Chapter 792 Conditions
“This…”
Ledern’s purpose caught Earl Roberts off guard, and he felt embarrassed, even annoyed. Originally, according to his psychological expectations, the main force in the Western Conference should Already wiped out by East Africans.
After all, from the beginning, Earl Roberts determined that East Africa would first eliminate the main force of the British army in the west, and then continue to move eastward to besiege Shaokui.
This is not unfounded, because from the beginning, Earl Roberts believed that East Africa has a large number of troops, but the specific number is not too clear. The intelligence of this country in East Africa is too difficult to obtain, and the intelligence is insufficient. It was also an important reason for the repeated defeats of the British army.
Moreover, the main force in the west has lost contact with the Shaokui General Headquarters for a long time. This is also an important basis for Earl Roberts to determine that the main force in the west has been eliminated by East Africa.
In fact, the main force of the western coalition forces was completely besieged by East Africa, and there were cavalry troops patrolling the periphery in East Africa to prevent the main force of the British army in the west from escaping eastward. Even if they did escape many obstacles, they would not be able to escape when they arrived in Shaokui. Unable to get in touch with Earl Roberts, Shaokui was also surrounded by East African troops before the war began. It was almost impossible to enter the city of Shaokui from such a large number of troops.
Seeing that Earl Roberts was in a dilemma, Laidern said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to feel guilty, because although your troops in the west were not completely wiped out by our army, they were also defeated by our army with equal strength. Trapped, and as long as our troops in Shaokui advance westward, it will be easy to destroy them, and we don’t even need to do anything. In a short time, they will be defeated by the supply of supplies. We were forced to surrender due to insufficient supplies. We just want to end this war as soon as possible.”
Laderne directly revealed the flaw in liaison with the main force in the west. Originally, as East Africa advanced westward, the coalition’s western military region lost its position. The city fell into the ground, and a large amount of supplies could not be brought to São Jorge due to time issues, and East Africa blocked the access to supplies from the east, so in the end they could not escape the grasp of East Africa.
After listening to Laidun's words, Earl Roberts said helplessly: "Okay, your reasons have convinced me, but I would like to know if there are other places where our military strength is apart from the west?"
Although it is unlikely, Earl Roberts still hopes from the bottom of his heart to have more staunch "patriotic" troops like the main force of the Western Allied Forces.
Leideen said regretfully: "No, your western troops were not annihilated by our army immediately due to special reasons, because they had too many people, strong combat effectiveness, and the importance of Saint-Jorge. Far inferior to Shaokwe and Maputo in the rear, so I just left enough troops to be trapped. Stop them."
After a pause, Laidern continued: "As for the coalition forces in other directions, to put it bluntly, they do not pose much of a threat to East Africa, so they will either be wiped out. Or surrender voluntarily.”
I knew this was the result! Earl Roberts thought in his heart that the main force of the coalition forces in the west was Roberts' effort. From the beginning, the west was the main offensive direction formulated by Earl Roberts, so Earl Roberts deployed a large number of troops and elite coalition forces in the west.
At the same time, the Western Coalition Forces have been fighting with the Western Military District on the border with Mozambique in Matabele Province and Hechingen Province in East Africa since the beginning of the war.
It was also the coalition force that Lederne hated most. It initially put great pressure on the eastern defense line in East Africa. Later, with the support of the rear troops, it switched from offense to defense.
So the person in East Africa who knows the Western Allied Forces best happens to be Lederne, the top military commander of the Western Military Region of East Africa.
The other directions, especially the northern coalition forces, are completely secondary forces of the coalition forces. The purpose from the beginning is to slow down the attack launched from the north in East Africa. Facts have proved that this is also the case. When the Eastern Military District and the Northern Military District When two cavalry divisions appeared on the banks of the Limpopo River north of Shaokwe City, it meant that the northern coalition forces had been completely lost.
The southern coalition army is slightly better. It can evacuate to Maputo or the Natal colony at the beginning. It is second only to the main force of the western coalition force and its strength is almost the same as that of the Saukui garrison. Therefore, many of them were in the late war. Escape to Cape Town to escape the spotlight. As for those running towards Maputo, they have long been dealt with by the East African Defense Forces together with the city of Maputo.
After completely losing confidence in the war, Earl Roberts said to Laderne dejectedly: "I can write a letter to ask the western army to surrender to your army, but you must also ensure their safety, and it is best to provide sufficient food and medicine. , Malaria is rampant in the coalition forces now, I hope it won’t cause you any trouble.”
During his time in South Africa, Roberts was very uncomfortable. Disease was one of the biggest problems. Of course, dealing with malaria is actually very difficult. The British army was not too panicked.
Especially British people like Earl Roberts, who have been in India for a long time, are very familiar with malaria. This is the main reason why the British focus on transferring troops from India to the South African battlefield.
Of course, the value of Africa cannot be compared with that of India. Although they are both malaria-stricken areas, India is a mature land that has been developed for thousands of years and gave birth to ancient Indian civilization. As for the African continent, apart from It was really difficult for other parts of the Gold Coast to attract the attention of other countries.
In response to Earl Roberts's request, Laidern fully agreed: "This is natural. We in East Africa still value the lives of your soldiers very much, and naturally we will not let them die in vain on the battlefield."
Now every British soldier in Mozambique is an important hostage in East Africa's future "blackmail" of the British government, so East Africa attaches great importance to the safety of British soldiers.
Although the cost will be much higher in this way, East Africa can still afford it, but Lederne also emphasized: "Of course you'd better seek help from China at the same time. After all, we can't guarantee that East Africa Can the medicine be effective? ”
东. I’m not sure and I’m not just being taken advantage of. Although the output of quinine is not small, it can basically only meet the domestic demand in East Africa. After all, East Africa did not consider the possibility of capturing a large number of coalition soldiers at the beginning. As for other drugs, the effect is far better than that of other drugs. Quinine is better, but the advantage is that it is cheap and has a large output.
In fact, malaria within the coalition is not too serious anymore. The coalition soldiers who have been able to stay in Africa until now may have already developed resistance.
So some drugs in traditional Chinese medicine that can improve immunity can solve most of the problems of the British army. The most important ones are hygiene and environment. There is no need to correct this in East Africa. Anyway, prisoner of war camps have strict regulations. The system can help coalition prisoners get rid of their bad habits.
Of course, these conditions almost only apply to British troops and some Portuguese prisoners, such as Indians, Portuguese mixed-bloods, and blacks. Otherwise, the cost in East Africa would be too high.
The British and Portuguese governments will not pay for these "waste", so when it comes to the disposal of these people, East Africa mainly "treats" them with the same treatment as the native black people. To put it simply, they have no human rights.
Earl Roberts has nothing to do with Laidun's Xiao Jiujiu. He only needs to be responsible for the safety of his own people, and that is enough. Even the mistreatment of British soldiers is not a problem. As long as he can return to the country alive, he will be the same. A little more "peace of mind".
As for the Indian troops brought here this time, to be honest, he wouldn’t feel bad even if they all died. Of course, some Indians must not be ignored,
(End of Chapter)