Chapter 745: Noobs fighting each other

As Earl Roberts' mentality changed, very negative changes took place on the South African battlefield. The army, which had always taken the initiative to attack the coalition forces, gave up its original fighting style and instead began to switch to the normal operating mode of the army.

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

Earl Roberts's adjustment was actually in line with the thoughts of the front-line commanders. Don't be fooled by the "great victory" in the battle reports. In fact, the British commanders on the front line had no way of saying it, but they could not directly admit the poor results caused by their lack of preparation and underestimation of the enemy.

So Earl Roberts' order just gave them a way out, and the British commanders began to become professional in tactics and strategies, but this also caused the war situation on the front line to progress slowly.

The East African Defense Force was very uncomfortable with this change because as the British command became more professional, it became more difficult to deal with.

As this situation changed, time quickly came to May.

Neither side achieved much success. Although East Africa had new weapons such as the Maxim machine gun and artillery that was not inferior to the British, the Maxim machine gun was extremely powerful. However, after the British army adapted to this weapon, they could avoid it as much as possible by slightly changing their tactics.

At the same time, Britain also urgently promoted the production of the "Maxim machine gun" in the country, 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 depends on who can gain further tactical advantage, which will test the ability of military commanders.

…

Military advisory groups from the Southern Military District, Germany and Austria-Hungary also arrived in South Africa.

As two powerful countries on the European continent, it is natural that the two countries pay attention to the South African War. In fact, many European and American countries are paying attention to this unprecedented war.

It’s just that Germany and Austria-Hungary had a more convenient status than other countries, and could go deep into East Africa to observe and provide guidance.

Merkel was the East African representative responsible for receiving the military advisory group. He asked: "What do you two think of the status of our East African National Defense Force?"

"This journey has given me a preliminary understanding of East Africa's strength. Their army is not inferior to many European military powers in terms of discipline, logistics and weapons and equipment. It is no longer surprising that the British have difficulty in achieving results here." Hetzendorf, head of the Austro-Hungarian Military Advisory Group, exclaimed.

"That's right. At least in the several fronts we've visited before, the mental outlook and combat awareness of East African soldiers are much stronger than those of ordinary countries. If there are such excellent soldiers, it will be enough to support many wars even in Europe." said Prittwitz, head of the Prussian Advisory Group.

The East African National Defense Force places emphasis on discipline building and implements various rules and regulations very strictly. Of course, this is also based on the high military expenditure of the East African National Defense Force.

The only pity is that as an immigrant country, the cohesion of East African citizens currently does not meet the standards of a normal country. This was also taken into consideration by the East African General Staff before the war, so they tend to be conservative in their approach.

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, which to a certain extent added legitimacy to the war in East Africa, so the morale of East Africa was higher than that of Britain.

Moreover, as time went by, the filter of the British Army as "the world's number one power" shattered the stereotypes of Britain held by East African soldiers due to feedback from various battlefields, and to a certain extent inspired East Africa's confidence in resisting "invaders".

Of course, this was just a coincidence. If Britain had started the war a month later, the "patriotic" war in East Africa would probably have turned into a "war of aggression".

"Is this the Maxim machine gun used in East Africa?" Prittwitz studied the domestically produced machine guns in East Africa.

"Our East African domestically produced machine gun is called the 1885 heavy machine gun. It does refer to some of the structures of the Maxim machine gun, but the two came out almost at the same time. It is mainly the result of independent research and development by our East African military industry."

Prittwitz was speechless when he saw the so-called Type 1885 heavy machine gun which was exactly the same as the Maxim machine gun. Plagiarism is plagiarism. They were all carved from the same mold, so there was no need to talk about independent research and development.

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

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

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

"The impact of a weapon on war is ultimately limited. What needs to be considered more is the commander's ability and the soldiers' will to fight," Hetzendorf said on the side.

Merk did not refute: "You are right. The biggest problem of the East African Defense Force and the British Army is also this point. Neither of us has a clear advantage in weapons and equipment. This has also become an important constraint on the progress of the war."

After East Africa and Britain actually fought, everyone realized that both sides were weaklings. Britain is a maritime power, so its army and navy are not very strong compared.

On the contrary, although East Africa is a land power, the East African Army has no experience in major wars, which leads to a military stalemate between East Africa and Britain.

In this case, the point of competition is the war-endurance capacity of both sides, and it is certain that for the East African National Defense Force, "the advantage is mine."

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

The coalition's negative emotions will also increase as the war goes on. The more mistakes the enemy makes, the greater the chance of East Africa winning.

However, this advantage of East Africa has not yet been fully utilized. According to the requirements of the East African General Staff, the main focus now is to consume the enemy. War is a complex system, and it is only when a critical point is reached that East Africa will be able to launch a counterattack.

Of course, the East African Defense Force is now also preparing its forces to launch an attack on the coalition forces in several key battlefields, but this takes time.

Before this, the East African Defense Force did not fully seize the initiative in the war, but instead passively responded to 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 become stable. This is a good time for East Africa to prepare for a counterattack. Just like a turn-based game, the British have made the first move, and it is East Africa's turn to play next.

The direction of East Africa's move is the Boer Republic and northern Mozambique. East Africa has begun preparing for these two battlefields two months ago, and the next step is the implementation stage.

Previously, the British Army and the Allied Forces launched surprise attacks on East Africa from three directions, which caught East Africa off guard to a certain extent. This time, East Africa will also have to put pressure on the Allied Forces on multiple fronts.

East Africa withstood the pressure in the early stages of the war. If the coalition forces cannot resist now, then the war will be declared a passive state for the coalition forces.

(End of this chapter)