Chapter 743 Phase 1
While Rost was having a headache, the 9th Brigade successfully withdrew to the port of New Hamburg, and even the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, which was responsible for the rearguard, successfully returned to the port of New Hamburg.
As for the enemy's pursuers, they did not exist at all. The mountains of Indian soldiers' corpses on the front line were enough for the British army to clean up for a while.
The only pity is that the results of this battle cannot be counted, and the 9th Brigade does not know the specific casualties of the British army. However, it is certain that this Kronskop blocking battle and the previous Tugela River blocking battle both achieved very excellent results, effectively killing the enemy's manpower and hitting the enemy's arrogance.
…
First town city.
The war had already begun for a week, and intelligence from all fronts was rapidly being gathered to the First Town.
Sitt reported to Ernst: "At present, the overall situation on the front line is good. Our army has resisted the first wave of the coalition's offensive. Except for the western region, the other major fronts have effectively delayed the enemy's military operations. The most stable one is the southern military region. The only pity is that the British army has too many people in the southeast, so the Tugela River defense line was breached.
At present, the 9th Brigade has withdrawn to the port city of New Hamburg, preparing to deal with the next round of British attacks. However, the 9th Brigade also exceeded its mission. According to their battle reports, at least thousands of British troops were annihilated, especially the Indian troops.
At the same time, machine guns played a huge role in the war, and their only drawback was that they consumed too much ammunition. "
"The Eastern Front is facing a similar situation to the 9th Brigade, but because it is close to Matabele Province, ammunition can be replenished in a timely manner. Currently, both sides are engaged in a fierce artillery battle on the Eastern Front. The firepower of the British and Portuguese armies is not inferior to ours. However, in most cases, our army is at a higher terrain, so we have a visual advantage over the enemy and are more lethal."
"The only flaw was in the western region. Our troops there were too few. As expected before the war, the Portuguese army launched a fierce offensive and had already broken into our territory on some fronts. However, the offensive suddenly slowed down the day before yesterday. Our army is currently organizing a counterattack."
The main force of the Portuguese army was in the Angolan colony. As soon as the war broke out, Portugal was in an all-round advantage as the strength of the two sides was too disparate.
Therefore, the East African General Staff mainly adopted the strategy of exchanging space for time in the west. The important reason why the Portuguese army's offensive has slowed down at present is exactly as the East African General Staff judged.
That is, the logistics system was unable to keep up with the progress of the war. The Angolan Portuguese army advanced rapidly all the way, and although the results seemed brilliant, they actually lengthened the front line.
Moreover, East Africa implemented the same "fortune-building and clearing the fields" strategy in the west as in the southern frontier province. The enemy was unable to obtain supplies locally, and even the most basic food could not be guaranteed.
East Africa's construction in the west is not much better than that of the Angolan colony. Angola at least has a considerable population in the coastal areas and a relatively developed economy. In comparison, the western provinces of East Africa are sparsely populated, with inconvenient transportation, and a large number of black people still live in many areas.
Of course, the Portuguese army was not completely unable to solve the problem of military food. Africa’s material resources were relatively abundant, especially meat and fruits. However, the Portuguese army mainly lacked grains and other basic living supplies.
Even drinking water is a big problem, but many Western countries do not attach importance to water issues at this time, and they are not as "pretentious" as the East African National Defense Force.
"There are two main issues reflected by the various units of the National Defense Force. One is the personnel issue. Our army has gained advantages on many fronts, but due to insufficient personnel, it is unable to organize an effective counterattack. For example, the 9th Brigade stationed on the Tugela River before, the brigade commander Aristotle said that if he gave him twice the reinforcements, he could double the results of the Kronskop blocking battle."
"The second is the problem of weapons and ammunition. Our army and the British army are comparable in the number of artillery pieces, and artillery battles often occur, which consumes a lot of ammunition. The machine guns assigned to the troops also play a huge role in the war, but machine guns consume a lot of bullets. Many troops have already used up their machine gun bullets. The front-line troops are in urgent need of more machine guns and weapons and ammunition."
"At present, our army can basically ensure the stability of the front line in the first stage. However, this defensive posture cannot fully utilize the advantages of East Africa, especially when the enemy is coming from three directions. Our troops are dispersed and unable to engage in large-scale battles with the enemy. The central industrial zone is under great threat, and the pressure on the other defense lines has also increased sharply."
“To get out of this situation, we must disrupt the enemy’s strategic deployment, achieve breakthroughs in key areas, threaten the enemy’s hinterland, and disrupt its overall strategy.”
"There are two main areas that can achieve this: the Zambezi River defense line and the southern defense line. These two areas are where our troops have an advantage in strength. The enemy has adopted the same defensive measures as we have in areas where our troops are weak. So now it depends on who can break through the opponent's weak points first and gain the strategic initiative."
Regarding this point, Sweet's war intention is very clear, that is, East Africa is now in an extremely passive state, Britain and Portugal are on the offensive, while East Africa is on the defensive.
Because of its dispersed forces, East Africa was unable to launch an effective attack on the enemy coalition forces. Although East Africa had gained tactical advantages on the battlefield many times, due to various reasons, it was unable to expand these tactical advantages into strategic advantages.
Therefore, if East Africa wants to break the deadlock, it must quickly gain an advantage in local areas and mobilize more troops to be transferred to the eastern region of East Africa where it is most needed.
The focus here is the Boer Republic and northern Mozambique, where East Africa has a military advantage. If progress can be made in these two places, it will be possible to threaten the enemy's rear and at the same time free up relatively redundant troops to the main battlefield in the east.
The main reason why East Africa is forced to stockpile a large number of troops at these two locations is due to factors such as terrain. For example, the Boer Republic borders East Africa on three sides. If East Africa removes this point, then East Africa only needs to deploy one side, and the troops on the other two sides can be used for other battlefields.
Moreover, the Boer Republic was badly located, threatening the heartland of the Cape, Britain's core colony. If East Africa gained the upper hand here, the British army would have to expend more energy deploying troops there.
However, Cape Town is close to East Africa and the transportation conditions are very poor. It is located in the center of the plateau. It is not easy to transport supplies and troops here, which will further drain Britain.
As for the Zambezi River defense line, it is mainly under the responsibility of the Eastern Military Region. There are not many battles in the Eastern Military Region at present, and the main offensive of the coalition forces is mainly aimed at central and western East Africa.
Therefore, the southward movement of the Eastern Military Region's troops can effectively ease the current military pressure in the central and western regions. Of course, this also has certain risks, that is, the Eastern Military Region is responsible for the military security of many developed areas in East Africa, including the Central Province.
If it goes south, it may cause security problems for the current economic and political center of East Africa. However, the main threat to the east comes from the sea. As long as the East African Navy is not completely wiped out, the security of the east can be guaranteed in a short period of time.
The Central Province also has a Guards Division responsible for land security, but it cannot radiate to the entire east. However, as long as the strategic security of the first town is guaranteed, the military and political stability of East Africa can be guaranteed.
(End of this chapter)
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