Chapter 733: Besieged on All Sides
The navy cannot currently play a leading role in influencing the situation in South Africa. This is mainly due to the fact that Britain lacks a solid foothold in the nearby waters. Historically, Britain annexed Zanzibar to clamp down on German East Africa, but now Zanzibar has long been destroyed by East Africa.
It is the lack of the strategic fulcrum of Zanzibar that has led to the lack of British naval power in the entire Western Indian Ocean. Britain's naval power in South Africa is basically concentrated in Cape Town, but due to the influence of the Suez Canal, Cape Town's naval power has not actually increased much in recent years.
On the contrary, the strength of the Egyptian port of Alexandria and British Somaliland, that is, the Mediterranean Fleet, has been strengthened overall, which reflects the importance of the Red Sea route.
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Compared with the navy's performance, the army was the main force in this South African War. At the same time as the Battle of Lamu Bay began, the Allied forces launched an attack on the East African mainland from multiple regions.
East Africa was suddenly under military pressure from the south, east and west. The north is currently in a peaceful state, but the main reason is that the Sudan region is not conducive to marching. Britain is temporarily unable to launch military operations in northern East Africa through Egypt, and British Somaliland has weakened military strength, mainly relying on the navy, and does not have the conditions for land warfare.
However, the military pressure from three directions still made the East African Defense Force feel greatly threatened. Angola, South Africa (Cape Town and the Boer Republic), and Mozambique, hundreds of thousands of troops attacked the hinterland of East Africa at the same time. For the first time in Africa, East Africa fell into a situation of troop shortage.
First town city.
Count Alman reported to the government on the current war situation in East Africa. This information was summarized from various fronts and transmitted back to the first town within one day through the East African telegraph system for reference by the General Staff and the government.
"At present, the Portuguese troops in Angola are mainly pressing us from two directions. The troops of the Western Military Region can only delay their military operations and cannot organize a large-scale counterattack. The three provinces in the west are all buffer zones in the army's plan. At the same time, we must implement a strong defense and clearing of the west to prevent their large-scale offensive from receiving effective material supplies. However, this also means giving up the construction of the western region that has lasted for several years."
"We must stop Portugal in the west and prevent it from invading our central region. As for the implementation of the policy of clearing the countryside in the west, it is feasible. Apart from agriculture, there are basically no industries of great value in the west. Even agriculture accounts for less than 3% of the total in East Africa, and the population is relatively small. It can be completely withdrawn to the rear, which will not have much impact on our country."
"In the south, the joint military forces of the two countries, with the Boer Republic as the main force and the United Kingdom as the auxiliary, launched an offensive against the Fetter River Line and the Orange River. However, we have been deploying military forces in this area for many years, especially the Fetter River Line, which has been managed for many years and can be regarded as impregnable."
"The main military pressure in the south is on the Tugela River. Britain has stockpiled a large number of troops in the Natal colony, so the Tugela River is most likely to be captured. The situation in the port city of New Hamburg behind the Tugela River is not good either. To the north is Maputo, where the British and Mozambique coalition forces have already moved south."
"So it seems that Britain and Portugal intend to first defeat our military presence in the southern border province in order to achieve the goal of uniting our forces. If they are allowed to achieve this, the British and Portuguese coalition forces will be able to withdraw a large number of troops to enter the south of our country."
"What's not good now is that our forces in New Hamburg are weak, so the General Staff believes that we should withdraw troops from Hechingen Province to take over the railway and road passages in the Drakensberg Mountains to prevent the British and Portuguese coalition forces from launching an offensive to the west by rail after the fall of New Hamburg. In this way, the Southern Military Region may be surrounded by the armies of the three countries in the Orange River Basin."
The port city of New Hamburg can be said to be the most "disgusting" nail that East Africa has nailed on South Africa. Due to the existence of the port city of New Hamburg, hundreds of thousands of troops from Mozambique and the British colony of Natal were unable to merge.
At the same time, this narrow stretch of land is also the main sea route for the five southern provinces of East Africa, and it serves as the fastest economic connection channel with eastern East Africa.
But precisely because of this, the General Staff is not optimistic about the situation in the port city of New Hamburg. It is sandwiched between the coalition forces on two sides, has no vast territory to serve as a buffer, and faces threats from the two countries' regional naval forces at sea.
Therefore, the military pressure on the port city of New Hamburg is unprecedented. Britain and Portugal will definitely launch a frenzied attack on the area. As long as the port city of New Hamburg is in the hands of East Africa, the Allied forces will not be able to carry out the next military operation against East Africa in peace.
After all, Maputo, the Allied headquarters, is only a few days away from the port city of New Hamburgo. It would be more convenient if it were the navy. They also have to consider the possibility of East Africa launching a military counterattack against the Allies with the port city of New Hamburgo as the center.
Count Alman went on to say, "On the eastern defense line, which is the border of Matabele Province, the Portuguese and British have concentrated at least tens of thousands of people to launch exploratory attacks on our eastern defense line at the same time. Several important military strongholds, in particular, have been under a lot of pressure. However, relying on the terrain advantage, these strongholds are currently firmly under our control."
"Then there is the Zambezi River defense line. The British and Portuguese allied forces here do not have a strong offensive intention, so we can be sure that the main offensive direction of the allied forces is now the central and southern regions of our country. The main pressure on the eastern region is currently coming from the sea."
"The Lamu Bay naval battle has just ended. With the main force of our navy still intact, relying on the eastern naval base, there is no security problem for the time being. The British expeditionary fleet has not even come into contact with the city of Mombasa."
This is of course the main credit of the navy. If Britain really crossed Mombasa and reached the Tanga front line, the East African Guards Division could consider organizing a war centered on defending the capital's first town, which also means that the political center of East Africa is under great threat.
If this is really the case, then moving the capital becomes something that must be considered. For now, there is no need for this. First of all, the navy has withstood the first wave of British attacks. Secondly, even if the navy is completely wiped out, the naval forces under the Guards Division can continue to assume the function of near-shore defense. Finally, the near-shore defense system that Ernst originally built along the coast of East Africa can also play a role.
In the coastal areas of the Central Province, there are only three large ports suitable for large-scale enemy landings, and all three ports are equipped with large-caliber coastal defense artillery of the European level.
Even if this last line of defense was broken through, the army would simply take over the battlefield, and by then the East African government would have been able to evacuate to the rear along the railway.
"There are currently no unusual British troop movements in the north, but we have found suspicious individuals along the Nile River. This intelligence was discovered by the National Defense Security Agency in Khartoum, Egypt, but no troops were found to have entered Khartoum, so the Nile Province is still in a safe situation. However, the appearance of suspicious individuals also means that Britain is considering sending troops from Egypt to East Africa, so we need to remain vigilant in this direction."
"Finally, there is British Somaliland. British Somaliland is the area where the British military strength is the weakest among the areas bordering us, so it does not pose a threat to our country."
"The current national defense and security situation is just as we expected before the war. We are now surrounded by enemies on all sides, especially the war potential of Britain, Portugal and the Boers. We have underestimated it. This South African War was obviously planned for nearly ten years, and it was intended to kill our military power in one fell swoop."
(End of this chapter)
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