Chapter 744 Mentality Adjustment
In fact, under the current situation, the war potential of East Africa has not been fully utilized. For example, East Africa has a sufficient number of reserves that can support the battlefield at any time.
The mentality of the East African government can be understood as not only maintaining the country's normal production activities and social order, but also ensuring the final victory of the war.
When there is no situation on the front line that is not conducive to East Africa, the East African government does not need to expand the scale of the war. Of course, if the war can be ended as soon as possible, it will definitely be the result East Africa wants. But now East Africa is on the defensive, with the purpose of consuming hostile forces. The force's time, energy, troops, morale, ammunition, equipment, etc.
The fundamental reason that drives the General Staff's behavior is that East Africa is actually on the advantageous side in the war. The current war seems to be that the coalition is making rapid progress, and has even gained huge advantages on some fronts.
However, these surrounding areas are all colonies rather than mainland. The Boer Republic is an exception. However, not to mention the small size of the Boer Republic, it is still an agricultural and pastoral country through and through.
So the weapons and equipment of the coalition forces need to be transported from the mainland to the colonies and then replenished to the local army. In contrast, in East Africa, the defense industry is at the rear and can effectively supplement the front line at any time.
Once the momentum of the coalition's attack weakens, East Africa will enter a counterattack state. The occurrence of this situation must be that the coalition has encountered serious problems in personnel and supplies.
Ernst said: "As long as we withstand the first wave of pressure, it means that we have gained an advantage in this war. Of course, this advantage is not a reason for our army to be proud. Don't underestimate the British As for the world's most powerful country, the outcome of the South African war depends on the investment of the British government."
" At present, it seems that the enemy still has great potential for war. The enemy forces on the front line still maintain a high degree of enthusiasm in attacking. At the same time, they have been preparing for war for several years. The enemy's material reserves are also relatively abundant, so we can see that , the current enemy is far from weak, so our overall strategy is still focused on consumption and continuing to bleed the coalition forces. ”
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The British, Portuguese and Boers all suffered losses in East Africa, so they did not cope with the war attitude, but made full preparations. Of course, they also underestimated the war in East Africa. ability.
The current situation of the war in East Africa is far from meeting the psychological expectations of the coalition countries, especially the British Army.
Count Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, frowned at the battle report. He was very dissatisfied with the performance of the coalition forces.
"The results reported by various units are full of 'good news', but except for the direction of the Natal colony, none of them have achieved my strategic goals. Even if there are various victories, how can the enemy's defense line be reached? Nothing has changed yet!”
Except for the Natal colonial garrison, which broke through the Tugela River defense line under the command of Rost, there were basically no major changes in other areas, which made Earl Roberts very dissatisfied.
Of course, the Portuguese Angola colony has achieved good results and has broken through into East Africa. However, the Angolan colonial garrison is completely commanded by Portugal and is not under the command of Count Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.
In response to Roberts' confusion, his subordinates replied: "The East Africans have built strong fortifications on the border, and the weapons and equipment in East Africa also exceed our estimates. According to the current firepower of the East Africans, even if they are placed in Europe I'm afraid I won't lag behind either, so this war The reason for the failure to meet expectations is due to our insufficient acquisition of intelligence about East Africa. "Let us be clear, we did not come to South Africa to fight a war of attrition. Once we fall into a war of attrition, that will indicate our country's goal." Failed from the beginning.”
“East Africa is a fairly closed country, which is also the real reason for the conflict between our country and East Africa. Judging from the area of East Africa alone, it is a large country with an area of nearly 10 million. Minerals, population, industry, agriculture, and markets all exclude Britain. Externally, it is ultimately a battle of interests, but the closed nature of East Africa makes it difficult for our intelligence work to be carried out in East Africa. The war can be said to be the final test of East Africa's national strength, but now it seems that the East Africans' ability to respond to the war is Extremely powerful.”
Earl Roberts has said one of the main reasons for this war. War is actually not a good choice for any country. It is often the last resort after all means fail.
But now East Africa has withstood the pressure of war, which shows that East Africa’s comprehensive national strength far exceeds the estimates of other countries. Judging from the current scale of the war, if it were to deal with Brazil, I am afraid that Brazil would not be able to withstand it long ago. .
However, once the war begins, it will not end easily, especially for the British Army. This kind of war is rare, so the Army must continue the war. Even if it’s not in Britain’s interests.
Although the current direction of the war is beyond Earl Roberts's expectations, it is generally not out of control. It is nothing more than treating East Africa as an opponent like Tsarist Russia and adjusting their mentality.
Before coming to South Africa, Earl Roberts was contemptuous. After all, the world did not know much about East Africa. Even though East Africa was an independent country, everyone still subconsciously classified East Africa as a "colony".
Just like Brazil, although it is nominally independent, its economy is controlled by foreign capital. This is also the effect that the United Kingdom wants to achieve here in East Africa. Even if it is not good, it should be like Tsarist Russia.
Tsarist Russia is considered a big industrial country, but it is also extremely dependent on Western capital. Many of its economic lifelines are in the hands of foreign capital. Of course, compared with countries like Brazil, Tsarist Russia has much greater autonomy. Although some national economies are not Very developed, but in control.
Compared with the two, East Africa is definitely an outlier. East Africa has a high degree of nationalization and has established an overall national economic framework in a short period of time. Although there are many problems, the total volume has increased rapidly. , essentially catering to the current development trend of monopoly companies in the world.
So to deal with the hard backbone of East Africa, Earl Roberts must correct his mentality. This is also what the British and Portuguese armies need. He said: "Now we need more troops and more weapons and equipment. , the war cannot be ended hastily, I do not believe that this country in East Africa has only a few decades of history , relying on its own national strength to withstand the military pressure of two major powers at the same time.”
“Of course, we should also pay attention to the opponent in East Africa. The performance of East Africa has let us know that this country is completely different from the opponents we have fought in the past. No, we don’t know enough about this opponent.”
"The military strength of East Africa cannot be underestimated. Their military industry should be closely related to the German region. Just like the various new equipment appearing on the battlefield, as well as the firepower that does not lag behind Europe, it shows that East Africans are also good at learning. They are not just a closed country in Africa, but have a broad vision, which is particularly obvious in the military."
"This also means that our war strategy in East Africa must be made. To adjust, East Africa should not be treated as a colonial country, but as an opponent comparable to the European military powers."
(End of this chapter)