Chapter 779 Successful Landing
Schwal's luck can only be said to be quite satisfactory, because the actions of the East African Navy were still discovered by the Portuguese. As a senior soldier, it is impossible for Count Roberts to relax his attention to the enemies on the sea.
For a while, the East African Navy's shelling of Mozambique ports further strengthened the ideas of Earl Roberts and other coalition commanders.
So the East African Navy and the coalition scouts collided, and the Navy also reported this situation to Schwal.
"Lieutenant Schwal, our observers discovered a coalition team while on the lookout. They should have discovered our traces. Do you want to abandon this mission?"
Although the naval ships in the New Hamburg Port are not large, they are still very likely to be recognized in offshore waters. Moreover, there are very few merchant ships taking the East African route at this time, and there are even fewer such large-scale fleets. Commercial ships with this strength The fleet generally does not pay the tolls of the Suez Canal, so there is no need to take the risk of taking a detour through the East African route.
Of course, there are actually quite a few ships taking the East African route. Except for British ships, East Africa will focus on checking whether there are "contrabands". Most of the time, ships from other countries will be released directly in East Africa. Pass.
At present, the countries that take the most routes to East Africa are French and Austro-Hungarian ships. France is because of the existence of Madagascar. At the same time, the United Kingdom may also have placed an order with France to transport ships that are inconvenient to send to Mozambique. "Goods", East Africa knows this very well, but it is impossible for East Africa to offend the British and then offend the French.
As for the merchant ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many of them were East African vests. They were operated by the Hechingen Ocean Trading Company. Some of the merchant ships were renamed. In addition, there were also many Arab merchant ships, mainly for trade.
East Africa is truly a "big land and rich in resources", with a lot of resources. Moreover, because of the development of East Africa, the productivity of the original region has been greatly improved, so it is difficult for people to give up this "fat meat". Or simply cannot give up, especially for Omani businessmen.
Now that "Zanzibar" has completely become the territory of East Africa, the Arabs of Zanzibar have also chosen to "recognize their ancestors and return to their roots" and return to the embrace of the Sultanate of Oman.
However, the trade relations established between East Africa and them are becoming more and more stable, which has also boosted the current Omani economy.
The Zanzibaris who restored Omani nationality were either nobles, merchants or craftsmen. Because they were originally the ruling class in Zanzibar, when they returned to Oman, in addition to increasing Omani talent, there were also a large number of Money, the most important thing is business channels.
Now Oman has become an economic transit point affiliated with East Africa. There are Omani businessmen in all Arab countries actively promoting East African goods.
And East Africa can also adjust its domestic production status according to the import needs of the Omanis. For example, the camel breeding industry has re-emerged in the pastures of northern East Africa, and the city of Mombasa has become the center of East Africa's camel exports.
There is also the spice crop clove, which is very popular in Europe and Arabia. The East African coast and Zanzibar Island have always been the production areas of the best quality, and this is the traditional clove growing area in Arabia.
East Africa's "dove occupying the magpie's nest" behavior has not received much resistance. It is because of East Africa's "generosity" that the two parties have a cooperative relationship.
Of course, the most important thing for Schwal now is not to think about trade issues, but whether to continue to implement the landing plan.
But after just thinking for a moment, Schwarz firmed up his belief and said: "Major General Bruce, I'm sorry to bother you! I still decided to land the troops here."
Bruce reminded kindly: "It was originally a different system, but I still want to persuade you. Now there is a high probability that we will be discovered by the coalition forces, and there is still a few hundred meters from here to the coast. Even if you don't carry heavy equipment, I'm afraid it will take at least three round trips. Only then can all the troops be sent ashore.
After such a long time, I am afraid that reinforcements from the Football Federation Army have arrived. In that case, you may face the risk of annihilation. Your mission is inherently risky, so there is no need to risk your life to carry it out. You can completely give up this mission. tasks. "
Regarding Major General Bruce's statement, Schwal knew very well that if there was a better choice, he would definitely not take this risk. He asked: "Major General Bruce, this is about 50 kilometers away from the coast of Bangkok, where the coalition forces are stationed. How far? ”
Bangkok Chi is the defense line set up by the coalition forces in the south of Maputo to prevent the invasion of East Africa. There is actually no terrain obstacle from New Hamburg Port City to Maputo.
There are large areas of water around Bangkok that can be used, which is similar to the lakes on the Crimean Peninsula. Bangkok is surrounded by large lakes and rivers, so using Bangkok can effectively hinder the attack in East Africa
Regarding Schwal's question, Rear Admiral Bruce answered very clearly: "It's about thirty-five kilometers, and it's probably more than seventy kilometers to Maputo."
The East African Navy's research on the Mozambique coastline is naturally It was very clear, so Major General Bruce could easily give the approximate distance.
Moreover, this landing site has been chosen by the navy and army long ago. The water conditions here near Maputo are the most suitable for landing operations. The reason why Schwarz will naturally explain it next.
"That's right. The distance from here to Bangkok is indeed not long, but even if the Portuguese and British are as well-trained as our army, they can walk up to forty kilometers in that day. It will take at least half a day for their reinforcements to arrive here from Bangkok. This time is enough for us to get ashore."
"Of course this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the coastline on the map cannot be reached. There is a forest just a hundred meters away, and we can all see the lush landscape on the opposite side, which is very suitable for my small force to hide.”
Schwal's confidence lies in the large areas of virgin forest near the coast. On the east side of the Drakensberg Mountains, rainfall is very abundant and there are a lot of forest resources.
In this environment, as long as Schwarz is fast enough, they can take advantage of this loophole and penetrate into the enemy's rear.
"Of course, the premise is that there is no ambush by the coalition forces, but I think this possibility is very small. After all, it is impossible for the coalition forces to obtain the intelligence of our landing operation." Schwal said.
After all, dense forests are very suitable for coalition ambush, and this cannot be confirmed from the ship in East Africa. The reason why the coalition scouts can be found is because of the coastal beaches.
Listening to what Schwal said, Major General Bruce also felt that the feasibility of it was very high. He said: "If you think so, then let's get started! I'm afraid the coalition scout just now has tipped you off. Better pray there are no coalition troops stationed nearby.”
"No problem." Schwal said. This was another gamble, but Schwal thought the chance of success was very high this time.
Soon with the cooperation of the navy, Schwal's regiment began to land. The navy lowered the lifeboats and boats into the sea, and the army boarded the ship, first with personnel and then equipment.
After an hour of hard work, all the Schwal troops came ashore, and they were lucky enough to find no trace of the enemy for the time being, which meant that there were no coalition troops nearby.
Of course, the footprints of the coalition scouts are still left on the coast. Through Schwal's observation, they should usually patrol along the beach along the coast, but today there is a series of footprints in the same dense forest, which shows that Before Schwar's troops came ashore, these scouts chose to escape from the forest. After all, there were no bunkers on the coast, and they did not dare to gamble on the physical strength and marksmanship of the East Africans.
(End of this chapter)