Chapter 759 Vicious means
Coles agreed with Custer's point of view: "In the three months since we were trapped in Kinshasa, the entire military force in Kinshasa was only more than 600 people, while the enemy had as many as 4,000 or 5,000 people. However, we used six More than a hundred people withstood the Portuguese attack for three months."
“Although this Portuguese army is just a miscellaneous force mixed with a large number of black slaves, their firepower is a level higher than the weapons of the Portuguese army during the First East-Portuguese War.”
Coles is a veteran who participated in the first East-Portuguese War, so he knows the situation of the Portuguese army very well in the last time.
"And this is just an improvement of Portugal's miscellaneous troops. Portugal has two brigades stationed in Angola. This should be Angola's top military force. It is not yet sure where these two brigades are, but their weapons and equipment should be It can catch up with the European average.”
“As the rear, the life channel of Angola and the colonial capital, Luanda’s specific number of troops is not easy to know, but in terms of the number of fortifications and artillery, it is definitely the place with the largest number in Angola.”
“So when dealing with Luanda, we should ensure a certain number of artillery to suppress the enemy, so artillery is necessary in war.”
In Coles’ view, even if the Portuguese were the ones to take the initiative to attack in the early stage, they would not be able to devote all their main forces to the front line.
After all, the security of the capital must come first in the colony, just like Maputo in Mozambique. To be honest, Maputo's location is geographically very unsuitable as a war command center.
However, hundreds of years of development by the Portuguese have made Maputo's conditions far superior to other inland areas, so its status has been continuously strengthened based on historical continuity.
In fact, the same is true in East Africa. The location is too far to the east, but the most elite Guards Division is stationed in the first town and city.
Castle: "Well, no matter what the Portuguese are like, we should be more bold. Just now, I had an idea. If it can be successful, it can greatly save our time and cost."
This is the prerogative of the political center. Luanda is the political center of the Angola colony, so the Portuguese "noble lords" will definitely prioritize the deployment of troops in the Luanda area. Even if the number is not too large, they are definitely Portugal's elite.
Castle: "More than four thousand at the mouth of the Congo River should be enough. As for the rest of the troops, they will attack in the direction of Luanda."
Hans Griffin: “Isn’t there a certain risk in this!”
“As for Luanda, we need to add more personnel and equipment and launch an attack at the same time, so that we can achieve our strategic goals faster.”
“Cabinda is certainly less important to Portugal than Luanda, so we only need to send less troops to complete control of the mouth of the Congo River.”
“So most of the Portuguese army will probably be dragged to the southeast by the brother forces. This is also a good time for us to march into Luanda.”
Custer: "That is whether we can divide our troops into two groups to achieve strategic goals. Before, our idea was to go north and then south, but why don't we conduct military operations at the mouth of the Congo River and Luanda at the same time!"
Castle: "There are definitely risks, but our probability of success is greater. After all, this Western Front counterattack is not limited to us. The Western Military District is the real main force. They are the focus of the Portuguese."
Hans Griffin asked: “What’s the idea?”
Hans Griffin asked: "Then how do we allocate our forces?"
“And the threat of our army to Luanda is more likely to disrupt the morale of the Portuguese army in the front, making them even more unable to resist our offensive.”
Of course, in the final analysis, Custer's confidence came from the fact that there was no decent opponent in the Angola colony. If the Portuguese could not concentrate more than three times the force, Custer was confident that they could defeat them. After all, the 331st Division, as one of the elite units in East Africa, has very high combat effectiveness. If it can't deal with the Portuguese motley army, there is no need to fight the South African War.
…
August 7, 1888.
The 331st East African Division began to divide into two parts and headed towards the mouth of the Congo River and towards Luanda at the same time.
The route of the British army of the 331st Division was mainly within the territory of the former Kingdom of Congo. The Portuguese and East Africa were the main reasons for the collapse of the Kingdom of Congo.
Of course, Portugal's annexation of the Kingdom of Congo in the 1970s to supplement the land it passively ceded from the south was the direct reason.
Moreover, East Africa blocked the way for the Kongo Kingdom to escape eastward at that time, so it could only be slaughtered by others. Those who could not be defeated in Africa could escape. At the beginning, many indigenous kingdoms fled from East Africa to West Africa.
It is a pity that the fate of the Kingdom of Congo is not good. There is no way to go. To the north are the most brutal Belgians and to the east are the "notorious" East Africans. In comparison, the Portuguese are the most friendly force towards the Kingdom of Congo.
Although the Portuguese annexed the Kingdom of Congo, Angola itself has many mulatto descendants who cooperate with the Portuguese rule.
These mixed races also became the biggest threat to the 331st Division going south, seriously delaying the march in East Africa, which made General Custer very angry.
"The harassment of these black servants has posed a serious threat to us. In order to scare the monkeys, I think they should be wiped out." Custer said through gritted teeth.
Hans Griffin: "This may delay our military operations."
Custer: "Now it seems that these black people are obviously going to live and die with the Portuguese, so if we don't eliminate them, I'm afraid they will take advantage of them and eventually cause a catastrophe."
“Are you going to massacre the local indigenous people?” Hans Griffin asked with some fear.
Although East Africa does not do anything in Africa, there are almost no massacres against black people. The Kingdom of Congo in the original region is obviously an area with a relatively dense black population. Only the Belgians in the north are ruthless. The number of black people in Belgium now has been greatly reduced.
Custer: "If I can do this, I will definitely do it. After all, for stubborn people, physical elimination can relieve their anger."
Hans Griffin quickly persuaded: "It's better not to do this kind of thing that is easy to get your hands dirty. We really have nothing to do with these black people now, but after the war is over, we will have many ways to deal with them."
Hans Griffin continued: "Our primary goal now is to deal with the Portuguese. As for these black people who dare to disturb Tai Sui, we will send them all to the Belgian territory in the future to let them see what cruelty is."
Custer and Hans Griffin were quite convinced of Belgium. After all, Bangui was not far from the Belgian colony of the Congo, so many people in the 331st Division knew all about Belgium's colonial rule.
It is no exaggeration to say that Belgians are natural executioners. Under the reactionary rule of Leopold II, the Belgian Congo successfully achieved negative population growth, and at the same time, the disability rate is very likely to be the first in the world, so Hans Griffin's crooked move paved the way for the future tragic fate of black Angolans who oppose East Africa. This plan is extremely vicious.
(End of this chapter)