Chapter 492 Sit-down War
Kerry has no way to deal with Songo Fortress, because the entire Songo Fortress is like a turtle shell, and the East African Army is like a shrunken turtle, not coming out to fight. Both sides It's a stalemate here.
This made Kerry, who had only fought rich wars in the French army, very angry. He had never been so angry before, but he resented the Portuguese in Mozambique even more. A colony was just a colony and could not be put on the stage.
The fledgling Kerry finally understood why colonial countries and regions were so vulnerable to Westerners. It was not only a problem of equipment, but also a huge problem of people and systems.
The Portuguese have become like this, and they can still firmly control such a large area of land. One can imagine how unbearable the original local indigenous government was.
However, the performance of the East African Army is indeed very impressive, especially the level of fortresses and armaments. They are also colonies, but they are much higher than Portugal in front of them.
So Kerry muttered in his heart: These colonies are also divided into three, six, and nine grades. The United States, which has become independent and has developed rapidly, should belong to the first grade. After all, India, a world power with adequate size and economy, should belong to In the second level, without India, the British would not be able to beat France. Similarly, Brazil also belongs to this level. Portugal, which has lost Brazil, is no longer considered a powerful country in Kerry's eyes. Australia and Canada, including France's own Algeria, should be in the third tier. East Africa should also be in this tier. As for the dead colonies, Cape Town should barely be considered. , but Cape Town is suppressed by East Africa, so it cannot exert its full strength.
Kerry's classification standard is very interesting, because the United States, Brazil and East Africa are all independent countries, so in Kerry's eyes, regions other than Europe are equated with colonies. This is the arrogance of old Europe.
Of course, if Ernst knew Kerry's thoughts, he would agree with them. Although the three countries have become independent, they are not actually economically independent. They still rely on old Europe to live. These three countries only have The United States and East Africa can watch their own development, but once they are expelled from the old Europe, their development will be very unsatisfactory.
After two consecutive days of ineffective attacks, Kerry was very depressed, while Rhodes watched the show indifferently.
Kerry: "Captain, I'm afraid there's no way I can break through the Songo stronghold alone. Do you have any good ideas?"
Rhode: "This? Shouldn't we stop fighting! If you ask me, that's definitely the case. Just let these niggas keep charging. We and the Germans will continue to consume. Anyway, the niggas will not feel bad if they lose."
Kerry was speechless: "If our strength is ten times that of the opponent, we will still be playing like this. Almost, and although black people are cheap, they cannot be wasted at will. You must know that it is not easy to train these black people with all our efforts. It is easy to give them away at first, but it is difficult to add them later. We don’t have that much time to train another group of black people. ”
Emotions In the eyes of the Portuguese, the black soldiers they had trained so hard were cannon fodder, which made Kerry a little discouraged.
Although there is no problem in saying this, in Kerry's view, black people who have been trained in France are also high-level cannon fodder and cannot be compared with those who have not been trained. Doesn't this mean that it is also necessary to deny French training? ?
Rhodes didn't care: "Anyway, as long as we have sufficient reasons, it will be difficult to capture Songo Fortress without heavy weapons. Who knew East Africa would build a turtle shell in such a barren land? Without heavy weapons, we can only rely on human lives to fill it." Well, black people are originally an inferior race. They cannot learn the skills of European soldiers. After all, the Germans on the opposite side have many white people, so it is understandable that the war has been delayed to this point. It is also understandable that we cannot achieve results. . ”
Rhodes’ rhetoric is obviously to show off, but if you think about it carefully, Rhodes, a Portuguese, seems to have never failed to show off since the war broke out.
Kerry asked curiously: "Captain Rhodes, you are Portuguese, and Mozambique is also a colony of our Portuguese. If this war fails and you lose Mozambique, won't you be sad?" Luo De looked at Kerry, who had always looked down on him, and suddenly asked sincerely. He waved his hand and said, "What does that have to do with me? I used to be a small security guard in Maputo, and I usually did the job of a policeman. Suddenly, Being promoted to an officer is naturally not like a professional soldier like Mr. Kerry. Furthermore, being a soldier in Portugal is just a profession for me. Since it is a profession, it can be replaced. If I lose it in Mozambique, I will lose it. The worst I can do is continue to find a job elsewhere. I used to be a local shoemaker, and I could never starve to death with my skills. I have been working hard in Mozambique for these years, but I actually didn’t make much money compared to my previous job as a shoemaker. I was just deceived before. To Mozambique."
Rhode: "You should be able to be a landlord in Mozambique! Your land was stolen from black people. Even if you can't be a big landowner, you can't be a big landlord. You should be able to mix with a small landlord.”
Rod: "What's the use of that? As I said before, my family has been a shoemaker for generations, and I don't know how to farm. Besides, can the land in Mozambique be compared with Europe? Where will the food grown be sold?" And I don’t have the capital or the skills to develop the land. ”
A lot of the land in Europe is developed mature soil, and most of the land in Mozambique is raw soil. The harvest is good in the first two years by relying on the fertility of the land that has been naturally formed for thousands of years, but it won’t work after that. , but developing new land is difficult.
Mozambique also has a characteristic, that is, it has a long history and is almost the earliest African colony. Therefore, most of the land in Mozambique is owned by owners, especially after East Africa cut off Mozambique’s expansion path. The new immigrants who came to Mozambique in 2018 did not have the opportunity to drink soup.
Kerry: "I heard that wages in the colonies are relatively high, so you won't be so miserable, right?"
Rhode: "Whether it's miserable or not is not your decision, but The top management of the colony has the final say. Although our income is higher, it is not much higher than that of entering a factory in Europe. And you don’t have to spend money? The prices here are much more expensive than in Europe. Besides, making money in the colony is at the cost of your life. .”
Although Rhodes's salary is three melons and two dates, the salary of more than 100,000 Rhodes is very considerable. This money is also a major expense for the colonial government of Mozambique, so going to the colony is to make money, but some people are thinking of ways to make money for Rhodes. De's wallet was empty.
Of course, not all people like Rhodes are waiting to die, but there are also many people who are similar to Rhodes, especially sailors, who are the most willing to spend money, Dar es Sala The economic prosperity of Muhe Mombasa Open Zone relies on the consumption of passing merchant ships and sailors. If the money is not spent, there may be no place to spend it. The sea is a dangerous place after all, and the sailors have a relatively broad vision and knowledge. There are many, so I am more open-minded. Money is still a good thing to spend on external things.
After hearing Rhodes' personal experience, Kerry suddenly didn't feel so disgusted with the Portuguese who had tricked him all the way.
Kerry: "You are right. Anyway, we have enough reasons to shirk the responsibility. Then we will not do useless work, and we will slowly consume East Africa."
Luo De was very pleased that there was a young man who was brought to the right path by him. What good was there in fighting and killing?
So Portugal and East Africa started garbage time in Songo. The two sides made a tacit agreement to fire two shots. If they really did, they would just fire two shots and listen. Later, when the Portuguese saw that East Africa was really sitting still, they just huddled in the Songo Fortress and even fired. When they stopped talking, they looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes, and started a sit-down war.
However, the East African Army did not imitate the Portuguese to show off. Instead, they were holding fire in their hearts. If the commander had not suppressed them, they would have rushed out to wipe out the other side.
(End of this chapter)