Chapter 1551 Negotiation
This made Abyad very angry. Not only could they not capture the town of Jallu, but they couldn't even capture a small outpost with only a dozen people in East Africa.
Zagut was also panicking: "Chief, the enemy's firepower is too strong. They have one more machine gun than the Italians, and two of them are heavy machine guns. We are really in a dilemma now."
Abyad shouted, "Don't you know the enemy's firepower is fierce? Now we need to find a way to pry open their shell instead of complaining. We have no way out!"
Borma said, "Captain, our two armies are now facing each other. The enemy has advantages in firepower and terrain, while we only have the advantage in numbers. Even if we can capture this stronghold through conventional means, we will suffer heavy losses. Therefore, I suggest that we retreat first..."
Before Borma could finish, Zagut interrupted, "Retreat? Where to? If we leave here, where can we get drinking water and food? If we don't pull out this nail, our final fate will be to die of thirst and starvation in the desert."
Abyad also said: "Zaigut is right. We have no possibility of retreat. Borma, if we want to capture this stronghold now, there is only one way, and that is to find a way to get close to the enemy's bunker."
"Before, it was your team's unauthorized retreat that caused us to lose the opportunity to fight. Otherwise, we could have easily captured this stronghold."
After hearing what Abyad said, Borma's face turned ugly. He retorted, "This is not my fault. After all, who knows what the East Africans got into to drive us away? If you, the chief, had come earlier, this wouldn't have happened."
The team had suffered a series of defeats recently, and now conflicts within the team have broken out, with everyone blaming each other.
After being refuted by Borma, Abyad knew he was in the wrong and could only force himself to say, "Now is not the time to settle accounts. Once we take this stronghold, we will settle the responsibility."
"Borma, lead your men forward. Zagut, you will be responsible for drawing the enemy's machine gun fire, and the others will provide cover. That's it for now! No one can afford to be afraid of death at this moment, because if we don't win this battle, none of us will survive."
Although Abyad's troops were indeed in low morale, everyone was united in their attitude when it came to fighting to the death, with a sense of fighting with their backs against the wall.
At the Kalanshu outpost.
"Sergeant, the enemy's offensive has intensified." The East African officers and soldiers have noticed the changes in Abyad's team.
Treni ordered, "This group of people has no heavy firepower, and even their basic firepower is very weak, so don't worry, we just need to slowly wear them down."
Abyad and others had fought a battle in Jallu Town before, and they had consumed a lot of ammunition, which could not be replenished, so they naturally had to use it sparingly.
However, the situation is completely different for the East African officers and soldiers at the Kalanshu Outpost. Normally, the Kalanshu Outpost never encounters war and has ammunition in abundance.
To put it bluntly, the ammunition stored at the Kalanshu outpost is enough for Abyad to have all the ammunition before the town of Jalu.
This is easy to understand. In Italian Libya, the resistance organization has no arsenals or military industries of its own. If they want to obtain weapons and ammunition, they can basically only rely on funding from external forces or seize them.
The weapons and equipment of the resistance army in Italian Libya were basically funded by Arab forces in other regions of North Africa, such as French Libya or Egypt.
Of course, local resistance forces can also purchase weapons. Italian Libya is close to the Mediterranean Sea, and with the existence of its former sovereign, the Ottoman Empire, it is not difficult to obtain weapons through smuggling.
But buying weapons costs money, and in Italian-controlled Libya, the locals are not rich. In the 21st century, Libya had abundant oil resources, but now, Libya's oil resources have not been developed at all.
In fact, Ernst was very envious of the development of Libya's oil resources, but it was impossible for East Africa to do so before the North African railway was built.
The Libyan section of the North African Railway passes through the most oil-rich area in Libya in the past. The oil resources here can subsequently be transported to the northern part of East Africa via the North African Railway.
Therefore, the North African Railway is not only a strategic railway connecting East Africa to the Mediterranean market, but also a major transportation route that is related to the energy strategy of East African countries.
Back to the topic, the current resistance organizations in Italian Libya have military and industrial capabilities that are not even as good as the base of the Far Eastern Imperial Labor Party. They are simply a bunch of guerrillas.
