Chapter 734 The New Port City of Hamburg in a state of war readiness
April 3, 1888.
New Hamburg Port City.
Since the whole of East Africa entered a state of war, the port city of New Hamburg has become a strong fortress sandwiched between Portugal and Britain.
All enterprises in the city give priority to ensuring the supply of the army, and the municipal and provincial governments actively organize urban and surrounding areas to support the frontline war.
Under the night, from the New Hamburg Port City, you can even vaguely hear the booming sound of artillery fire on the north and south fronts. In fact, less than 70 kilometers south from the New Hamburg Port City is the front line of the war between East Africa and the United Kingdom. In this tense situation, , under a depressing atmosphere.
"The neighborhood must be sealed. At present, the surrounding areas have transported food to the city as much as possible. Sufficient drinking water and food must be stored to fight for the survival of the new Hamburg Port City." Renwell Hans, the street administrator, issued the city government's orders to the citizens in his jurisdiction.
"Director Hans, how is the current situation on the front line? There are many people in our street to support the front line."
Hans sighed and said: "The situation is not optimistic, as we all know Britain is the world's most powerful country. We in East Africa have never fought against such an opponent. Moreover, our superiors said that the strength of the British colony of Natal, which borders our New Hamburg port city, is not bad. Now a large part of the British army is Concentrated in Natal, the number of troops alone is more than ten times that of our National Defense Force, and now the Portuguese in the north have also stepped in. Our New Hamburg Port City is in a double attack."
"It is so big. With such a gap, can we beat the British and the Portuguese? These two countries are ranked among the best in the world!”
Hans: "The front line has not collapsed yet, but in a two-line operation, we must be prepared for a front-line failure, or even a three-line operation, and be completely surrounded. The enemy's naval forces have not yet been dispatched, otherwise we may be defeated today. You can see the enemy's artillery fire shooting into the city of New Hamburg Port."
I don't know if Hans's crow's mouth played a role. Just after he said this, he heard the roar of artillery coming from the direction of the Indian Ocean to the east. Voice.
The New Hamburg City Navy and ground forces have exchanged fire with the British Cape Town Navy.
This caused the citizens of the Renwell neighborhood to panic, and the scene instantly began to show signs of chaos and loss of control.
“The British are coming?”
"What should we do, run away for our lives!"
Those who left were already instinctively preparing to go home or run away. Many East African immigrants come from war-prone areas (Germany and the Far East), so this kind of fear of war The panic was awakened from the bone marrow by the sound of artillery fire, as if I had returned to the era of war and chaos.
"Quiet, all quiet!" Hans tried to calm these people down, but many of them couldn't hear what he was saying.
At this moment, a gunshot "Bang!" instantly suppressed all the noise.
I saw the Renwell neighborhood security police. Anderson held a pistol and fired two more shots into the sky.
After seeing the citizens "calm down", he stood on the street and said in an unquestionable voice: "Please be quiet, the situation is not that bad. It was our troops at the seaport that were driving away British warships. The enemy wanted to attack them." It's still too early for our Renwell neighborhood, at least until the north and south lines are breached, it will be impossible for the enemy to directly invade the city from the sea."
New Hamburg Port City has two urban areas, relying on the port. And construction, including commercial and military ports, are crowded into the new Hamburg Bay. The topography of New Hamburg Bay (Richard's Bay) is very strange, with a small mouth and a big belly. Therefore, Britain can't even pass the East African forts by relying on the navy. As long as it enters the waterway, it can only become a living target.
So Anderson is sure that the British Navy must be firing at the East African coastal defense artillery in the Indian Ocean now, but he doesn't know if the Navy is currently dispatched.
Anderson is a retired member of the East African Defense Force. Because he now belongs to the police department, there is no need to go to the front line. Of course, this is related to the fact that the New Hamburg Port City needs people who understand military affairs to deploy the city's defense. The New Hamburg Port The city already has measures in place to deal with the possibility of street fighting, and these require guidance from professionals.
Of course, war will bring social disorder, so policemen with military backgrounds like Anderson can also deter negative elements and calm people's hearts.
Just like now, the citizens of Renwell Street have been convinced by Anderson. After all, Anderson is a man who has fought in the war and has seen the world. What he says is enough to convince the public. Of course, the pistol in his hand is also Very convincing.
“Continue working now. If war really comes, there is no safer place than the city. The food outside the city has been collected in advance and brought into the city. There are all daily necessities for us here. There are also rural villagers who have evacuated into the city. "
Generally speaking, in war situations, urban residents flee to rural areas to avoid the threat of war.
But the reason why New Hamburg Port City does the opposite is because New Hamburg Port City and the entire Southern Frontier Province are not the main grain-producing areas in East Africa. Instead, the population is concentrated in towns or in the mines in the west. inside.
When East Africa was originally designed, it was not to develop industry and agriculture on a large scale in the south. The New Hamburg Port City is a special example because of the port.
The industry here is relatively sound, but food is mainly transported from eastern or central East Africa, and compared to Hechingen Province, the industrial and agricultural foundation of Southern Frontier Province is not bad.
So the rural population in the Southern Frontier Province is relatively small, and it can be completely taken over by the New Hamburg Port City, and then the surrounding villages and farmland can be destroyed and the policy of clearing the country can be implemented.
Of course, in order to ensure the food security of the New Hamburg Port City, the East African Railway has begun to fully transport food and other materials to the port city. Together with the city's own reserves, it can guarantee the New Hamburg Port City's food security for at least three years. need.
However, the population of New Hamburg Port City is now mainly composed of women and children. The men in the eastern part of the province have been assigned to various places where needed to receive military training or the construction of peripheral positions in New Hamburg Port City.
The East African government tried to use the New Hamburg Port City as a large military fortress and continued to place it behind the British and Portuguese troops in East Africa to make them fearful.
Of course, the prerequisite for this is that the New Hamburg Port City can be self-sufficient. Basically, except for food, the essence of the Southern Frontier Province is concentrated here, so East Africa must not give up the New Hamburg Port City easily.
New Hamburg Port City will not be isolated and helpless. Even if the surrounding areas fall, the Drakensberg Mountains controlled by the East African Army War can launch a counterattack at any time. However, the army in the west is now held back by the Boer Republic, otherwise Otherwise, the defense pressure on the New Hamburg Port City would not be so great at all.
This is also the current situation in the entire southern East Africa region bounded by the Limpopo River, which mainly serves the mining industry and military.
The war was considered from the beginning. Although the New Hamburg Port City produced less grain, it had a lot of grain stores. Moreover, the Southern Frontier Province was rich in coal, and the New Hamburg Port City was the only outlet to the sea, resulting in a short period of energy here. There will be no shortage of them.
The most important thing is that the harbor conditions of the New Hamburg Port City are relatively special. If Dar es Salaam City faces the Indian Ocean directly, then there will be no need for the New Hamburg Port City to defend itself. It would be too costly and ineffective. Well, it is better to retreat directly to the west of the Drakensberg Mountains and use the Drakensberg natural barrier to resist the coalition attack.
(End of this chapter)