Chapter 764 Plan Adjustments
On September 1, 1888, the 421st Division arrived in Luanda first. However, facing the well-prepared Luanda garrison, it was difficult for the 421st Division to open up the situation.
However, on September 3, the 421st Division, which got rid of the obstruction of the local indigenous people, also arrived in Luanda. The successful meeting of the two sides in Luanda basically meant that the Portuguese rule in Angola was shaken.
After combining the current situation, the 331st Division and the 421st Division reached a willingness to cooperate. The 331st Division was responsible for the main attack, while the 421st Division was responsible for intercepting the Portuguese army that attempted to return to Luanda. Both sides gave full play to their own advantages in order to attack Luanda. victory.
The 331st Division has a much greater advantage than the 421st Division in terms of heavy weapons. This is one of the important reasons why the 331st Division arrived in Luanda later than the 421st Division.
The large number of cavalry units of the 421st Division can ambush and encircle the returning Portuguese troops, giving full play to their mobility advantages. Even if East Africa cannot capture Luanda in a short time, they can still use Luanda to achieve "encirclement and reinforcements".
Of course, the 421st Division itself still has considerable firepower. After discussing with Custer, all the artillery of the two armies were concentrated together and utilized, so that they could compete with Luanda's. Compared with firepower.
At the same time, other forces in East Africa are also exerting pressure on the frontline Portuguese army. Now the main Portuguese force is actually "surrounded" by East Africa in reverse.
The important ports in Angola, Luanda, Benguela, and Cabinda, have all been surrounded by East Africa. This means that the Portuguese army’s retreat is blocked, and there is an East African army in pursuit. The current situation is difficult for Portugal to change.
The key point is Luanda. Luanda can also contact the outside world, including obtaining local material and personnel support, so Luanda is Portugal's only hope now.
If Luanda fell, it would basically declare that Portugal's military defeat in Angola was inevitable, as the political, military, economic and foreign trade center of the Angola colony.
The besieged Luanda area is like a hostage strangled by gangsters. As long as the two East African troops "twist" Luanda's head off, the rest of Angola's troops will be at the mercy of East Africa.
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Everything is going well in the western battlefield, but it has not fully achieved the goals of the General Staff. The main reason is that the time consumed in the western battlefield was beyond East Africa's expectations.
The last time East Africa attacked Angola, it was carried out lightly, and all the troops were free to use their hands and feet. At that time, Portugal's military strength in Angola was very weak, so it was easy to succeed.
But now the situation has changed. East Africa has qualitatively improved in terms of numbers and equipment, but the Portuguese have made great progress, and although the Portuguese's human sea tactics did not change the battlefield situation, they greatly delayed East Africa's time.
Sweite: "Although the implementation of the Western Front is currently progressing smoothly, too much time has been wasted. More troops have not taken advantage of our army's ability to cut through the mess quickly during the last East-Portuguese War. Instead, the entire The war system is more complex. Of course, such tactics also have their advantages. The main thing is to more securely avoid the impact of the war on the inland areas of our country.”
The biggest concern in East Africa about this war has actually been the invasion of the industrial belt in East Africa by the coalition forces, and now there are two battlefields in the east and west. , after obtaining a large number of additional troops, this problem was temporarily solved.
Especially in the eastern battlefield, East Africa has added a large number of troops like the western front. However, the eastern front faces the British-Portuguese coalition, so it is impossible to launch a comprehensive counterattack against Mosangak like the western front battlefield.
So East Africa’s industrial investment in the three central provinces, including Matabele Province, actually became the reason why East Africa turned its back on the rat during the South African War.
Of course, even if he had to start over, Ernst would still choose to build the industrial system in the three central provinces because the development of East Africa is too unbalanced.
Before the industrial development of Matabele Province, the East African economy was dominated by the eastern region, and the only natural advantage of the east was the port.
In addition, early investment will yield early results. If you wait until the East African industry is completely finalized before developing the central region, you may not be able to correct it. Historical experience tells Ernst that the greater the first-mover advantage, the harder it will be for latecomers. To catch up and surpass. And according to Ernst's overall thinking, he still hopes for balanced development in all parts of East Africa. Of course, according to the national conditions of East Africa, this whole mainly refers to all the plateau areas in East Africa.
As a tropical country, the plateau is more livable. This cannot be changed in East Africa. The distribution of the plateau in East Africa is relatively balanced, from south to north and from east to west. This has Conducive to risk sharing in East Africa.
"Chief of General Staff, the current western battlefield has disrupted our implementation and deployment, but our army's results in the southern battlefield are pretty good. Just on the 20th of last month, our army captured Bloemfontein. Now the southern battlefield It has completely entered a state of public security warfare, mainly to deal with small-scale Boer attacks."
Sweite asked: "Has the entire Orange River line been captured?"
" According to the frontline battle report, the Southern Military District had approached the north bank of the Orange River five days ago, and now the Boers and British troops are withdrawing to the Eastern Cape."
Sweet: "Send a report to the Southern Military District. Let them control the north bank of the Orange River as soon as possible. I only give them one week.”
The changes in the southern battlefield made Sweet realize that this is an opportunity, that is, to let the main force of the southern military region advance eastward. , retaking the eastern part of the Southern Frontier Province, and cooperating with the defenders of the New Hamburg Port City to restore the Central Railway.
The combat effectiveness of the Southern Military District is relatively strong among the military districts in East Africa. Because it has been facing the Transvaal people, an enemy with a hatred of destroying the country, it maintains a state of armament all year round.
The war against the Boers in the Southern Military Region also illustrates this battle. The knife in the Southern Military Region is still very sharp. After all, the Boers have a stronger will to fight than the British army.
The individual combat effectiveness can be said to be second only to the Gurkha mercenaries in the coalition. The only thing is that their background is too weak. Not to mention compared with the British army, even the Portuguese army is better than the Boers. Rich and wealthy.
No matter how bad Portugal’s finances are, there are still some industries, but the Boers can only live in agriculture and animal husbandry, and the conditions of the original Orange Free State are actually far worse than those of the original Transvaal Republic, and so many people have been squeezed in population and experienced a civil war.
So the Boers fought with East Africa with "full of passion". Unfortunately, due to East Africa's absolute superiority in military strength and weapons and equipment, the Boers failed to complete the task of "defending their homeland and country".
East Africa's vigilance against the Boers has never dissipated. After all, the people of the Transvaal Republic have been shouting the slogan of "restoration". This is also the reason why the annual per capita military expenditure of the Southern East African Military Region remains at the highest level except for the Guards Division.
Although the Boers still choose to resist, they only need to drive the main force of the Boers to the south bank of the Orange River.
The native Boers of the Orange Free State can only be left at the mercy of East Africa, so that the Southern Military District can deploy troops to regain the Southern Frontier Province.
Of course, for the sake of safety, Sweet's goal is only to regain the entire southern border province first, and the decisive battle against the main force of the coalition forces needs to be considered in the long term.
After all, the border between East Africa and Cape Town is too long, and the Southern Military District must maintain a certain strength to prevent the British troops in Cape Town from rushing to support the eastern battlefield.
Although the defense pressure in East Africa has been greatly reduced after seizing the Orange River, it does not mean that we can rest easy. According to the predictions of the East African military before the war, even if it relies on the Orange River, East Africa needs to retain at least 20,000 troops for defense. Cape Town.
The annexation of the Orange Free State does not mean the end of the war in the region. At least more than 10,000 people must be reserved to deal with the Boer guerrillas. Plus other areas, the entire south The military region must retain at least 40,000 troops to deal with emergencies.
(End of this chapter)