Chapter 780 Tracking
This time, Schwal's luck finally worked. Less than an hour and a half after Schwal led his men into the jungle, a Portuguese unit arrived at the scene of the incident.
Portuguese commander Howell frowned as he looked at the coast that had been "ruined" by the East Africans. Various footprints were all over the narrow beach.
"How many people did you see coming ashore?" He turned his head and asked behind him.
"Report to Lieutenant, we didn't dare to get close to observe them, so we don't know the number of people who landed in East Africa. However, the enemy has several warships anchored offshore, so there must be a lot of East Africans." Those who found traces of East Africa Squad leader Mordrais answered nervously.
Howell asked impatiently: "Didn't you hide and watch carefully? The dense forest next to here should be a good hiding spot!"
After swallowing, Modres was very surprised. He said nervously: "We just want to convey this news to you as soon as possible. After all, this is a race against time. If we arrive quickly enough, we may be able to stop the East Africans on the coast. Unfortunately, it is still a step too late." . ”
Of course Modrais would not say that he was extremely scared at the time, so running away was the first choice. It would not be good if East Africa captured him.
Seeing the trembling look of his subordinates, Howell cursed: "Trash!"
Modrice accepted the criticism "seriously", but for Modrice Yan definitely puts his own life first.
As for sacrificing one's life for the country, one must first have this concept of the Kingdom of Portugal. It is difficult for all members of the Portuguese army to have a sense of belonging to the Portuguese army, which is even in arrears with daily wages.
Furthermore, the Portuguese army is more like mercenaries. It takes money to do things. Without money, it is difficult to stimulate combat effectiveness. In fact, the Portuguese army's combat effectiveness is not weak now, but it lacks "a little" start-up capital.
And the same thing as in East Africa is that this time the Portuguese also have the characteristic of "defending their homeland". In the early days of the war, Portugal was the aggressor, but now that the war has reached Portugal, it has actually become the invaded party.
However, the "invasion" in East Africa did not inspire the patriotism of the Portuguese soldiers. First of all, the money was not available. Of course, the salary was not the main problem. He was pouring blood and blood on the front line, but his superiors were like "wine in the pond and meat in the forest" and still didn't play a leading role. Why?
Grass-level officers actually have the greatest influence on soldiers. They are the main group of people who directly affect soldiers, but they are also the group most likely to have their filters broken.
Most of the Portuguese grassroots officers have their top beams crooked and their bottom beams crooked. This makes the Portuguese soldiers despise their military commanders and identify themselves as "cannon fodder". Therefore, they are more inclined to save their lives on the battlefield to avoid being fattened. The big-headed and incompetent commander tricked him into death.
The second is that Portugal and Britain were the first to start the war, which made Portuguese soldiers think of themselves as the "invaders" from the beginning. This psychological disadvantage continues to this day.
Of course, it would be great if you could bully the "weak", but the Portuguese happened to encounter a tough situation like East Africa. East Africa did not even count Portugal as part of the coalition's combat effectiveness, because the Portuguese army never Very negative from top to bottom.
The ordinary army collapsed at the first touch. Even the elite could not withstand the superior firepower and artillery strikes of East Africa. The disadvantages of equipment were extremely prominent in the Portuguese army.
Finally, Mozambique is essentially a Portuguese colony, and the main residents living here are indigenous people, which is very different from mainland Portugal.
In the homeland, everyone has family, and the style of most European armies is basically that banditry is worse than soldiers, so in order to avoid being invaded, everyone still has a certain enthusiasm for fighting, but the colony of Mozambique cannot inspire the soldiers' consciousness.
In the eyes of low-level soldiers like Modres, what we come to Mozambique to protect are the "interests of the nobility, large plantation owners, capitalists and mine owners."
With these people Compared with the interests of the Portuguese, life preservation is naturally more important, and the Portuguese also have many negative factors that affect the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army.
Including inadequate training, three days of fishing and two days of drying nets. They often defaulted on basic wages, physically punished soldiers, ate, drank, whored, gambled and took drugs, etc.
So what the Portuguese should be most grateful to is the Spanish. If the Spaniards were not equally "waste", I am afraid Portugal would have perished long ago. Howell looked at the fat-fed Modres, and was so angry that the fat on his body was a little shaken.
But now is not the time to pursue the responsibility. It is most important to solve the major problem in East Africa first. However, looking at the vast virgin forest in the west, Howell was in trouble.
"How big is this forest?" Howell asked.
"It is about seven or eight kilometers long from north to south and about two kilometers wide from east to west." The adjutant said.
After hearing the adjutant's answer, Howell thought for a while and said: "In this way, if it is not too big, it should still be possible to pursue the enemy based on the traces in the forest."
Schwal's troops did not conceal their whereabouts, so they cut a "road" directly in the forest. Of course, this road was just composed of crushed branches and fallen leaves, but it was completely different from the surrounding environment, so Very easy to distinguish.
However, the adjutant still cautiously suggested to Howell: "The forest is a very dangerous terrain. There are a lot of shelters here, which is very suitable for ambushes, so you must be careful."
The adjutant's words reminded Howell that it was indeed not impossible to be ambushed by the enemy. Although this forest was not big, it was entirely possible to use it as a battlefield. Even a division of troops could hide in it.
This made Howell shudder, and he said: "Then what should we do now?"
The adjutant said helplessly to his useless immediate superior: "First send someone to search , if an abnormality is discovered, fire a warning shot immediately, and report the situation to the brigade headquarters. This is not the time to be afraid of being held accountable. If the enemy causes greater losses, then we will all be in misery."
After hearing this, Howell became depressed. In any case, the enemy landed from his defense area this time, and he couldn't get rid of this fault now.
"Is there no remedy?" he asked the adjutant for help.
"Of course there is."
Howell seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and hurriedly asked: "What can we do!"
"That is to turn this shareholder into an army Eliminate it.”
Howell: "Is this the way you said?"
The adjutant nodded and said: "Otherwise! Now the East Africans have entered our rear. They should not have many troops, so they can attack in such a short period of time." Landing within time, and I have observed the situation on the coastline before. There are no large ruts, indicating that the enemy did not carry heavy weapons and livestock dung. This force should be mainly infantry, and there are also traces left on the beaches along the coast. There are not many traces of small boats, and the number of enemies cannot be too large. I estimate that they should be around one regiment."
After hearing the analysis of the professionals, Howell thought it was very reasonable. If so, then this one. The East African troops are the same as our own. If this is the case, what are we afraid of?
"Very good, now that we know the strength of the East African troops clearly, the scouts will open the way first, and we will pursue them in the rear, looking for traces of the East Africans."
Both sides probably only have one regiment of troops. , then Howell is not afraid anymore. Anyway, he is not the one charging forward, and this may also be an opportunity for him to turn defeat into victory and be promoted.
After all, fighting on the mainland should always have some advantages. Even if it really can't resist the East Africans, other Portuguese or British "big brother" troops can also quickly support them.
(End of this chapter)