Chapter 753: End the war in three months!
The number of British troops in Cape Town is actually not large, and part of them are in Kimberley, but Kimberley has been blockaded by East Africa, and this diamond producing area has been forced to stop production.
This has also affected the interests of many British mine owners. There are already calls for a ceasefire in the UK, but they are still very weak. After all, the outcome is still uncertain and temporary losses are acceptable.
Especially when the main force of the British army has not shown any obvious signs of decline on the eastern battlefield, this gives the pro-war factions in Britain an absolute advantage.
Faced with the crisis that the entire Cape Town might fall, the limited military forces of the Cape Colony have used the main channel of the Orange River in the south as a barrier to try to prevent the invasion of the East African Army.
In fact, East Africa currently has no plans to invade Cape Town, and the Boer Republic alone has consumed a lot of East Africa's energy.
The situation on the main battlefield in the east was also unfavorable for the British Army, especially after the troops of the Eastern Military Region of East Africa crossed the Zambezi River and took over the land north of the Pongwe River.
The coalition's sphere of influence was further compressed in southern Mozambique. If the Savi River falls next, the north will completely lose its natural barrier, and the East African army can move southward unimpeded to Maputo.
However, although the coalition forces have suffered a defeat on the eastern battlefield, their forces are more concentrated, and each direction below has become more difficult to attack.
"To deal with the Eastern Front, our current strategy is to fight the Allied Forces with superior forces after the Angolan War ends, and our New Hamburg Port City behind enemy lines can also be reactivated."
The outskirts of the port city of New Hamburg have been occupied for more than three months, but the main urban area has not been greatly affected. With the attack of the coalition forces, two East African brigades, which is a mixed division, are stationed there.
Later, the East African Army only needs to reopen the Central Railway to activate the strategic location of the New Hamburg Port.
Now the supply of materials in the port city of New Hamburg still mainly relies on pre-war reserves, but it should not be able to sustain it for too long. Food is not a big problem, but the shortage of weapons and ammunition is.
Although the port city of New Hamburg has an arsenal, its production capacity is far less than the consumption of a division, especially under the enemy's continuous attacks.
"The port city of New Hamburg is a key location, and its military force is an important part of the Eastern Front. Now the navy should be able to try to strike the Allied Navy in the South African waters from the sea. At the same time, the sea may also be the key to our victory in the Eastern Front." Ernst reminded.
Archduke Ferdinand said: "At present, our navy has repaired the two battleships from the last naval battle, so we should be able to retaliate against the British and Portuguese navies in the South African waters."
The Allied Navy in the waters east of Mozambique was not the main force of the British Army, but was affiliated with the Cape Town Navy and the Portuguese colonial navy.
Neither of them is very powerful, but the East African Navy was worried that the Royal Navy would launch a surprise attack on East Africa like last time, so it mainly patrolled the northern end of the East African waters and monitored the British colony of Seychelles.
From the current perspective, the last naval battle was a serious blow to Britain. After ensuring that there is no risk in the short term, the East African Navy can still withdraw its forces to support the South African battlefield.
Ernst: "With the cooperation of the navy, the army must also play a better role in the main battlefield in the east, especially the garrison in the port city of New Hamburg. If we win this naval battle, we can gain control of the southern waters and restore the logistics of the port city of New Hamburg. With the port city of New Hamburg as a base, we can increase our support for the eastern battlefield."
If shipping in the New Hamburg port is restored, East Africa will be able to continuously transport supplies from the eastern region to here. At the same time, it can also be used as a base to attack Durban and Maputo and speed up the progress of the war.
Ernst went on to say, "It would be great if the war could end as soon as possible, but stability is still the priority. My psychological expectation is that it will end by the end of this year. Of course, this depends mainly on the military. Do you have any disputes over the timeline?"
Siwei Te: "If everything goes well, we are confident that we can end the war within three months, but that may mean greater material support and sacrifice, so if we don't rush for success, it should be possible to end it within half a year."
It is already July. If the war is to be ended before the end of the year, there are only five months left, which is quite urgent for the East African military.
However, according to the current war situation, even if the war cannot be ended this year, it should be possible to consume a large number of the enemy's manpower.
The course of the war still depends on the strength of British support. At present, the British are definitely more concerned than in East Africa. After all, this South African War is an expedition.
East Africa is fighting on its own soil and has a relatively complete independent military industrial system. The population of East Africa is also quite sufficient, which makes the East African army appear to be getting stronger and stronger. On the other hand, the British combat effectiveness has generally declined seriously due to disease, acclimatization, attrition and other problems.
As for the two allies, the Portuguese were very unreliable and the Boers were too small in size. Now the South African War could be said to be a single-handed war.
Of course, the situation of the British Army has not deteriorated too badly, and they still have the strength to fight. However, with the continuous increase in the strength of the East African Defense Force, the mentality of the British Army in South Africa will probably change day by day in the days to come.
Of course, the biggest mistake of the British army was the insufficient intelligence acquisition on East Africa before the war, which was the main reason why the British army fell into a passive position.
According to conventional thinking, East Africa should be at most at the level of Brazil, but no one expected that East Africa is a vicious wolf dormant on the African plateau.
The "sinister" thing about East Africa is that the Hechingen family is low-key. Of course, Ernst actually thinks that East Africa is not too low-key. After all, the navy cannot be hidden.
However, the British would certainly disagree. After all, a navy can be bought with money. The current navies of the Far East Empire and Japan were built with money.
However, being able to buy ships does not mean that one can quickly form combat effectiveness. Under the hands-on training of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the East African Navy obviously has actual combat capabilities.
But what is even more surprising is the capability of the East African Army. The British now completely regard the East African Army as an opponent of equal strength on the European continent.
The East African Army is no worse than the British Army in any aspect, and is even much stronger in many aspects. This is what makes the British government most uncomfortable.
The British government is feeling tremendous pressure from the current delay in the war, and whether to continue investing in the South African War is the hottest topic in the British Parliament recently.
After all, how much military potential does East Africa have? What if the British Empire continues to invest and fails to achieve results?
If Ernst were in this situation, it would probably be difficult for him to make a choice. Ernst's psychological expectation of Britain's military strength was based on the Boer War in the previous life.
However, when facing East Africa, the British obviously did not have the determination to destroy the Boer Republic as in the past. No matter how much the Boers made trouble, they posed no threat to Britain. As long as the pressure continued, the Boers would collapse sooner or later.
After all, the Boers are only a small country, but East Africa is not a small country. Therefore, Britain is now extremely cautious in dealing with opponents like East Africa.
When they could not win on the battlefield, the British began to consider practical interests.
(End of this chapter)
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