Chapter 733 Besieged on all sides
The navy currently cannot play a leading role in influencing the situation in South Africa. This is mainly due to the lack of a stable stronghold in the nearby waters. In history, the British annexed Zanzibar to suppress the Germans. East Africa, and now Zanzibar has long been subjugated by East Africa.
The lack of Zanzibar as a strategic fulcrum has led to the lack of British naval power in the entire Western Indian Ocean. The British naval power in South Africa is basically concentrated in Cape Town, but due to the influence of the Suez Canal, these In fact, Cape Town's naval power did not increase much.
On the contrary, the strength of Alexandria in Egypt and British Somaliland, that is, the Mediterranean fleet, has been strengthened as a whole, which reflects the importance of the Red Sea route.
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Compared with the navy's performance, the army was the main force in the South African War. At the same time as the Battle of Lamu Bay began, the Allied forces launched attacks on the East African mainland from multiple areas.
East Africa has been under military pressure from the south, east and west. The north is currently in a state of peace, but the main reason is that the Sudan area is not conducive to marching, and the United Kingdom is temporarily unable to launch military operations against northern East Africa through Egypt. Operations, while British Somaliland's military strength has weakened, mainly the navy, and does not have the conditions for land war.
However, military pressure from three directions still makes the East African National Defense Force feel a great threat. Angola, South Africa (Cape Town and the Boer Republic), and Mozambique have hundreds of thousands of troops attacking the hinterland of East Africa at the same time. East Africa For the first time, Africa was faced with a shortage of troops.
The first town.
Count Arman reports to the government on the current war situation in East Africa. This information is compiled by various fronts and can be transmitted back to the first town and city within one day through the East African telegraph system for reference by the General Staff and the government.
"At present, the Portuguese army in Angola is mainly oppressing us in two directions. The troops in the western military region can only delay its military operations and cannot organize a large-scale counterattack. The three provinces in the west are buffer zones in the army's plan. At the same time, We need to clear the western region so that its large-scale attacks cannot obtain effective supplies, but this also means abandoning several years of construction in the western region."
"Portugal must be blocked. The west cannot be allowed to invade the central region of our country. As for the implementation of clearing the country in the west, it is feasible. Apart from agriculture, the west basically does not have much valuable industries. Even agriculture only accounts for less than 3% of the share in East Africa, and the population is relatively small. If there are not many, they can retreat to the rear without much impact on our country."
"In the south, the joint military forces of the two countries, with the Boer Republic as the main force and the United Kingdom as the auxiliary, will attack the Feite River at the same time. The defense line, as well as the offensive along the Orange River, but we have invested military forces in this area all year round, especially the Feite River defense line, which can be regarded as impregnable after many years of operation."
"The main military force in the south. The pressure lies on the Tugela River line. The British have accumulated a large number of troops in the Natal colony, so the Tugela River line is most likely to be captured. The situation in the New Hamburg Port City behind the Tugela River is not good either. To the north is Maputo, the British and Mozambican coalition forces have moved south.”
“So it seems that Britain and Portugal intend to first defeat our military presence in the Southern Frontier Province in order to achieve the purpose of uniting their forces. If they achieve this, the British and Portuguese coalition forces will be able to send a large number of troops into the south of our country.”
"And the very bad thing now is that our troops in the New Hamburg Port City are weak, so the General Staff believes that troops should be transferred from Hechingen Province to take over the railway and road access in the Drakensberg Mountains to avoid the New Hamburg Port. After the city fell, the British and Portuguese coalition launched an offensive to the west with the help of the railway, so that the Southern Military District was likely to be surrounded by the armies of the three countries in the Orange River Basin. "
For the New Hamburg Port City, it can be said to be the nail in East Africa. The most "disgusting" nail in South Africa is that the existence of the new port city of Hamburg prevents hundreds of thousands of troops from Mozambique and the British colony of Natal from joining together.
At the same time, this small stretch of land is also the most important maritime channel for the five southern provinces of East Africa, and it continues the fastest economic connection with eastern East Africa. But precisely because of this, the General Staff is not optimistic about the situation in the New Hamburg Port City. It is flanked by coalition forces on both sides, has no broad land as a buffer, and faces threats from the regional naval forces of the two countries at sea.
Therefore, the military pressure on the New Hamburg Port City is unprecedented. Britain and Portugal will definitely launch a crazy attack on the local area. As long as the New Hamburg Port City is in the hands of East Africa for one day, the Allies will The next military operation against East Africa cannot be carried out safely.
After all, the Allied headquarters in Maputo is only a few days away from the New Hamburg Port City. It would be more convenient for the navy. They also have to consider the possibility of launching a military counterattack against the Allies in East Africa with the New Hamburg Port City as the center.
Earl Arman continued: "On the eastern defense line, which is the border of Matabele Province, the Portuguese and British concentrated at least tens of thousands of people to conduct probing attacks on our eastern defense line at the same time, especially several Important military strongholds are under a lot of pressure , but relying on the terrain advantages, these strongholds are currently firmly in our hands."
"Then there is the Zambezi River defense line. The British-Portuguese Allied forces' offensive intentions here are not strong, so we can be sure that now. The main direction of the Allied offensive is central and southern my country region, the main pressure currently on the eastern region is the sea. "
"The Battle of Lamu Bay has just ended. While the main force of our navy still exists, relying on the eastern naval base, there is no security problem for the time being. The British Expeditionary Fleet. No contact with Mombasa "
This is of course the main contribution of the navy. If the British really cross Mombasa and reach the Tanga sea area, then the East African Guards Division can consider organizing a war with the core of protecting the first town of the capital. , which also shows that the political center of East Africa is under great threat.
If this is the case, then moving the capital will become something that must be considered. For now, it is not necessary. First, the navy can withstand the first wave of British attacks. Second, even if the naval force is completely annihilated, there are still guards. The naval forces under the division can continue to assume the offshore defense function. Finally, the offshore defense system Ernst originally built along the East African coast can also play a role.
On the coastal zone of the Central Province, there are only three large ports suitable for large-scale enemy landings. These three ports have deployed European-level large-caliber shore defense artillery.
Even if this last layer of defense is broken through, it will only be the army taking over the battlefield, and by this time the East African government has long been able to evacuate to the rear along the railway.
“No British troops have been detected in the north, but we have found suspicious people along the Nile River. This information was discovered by the National Defense and Security Bureau in Khartoum, Egypt, but no troops were found to enter Khartoum. Therefore, the Nile Province is still in a security situation, but the appearance of suspicious persons also means that the United Kingdom is considering sending troops to East Africa from Egypt, so we need to remain vigilant in this direction."
"In the end, it is the British Empire. Somaliland, British Somaliland is the area where the British military is the weakest in the area bordering us, so it does not pose a threat to our country.”
"The current national defense and security situation is as expected before the war. Our current situation can be said to be besieged on all sides, especially the war potential of Britain, Portugal and the Boers. We have underestimated it. This South African war has obviously gone through nearly a long time. The ten-year plan is to kill our country’s military power with one blow.”
(End of this chapter)