Abyad's troops were considered to be the most powerful among these scattered soldiers. Before the Battle of Jallu, his troops were close to 300 people. It may not seem like a lot, but in the sparsely populated Italian Libya, an army of 300 people equipped with hot weapons was the largest in the entire Italian Libyan resistance organization.
However, the weapons of such a "strong and powerful" resistance organization were limited to rifles, and the types of rifles were quite diverse. There were even flintlock rifles left over from the Ottoman Empire, which could be put into museums in East Africa.
It is precisely because their equipment is too backward and ammunition is scarce that the squad leader Teleni of the Kalanshu outpost can sit back and relax.
In fact, when the battle just started, Treni was also very panicked. After all, the number of enemies and their firepower were unknown, and the Kalanshu outpost did not have sufficient combat experience. Everyone was a little nervous, and many of them were even encountering war for the first time.
After all, the Kalanshu outpost is just a small outpost in the border area. Within a radius of 100 kilometers, it is all desert, and it is no exaggeration to say that there is no bird shit there.
The East African side never thought that the Kalanshu Outpost would encounter a war. Taking over the Kalanshu Outpost would not bring any economic benefits. Not to mention the Kalanshu Outpost, even the economic value of the town of Al-Jawf in the rear is almost a side effect. A large amount of investment is required in the early stage, and the subsequent maintenance costs are also high.
Even if the North African railway is included, it may not bring much actual benefits to East Africa, not to mention that it will take several years to complete the construction of the North African railway.
East Africa could never imagine that anyone would be interested in a border outpost in the heart of the desert in such an area. If this place was really so popular, the Italians would have occupied it long ago.
Bang...bang...bang...
Dadada... Dadada...
Every sporadic gunfire from Abyad's men was met with a response from East African machine guns.
Abyad's troops tried to get under the bunker several times but were repelled every time. After all, there were many considerations when building this bunker in East Africa, and there was open space everywhere, so there were no blind spots at all.
Half an hour later, Abyad's men had more than thirty more bodies.
Zagut was already dejected, his eyes bloodshot as he reported to Abyad, "Chief, we can't fight anymore! We only have about 70 men left, and over 40 have died. If we continue, we'll all be killed here."
Before attacking the Kalanshu outpost, Abyad had 124 men under his command. After two rounds of charge, 48 soldiers were killed, leaving only 76, not counting the wounded.
Although the Abyad troops had a very strong fighting spirit, with such shocking casualties, even if Allah came, they would probably not be able to continue the fight.
Abyad said unwillingly, "We have more than a hundred people, and we sacrificed so many people just for this small stronghold. I can't accept this!"
Zagut advised, "Chief, we have seriously underestimated the firepower of the East Africans. There is nothing we can do about it. If we don't retreat now, it would be like an egg hitting a stone. We are overestimating our own capabilities."
"And we absolutely cannot all die here. After all, we still have to retake Cyrenaica and drive the Italians out of our land."
"It's just a setback. We've been through this before. One day, we'll be able to make a comeback and avenge our brothers!"
Since the uprising in Abyad against the Italians, his troops have not had smooth sailing and have suffered many defeats, but it has also been difficult for the Italians to completely annihilate them.
Therefore, Zagut believed that as long as there was life, there would be no shortage of firewood. He continued to advise: "After this defeat, we can only continue to move northwest. The worst that can happen is that we kill our horses and replenish our supplies along the way. As long as we can reach the area controlled by the French, we will eventually fight back and settle accounts with the Italians and the East Africans."
After listening to Zagut's advice, Abyad could only grit his teeth and say: "Retreat..."
Without time to deal with the bodies of their comrades and horses on the ground, the Abyad troops hurriedly evacuated the battlefield with a dozen wounded soldiers and disappeared into the northern desert.
After a while, the East African officers and soldiers in the outpost heard that the gunfire had completely stopped, and the Abyad troops had completely disappeared.
Squad Leader Treni stared at his watch and said, "Wait half an hour to prevent the enemy from making a surprise attack."
Half an hour later, the soldiers of the Kalanshu outpost walked out of the bunker and cleaned up the battlefield. In the surrounding open space, more than 40 corpses and more than 30 war horses lay on the yellow sand.
The soldiers at the Kalanshu outpost spent a lot of time cleaning up the bodies. Finally, they poured gasoline on them and set them on fire. As for burying them, that was too time-consuming, and digging holes in the desert was not a good option.
