Chapter 777 Christmas Offensive
Eastern Defense Line.
The Eastern Line of Defense is the area in Matabele Province in East Africa and part of Hechingen Province that borders Mozambique.
However, with the operations of the Eastern Military Region, the activity space of the British and Portuguese troops in Mozambique has been compressed in northern East Africa. The loss of northern land has also made the eastern defense line continue to shorten.
The forces of the Western Military Region of East Africa are also more concentrated in Hechingen Province. After the fall of Angola, the main forces of the Western Military Region in Angola and the Nile Military Region also successively sent support to the Eastern Defense Line.
At present, the total strength of the entire Eastern Defense Line has reached 130,000, but the Eastern Defense Line is nearly one-third shorter than before the war began. East Africa has begun to gain a strength advantage against the British and Portuguese coalition forces on the Eastern Defense Line.
Of course, the strength advantage does not include the absolute advantage in quantity, but in terms of quality. The combat effectiveness of the East African National Defense Force is naturally not comparable to the "weak chickens" like the Portuguese, so East Africa estimates the strength of the coalition forces At that time, it was more inclined to use the British army as a reference, while the Portuguese, blacks and Indians were all bonuses.
It's not that East Africa looks down on the Portuguese. The main reason is that the Portuguese's combat effectiveness level is very uneven, but overall they are still in the poor ranks and are only suitable for fighting with the wind.
It’s just that compared to the Portuguese, Indian soldiers would hold back their allies even when fighting against the wind, which is comparable to a replica of Italy during World War II.
And what is similar to Italy is that Indians are also "foodies" in the coalition forces. Now most of the food in the coalition forces has been taken care of by Indian cooks. Indians are indeed better than Portugal and the United Kingdom in the field of cooking. Much.
As for the British who are good at dark cuisine, they are not at the bottom of the coalition. Although British dark cuisine is unpalatable, there are also representative dishes such as fish and chips. The Mozambican natives have no concept of "food culture" at all, and they only know the most. Basic roasting and boiling, if the aboriginal cooking is basically a pot of rotten stew.
Except for the "cooking skills" of Indians who are far ahead among the coalition forces, the biggest role of Indian soldiers in the army now is to maintain service work. As for combat tasks, Earl Roberts is afraid that he will be angered to death.
The total number of British troops in Mozambique is currently close to one hundred thousand, so the strength of the Eastern Defense Line in East Africa has a numerical advantage for the British army.
This does not include the Eastern and Southern Military Regions. The Eastern Military Region, the Southern Military Region and other troops add up to nearly 100,000 people. This is almost the majority of the East African Army.
With the exception of the Northern Military District and the Nile Military District, all the main forces in East Africa participated in the South African War. The reason why the Nile Military District and the Northern Military District did not go all out was to prevent the British invasion of Egypt and British Somaliland. army, and to prevent the British from invading the interior of East Africa from the northern seas.
…
Giani.
On the border of Hechingen Province, it is an important town on the Eastern Defense Line of East Africa, on the right side of the Limpopo River. In the past, the East African Defense Forces were mainly located in Matabele Province on the left bank of the Limpopo River.
However, as the Mozambique colony continued to be eroded, the garrison of Matabele Province in East Africa continued to move to the southern Province of Hechingen.
The original Giyani was just a wilderness, but it was forcibly built into a "military city" by the East African Defense Forces, and at the same time became the wartime headquarters of the Eastern Defense Line of the Western Military Region.
There are nearly 60,000 East African troops stationed in Giyani and surrounding areas alone, while the current number of troops in Matabele Province has dropped to less than 30,000. Opposite Matabele Province is the southern part of the 221st Division's river crossing point, which is a large area of primitive grassland. The degree of development is too low and there is a lack of water sources, so the coalition forces are not many. Correspondingly, the number of troops deployed on the border in East Africa is much smaller.
