African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 757: Defeated

 In addition to the impact on the textile industry, foreign trade in coastal areas has basically been affected to varying degrees.

 Fortunately, the British did not do everything right, otherwise it would definitely be enough for East Africa to drink a pot. Of course, the reason for this situation is naturally a reflection of East Africa's own strength.

East Africa is worried about its own trade being affected, and Britain has similar anxieties. Egypt and Somaliland are also threatened by East Africa, and although the East African navy is difficult to prevent the British navy from attacking from the east and north.

 Similarly, Britain's Indian colonies also had such anxieties, especially when East Africa's naval strength still existed.

The UK can choke off East Africa’s foreign trade channels, and East Africa also has the ability to cut off communications between the UK and India, which makes both sides wary.

 So the South African war is generally within the controllable range of the two countries, and it is also a test. As for the outbreak of larger conflicts and wars, it is not the best option.

 …

 Mongu City.

As the terminus of the western section of the Central Railway, it is an important hub for East Africa’s counterattack against Angola. Originally, Mongu City had a population of only three thousand, but now a large number of troops gather here every day and then set out for the western battlefield.

 The army of the Angola Counteroffensive was mainly composed of reserve forces, and the framework was composed of retired soldiers and combat soldiers.

“I believe you have seen the old version of the East African military uniform, which is a simplified version of the German military uniform. The Portuguese cannot even unify this simplified version of the military uniform, and the organization of the troops is also very confusing.”

"Due to lack of money, the economy of the Kingdom of Portugal has been completely ruined, so their soldiers themselves are a poorly paid profession. The last time we fought against the Portuguese, they were still using weapons that had been eliminated long ago, and there were even ten Five, antique firearms from the 16th century.”

“Let’s not talk about it from afar, let’s just talk about the last East-Portuguese War. We only used two divisions to defeat the Portuguese. They didn’t even have any resistance. Even if they have made some progress over the years, I’m afraid it’s not much. "

“At the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the Portuguese army was very well-equipped. Now the Portuguese army, especially the colonial army’s uniforms, are even simpler than our old East African military uniforms.”

Hled said that in fact, the most important factor in the combat effectiveness of the army is to consider the treatment of the army. The Portuguese army has long been rotten from the roots.

"Of course I won't lie to you. This is all my personal experience. Although Portugal is a relatively famous country in the world and was not weak in the past, Portugal has long since lost all the blood of its ancestors."

“According to my previous experience, the Portuguese will collapse with just one charge. I don’t know if they have made any progress in the past few years.”

 “Why?” Someone asked Hled curiously.

“This kind of country that cannot even meet the needs of weapons and equipment is naturally unable to compete with other countries. This can also be seen from the costumes of the Portuguese army.”

“Mr. Hled, are the Portuguese really worse than the natives in combat effectiveness?”

 Such an army naturally has little war experience to speak of, and this is also an important reason why East Africa chose Angola for its major counterattack.

Hleide, an East African veteran who was retired and re-recruited, instilled his combat experience in these children.

"Don't be afraid when you meet the Portuguese. To be honest, the fighting spirit of the Portuguese is not as good as that of some indigenous people. Moreover, their army has low cultural level, weak coordination ability, and poor weapons and equipment. When you see the Portuguese, give full play to the firepower of our army. Advantage."

 Compared with the British army, the Portuguese army is a soft persimmon in the eyes of East Africa and can effectively achieve the purpose of military training.

As far as the current Angolan army is concerned, although the conditions have improved, it is still a drop in the bucket, and as the war goes on.

 The Portuguese soldiers became more war-weary and even began to desert.

At the beginning of the war, Portugal could barely afford the military expenses of soldiers, but the number of Portuguese troops was too large. Portugal's own population is only a few hundred thousand, while the armies of Angola and Mozambique have reached hundreds of thousands, not counting the black servant armies. For Portugal, military expenses are a heavy burden.

By the middle of the war, Portugal had already begun to experience delays in the payment of military expenditures. At this time, Portuguese soldiers could still afford it.

By now, the Portuguese government has begun to fail and can only give empty promises to the soldiers. The most important one is to go to East Africa to "kill, burn, and loot."

However, there is still a slim chance that the empty promise will be realized. The goal of going to East Africa to finance the war and make war profits has not been achieved.

 Because East Africa took the initiative to implement "fortify the walls and clear the country", this made it impossible for the Portuguese soldiers to generate additional income, and even the basic food and clothing problems were unable to be solved.

In this case, the mentality of the Portuguese soldiers at the grassroots level naturally "exploded", so that by the mid-term, the Angolan colonial army began to mess up. This was also an important reason for Portugal's slow progress.

 Now Portuguese soldiers are completely the targets of prostitution by the Portuguese government, and this result is completely unexpected for East Africa.

 Early August 1888.

 The ready-to-go East African army officially began a full-scale counterattack against Angola. East Africa attacked Angola from three directions at the same time: the north, the center, and the south.

As expected in East Africa, the Portuguese army was indeed at the lower limit of the coalition's combat effectiveness, and the black servant army was in disarray before the war started.

The subsequent "free money" shelling in East Africa caused the black servant army to have a mental breakdown, and the Portuguese's performance was not much better.

Many Portuguese soldiers resisted passively and simply fired blank guns into the sky. Some troops even surrendered directly to East Africa.

This was greatly unexpected in East Africa, and the reason why Portugal surrendered its troops was also dumbfounding, that is, the food was too poor.

East Africa achieved great results on all three fronts, advancing more than fifty kilometers in one week.

What really blocked the progress of the East African army was not the Portuguese army, but the sequelae of East Africa's "strong walls and clear fields".

The clearing of the country and the strong walls in East Africa have had a significant effect on the enemy, but now it has become a stumbling block in delaying East Africa's annexation of Angola.

 The clearing of the country in East Africa includes the destruction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges and settlements, and now it is easier to attack and defend.

The East African National Defense Force had to dismantle the mines they had laid themselves, which greatly delayed the march.

However, compared to the troubles encountered in East Africa, Portugal is really besieged on all sides, especially the northern front in East Africa. The East African Nile Military District troops directly followed the Ubangi River to the Kinshasa front line.

Kinshasa is the closest military town to Portugal in East Africa. From here, it is only more than 300 miles away from the core area of ​​the Portuguese colony of Angola.

Furthermore, the main force of Angola's colonies is mainly located in the south-central part, and there are not many troops in the north to resist the troops of the Nile Military District moving south.

This is also a sequelae of the last war. During the first East-Portuguese War, East Africa fought directly from the central and southern parts of Angola into the hinterland of Angola, and directly threatened the security of Benguela and Luanda.

 So this time Portugal deployed heavy troops in the east and west, thus ignoring the water transportation conditions of the Congo River.

Of course, this is no wonder the Portuguese. After all, most of the Congo River is in the hands of East Africa, and the Portuguese have no way to understand it.

 (End of this chapter)