Chapter 733 Besieged on all sides
The navy currently cannot play a leading role in influencing the situation in South Africa. This is mainly due to the lack of a stable stronghold in the nearby waters. In history, the British annexed Zanzibar to contain German East Africa. Now Zanzibar has long been occupied. East Africa is in ruins.
It is the lack of the strategic fulcrum of Zanzibar that has led to the lack of British naval power in the entire Western Indian Ocean. The British naval power in South Africa is basically concentrated in Cape Town. However, due to the influence of the Suez Canal, Cape Town's navy has been weakened in recent years. In fact, the strength has not increased much.
On the contrary, Alexandria, Egypt, British Somaliland, that is, the strength of the Mediterranean fleet has been strengthened as a whole, which reflects the importance of the Red Sea route.
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Compared to the navy's performance, the army was the main force in the South African War. At the same time as the Battle of Lamu Bay began, the Allied forces launched attacks on the East African mainland from multiple areas.
East Africa has been under military pressure from three directions: south, east, and west. The north is currently in a state of peace, but the main reason is that the Sudan area is not conducive to marching. The United Kingdom is temporarily unable to launch military operations against northern East Africa through Egypt, and British Somalia Lanze's military strength has weakened, with its navy being the main force, and it does not have the conditions for land war.
However, military pressure from three directions still makes the East African National Defense Force feel a great threat. Angola, South Africa (Cape Town and the Boer Republic), and Mozambique have hundreds of thousands of troops attacking the hinterland of East Africa at the same time. East Africa is trapped in Africa for the first time. resulting in a shortage of troops.
The first town.
Count Arman reports to the government on the current war situation in East Africa. This information is compiled by various fronts and can be transmitted back to the first town and city within one day through the East African telegraph system for reference by the General Staff and the government.
"At present, the Portuguese army in Angola is mainly oppressing us in two directions. The troops in the western military region can only delay its military operations and cannot organize a large-scale counterattack. The three provinces in the west are buffer zones in the army's plan. At the same time, We need to fortify the western region and clear the country so that large-scale attacks cannot obtain effective supplies, but this also means abandoning several years of construction in the western region."
"Portugal must be blocked in the west and cannot be allowed to invade the central region of our country. As for the implementation of clearing the country in the west, it is feasible. Apart from agriculture, there are basically no valuable industries in the west. Even agriculture only accounts for less than 3% in East Africa. share and the population is relatively small, they can completely retreat to the rear without having much impact on our country."
“In the south, the joint military forces of the two countries, with the Boer Republic as the main force and the United Kingdom as the auxiliary, simultaneously launched offensives against the Feite River defense line and along the Orange River. However, we have invested military forces in this area all year round, especially Feite River. After many years of operation, the Tehe defense line can be regarded as impregnable."
"The main military pressure in the south lies on the Tugela River line. The British have accumulated a large number of troops in the Natal colony, so the Tugela River line is most likely to be captured, and the situation in the New Hamburg Port City behind the Tugela River is not very good. Wonderful, Maputo is in the north, and the British and Mozambican coalition forces have moved south."
"So at present, it seems that the British and Portuguese intend to defeat our military presence in the Southern Frontier Province first in order to achieve the goal of uniting their forces in one place. If they are allowed to achieve this, the British and Portuguese coalition forces can mobilize a large number of troops to enter our country. south."
The New Hamburg Port City can be said to be the most "disgusting" nail in East Africa in South Africa. Due to the existence of the New Hamburg Port City, hundreds of thousands of troops from Mozambique and the British Natal Colony cannot join forces.
At the same time, this small area of land is also the most important maritime channel for the five southern provinces of East Africa, and it carries the fastest economic connection with eastern East Africa. But precisely because of this, the General Staff is not optimistic about the situation in the New Hamburg Port City. It is flanked by coalition forces on both sides, has no broad land as a buffer, and faces threats from the regional naval forces of the two countries at sea.
Therefore, the military pressure on the New Hamburg Port City is unprecedented. Britain and Portugal will definitely launch a crazy attack there. As long as the New Hamburg Port City is in the hands of East Africa for one day, the Allies will not be able to safely carry out the next military operation against East Africa.
After all, the Allied headquarters in Maputo is only a few days away from the New Hamburg Port City. It would be more convenient for the navy. They also have to consider the possibility of launching a military counterattack against the Allies in East Africa with the New Hamburg Port City as the center.
Earl Arman continued: "On the Eastern Defense Line, which is the border of Matabele Province, the Portuguese and British concentrated at least tens of thousands of people to conduct probing attacks on our Eastern Defense Line at the same time, especially several important military strongholds, which were all subjected to There is a lot of pressure, but relying on the terrain advantages, these strongholds are currently firmly in our hands."
“Then there is the Zambezi River Defense Line. The offensive intention of the Anglo-Portuguese Allied Forces here is not strong, so we can be sure that the main offensive direction of the Allied Forces is the central and southern regions of our country. The main pressure currently on the eastern region is the sea.”
“The Battle of Lamu Bay has just ended. While the main force of our navy still exists, relying on the eastern naval base, there is no security problem for the time being. The British expeditionary fleet has not touched the city of Mombasa.”
This is of course the main contribution of the navy. If the British really cross Mombasa and reach the Tanga waters, then the East African Guards Division can consider organizing a war centered on protecting the first town in the capital. This also shows that the political center of East Africa has been extremely affected. Big threat.
If this is the case, then moving the capital will become something that must be considered. For now, it is not necessary. First, the navy can withstand the first wave of British attacks. Second, even if the naval force is completely annihilated, there are still guards. The naval forces under the division can continue to assume the offshore defense function. Finally, the offshore defense system originally built by Ernst on the East African coast can also play a role.
In the coastal zone of Central Province, there are only three large ports suitable for large-scale enemy landings, and these three ports have deployed European-level large-caliber shore defense artillery.
Even if this last layer of defense is broken through, it will only be the army taking over the battlefield, and by this time the East African government has long been able to evacuate to the rear along the railway.
"There is no abnormal movement of the British troops in the north, but we have found suspicious people along the Nile River. This information was discovered by the National Defense and Security Bureau in Kharsm, Egypt, but no troops were found to enter Kharsm, so the Nile River Province is still in The security situation, but the appearance of suspicious persons also means that the UK is considering sending troops from Egypt to East Africa, so we need to remain vigilant in this direction."
“The last one is British Somaliland. British Somaliland is the area with the weakest military strength among the areas bordering the UK and us, so it does not pose a threat to our country.”
"The current national defense and security situation is as expected before the war. Our current situation can be said to be besieged on all sides, especially the war potential of Britain, Portugal and the Boers. We have underestimated it. This South African war has obviously gone through nearly a long time. The ten-year-long plan is to kill our country’s military power with one blow.”
(End of this chapter)