n some morass. Like the troops, he livjs on brltung or dried meat. * i THE SOLDIERS' IDOL. j

In appearance he is short, thick-set, with an imperial beard and shrewd eyes. He suggests the lawyer rather than the field commander, though he is both. One remembers he was At-iorney-Gcneral at 28. Speaking English perfectly, one is only just made aware that he is not an Englishman. Tho soldiers have, as would bo expected, a high opinion of him, and their regard for the brilliant strategist was illustrated on his arrival at the front, when the whole of the South African troops lined up to awaTt tho arrival of his train. General Smuts has had a tough problem to tackle, but if all goes well 1 think we can hope to see the end nf tlvs particular war in two months' timo. Tho back of tli£ job is already broken. Tha possession of the centr.il railway is everything, and the railroad will be completely in our hands l>efore very long. Tho only idea of the Germans seens to Itt to hold out as long as possible, I but wo have already won the settled | portions of the Colony, which is the area where Wilhelmstal is situated. j It is hardly possible to conv.oy any • ulca of the difficulties of campaigning! in an enormous country like German Fast Africa, where there are no roads, | and where the bush is so dense that two tannics ican pass without one ibemg aware of the other's presence. i

FIGHTING IN A "ZOO." Then, again, there are objections or fighting in a zoological gardens with a prowling lion or some other wild beast cf prey to dispute a water-hole with your sentry. Transport is frightfully bard to arrange. Motor transport is always liable to break down, which is understandable, seeing that every roai has to be made arid reliance to a large extent has to be placed on native carriers; but the genius of Smuts continues to overcome all handicaps, and food and other supplies do somehow manage to reach the troops. Tho belligerent forces are quite considerable, and the natives have a saving to express their wonderment at the number of .white troops, which runs something like this: "You can count tho bla'des of grass, but not the numbers of the white men." As most of the natives have never seen more than five white men at any one time, tne'r astonishment is pardonable. Part of General Smuts' advance has been marked by the building of a light railway, carried forward at the rate oi two miles a day. The ground offers little resistance to heavy loads and tho rails gradually sink until they become embedded in a sort of cutting. I have seen a train crawl along for a mile or two and then stop while the men gol out and cut some grass to put underneath the sleepers to pro]) them up. Though the task of discovering th? ei'cmy owing to the thick bush is a tremendous business, we do contrive o

locato him, and it is a case ali the tr.no vf forcing him back. The decisive battle, to my mind, was the battle of Latemu, that was fought through the night . By winning this battle General Smuts placed the issue of the campaig", beyond doubt. "A GREAT VICTORY."

Smut,,- hns a great s?nse of humour his stories, told half in Dutch and half m English, are delightfully qtia'nt—and what particularly amused him was tu find that the Germans, concluding from the first twelve hours' fighting that the battle was turning in their favour, decided they had won a great victory to he appropriately celebrated by a champagne banquet in Moshi Fort The next evening we weie in th? fort, and Smuts was awfully pleased to think so much good champagne had bovn needlessly wasted by the GerThis was the battle in which. Colonel Graham was killed. As a result of this victory we gained possession of Moshi ,"!! Kilma Njara and livided the enemy's ], ; ne of retreat. Thereafter ,thc final conquest of the Colony envisaged itself m'erely as a natter of patient though well-studied progress; based on the effective en veloping strategy of the Commnnder-in -Clwef. I suppose it would be right to call General Smuts' staff the most remarkable of any of our staffs, including as ic does representatives of the most vigorous fighting Boer clement. The commander of one of the regiments, for instance is the son of the man who captured Majuba Hiil, Colonel Ben Snnt; so magical are the transformations wrought by time. But it is the personality of the general himself that dominates everything and is the arresting feature of a campaign which, under his aegis, has been marked by an unbroken series of successes which ara, after all, the best testimony of his military genius as regards Colonial warfare. Whatever happens after the war, we must insist that the territory known as Ruanda, which connects the Victoria Xyanza with Lake Tanganyika, shall not pass again into German hands., for this is a necessary link to complete the all-Bed route. A vivid idea of the actual theatre of operations is given m the following communication to the Express, by -\a officer of General Smut's staff: I arrived where I now am, he says, about the mdidle of April, and have seen many things since then which f never .hoped to see. We are camped or the slope of the highest mountain in Africa (Kilimanjaro!). At the foo'i of the camp runs a very rapid Aver, •with great trees on each bank, tho haunt of monkeys and parrots, and u the bush below leopards and tigers lie in wait for what may turn up. We are at an altitude of 3600 ft.. but thousands of feet above us n the snowcapped peak of the mountain, generally in a bank of cloud. Between us and the peak is the great belt of virgin forest, about five miles wide, which runs round the mountain, and formed one of the German big game preserves. It is full of eltphants and hippos. All around us are plains light!,' covered with bush, just like Englisn'orchards, the homo of innumerable small game. Those plains stretch away tf. the di.n range of mountains in the distance.

TORRENTIAL RAIN. The insects are extraordinary beyond words—everything seems to ho here that we know and have seen in fairy tale books; the tarantulas and centipedes would take a prize at any show! There are so many varieties Jf leaf insects and mantis that one gives up trying to count them. While the rains were on they were terrific. The camps and roads, or tracks, were quagmires, and the railway lines used to get washed away continually. I t was quite a common'thing to .see half a dozen great motor-lor" nes standing abandoned. It was impossible to make an advance or collect stores in such weather. Now it is fine again, and things are going well. On the slopes all round us are abandoned coffee, rubber, maize, and other plantations. The .soil is verv rich, .ind everything seems to flourish'. Of course much damage has been done to proper, t.v, but that cannot be helped. I heard of one place where 1000 rubber tre.'S had been cut down for firewood- sourwhat expensive, I think.

Just now the lions and leopards a.-" moiv annoying than anything else. I have already had two narrow escape-, and have a wholesome respoct for the king of beasts. To hear him roar down by the river at nights is an education in itself.