African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 744: Mental Adjustment

 In fact, under the current situation, the war potential of East Africa has not been fully utilized. For example, East Africa has a sufficient number of reserves that can support the battlefield at any time.

 The mentality of the East African government can be understood as not only maintaining the country's normal production activities and social order, but also ensuring the final victory of the war.

When there is no situation on the front line that is not conducive to East Africa, the East African government does not need to expand the scale of the war. Of course, if the war can be ended as soon as possible, it will definitely be the result East Africa wants. But now East Africa is on the defensive, with the purpose of consuming the time and energy of the hostile forces. Troop strength, morale, ammunition, equipment, etc.

The fundamental reason that drives the General Staff to act this way is that East Africa is actually on the advantage side in the war. The current war seems to be that the coalition is making rapid progress, and has even achieved huge advantages on some fronts.

  However, these surrounding areas are all colonies rather than mainland. The Boer Republic is an exception. However, not to mention the small size of the Boer Republic, it is still an agricultural and pastoral country through and through.

Therefore, the weapons and equipment of the coalition forces need to be transported from the mainland to the colonies and then replenished to the local army. In contrast, in East Africa, the defense industry is at the rear and can effectively supplement the front line at any time.

Once the momentum of the coalition's attack weakens, East Africa will enter a counterattack state. The occurrence of this situation must be that the coalition has encountered serious problems in personnel and supplies.

Ernst said: "As long as we withstand the first wave of pressure, it means that we have gained an advantage in this war. Of course, this advantage is not a reason for our army to be proud. Don't underestimate the British war capabilities. As a As the world’s most powerful country, the outcome of the South African War actually depends on the British government’s investment.”

"At present, it seems that the enemy still has great potential for war. The enemy forces on the front line still maintain a high enthusiasm for attacking. At the same time, they have been preparing for war for several years. The enemy's material reserves are also relatively abundant, so we can see The enemy is currently far from weak, so our overall strategy is still focused on attrition and continuing to bleed the coalition forces."

The British, Portuguese and Boers all suffered losses in East Africa, so they did not cope with the situation in terms of war attitude, but were fully prepared. Of course, they also underestimated East Africa's war capabilities.

  The current war situation in East Africa is far from meeting the psychological expectations of the coalition countries, especially the British Army.

"The results reported by various units are full of 'good news', but except for the direction of the Natal colony, none of them have achieved my strategic goals. Even though there are various victories, the enemy's defense line has not changed yet! "

 …

The commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Earl Roberts, frowned at the battle report. He was very dissatisfied with the performance of the coalition forces.

Except for the Natal colonial garrison, which broke through the Tugela River defense line under the command of Rost, there were basically no major changes in other areas, which made Earl Roberts very dissatisfied.

Of course, the Portuguese Angolan colony has achieved good results and has broken through into East Africa. However, the Angolan colonial garrison is completely commanded by Portugal and is not under the command of Count Roberts, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.

In response to Roberts' confusion, his subordinates replied: "The East Africans have built strong fortifications on the border, and the weapons and equipment in East Africa have exceeded our estimates. According to the current firepower of the East Africans, they may not lag behind even in Europe, so The reason why this war did not meet expectations was due to our insufficient acquisition of intelligence about East Africa." Count Roberts said: "To be clear, we came to South Africa not to fight a war of attrition. Once we fall into a war of attrition, it means that Our country's goals failed from the start."

"East Africa is a fairly closed country. This is also the real reason for the conflict between our country and East Africa. Looking at the area of ​​East Africa alone, it is a large country with an area of ​​nearly 10 million. The minerals, population, industry, agriculture, and market of this huge country are They all exclude the United Kingdom. In the final analysis, it is a struggle of interests. However, the closed nature of East Africa makes it difficult for our intelligence work to be carried out in East Africa. The war can be said to be the final test of East Africa’s national strength, but now it seems that East Africans are not interested in the war. The coping ability is extremely powerful.”

 Earl Roberts has said one of the main reasons for this war. War is actually not a good choice for any country. It is often the last resort after all means fail.

But now East Africa has withstood the pressure of war, which shows that East Africa's comprehensive national strength far exceeds the estimates of other countries. Based on the scale of the current war, if it were to deal with Brazil, I am afraid that Brazil would not be able to withstand it long ago.

However, once the war begins, it will not end easily, especially for the British Army. This kind of war is rare, so the Army must continue the war, even if it is not in line with the British Benefit.

Although the current direction of the war is beyond Earl Roberts's expectations, it is not out of control on the whole. It is nothing more than treating East Africa as an opponent like Tsarist Russia and adjusting their mentality.

Before coming to South Africa, Earl Roberts was contemptuous. After all, the world didn’t know much about East Africa. Even though East Africa was an independent country, everyone still subconsciously listed East Africa as a “colony”.

Just like Brazil, although it is nominally independent, its economy is controlled by foreign capital. This is also the effect that the United Kingdom wants to achieve here in East Africa. Even if it is not good, it should be like Tsarist Russia.

Tsarist Russia is considered a big industrial country, but it is also extremely dependent on Western capital. Many of its economic lifelines are in the hands of foreign capital. Of course, compared with countries like Brazil, Tsarist Russia has much greater autonomy. Although some national economies are not very developed, they are controlled by foreign investors. In your own hands.

Compared with the two, East Africa is definitely an outlier. East Africa has a high degree of nationalization and has established an overall national economic framework in a short period of time. Although there are many problems, the total volume has increased rapidly, which is essentially to cater to the current situation. The development trend of monopoly enterprises in the world.

Therefore, to deal with such tough bones as East Africa, Earl Roberts must correct his mentality. This is also what the British and Portuguese armies need. He said: "Now we need more troops and more weapons and equipment. The war cannot end hastily. I don’t believe that this country in East Africa, which only has a history of a few decades, can withstand the military pressure of two major powers at the same time with its own national strength.”

“Of course, we should also pay attention to the opponent in East Africa. East Africa’s performance lets us know that this country is completely different from the opponents we have fought in the past. We do not know enough about this opponent.”

"The military strength of East Africa cannot be underestimated. Their military industry should be closely related to the German region. Just like the various new equipment appearing on the battlefield, as well as the firepower that does not lag behind Europe, it shows that East Africans are also good at learning. They are not just an isolated country in Africa, but they have a broad vision, which is especially obvious in the military."

“This also means that our war strategy in East Africa must be adjusted. East Africa should not be treated as a colonial country, but as an opponent comparable to European military powers.”

 (End of this chapter)