African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 734 The New Hamburg Port City in War Readiness

 April 3, 1888.

  The city of New Hamburg.

Since the whole of East Africa entered a state of war, the port city of New Hamburg has become a strong fortress sandwiched between Portugal and Britain.

 All enterprises in the city gave priority to ensuring the supply of the army, and the municipal and provincial governments actively organized urban and surrounding areas to support the frontline war.

Under the night, from the New Hamburg Port City, you can even vaguely hear the booming sound of artillery fire on the north and south fronts. In fact, less than 70 kilometers south from the New Hamburg Port City is the front line of the war between East Africa and the United Kingdom. In this tense situation, , under a depressing atmosphere.

"The neighborhood must be sealed. At present, the surrounding areas have transported food to the city as much as possible. Sufficient drinking water and food must be stored to ensure the survival of the new Hamburg port city." Hans, the administrator of Renwell Street Issuing orders from the city government to the citizens of the jurisdiction.

“Director Hans, how is the current situation on the front line? There are many people from our streets going to support the front line.”

Hans sighed and said: "The situation is not optimistic. As we all know, Britain is the world's most powerful country. We in East Africa have never fought against such an opponent, and I heard from my superiors that the strength of the British Natal colony bordering our New Hamburg Port City is It's not bad in itself. Now a large part of the British army is concentrated in Natal. The number of troops alone is more than ten times that of our National Defense Force. And now the Portuguese in the north have also stepped in. Our New Hamburg Port City is in a flanking attack. among.”

"With such a big gap, can we defeat the British and the Portuguese? These two countries are ranked among the best in the world!"

“Quiet, all quiet!” Hans tried to calm the people down, but many of them couldn’t hear what he was saying.

At this moment, a gun shot "Bang!" instantly suppressed all the noise.

 “The British are coming?”

 “What should we do, run away for our lives?”

Those who left were already instinctively preparing to go home or run away. Many East African immigrants came from war-prone areas (Germany and the Far East), so this kind of fear of war was awakened from the bone marrow by the sound of artillery fire, as if they had returned to a war-torn place. Era.

I don’t know if Hans’s crow’s mouth played a role, but as soon as I said this, I heard the rumble of artillery coming from the direction of the Indian Ocean to the east.

Hans: "The front line has not collapsed yet, but in a two-line operation, we must be prepared for a front-line failure, or even a three-line operation, and be completely surrounded. The enemy's naval forces have not yet been dispatched, otherwise we may be defeated today. Enemy artillery fire can be seen entering the city of New Hamburg Port."

  The navy and ground forces of the New Hamburg Port City have exchanged fire with the British Cape Town Navy.

This caused the citizens of Renwell Street to panic, and the scene immediately began to show signs of chaos and loss of control.

I saw the Renwell neighborhood security police officer, Anderson holding a pistol and fired two more shots into the sky.

After seeing the citizens "calm down", he stood on the street and said in an unquestionable voice: "Please be quiet, the situation is not that bad. It was our troops at the seaport that were driving away British warships. The enemy wanted to attack them." It’s still early in our Renwell neighborhood, at least until the north and south lines are breached, it’s impossible for the enemy to directly invade the city from the sea.”

  New Hamburg Port City has two urban areas, which are built on the basis of the port. Both commercial and military ports are crowded in the New Hamburg Bay. The terrain of New Hamburg Bay (Richard's Bay) is very strange, with a small mouth and a big belly. Therefore, the British only relied on the navy to pass the East African forts. As long as they entered the waterway, they could only become a living target.

So Anderson is sure that the British Navy must be firing at the East African coastal defense guns in the Indian Ocean now, but he doesn't know if the Navy is currently dispatched.

Anderson is a retired member of the East African Defense Force. Since he now belongs to the police department, there is no need to go to the front line. Of course, this is related to the fact that the New Hamburg Port City needs people with military knowledge to deploy the city's defense. The New Hamburg Port City has already faced this problem. Measures for possible street fighting require professional guidance.

Of course, war will bring social disorder, so police officers like Anderson who are soldiers can also deter negative elements and can calm people's hearts at the same time.

Just like now, the citizens of Renwell Block have been convinced by Anderson. After all, Anderson is a man who has fought in the war and has seen the world. What he says is enough to convince the public. Of course, the pistol in his hand is also very convincing.

"Now continue to work. If war really comes, there is no safer place than the urban area. The food outside the city has been collected in the city in advance. There are all daily necessities for us here, and the villagers in the countryside have already sent us to the city. Evacuate the city."

 Generally speaking, in war situations, urban residents flee to rural areas to avoid the threat of war.

But the reason why New Hamburg Port City did the opposite is because New Hamburg Port City and the entire Southern Frontier Province are not the main grain-producing areas in East Africa. Instead, the population is concentrated in towns or in the mines in the west.

 East Africa was originally designed not to develop industry and agriculture on a large scale in the south. New Hamburg Port City is a special example because of the port.

 The industry here is relatively sound, but food is mainly transported from eastern or central East Africa, and compared to Hechingen Province, the industrial and agricultural foundation of Southern Frontier Province is not bad.

 Hence, the rural population in the Southern Frontier Province is relatively small, and it can be completely taken over by the New Hamburg Port City, and then the surrounding villages and farmland can be destroyed, and the policy of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields can be implemented.

Of course, in order to ensure the food security of the New Hamburg Port City, the East African Railway has begun to fully transport food and other materials to the port city. Together with the city's own reserves, it can guarantee the needs of the New Hamburg Port City for at least three years.

However, the population of New Hamburg Port City is now mainly composed of women and children. Men in the eastern part of the province have been assigned to various places where needed to receive military training or the construction of peripheral positions in New Hamburg Port City.

The East African government tried to use the New Hamburg Port City as a large military fortress and continued to place it behind the British and Portuguese troops in East Africa to make them fearful.

Of course, the prerequisite for this is that the New Hamburg Port City can be self-sufficient. Basically, except for food, the essence of the Southern Frontier Province is concentrated here, so East Africa must not give up the New Hamburg Port City easily.

New Hamburg Port City will not be isolated and helpless. Even if the surrounding areas fall, the Drakensberg Mountains controlled by the East African Army can launch a counterattack at any time. However, the army in the west is now held back by the Boer Republic. Otherwise, New Hamburg Port City will The defense pressure will not be so great at all.

 This is also the current situation in the entire southern East Africa region bounded by the Limpopo River, which mainly serves the mining industry and military.

  The war was considered from the beginning. Although the New Hamburg Port City produced less grain, it had a lot of grain stores. Moreover, the Southern Frontier Province was rich in coal, and the New Hamburg Port City was the only outlet to the sea, so there would be no shortage of energy here in the short term.

The most important thing is that the harbor conditions of the New Hamburg Port City are relatively special. If Dar es Salaam City faces the Indian Ocean directly, then there will be no need for the New Hamburg Port City to defend itself. It would be too costly and ineffective. Well, it is better to retreat directly to the west of the Drakensberg Mountains and use the Drakensberg natural barrier to resist the coalition attack.

 (End of this chapter)