Chapter 490 Weird Commander
A small force of more than a thousand people should be able to reach Songo quickly. After all, the distance from Tete to Songo is only a hundred kilometers, which means it will take three or four days.
However, the marching speed of the blacks really annoyed the French instructor Kerry who was leading the team. They dragged their feet all the way and it took them four days to arrive. You have to know that it is the dry season in Mozambique now, and marching on the dry grassland is not difficult.
However, the Portuguese officer was very satisfied with the marching speed. In his opinion, forced march was completely unnecessary. Songo was just a small stronghold, and Portugal was declaring war without declaration. He believed that the East Africans could not have made preparations in advance, so it was better to go slowly on the road. After all, walking more than ten kilometers a day was considered to be up to standard.
Kerry said to the Portuguese commander while riding on his horse: "Captain Rod, can you speed up the troops? We are going to fight this time, not for a picnic."
Rhodes said lazily on the simple sedan chair carried by the black man: "Lieutenant Kerry, why are you in such a hurry? Anyway, the Germans are there and they won't run away. They can't know our actions in advance."
Kerry: "If the German scouts discover us, this operation will be ruined!"
"You worry too much, Lieutenant Kerry. We haven't even seen any trace of the Germans in these days. They won't discover our actions in advance."
"But..." Kerry wanted to say more.
Rhode interrupted impatiently, "How about this, we will march for half an hour longer every day, no, at most twenty minutes, this is our limit, too much is as bad as too little, in case we have tired soldiers to fight the Germans, it is not the best strategy. My main goal is to let the troops fight the Germans in a better mental state."
Kerry looked at this waste helplessly and was speechless. Today, the Portuguese made him see what real procrastination is. Kerry has seen many people who slacked off, but it is rare to see someone as weird as the Portuguese.
France helped Mozambique train its army, but before the war broke out the Mozambican government temporarily airdropped a group of Portuguese officers.
It’s not quite right to say it was an airborne landing. It should be said that it was decided in advance, but none of the Portuguese officers were seen during the training, and they only took over the command of the army after the war broke out.
Kerry would like to ask the bureaucrats of the Mozambique colonial government if they don't take care of these mediocre talents?
In fact, the Mozambique government was also powerless. The Mozambique colony did not have many troops at all. Many officers were temporarily promoted from former white soldiers. Rhodes was one of them.
Therefore, the abilities of many officers are questionable, and they do not want to receive the same training from the French as the blacks. I am afraid that their military abilities are even worse than those of the blacks.
However, the Mozambique colony was not at ease if the army was completely handed over to the French. Military power could not be given to the French. What if they took over the French colony? Therefore, these white officers who had no military ability and could not endure hardship were born.
Take Rod for example. This guy weighs more than 170 pounds and can't even ride a horse. He has to rely on black people to carry him along the way. He was just a security officer in Maputo before.
Of course, not all Portuguese are mediocre. For example, the pure white troops in the city of Tete are the real elite of Mozambique. Many of them are mercenaries or retired Portuguese army soldiers with good abilities. Most of these people are Portuguese troops supporting Mozambique.
However, although they are elite, they are only elite by Mozambique standards, and Mozambique's top soldiers are concentrated in the navy stationed in Mozambique.
The Mozambique Navy was also in an awkward situation. To be precise, they had no relationship with the Mozambique colonial government, but were directly under the jurisdiction of the Royal Navy. So in this war between Portugal and East Africa, they just stood by and watched. Of course, the reason of preventing East Africa from attacking Mozambique from the sea was also reasonable, although they were indeed no match for the East African Navy.
At present, the Kingdom of Portugal cannot afford to maintain a large-scale army. In fact, many colonies rely on private armies, that is, civilian colonial armed forces to maintain their appearance. The Portuguese government may not be able to mobilize them. If these civilian colonial groups can be of one mind with the government, they may really cause some trouble for the East African Army.
This is also the reason why East Africa is so confident in Mozambique's military strength. In a short period of time, the Portuguese can organize a large black army, but officers are not so easy to train. Even if there are French as staff officers, France only sent an advisory group of dozens of people to assist the Portuguese. Even if they took over the command of the Portuguese army, they would not be able to manage so many troops.
After six days of hesitation, the Portuguese vanguard led by Rhodes finally saw the Songo stronghold.
Rhodes pretended to take out a telescope and observed for a while, then said to Kerry: "Lieutenant Kerry, what should we do next?"
Kerry: “…”
Rhodes was not pretending at all. He really didn't know how to take down the Songo stronghold because it was a little different from the military fortress he had imagined.
From a distance, the Songo military stronghold was about three meters high and about three to four hundred meters long. There were gullies around it, which served as a moat. Kerry did not see any water, so he concluded that there might be defensive measures such as spikes laid inside.
The scale of the Songo outpost was also larger than Kerry had imagined, which was probably why Rhodes was at a loss, because according to Rhodes' experience in Mozambique, generally no one would build a military outpost that large. After all, Songo was not a key area.
Tete was built on a larger scale due to its important location, being a hub for land and water transportation and a gathering place for caravans in the past. This was acceptable, but how come the city built by Songge was not much smaller than that of Tete?
Tete is an important city in northern Mozambique, while Songo is just an ordinary military stronghold between East Africa and Mozambique. The strategic positions of the two sides are incomparable.
Kerry: "It seems a bit difficult! We underestimated the Germans' construction capabilities. This kind of military fortress probably doesn't require two or three hundred people. Even more than a hundred people can resist us for quite a while!"
"Well, don't you have any solution?" Rhodes asked.
Kerry was speechless. If the French army had encountered this situation, they would have bombarded the city with artillery long ago. Even if they didn't have artillery, corresponding siege facilities would have been indispensable. But the Mozambique army didn't have the conditions!
Kerry: "We can only cut down trees and build siege equipment first. At least we need to build a batch of ladders to cross the trenches and walls of Songo. Otherwise, even if we rush to the city with the advantage of numbers, we will not be able to enter the city and take down Songo. Instead, we will only become East African targets and die in vain."
Hearing that they didn't have to fight right away, Rhode was relieved. "Thank you for your help, Lieutenant Kerry. I have never seen siege equipment before, so I still have to rely on you to command those black guys to complete this task."
Kerry is really going to be pissed off by this Portuguese idiot! He keeps calling him Second Lieutenant Kerry, just like a superior is ordering a subordinate. The problem is, how can a French Second Lieutenant like you, a Portuguese African colony captain, compare to me?
Before the war even started, Kerry was already in deep despair about the war in Mozambique and East Africa, unless the East African Kingdom could find a fool like Rhodes to be its opponent, but that shouldn't be possible! The probability of gathering all the "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix" at the same time should be low, Kerry thought truthfully.
(End of this chapter)
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