In 1877, the main military task in East Africa was to increase security investment in the South African region. Among the neighboring areas of East Africa, only the Cape Colony was capable of launching a modern large-scale war involving tens of thousands of troops against East Africa.
Especially after the Cape Colony merged with the Orange Free State, this gave the British access to excellent Boer manpower, especially those original residents of the Transvaal Republic.
If the military budget and equipment were sufficient, the British could muster up to ten thousand troops in the original Orange Free State region.
