Chapter 791: The picture shows a dagger
"Hello, Earl Roberts!"
The Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military Region, Laderne, shook hands with this British veteran who had made great achievements in battle.
Facing this East African general who was more than ten years younger than himself, if it were not for this environment, Earl Roberts would definitely admire him very much. However, the painful haze of defeat lingered in Earl Roberts's heart and was difficult to eliminate.
His facial muscles stiffened, and he said helplessly: "Congratulations, you won this time."
Although it is difficult to accept the outcome of the war, East Africa is victorious, and there is no need to say more about the winners and losers.
And this time East Africa defeated the coalition forces in an upright manner, without any opportunistic means, so Earl Roberts only had two words to evaluate this opponent, and that was "terrible".
"Don't be depressed, Mr. Earl. Although the war failed, the blame is definitely not on you. The British army performed very well in the result of this war. The only pity is that there was insufficient preparation and follow-up support was not in place. Therefore, this defeat is not a crime of war, and you have fulfilled the responsibility entrusted to you by history.”
Lyderne comforted that the British army’s record in the South African War was not bad, but the subsequent British war. Due to the unfavorable support from the Portuguese mainland and the mixed forces within the coalition, Earl Roberts was able to lead this team to fight in East Africa for a full year. This, in Laidean's view, was completely worthy of Earl Roberts' previous reputation.
After all, East Africa is a local battle, and all statistics are no worse than the British army, but the number of people is three times that of the British army, so Earl Roberts is not considered a failure.
As for the Portuguese army, the Indian army, and the hastily formed black servant army, in Lederne's opinion, they did not help much in the South African War. Instead, they held back Earl Roberts and the British army at some critical moments, which was beneficial. There are disadvantages, but the merits outweigh the faults.
Of course, Laedern's comfort did not have much effect on Earl Roberts. Earl Roberts clearly knew that the outcome of this war was caused by his several faulty command in the early stages of the war.
In the past, the British army could completely reverse the war with its weapons, equipment and logistical advantages. However, in the South African battlefield, the situation faced by Earl Roberts was completely different from before.
The uniforms of these East African Army troops are not gorgeous, but their combat effectiveness is extraordinary. The East African soldiers wearing gray steel helmets and uniforms show the strength of the world's top military.
There are basically no major errors in army dispatching, which shows that the command system in East Africa is perfect, the morale of the soldiers is high, the spirit is full, the army is built very hard, and various tactics can be applied freely, especially in the later stages of the war, the East African army improved faster , responded to the battlefield situation more smoothly, and made up for the final shortcomings.
All signs indicate that the East African National Defense Force has become the world's strongest army, or it is one of the most powerful armies in the world.
What impressed Earl Roberts the most was the East African Army's application of various new weapons and its complete logistics supply system. This was also an important factor in East Africa's victory, and vice versa.
Although East Africa occupies the home field advantage, this kind of away battle is also the strength of the British army. On the European plains, Constantinople, the Crimean Peninsula, the Abyssinian Empire, India, Afghanistan, Persia, the Far Eastern Empire...the British army has all achieved outstanding results.
Only in the fringe of South Africa was it defeated in the hands of the East African Defense Forces. Therefore, Earl Roberts's impression of the country in East Africa has undergone earth-shaking changes. This is a powerful empire that has completely emerged on the African continent. !
Earl Roberts said to Lederne: "General Lederne, I am deeply impressed by your performance in the war. I don't even feel that you are fighting in Africa, but in Europe, Germany and France, and other top countries in the world. A strong country fights." Lederne: "Your Majesty is too humble. There is no doubt about Britain's strength. This time you They just used a little bit of force. If there is a full-scale war with us, we will definitely not be able to withstand it. As for the countries on the European continent, they are some monsters and are not something we in East Africa can challenge at the moment. They can easily be in dozens. The mobilization potential of millions is far behind in East Africa.”
So far, a total of more than 400,000 troops have been mobilized in East Africa, and the number of troops in the South African battlefield alone has reached 360,000.
If extreme mobilization is carried out, it is not too difficult for East Africa to mobilize more than one million troops, but it is not easy to mobilize so many troops, maintain basic production order and provide sufficient weapons and equipment. This is East Africa. The gap with other top powers.
Just like Britain, if Britain mobilized millions of troops (including colonies), it would be easy and would not have much impact on the domestic economy. During World War II, Germany almost fought the entire world on its own. , but Germany was able to persist for as long as six years, which is almost unimaginable to people today.
In the 19th century, if someone said that Germany could go to war with several other powers at the same time on its own, it would be absolutely fantastic, even if Austria-Hungary was included.
The most similar country to East Africa is Tsarist Russia, but its population is almost two to three times larger, its area is more than twice that of East Africa, and it has a profound foundation. Even so, it is very difficult for Tsarist Russia to mobilize millions of troops, just like many people during World War I. Tsarist Russian soldiers couldn't even find a decent weapon.
Of course the East African National Defense Force is not as "poor" as Tsarist Russia, but the premise is that the East African National Defense Force does not have many troops. Just like now, the number of the East African National Defense Force did not exceed 500,000 during the war. Before that, it only maintained The level of two to three hundred thousand.
So for the same military expenditure, with fewer people sharing it, each soldier can naturally get more in terms of weapons, equipment, and logistics supplies.
It’s just that East Africa did this because East Africa faced relatively few foreign enemies. It is no exaggeration to say that in northern Africa, except for the Ottoman Empire and Egypt, there is no single enemy.
The British in the south can bring a lot of pressure to East Africa, but not much. And none of the countries bordering Tsarist Russia is simple. Needless to say, Germany and Austria, Northern Europe has a lot of history with Tsarist Russia. In this confrontation, even when Sweden was strong, it completely suppressed Tsarist Russia. To the south, the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia were feuding, and further south, Iran and Afghanistan were not easy to mess with.
There is the Far Eastern Empire in the east. Although it was temporarily suppressed, Tsarist Russia was not happy either. The winner of the last war in the Western Region was the Far Eastern Empire.
So looking at the only object that can be "bullied" around Tsarist Russia, the only remaining one is Japan, a small island country. However, Japan's strength has not yet been demonstrated. When the Russo-Japanese War breaks out, Tsarist Russia should understand that this The capabilities of the island country cannot be offset by a Siberian railway.
After chatting for a while, Laidern finally got down to the topic: "Count Roberts, in fact, your main force in the west has not failed. They are still resisting stubbornly near the area centered on São Jorge, so We hope that you can take the initiative to help us persuade them to surrender. Of course, the order from the Governor-General of Mozambique is also important.”
The Mozambique War is not completely over yet. There is still a main force of more than 50,000 coalition forces in the west, mainly British troops. This force has also been a powerful force that has been fighting with the Western Military Region from the beginning of the war to the present. If we want to annihilate them all , East Africa is expected to pay a high price, so using the name of Earl Roberts and the Governor-General of Mozambique to get them to surrender voluntarily is the best result.
(End of this chapter)