Chapter 735 Gurkha
While the port city of New Hamburg was actively preparing for war, Wilson, the commander of the British Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean, was at a loss.
"New Hamburg is called a coastal city, but it is actually quite far from the sea. If you really want to call it a lakeside city, it has only a narrow waterway less than a kilometer wide connecting it to the interior. The East Africans must have deployed artillery batteries on both sides of the waterway. It is simply impossible to attack the urban area of New Hamburg from here."
"Not only that, the coastline around the New Hamburg Port in East Africa is too flat and has many reefs and shoals, which is not conducive to the passage of ships. This is similar to our Durban Port. It is difficult to attack this terrain from the sea." The adjutant added.
In fact, the British army could not even approach the narrow entrance to the New Hamburg Port. It would be possible to send small ships to land in the New Hamburg Port, but that would require a lot of ships and manpower, which the Cape Town Navy did not have.
"The navy of New Hamburg Port City also avoided fighting. Didn't our trip here go to waste?"
The navy of the Port of New Hamburg has only five main combat ships, and of course it will not go to war with the British. Now the navy is hiding in the inner waters of New Hamburg Bay (Richard Bay), and its defense work mainly relies on the army's artillery.
The coastal artillery construction of the New Hamburg Port City is of the highest standard in the whole of East Africa. It is composed of a variety of coastal artillery systems such as semi-bunker, mobile artillery, fixed turrets, etc. made of reinforced concrete. Naturally, it is not something that can be easily destroyed by just a few warships sent by the British, and it is not the main British combat ship like the previous Battle of Lamu Bay.
Of course, compared with the New Hamburg Port Navy in East Africa, the British Cape Town Navy is still strong enough. After all, the New Hamburg Port Navy is still equipped with two wooden sailing warships, which are no longer in line with the times.
…
Along the Tugela River.
"Report to the commander, our third crossing operation failed. The firepower of the East Africans on the opposite side was too strong, and it was impossible to achieve a breakthrough. In addition, the water volume of the Tugela River is relatively large, and our army lacks large-scale river crossing vessels. Each small-scale crossing operation could not succeed at all."
East Africa was worried about the large number of British troops in the colony of Natal, but the British had already started to "curse".
Although the British had an absolute advantage in troop numbers and firepower, the 9th Brigade of the 513th East African Division, which relied on the Tugela River for defense, was not an easy bone to chew.
The number of East African troops has not increased significantly over the years, and a large amount of military spending has been used to upgrade weapons and equipment systems. In addition, the improvement of East Africa's military industrial capabilities has made the weapons and equipment level of the East African Defense Force not much worse than that of Europe.
So the situation faced by the British was that they encountered an army with the same level of weapons and equipment for the first time in the colonies.
East Africa has deployed a large number of artillery, machine guns and other weapons along the Tugela River, with a firepower density far exceeding that of the opponents Britain encountered in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
It is worth mentioning that the current British army in the Natal colony is mainly composed of Indian soldiers. The main force of the British army has been transferred to the Mozambique region by the British Commander-in-Chief Earl Roberts, which also includes many heavy weapons that are given priority supply to Mozambique.
Therefore, although Natal had a large number of troops, its advantage in weapons was not too great. Of course, even so, the number of British artillery pieces in the Natal colony was about three times that of East Africa.
But now East Africa is on the defensive, and its main purpose is to disrupt the British army's plan to cross the river, so the conversion of firepower advantage is not significant.
"Pull all the artillery of our division, including those of other Indian infantry divisions, to the river. We must suppress the firepower of the East Africans and provide fire support to the troops crossing the river."
"Also, a major failure in the previous crossings was that the Indians disrupted the morale of the army. This time, let our people and the Gurkhas take the lead. If there are any more Indians who desert, they will be executed on the spot and their bodies will be thrown into the Tugela River!"
The British division commander Rossiter gritted his teeth and said that although the East Africans were strong, this was not the reason for their failure. After all, the opposite side only had one brigade of troops, while Natal had one British division and three Indian divisions, with firepower and manpower several times that of the enemy. However, they were unable to defeat the small East African infantry brigade, which was a disgrace to the empire.
So Rost attributed this result to the Indian army, which served as the cannon fodder for the charge. In Rost's view, it was the inherent lack of courage among Indian soldiers that led to the failure of the previous operations.
Of course, Rost's scapegoating was on the right track. The Indian vassal army did have serious problems, especially the most "excellent" third river crossing operation.
The collapse occurred before even one-third of the Indian vassal army had crossed the river. This is simply unbelievable!
The average width of the Tugela River is only about 100 meters, and the narrowest part is only more than 20 meters. If you are not careful, the boat may pass through this distance.
Therefore, the Indians' fighting will was too weak. Although Rost considered himself to be a relatively calm person, he was also very angry at the Indians' performance.
Of course, the Indians did not admit Rossiter's accusation, and several Indian officers blamed it on "East Africa's powerful firepower."
In fact, in terms of firepower, Rossiter's troops suppressed the East African artillery fire. Even in this situation, the Indians' words sounded like "sophistry" to Rossiter.
It was okay to use this excuse for the first failed crossing, because Rost did not expect that the firepower of East Africa was no less powerful than that of the European army. However, during the second and third crossings, Rost increased the firepower support to a considerable capacity, basically suppressing the army. After all, no matter how powerful the firepower of East Africa was, the opposite side only had the configuration of a brigade.
With Rossiter's order, the British and Gurkhas took the lead in crossing the river.
The Gurkhas, also known as the Gurkha mercenaries, can be said to be the most brave and capable army of Britain in the 19th century, and their fighting will is stronger than that of the British native army.
Moreover, Gurkha mercenaries are very loyal and their prices are very low. Since most Gurkha soldiers are forced to serve as soldiers for generations due to their livelihood, they often say without any reservation: "We serve as soldiers for money, there is no other purpose."
Britain was naturally very satisfied with such an army, and it was also an advantageous arm for Britain to rule India.
Gurkhas often suppressed Indian uprisings, so Rost's use of Gurkhas to supervise the war was very consistent with the Gurkhas' positioning, and they often did so in India.
Of course, the main purpose this time was to give full play to the Gurkha mercenaries' spirit of fearlessness and fighting to the death and break through the East Africans' Tugela River defense line.
As long as he could seize the coastal positions on the north bank of the Tugela River, even if it was just a gap, Rost's goal would be achieved.
The fourth river crossing operation was about to begin. In order to motivate the Gurkhas, Rost promised them a large reward, and the Gurkhas bought into it.
There was bloodshot in everyone's eyes, as if they wanted to tear the East Africans on the other side of the river to pieces. After all, poverty is the most terrifying thing for the Gurkhas. For the sake of pounds, they would sell their lives!
With the Gurkhas taking the lead, the "East African phobia" of the Indian vassal army seemed to be alleviated to a certain extent this time, and the British soldiers were in better condition than the Indians, but their enthusiasm was obviously not comparable to that of the Gurkhas.
(End of this chapter)
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