Chapter 717: South African version of the Triple Alliance
While East Africa was cleaning up its eastern defense line, Mozambique was also not idle. Unlike East Africa's defensive offensive strategy, Mozambique was more inclined to take the initiative in attacking.
Because the value between the two is completely different, for East Africa, Matabele Province is an industrial base, while Mozambique is just a colony, so the territory of East Africa is more valuable. To ensure that the industry is not threatened by war, more detailed defense is needed.
The main economic structure of Mozambique is plantations and mines. These two types of economies are very flexible and there is no need to feel bad even if they are destroyed by war. After all, the investment is very low and it can be achieved by simply repeatedly exploiting the indigenous people in the country. Therefore, Mozambique is very flexible.
Therefore, Mozambique’s strategic goal is to launch a “destructive” attack on East African territory in order to destroy East Africa’s war potential, weaken East Africa’s national strength, and pave the way for the three countries to divide up East African territory.
…
Maputo city.
At this time, Maputo was a gathering place of "yin", as representatives of the Portuguese, British and Transvaal people all gathered in this ancient African city with a long history.
"Why not establish the command center in Bloemfontein? Although Maputo has a good location, it is separated from our Boer Republic by East Africa and Cape Town. In this way, there will be no communication between the two!" Davidson asked, pointing to the map.
Bougival: "Although you Boers are also surrounded on three sides by East Africa, the pressure you bear cannot be compared with that of Mozambique. You must know that the most elite troops in East Africa must be deployed in the north of Mozambique, and the south of East Africa is just the border area of East Africa."
"Even the Natal colony in the central part of the country cannot communicate with each other because it is divided by the port city of New Hamburg. Therefore, if we want to open up communication between the three countries, we must spare no effort to capture the port city of New Hamburg."
"There are 50,000 British troops in the Natal colony and 80,000 Indian vassal troops. We have also deployed 40,000 troops in Mozambique. Together with the 30,000 Portuguese troops in Mozambique and 70,000 blacks, that's 140,000. The total is 270,000. The Boer Republic can temporarily expand its army to 30,000, and the number of troops will directly reach 300,000."
This does not include the garrisons in Cape Town and Angola, so the total available military force of the entire Triple Alliance is around 500,000.
"Our military strength is only comparable to that of a few powers in Europe, so this war must be a decisive blow to East Africa and contribute to peace and stability in Africa." Earl Roberts said proudly.
Although it was only theoretically about commanding an army of more than 500,000 to fight a large country with a larger area and a population of over 10 million, there were probably few people in British history who had achieved such an achievement. This was no less than a replica of the "Crimean War".
However, Britain was not the main force in the Crimean War. The main force at that time was France. The Crimean War was also the pinnacle of France's foreign wars during the reign of Napoleon III.
Therefore, Earl Roberts can only enjoy this honor. If he can successfully command this war in East Africa, he will become a great figure in the history of the British Empire in the future.
Davidson and Bougival did not dare to refute these British earls because Earl Roberts was previously the highest military commander of Britain in India. He came from a British military family, his father was a British general, and he himself was the commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces.
In his early years, he participated in the suppression of the Indian Rebellion, the expedition against the Abyssinian Empire, and the Second Afghan War (a war instigated in East Africa). In history, he also commanded the Second Boer War. He was also the last commander-in-chief in British history. In short, his background and resume make him one of the top military talents in the UK.
Roberts went on to say, "Of course, our enemy, East Africa, is not weak either. They maintain a standing army of more than 100,000 people all year round, and their weapons and equipment are all Germanized. This is also an important reason why East Africa has always maintained its advantage in the African war. They also have a strong regional navy, so when fighting a big country like East Africa, we must go all out."
Although he exaggerated the threat from East Africa, Earl Roberts' attitude towards East Africa did not change. He never believed that East Africa had a huge advantage over the Allies.
First of all, in terms of military strength, the Allied forces currently have an absolute advantage. Moreover, after being armed by the British, the weapons and equipment of the three-nation allied forces are mixed, but they are at the same level as those in East Africa.
The second is the issue of command authority. Both Transvaal and Portugal must obey the command of the British commander-in-chief. The people of Transvaal are Britain's younger brothers, and Portugal is even more loyal to Britain. This is the same in Europe, so there will be no unclear command authority, which gives Earl Roberts greater confidence.
Finally, in terms of the navy, Britain could mobilize the Royal Navy forces in India and Cape Town to fight in East Africa at the same time. The East African Navy was supported by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, so the British Navy was confident that it could defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a "weak country" in terms of navy.
"Our main disadvantage is logistics. Once the war starts, we must quickly and accurately eliminate the main force of East Africa. We cannot fight a war of attrition with the enemy in the region. At the same time, in order to prevent accidents, material reserves must be fully prepared. This is also an important reason why I put the main battlefield on the east coast. Here we can receive materials from India and our mainland from the sea."
East Africa's advantage lies in land transportation. With the construction of railways, resources can be mobilized across the country, which is something that Britain and Portugal, whose home countries are in Europe, cannot do, so they are extremely dependent on maritime transportation.
This also means that the first battle between East Africa and the Triple Alliance in the future will most likely be a naval battle, but this matter is not the responsibility of Earl Roberts, and there is no need to tell the two allies.
Because the Portuguese naval power was basically zero, with only one ironclad ship imported from Britain, and it was estimated that they would not leave their homeland. As for the Transvaal Boer Republic, it was a completely landlocked country and did not even have the ability to form a navy. Mongolia in the Far Eastern Empire still had large lakes, but only the tributaries of the Orange River could be used in the Boer Republic.
Therefore, the main force in the naval battle can only be the British Royal Navy, and the two allies are not even qualified to play a bystander role. However, the war on land will require the two countries to make great efforts.
Mozambique, in particular, has the most prominent location, which is why Earl Roberts placed the headquarters of the Triple Allied Forces in Maputo. This is the main battlefield personally selected by Earl Roberts.
The establishment of the Allied General Headquarters also meant that the South African version of the Triple Alliance headed by the British was formally formed. The main purpose of this alliance was to eliminate the common threat in East Africa.
The Allies had the world hegemon, Britain, in their command, and were assisted by the two major colonies of the "pseudo-power" Portugal. The military strength of the Transvaal people on the African continent should not be underestimated.
In the past, this alliance of military strength would have been enough to wipe out any other colonial forces on the African continent.
In fact, it is almost the same. In the past, Britain and Portugal basically divided up the whole of South Africa and East Africa after World War I. Together with the British colonies in Egypt (including North and South Sudan) and Somalia, the area of British colonies in Africa also reached its peak.
(End of this chapter)
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