Chapter 761 Angola Chicken Eating Contest
“Benguela must be won, but with the lessons of the last East-Portugal war, I am afraid that Benguela will be more difficult to fight, so we cannot just focus on Benguela. A goal," Helmond analyzed.
Benguela was occupied by East Africa once, so the Portuguese must have a long memory, and this time against the Benguela defenders, there was no cooperation from the brothers, which was also a difficulty for the 421st Division.
As a mobile unit, the 421st Division is not as good as a conventional infantry division in terms of firepower. After all, it is necessary to sacrifice a certain amount of firepower for mobility.
Of course, in the long-term war in Letania Province, the 421st Division has now become less pure. In order to compete with the Portuguese army, the 421st Division also adopted many conventional infantry division tactics.
Moreover, although the firepower of the East African Cavalry Division is insufficient compared to other conventional infantry divisions, it can still crush the Portuguese army.
Portugal's finances make it impossible for them to provide the army with a large number of advanced weapons. However, with the development of the military industry, costs have dropped and output has increased in East Africa, which has been improving the firepower and weapon performance of the army over the years.
Of course, the more important thing is whether to fight "locally". For this premise, if the country next to East Africa is not Angola and Mozambique, but Portugal itself, then the situation of the war may be very different.
Although Portugal is in severe decline, it is not too weak in Europe as a whole, especially its local military industry and East Africa should be able to fight.
However, Portugal’s local military industry is definitely not as good as that of East Africa, because its military and civilian industries are affected by the military industries of external countries. For example, Portugal imports a lot of its army equipment from Germany and France, while its naval equipment is mainly imported from the United Kingdom. .
Under this circumstance, the development of Portugal's military industry will inevitably be hindered, and East Africa's military industry develops in a systematic manner. Portugal is certainly not as systematic as East Africa in this regard.
Obviously, Angola and Mozambique cannot be compared with the Portuguese mainland. Even if the Portuguese mainland is not afraid, East Africa is not afraid, let alone the two colonies.
This may also be the source of the Portuguese's confidence. Fighting in the colonies is very different from that on the mainland. For example, if Spain invades Portugal, it will definitely trigger a struggle among the Portuguese people.
As a colony, Portugal is not afraid of war, but it is not too concerned about it. The most feared thing about war is that it will cause heavy damage to the development of the country, especially in the core areas.
Just like the ancient nomads who moved south at every turn and continued to bleed the Far Eastern Empire, the Far Eastern Empire had no good solution for the grasslands.
East Africa also had this concern before the war began, so it adopted a conservative approach and stabilized the front line first. The overall strategy was to avoid the central industrial provinces from being affected by the war.
After all, East Africa’s opponents have almost no industrial presence in the region. There is no shortage of plantations in East Africa, and there is no shortage of black people in East Africa.
Once the opponent breaks into the central region, it will destroy the industry in East Africa. This is not cost-effective. Therefore, the early East African strategy was very conservative, using defense to consume the enemy's offensive momentum.
However, the offensive and defensive forces are now changing, and East Africa has entered the counter-offensive stage. The enemy is beginning to have trouble keeping track of the enemy, and is tired of dealing with them.
Helmond said: "We want to eat Benguela, and Luanda is also our target. Although Luanda is six to seven hundred kilometers away from our army. But as long as we are fast enough, it is still possible. If we arrive in Luanda before the 331st Division, even if we cannot capture Luanda in a short period of time, the 331st Division will not be able to benefit from our results.”
"Division Commander, this will make our tasks heavier, especially logistics issues. Although long-distance attacks can be achieved, our logistics can easily be cut off."
Helmond: "Luanda and Ben As the most elite place in the Portuguese colony of Angola, Guerra is surrounded by many plantations. Although the Portuguese are not keen on growing food crops, they certainly have a certain amount of food reserves, which is enough for us." "Follow-up. Just wait for the transport team. Of course, if the war can end quickly, we may not have to wait until the logistics crisis breaks out to solve the problem. There will definitely be no shortage of food in Benguela and Luanda.”
In Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where conditions are slightly better, famine is simply not possible.
Especially in very underdeveloped areas like Angola and Mozambique, many of the various wild plants are edible as long as they are selected.
Moreover, Africa has the most wildlife resources. In many parts of East Africa, wild animals have been greatly reduced due to over-exploitation.
This is not the case in the Portuguese territory, so even if there is a food crisis, the East African army can temporarily solve the problem by slaughtering animals.
After all, the East African army is not holding fire sticks, but rifles. This is a complete dimensionality reduction blow to Africa’s wild animals. Lions, hippos, zebras, and wildebeests can all be used to satisfy their hunger. .
Although many East Africans avoid it because of the day-to-day propaganda in East Africa, some can compromise in war situations.
Furthermore, the large number of plantations built by the Portuguese in Angola can also contribute to the supply of materials in East Africa. The Portuguese built large plantations in Angola.
The scale of such plantations can range from tens of thousands of acres to as small as hundreds of acres. Although there are very few Portuguese people, the black people in these plantations all need to eat.
So in the event of an emergency, the rations of these black people can cope with the problem. Of course, if the Portuguese are vulnerable as Helmond said, there will naturally be no food crisis.
Of course, this situation is a small probability event. The Portuguese must be more troublesome in the management of Luanda and Benguela. It is a fortress city like Maputo, so they want to attack the two cities head-on. It does take some work.
Both the 331st Division and the 421st Division want to become fat in one go, and combine their own advantages to plot against Luanda, the capital of the Portuguese colony.
The advantage of the 331st Division is the short distance, while the advantage of the 421st Division is its fast speed. However, the most important thing for the 421st Division is the city of Benguela.
If we successfully capture the city of Benguela, it will be equivalent to living on minimum living security. The achievements of the 421st Division in this war are indispensable. If we can capture the city of Luanda, it will be a complete surprise.
In fact, in addition to the 331st Division and the 421st Division, other brother units also have ideas about Luanda, such as the 414th Division, which is currently fighting the main force of Portugal. Although it is currently delayed in the east, it also has thoughts about Luanda. It is inevitable to win.
Although the 414th Division does not have the advantages of the 331st Division and the 421st Division, if there is enough time, it may be able to join the siege of "Luanda" midway.
What is delaying the 414th Division now is actually not the Portuguese army, but the complex terrain of the Danube Province. In addition, there are many troops around the 414th Division. It is completely possible to share more of the task of encircling and suppressing the Portuguese to friendly forces, and then move toward the Roman Empire. Advance in the direction of Anda.
Except for a few veteran main combat units, the rest of the East African armies also have similar ideas. Even if they cannot all participate, it is still possible to send small groups of troops to rush into the rear of the Portuguese.
All in all, everyone definitely wants to be the first to reach Luanda, which feels like the "Chicken Contest" in Berlin during World War II in the previous life.
(End of this chapter)