Chapter 749 Going South
These are all understandable. After all, sea power and land power countries have different priorities. East Africa currently attaches much more importance to the army than the navy.
Although the East African reserve army is not as large as the army powers in Europe, it is not comparable to the reserves temporarily recruited from the UK.
The British standing army only has a few hundred thousand, and the mainland and India account for the vast majority. The standing army certainly cannot be deployed in large numbers on the South African battlefield. After all, it must always be alert to changes in the situation in Europe or to ensure the security of various colonies.
So the British troops under Earl Roberts are not elite at all. Most of them are reserve forces or temporarily recruited from the country.
Although East Africa has temporarily added about 100,000 reservists to serve in the army, many of the reservists in East Africa have military experience. Although they have not fought in any big battles, they have a lot of experience. Even some recruits have experienced long-term military service. training, which is embodied in the compulsory education system in East Africa.
……
Zambezi Defense Line.
It did not take much effort for East Africa to break through the Zambezi River, because the number of coalition forces on the other side of the Zambezi River was very small, and it was simply not enough to support the confrontation with the East African Army.
"Currently, our army has a total of four divisions moving south, including the newly formed 221st Division. The 221st Division is affiliated with the Northern Military Region, and the other three divisions are affiliated with the Eastern Military Region, including those stationed in the Lake Malawi Industry The 111th Division in the district, the 112th Division in the original Zambezi River Defense Line, and the 122nd Cavalry Division in Dodoma," said Rosenwell, commander of the 112th Division.
The 112th Division was originally established in East Africa as the main force for the defense line of the Rufuma River. Later, after the first East-Portuguese War, the border between East Africa and the Portuguese colony of Mozambique advanced southward to the Zambezi River line, so the 112th Division's station also followed. moved south.
So this military operation against Mozambique was mainly hosted by the 112th Division, an old rival of the Portuguese.
Douglas, commander of the 111th Division, said: "In fact, the cavalry is not suitable for fighting in southern Mozambique. It is the rainy season in Mozambique at this time. Although Mozambique has a large number of plains, they are divided by rivers and forests, so the cavalry is not as good as The infantry is more flexible. "
"Now is not the time to be picky. Other areas do not have the conditions for cavalry support. Originally, the 221st Division and the 122nd Division were prepared to provide support. The central battlefield is in a stalemate, so the staff sent two cavalry divisions to the north.
And don’t use the road conditions in East Africa to speculate on the road conditions in Mozambique. If you are stationed there all year round. East If you are not on the border with Mozambique, you will know that the road conditions in Mozambique are simply a piece of shit. Although such road conditions are very disadvantageous for the cavalry, the infantry will not have an easy time. On the contrary, the ships are very suitable for transportation. "Rosenwell. said.
"The Zambezi River also has many tributaries downstream, but we don't have enough ships, so even if we break through the Zambezi defense line, it will be difficult to march within the area. These Portuguese are simply lazy. They have not been able to do so for hundreds of years. I don’t know if we can build more roads, even the simplest mud roads, it won’t cause us any trouble.”
The biggest difficulty that hinders the East African Army from moving south is the road conditions in Mozambique. In fact, there were no roads in East Africa at the beginning. During the period of major infrastructure construction, the road conditions were not necessarily that good.
But East Africa is mainly grassland. Although Mozambique also has a savanna climate, the rain and vegetation are much stronger than those in the East African plateau, and there are correspondingly more rivers.
So after the East African Defense Force entered Mozambique, they clearly felt the pain of the German army entering the Soviet Union in the previous life. This harsh traffic environment relieved the pressure on Count Roberts to a certain extent.
Of course, this cannot be the reason for the East African Defense Force to stagnate. In fact, the German army also faced the problem of poor road conditions in the previous life, but their early advance was not slow at all. "Our army should arrive at the line of the Pungue River in Mozambique within a week. At present, the main force of the Mozambican coalition is mainly contained in the west. This is a good time for us to go south." Rosenwell said.
Douglas: "If you want to completely annihilate the Mozambican army that blocked us before, you should advance this time by a day or two. I think marching forty kilometers a day should be a more appropriate progress. The Zambezi River is about 10 miles away from Peng. The Guihe River is about two hundred kilometers long, so more than thirty kilometers a day is too Slow down, I’m afraid the enemies will all run back to Antonio by then!”
Rosenwell advanced the time again: “The Mozambican army is more familiar with the terrain than we are, so we may waste more time on the road. Therefore, without affecting the combat effectiveness, it is best for us to control Peng in four days. Once we have control of the north bank of the Punggui River, we can cut off the connection between the Portuguese and the north of the Punggui River, catch turtles in a jar, and at the same time rest on the north bank of the Punggui River. ”
“ This is basically the limit of general army marching, but it can really be tested like this only for infantry. The more important thing to consider is the whereabouts of our two cavalry divisions. The cavalry division should play a greater role."
"So this time the 122th Cavalry Division should play a role. Their rapid mobility may be able to do so. Intercept the enemy in advance and eliminate risks in advance.”
Rosenwell also carefully considered why he chose the 122nd Division as the vanguard. The 122nd Division is a veteran cavalry unit in East Africa. It has participated in many battles and has rich combat experience.
This war is operating in enemy territory. The East African National Defense Force lacks understanding of Mozambique. In fact, let alone East Africa, I am afraid that the Portuguese are not too familiar with the Mozambique colony.
In this case, old units like the 122nd Division are more experienced and can deal with danger more calmly even if they encounter danger in Mozambique, while the 221st Division of the Northern Military Region lacks relevant background.
In fact, the mission of the 221st Division in Mozambique this time is to support the Eastern Military Region, rather than undertake the main combat mission. After all, the 221st Division was established too short ago, and it must first run in on the battlefield for a period of time, which is even later. The formed 222nd Division is still training in the Northern Military Region and has not even had the opportunity to touch the battlefield.
After formulating the combat plan, the East African Army showed the enemy the large-scale strategic march speed in East Africa for the first time, and the troops of four divisions quickly advanced towards the rear of Mozambique.
The 122nd Division, as the vanguard, captured the Portuguese blocking force that had previously evacuated from the south bank of the Zambezi River the next day and severely damaged it. Then the 2nd Brigade of the 112th Division joined the battle and annihilated the main force of the Portuguese army. , only a small number of Portuguese troops fled.
But no matter how fast they ran, they could not beat the four-legged horses. The 122nd Division, which completed the combat mission, arrived at the front line of the Penggui River in only two days and conducted a blockade along the Penggui River.
Subsequently, other East African troops began to play hide-and-seek with the Portuguese defeated army north of the Pungui River. These remaining Portuguese troops were powerless even if they wanted to fight against East Africa, and more Portuguese troops took the initiative to surrender to East Africa.
As of late June 1888, the original 20,000 Portuguese troops (including blacks) on the north bank of the Punque River were completely wiped out by East Africa. Of course, the Portuguese army also had many "missing personnel", especially black deserters.
It is basically difficult to find these missing persons. Most of them are black people who took the opportunity to break away from Portugal. Mozambique is vast and sparsely populated, and it is impossible for East Africa to go deep into various places to search carefully. We can only wait until the war is over. When developing Mozambique, uncover these hidden populations.
(End of this chapter)