Chapter 725 Pre-War Abacus
March 7, 1888.
After all preparations were completed, the Triple Alliance was officially ready to take action.
Earl Roberts made his final deployment before the war: "Once the war begins, the two brigades in southern Portugal will cooperate with the British troops in the Natal colony to march towards the port city of New Hamburg."
"The rest of the troops will be divided into two directions. Our two divisions will be the main force to attack the central part of East Africa, and one division of troops will fight with the Portuguese army in the north along the Zambezi River against East Africa."
"The remaining two divisions serve as reserves, ready to support various battlefields at any time."
"As for the Boers..."
Davidson, as the representative of the Transvaal people, finally had a chance to speak.
"Commander-in-Chief, our Boer Republic is an independent battlefield, so we can only provide support for the main battlefield. However, we will attract as many troops from southern East Africa as possible to the west so that they cannot support the eastern battlefield."
Even if the Transvaal people wanted to support the eastern coastal areas, they could not do so. Like Mozambique, they were surrounded on three sides by East Africa, and the Drakensberg Mountains in the east cut off the Allied forces.
This meant that the Boer Republic could only serve as an independent battlefield and coordinate with the main battlefield in the east, and the same thing happened to the Angolan colony.
The Angolan colony was even more special than other areas. Its location made it impossible for the Allied General Headquarters to incorporate it into its own command system.
Therefore, Angola and the Eastern Front are of the same level. The commander-in-chief is a Portuguese, and the corresponding troops are basically a combination of Portuguese and blacks.
However, the UK will provide naval support to Angola. East Africa's naval power in the South Atlantic is extremely weak, so only a few small warships are needed to suppress East Africa's Atlantic Fleet.
East Africa doesn't care about this. The so-called Atlantic Fleet is just a coast patrol team built based on the Southwest Africa region. It can't play a big role at all. Moreover, there is no need to worry about the enemy's attack in such a bad place like Southwest Africa.
The desert is the best natural barrier. It is very difficult for East Africans to travel from Southwest Africa to the interior of East Africa. If they rush into Southwest Africa without being familiar with the local area or even knowing nothing about it, they may get lost in the desert without East Africa helping them, and eventually collapse due to problems such as supply and water shortage.
Of course, the premise of all this is that East Africa can stabilize the western battlefield with Angola. The western defense line of East Africa is very loose, which makes the strategy in the west of East Africa more flexible than that in the east.
On the contrary, we cannot build the same strategic defense line in the west as in the southeast, replacing defense with offense.
Earl Roberts said to Davidson, "Of course, but you must not sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. I think you also know how big the gap is with East Africa. Even if the three countries join forces, we may not have much advantage over East Africa. If we are defeated one by one because no one contributes, the consequences will be very serious."
Davidson said calmly: "Of course, if we are talking about the people who are most impressed by East Africa's military strength, it must be us Boers. East Africa's strong military strength is definitely second to none on the African continent."
The people of Transvaal had experienced the process of national destruction once, so they have always attached the greatest importance to the strength of East Africa. On the contrary, the Portuguese still did not see the situation clearly.
Although there was the First Portuguese-Eastern War, the Portuguese believed that Portugal was not prepared for war. In addition, with the support of the British this time, even if they could not overthrow the East African Kingdom, they could at least inflict heavy damage on East Africa. After all, up to now, the Allies had a greater chance of winning.
Earl Roberts had no doubt about the Boers' determination to fight against East Africa. He said: "The outcome of this war also depends on each party's contribution. If the Boers want more, they must work harder on the battlefield. Not only can they restore their country, but they can also obtain more land, including the original Zulu Kingdom, which is now the New Hamburg Port City. I think the seaport must be very attractive to the Boers."
Anyway, the war had not started yet, so it was no pressure for Earl Roberts to make generous promises before the war. If it were not for the sake of not exaggerating, he could even verbally promise to give the entire East Africa to the Transvaal people.
The final division of the war was still dominated by the British. At that time, whatever the British said was what it was, and the final right of interpretation was in the hands of the British.
Earl Roberts' words were not convincing to Davidson, because the people of Transvaal were now forced into a desperate situation by East Africa and had no other choice. It would be best if they could expand their territory.
Bougival was somewhat tempted. Portugal's current goals can be divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The upper level is to restore the original area of the two colonies while dividing a part of the central East African land to expand the area of Portugal's colonies.
The middle level is to take back the land that was taken away by East Africa last time and get a larger share of the reparations. War reparations from a big country like East Africa are also very considerable profits. The lower level is to ensure the safety of the current colonies and prevent them from being encroached upon by East Africa.
Of these three goals, the first one is unrealistic because Portugal is unlikely to obtain the central region of East Africa, thereby connecting the Portuguese colonies, because this conflicts with the interests of the British.
The British are not here to do charity. After the war, they will most likely turn the wealthy areas of East Africa into their colonies, and central East Africa is the best location.
As for the eastern part of East Africa, that area was not within the Allied consideration. It was the birthplace of East Africa, and it would not be ceded unless the East African country was destroyed.
After all, if such a large country in East Africa could be destroyed directly, there would be no precedent since the Age of Discovery.
Of course, East Africa is big only in terms of area. It actually has a large population, but population data is not easy to obtain.
According to the current British thinking, it would be best to replicate the Paraguayan War in South America and weaken all forces in South Africa except Britain at once.
In the eyes of countries around the world, East Africa should be the same type of country as Brazil, but Brazil is like a glass box. The whole world can see the mess in Brazil, but East Africa cannot see the inside, so a lot of data is based on speculation.
However, one thing is certain, that is, the East African government must be cleaner than the Brazilian government. After all, judging from the military strength displayed by the two countries, East Africa is much stronger.
Although Brazil is independent, it is only stronger than an ordinary colony and is an economic colony of various powerful countries. East Africa, on the other hand, is an independent country with real autonomy.
In this regard, Japan is much stronger than Brazil. The humiliation Japan suffered at the beginning was no less than that of Brazil, but Japan has been actively abolishing the unequal treaties signed during the shogunate era.
Brazil is on the road of economic colonization and there is no turning back. The most important thing is that the various forces in Brazil are mixed and none of them can dominate the direction of the country or form a joint force. Otherwise, according to Brazil's basic conditions, it should not have developed to what it is today.
(End of this chapter)
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