African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 745: Rookies Pecking Each Other

Following the change in Earl Roberts' mentality, the South African battlefield has undergone very negative changes. He has been taking the initiative to attack the coalition forces, giving up his original fighting style, and instead began to switch to the normal operation mode of the army.

 According to the previous state of the British army, they wanted to directly rely on "advanced" military weapons to destroy East Africa in one wave, but they far underestimated the opponent in East Africa.

Earl Roberts's adjustment is actually in line with the thoughts of the frontline commanders. Don't just look at the battle reports and think of a "big victory". In fact, the British commanders on the frontline are suffering from unspeakable hardships, and they cannot directly admit their lack of preparation and underestimation of the enemy. lead to bad results.

So Earl Roberts' order just gave them a step to get off the slope. The British commanders began to become more professional in tactics, but this also caused the frontline war situation to suddenly slow down.

 The East African Defense Forces found it very difficult to deal with this change, because after the British military command became more professional, it became more difficult to deal with it.

 With this change of circumstances, the time came to May in no time.

Neither side has achieved much results. Although East Africa has new weapons such as the Maxim machine gun and artillery that is not inferior to the British army, although the Maxim machine gun is very powerful, after the British army adapted to this weapon, they only needed to slightly change their tactics. method, you can try to avoid it.

At the same time, the United Kingdom also urgently promoted the domestic production of "Maxine machine guns" and urgently purchased a batch of Maxim machine guns from Belgium for use in the South African battlefield.

There is not much difference in strength between the two sides. It just depends on who can further gain the tactical advantage. This will further test the ability of military commanders.

 …

The only pity is that as a country of immigrants, the cohesion of East African citizens has not yet reached normal national standards. This was also considered by the East African General Staff before the war, so it tends to be conservative in its fighting style.

 In the Southern Military District, German and Austro-Hungarian military advisory groups also arrived in South Africa.

"That's right. At least on the front lines we have visited before, the mental outlook and combat awareness of East African soldiers are much stronger than those of ordinary countries. If there are such outstanding soldiers, they can support many wars even in Europe." Plitwitz, head of the Prussian advisory group, said.

 It’s just that Germany and Austria-Hungary were more convenient than other countries and could go deep into East Africa for observation and guidance.

 The East African National Defense Forces focus on discipline building, and the implementation of various rules and regulations is very strict. Of course, this is also based on the high military expenditures of the East African National Defense Forces.

However, compared to the British who traveled thousands of miles to fight in South Africa, the war in East Africa turned into a Patriotic War against aggression. This increased the legitimacy of the war in East Africa to a certain extent, so the morale in East Africa was higher than that in the United Kingdom. of.

"This journey gave me a preliminary understanding of the strength of East Africa. Their army is not inferior to many European military powers in terms of discipline, logistics or weapons and equipment. It is difficult for the British to achieve results here. No matter how strange it is." Herzendorf, the head of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military advisory group, admired.

Merck is the East African representative responsible for receiving the military advisory group. He asked: "How do you two evaluate the status of our East African Defense Forces?"

As two continental powers, the two countries naturally pay attention to the South African War. In fact, many countries in Europe and the United States are paying attention to this unprecedented war.

Moreover, as time went by, the British military’s filter of “the world’s most powerful nation”, and feedback from various battlefields, shattered East African soldiers’ stereotypes of Britain, and to a certain extent, encouraged East Africa’s confidence in resisting the “invaders”. .

Of course, this is also a coincidence. If Britain had started the war one month later, the "Patriotic" war in East Africa would have turned into an "aggressive" war.

“This is the Maxim machine gun used in East Africa?” Plittwitz studied the domestic machine guns in East Africa. "Our East African domestic machine gun is called the 1885 heavy machine gun. It does refer to some structures of the Maxim machine gun, but the two came out almost at the same time. They are mainly the results of independent research and development by our East African military industry."

 Prittwitz was speechless looking at the so-called 1885 heavy machine gun, which was exactly the same as the Maxim machine gun. Plagiarism is plagiarism. They are all carved from the same mold, and there is no need to say that they are independently developed.

Merk: "The 1885 heavy machine gun played a huge role in the early days of the war, greatly hindering the British offensive. Combined with trenches and barbed wire, it could cause huge damage to the enemy. Throughout the Battle of the Tugela River, Maxim The machine gun killed more than a thousand enemies. However, with the adjustment of British army tactics in the later period, the effectiveness of the Maxim machine gun was greatly reduced, but it is still a good supplementary firepower."

The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians had no idea where the Tugela River was, but judging from Merk’s tone, they knew that the Maxim machine gun played a huge role in the South African War.

The German Army itself is also equipped with the MG80 heavy machine gun, so Plittwitz was very interested in the results of the Maxim machine gun.

“The impact of a weapon on war is ultimately limited. What is more important is the commander’s ability and the soldier’s will to fight.” Herzendorf said on the sidelines.

Merkel did not refute: "You are right. The biggest problem between the East African Defense Forces and the British Army is also at this point. Neither of our weapons and equipment have obvious advantages. This has also become an important constraint on the progress of the war. "

 After the actual battle between East Africa and Britain, everyone realized that both sides were novices. Britain is a maritime country, so its army and navy are not powerful compared to each other.

On the contrary, East Africa is a land-based country, but the East African army has no war experience, which has led to a military tug of war between East Africa and the United Kingdom.

In this case, the point of competition is the war endurance of both sides. This is certainly true. For the East African National Defense Force, "the advantage is mine."

 The longer the war lasts, and unless unexpected circumstances occur, East Africa's advantages will definitely become greater and greater. In addition to East Africa's national strength as support, it also has local combat advantages.

 The negative emotions of the coalition forces will also increase as the war progresses. The more mistakes the enemy makes, the greater the victory rate in East Africa.

It’s just that this advantage of East Africa has not yet been fully utilized. According to the requirements of the East African General Staff, the main thing now is to consume the enemy. War is a complex system. Waiting until a critical point is the best time for East Africa to launch a counterattack.

Of course, the East African National Defense Force is also preparing its forces to launch attacks on the coalition forces in several key battlefields, but this will take time.

 Previously, the East African Defense Force did not fully take the initiative in the war. Instead, it passively dealt with changes in the British army. This situation continued until the British army adjusted its tactics.

 At present, the battle line between the British army and East Africa has stabilized. This is a good time for East Africa to prepare for a counterattack. Just like a turn-based game, the British make the first move, and then it is East Africa's turn to play the cards.

 The directions for East Africa are the Boer Republic and northern Mozambique. East Africa started preparations for these two battlefields two months ago, and the next step is the implementation stage.

Previously, the British army and the coalition forces launched raids on East Africa from three directions, which caught East Africa by surprise to a certain extent. This time East Africa will also put pressure on the coalition forces on multiple fronts.

East Africa withstood the pressure in the early stages of the war, but if the coalition forces cannot resist it now, then this war will mean that the coalition forces will enter a passive state.

 (End of this chapter)