African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 755: Changing offensive and defensive positions

 The main way to connect the east and west coasts of East Africa is through railways. Of course, waterway connectivity is not impossible, but it is definitely not something that can be achieved in East Africa now.

 That is to connect the Zambezi River Basin and the Congo River Basin, which requires the establishment of a large number of water conservancy projects to improve navigation conditions between the two basins.

This kind of project is basically impossible to realize even in the 21st century. It is very difficult to adjust the Zambezi River Basin alone.

Of course, it would not be too difficult for East Africa to connect these intermittent inland rivers and waterways by railways and roads.

However, these assumptions are too far away for the current East Africa. Even after the national water conservancy construction in East Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, there are still a large number of natural rivers in East Africa that have not been transformed, and it may take hundreds of years to conquer these rivers and waters. time to complete gradually.

 …

 August 4, 1888.

On the premise of ensuring that there was no change in the British Royal Navy in the east and north, the East African Navy deployed a fleet of two capital ships, six gunboats and ten auxiliary ships to march towards the waters of Mozambique.

Faced with this "powerful" maritime force, the coalition's naval power was simply unable to cope. The coalition ships made an emergency withdrawal to Durban and Maputo to preserve their strength.

The route from eastern East Africa to the new port city of Hamburg has been restored. Although there are still coalition naval forces attacking and sneaking attacks on the route, it is basically impossible to do so.

At the same time, in a situation of ebb and flow, how the coalition forces previously blockaded the New Hamburg Port City, the East African Navy also retaliated with a military blockade of Maputo and Durban, and the two sides changed their offensive and defensive positions.

At the same time, this maritime operation also completely announced that the balance of war was moving in East Africa's favor. Whether it was land or sea, East Africa had taken the initiative in the war.

The role of the Comoros Islands as an East African naval base has also been completely activated, becoming a reliable strategic fulcrum for the East African Navy and playing a huge role in blocking the coalition forces.

At the same time, in response to the decision of the Navy Headquarters, the New Hamburg Port Naval Squadron also switched from defense to offense and began to confront the Cape Town Navy in the waters of Durban.

The premise of the fox's fake tiger's power is that there is a real tiger. Although Major General Bruce's strategy resulted in the East African Navy basically doing nothing in the Mozambique Strait in the early stage, it preserved its strength.

The naval strength of the New Hamburg Port is definitely insufficient against the British army, but it is capable of fighting against the Portuguese navy in Mozambique.

With the fall of sea control, it is now the Allied Forces that have a headache. Currently, the Allied Forces' only material transportation channel is the narrow area along the eastern coast of the Drakensberg Mountains.

 However, as the supply of materials resumed in the port city of New Hamburg, the two East African brigades in the area are also preparing to enter the counterattack stage.

At the same time, the Southern Military District will also send troops to support the garrison in the New Hamburg Port City and launch an offensive to regain control of the southern border province section of the Central Railway.

 As a result, East Africa has completely cut off the Mozambican coalition's only external channel, forming a "closed door and dog fighting" war situation.

 According to the economic strength and industrial capabilities of the Mozambique colony, it is obvious that it cannot supply the main material support of the coalition forces.

East Africa has invested a lot of industry in the New Hamburg Port City, which ensures that when the East African Defense Forces are trapped here, although it is very difficult, they can still maintain a military presence in the area.

And it has the ability to launch multiple tit-for-tat large-scale tactical operations during the siege, but Mozambique obviously does not have such capabilities.

 Although Mozambique has been preparing for war for a long time, all its energy is mainly concentrated around Maputo.

Maputo is like Paris in France. If Paris is lost, France’s will to resist will basically take a turn for the worse.

 Maputo is also important to Mozambique, but Maputo is more dangerous than Paris. After all, Paris is in the hinterland, while Maputo is on the coast.

Now the East African Navy can carry out bombardment against Maputo, the same as the coalition's bombardment against the New Hamburg Port City. It is difficult for East Africa to break through this huge and strong military fortress in a short period of time, so siege is a prerequisite for solving Maputo.

 But Maputo still has a considerable hinterland, and the resources of the entire southern Mozambique can be transported to Maputo.

The East African navy is definitely powerless in this regard. It can only target Portuguese and British ships on the sea and cut off the input of materials from the two countries to Mozambique.

 The decisive battle still depends on the operation of the army, and the current idea of ​​the army is to give priority to the Portuguese army in Angola.

If you want to concentrate superior forces, you need to wait until the overall situation in Angola is decided. Of course, if the Southern Military District's operations against the Boer Republic can be ended as soon as possible, East Africa will also have the ability to conduct large-scale two-front operations.

This possibility exists. The current main war in the Boer Republic is the security war against Bloemfontein and some areas.

Bloemfontein is the capital of the Boer Republic, where the last remaining heritage of the Boers is concentrated. It is also a difficult point in the military operations of the Southern Military District.

 Bloemfontein not only functions as a military fortress, but also connects the rear of the Boer Republic. Cooperating with other Boer armed forces and the British army, it has now formed the prototype of the second line of defense of the Boer Republic.

 Looking at the map as a whole, it appears that they broke into the southern battlefield in a triangular shape, and the Boer forces were compressed in the triangular area.

The British army in the direction of Cape Town has tried its best to reinforce the area as much as possible. As for Kimberley, which the British army originally valued, it has been abandoned.

Kimberley's location is not good. The most important thing is that the local economic base is entirely based on the development of the diamond industry, and its comprehensive conditions are far inferior to naturally formed cities like Bloemfontein.

Of course, from the perspective of Cape Town, the priority of Kimberley is definitely higher than Bloemfontein, but Cape Town is not just a city, but the general name of the British South African colonies.

 The rear supporting the front line is actually not the city of Cape Town, but the ports of Port Elizabeth and East London in the southeastern port cities of South Africa.

The British had developed and constructed Port Elizabeth as early as 1820, and the Port of East London was also built in 1847.

 The two places are important economic centers in the southeast of the Cape Colony. Just from their names, you can see that the British are interested in these two places.

 The city of Cape Town is located in the southwest corner of Cape Town Colony. In fact, the transportation conditions with the inland hinterland of Cape Town Colony are not very convenient.

 The distance from Port Elizabeth and East London to the Boer Republic is only more than 400 kilometers, while the straight-line distance from Cape Town to the Boer Republic is more than 700 kilometers.

Moreover, the climate conditions to the north and east of Cape Town are harsh, far less than those in the southeast, as can be seen from the density of roads and settlements.

 So the British can only choose to support Bloemfontein as the center and carry out military defense in East Africa. Of course, support is just support.

The British army has begun to build a defensive line on the north bank of the Orange River. It is actually not too optimistic about Bloemfontein. It is mainly to buy time.

Once Bloemfontein is lost, the road southward in East Africa will be basically flat, with only the Orange River having some use value.

However, the British population in Cape Town is a fatal shortcoming. At this time, the importance of the Boer Republic becomes even more important. Even in Cape Town, the Boer population is dominant. If the Boers of the Boer Republic are added, the entire Boer Republic will become even more important. The Boer population in South Africa is overwhelmingly dominant.

 So uniting the Boers to fight against East Africa is almost the only option for the British. In this case, the government of the Boer Republic headed by the Bloemfontein government is the only option for the British at present.

 (End of this chapter)