To the south of Giyani is the Drakensberg Mountains. This is why Giyani has become the new center of the Eastern Defense Line in East Africa. Going south is not suitable for large group operations.
As the Eastern Military Region fired its first shot, the Western Military Region, which was the main force in the Mozambique war, was naturally not to be outdone and began to attack the coalition forces at 8 pm on the 12th.
“The 331st Division and the 421st Division were the main forces that participated in the Angola War. The 331st Division once participated in the war in the Transvaal. This return to South Africa can be said to be a return to the old place.” Eastern Defense Line Commander-in-Chief Lederan said to Commander Karls of the 331st Division.
As a mountain division, the 331st Division originally attacked the Boers and Zulu southward along the Drakensberg Mountains, and Giyani happened to be the place where the 331st Division participated in the battle. If you are an old man of the 331st Division, you will be familiar with this place. Of course I feel some intimacy.
The reason why Lederne attaches great importance to the 331st Division is not only because of its "long history" and strong combat effectiveness, but also because it belongs to the Nile Military Region. The Nile Military Region belongs to the guest army, and the rest of the troops are from the Western Military Region.
Kars: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, our division will definitely live up to expectations in this war, especially in the former Kingdom of Swaziland, which is where our division has fought, so I hope you will allow our division to participate. Battle of Maputo."
< br>Of course there is Karls’ little calculation here. Everyone knows that the sun is setting in Mozambique now, so in order to gain military exploits, there is naturally no more valuable battle than conquering Maputo first. If the British army’s top military commander, Earl Roberts, can be captured alive That's even better.
Leideen is not a narrow-minded person and has no prejudice. He said to Karls: "Of course there is no problem, but in this case, you will have to act with the 411th Division. Now in Mbabane The main defender is the 411th Division. Just like you worked with the 421th Division to capture Luanda, I hope you can cooperate sincerely this time and be the first to break through Maputo.”
The 411th Division is the main division of the Western Military Region. As for the 331st Division's old partner, the 421st Division, Lederne has other plans. The 421st Division is a cavalry unit, so it is naturally impossible to go to the mountains of Swaziland to cooperate with the 331st Division.
Lederne intends to put the 421st Division in charge of the northern plains battlefield, which is the home ground of the cavalry, and as the only cavalry unit in the Western Military Region, the 421st Division is regarded by Lederne as the "largest cavalry force" in the Western Military Region. Killer weapon".
At first, Lederne placed the 421st Division in Angola in order to interfere with the Portuguese's eastward advance to the maximum extent with the minimum number of troops. Later, the 421st Division completed the task brilliantly, although the siege methods were somewhat inferior. , but on the plains, he was completely reaping the death of the enemy. Thinking of his deployment, Delian thought, what will Merk compare with him this time!
......
Of course Merk, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Military Region, does not know what his old friend is thinking. Now he is thinking about how to conquer Maputo.
The Southern Military Region has a very obvious geographical advantage. Among the various armies in East Africa, it is closest to Maputo. However, it is a pity that Maputo is the most fearful of the New Hamburg Port City and the surrounding East African armies.
“The terrain between New Hamburg Port and Maputo is narrow, so if we forcefully break through, we will definitely pay huge casualties. This is not something we can afford. In this case, we can only take a detour through the mountainous areas in the west. Or use the navy to bypass the Maputo garrison in the middle. "
Merck ultimately planned to adopt roundabout tactics. Of course, the advantage of the New Hamburg Port City is the deployment of a naval squadron, but even if I am afraid that the navy cannot transport too many troops, so Merk plans to divide the troops into three parts. One part will detour from the Swaziland area, one part will detour from the sea, and the last one will be a frontal attack force. A three-pronged approach will surely break through Portugal. Line of defense.
On December 12, various troops and military regions in East Africa launched a large-scale military operation against Mozambique. According to the plan of the General Staff Headquarters, this battle was to eliminate the main force of Mozambique before Christmas, so it was called Offensive for Christmas.
(End of this chapter)