A day later, two East African military aircraft arrived at the Kalanshu outpost, and an infantry platoon was brought in.
"Captain Treni, where are the enemies?" asked Lieutenant Corey who came to support.
"Second Lieutenant," Treney reported, "the enemy has been repelled by my squad. We have eliminated a total of forty-eight of them, but there are still less than a hundred who have fled to the northwest."
This made the hurried Lieutenant Corey a little unimpressed, but he still praised them, saying, "You killed nearly fifty enemies with the strength of a squad. Well done! Please record the results of the battle in detail and I will recommend you for credit."
Then, he asked seriously, "Do you know the identity of the enemy?"
Treni shook his head and said, "Lieutenant, we really don't know the enemy's specific identity. However, judging by their attire and the firearms we seized, they could be Arab forces within the Italian-controlled area, bandits, or even tribal militias."
Lieutenant Corey asked, "No one was captured alive?"
Treney replied, "The enemy outnumbered us nearly ten to one. Even at the very end, they still outnumbered us when they retreated. Therefore, we didn't dare to attack rashly throughout the battle, but instead relied on our bunkers to fight them."
Lieutenant Corey felt sorry for not capturing any survivors, but it wasn't a big deal. He said, "This enemy group is most likely coming from the Italians in Jalu Town. As long as we notify them, we should be able to find out their identity."
…
Benghazi, Italian Governor's Palace.
"Governor Badoglio, thank you for the intelligence you provided. However, if your country encounters this situation again, please report it to us in advance. Otherwise, if the Kalanshu outpost is not handled properly, it may cause casualties on our side."
"Next time, if the enemy flees south from Jalu Town, we in East Africa will be prepared in advance."
The person who met with Governor Badoglio was Zhang Jin, head of the East African liaison group in Benghazi. The purpose of establishing this group was originally to discuss the joint construction of the Libyan railway between the two countries.
Governor Badoglio said: "We did not expect the bandits from Jallu Town to come to your territory and cause trouble for your country."
"However, Mr. Zhang Jin, don't worry. We in Italy will not let this happen again. The Kingdom has already launched a large-scale crackdown on all terrorists in Libya. We will eradicate terrorist organizations of the size of the Abyad Gang and eliminate the soil for their survival."
When facing the East Africans, Governor Badoglio was still very polite. On the one hand, East Africa was a big country and Italy could not afford to offend it. On the other hand, Badoglio did not want to give any excuse.
After all, the incident at the Kalanshu outpost could be a big deal or a small one. In the smallest case, East Africa could completely ignore it. In the biggest case, this could become an excuse for East Africa to move north.
Since you in Italy cannot control your own territory, can East Africa send troops into Italian Libya for the sake of its own interests and security?
Not to mention that East Africa is not interested in Italian Libya, at least Governor Badoglio does not think so. Since the mid-19th century, the most aggressive people in the world have been East Africans.
There is no need to say much about East Africa. Such a vast territory was not given to them for free. East Africa even fought a war with Britain and Portugal in the past.
Although Portugal had declined at the end of the 19th century, it still had some wealth and its status in the world at that time was similar to that of Italy today. As for now, Portugal has completely become a small country that can be bullied by everyone in Europe.
East Africa was able to suppress Portugal in the past, and it can also suppress Italy now. After all, East Africa today is no longer the East Africa of the late 19th century. It has become more powerful, making it impossible for people to have any thoughts of resistance.
In the past decade or so, the country with the most exaggerated overseas expansion is still East Africa. That is, at the end of the 19th century, East Africa had not yet been fully formed. Otherwise, when the European powers divided up the world at that time, East Africa would definitely have had a hand.
As for the fact that such a powerful East Africa looks down on this rotten piece of land, Italian Libya, Badoglio also has something to say. In his opinion, the situation in Italian Libya is much better than Darfur, the Isthmus of Kra, the Persian Gulf territory and other places in East Africa.
Among them, the environment in Darfur is much worse than that in Italian Libya, but East Africa still turned it into its colony.
Therefore, Badoglio was wary of East Africa and would not give East Africa any chance to interfere in the affairs of Italian Libya.
(End of this chapter)
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