Chapter 762: Pot-Sharing Meeting
As the various East African troops gathered around Luanda, Angola’s “frequent good news” from a month ago was completely exposed.
"You bastards, how come you can't defeat the East Africans in less than a month? Were the military intelligence reports of the past few months all lies?!"
The Governor of Angola, Owen, was so furious that the temperature in the conference hall seemed to drop by more than ten degrees. Everyone was silent. As proud as Owen was a month ago, he was as annoyed now.
The Portuguese army on the front line fought in a really terrible way. If the Portuguese army had been bad from the beginning, Owen would have nothing to say. However, when the war started, his men all took credit for it, as if it would not take long for them to reach the first town or city and capture the Hexingen royal family alive.
As a result, the Portuguese army was exposed as soon as East Africa exerted a little force. Since two weeks ago, all fronts have been either shrinking or in disarray. Is the outcome of the last East-Portuguese War going to be repeated in their own hands?
During the last Portuguese-Eastern War, weak Angola was unable to stop the attack from East Africa. That was understandable, after all, Angola received no support from outside its own country at that time.
As a colony, its military strength was not strong and it did not even have many standing weapons, so it was reasonable for it to be crushed by East Africa.
But this time Portugal had spent ten years sharpening their swords and had made sufficient preparations. When they made a comeback, they turned the battle into such a mess. Owen naturally had an unshirkable responsibility.
"Governor, this is not the time to be angry. No matter how much criticism you give, it will not change the corruption of the military operations on the front lines. We did not expect that the kingdom spent so much effort to equip the army, and even the local army's combat effectiveness is so poor."
Owen's assistant emphasized the "strength" of the local army in a very heavy tone. After all, if the kingdom's local army could not defeat East Africa, then the Angolan colonial army would naturally be even more useless.
This would at least give some comfort to the colonial high-ranking officials. It was impossible that the incompetence of the local army was caused by them. If the Angolan colony was lost this time, it would be a problem of the entire kingdom's military system. In any case, the blame would be put on the local army first.
But as the highest political and military leader of Angola, Owen cannot shirk his responsibility. It is true that there are problems with the kingdom's army, but the colonial army was organized by Owen. If everyone is trying to be worse, Portugal will be finished sooner or later.
Owen said coldly: "No one can escape responsibility for this war. Of course, I did make some personal mistakes. I seriously underestimated the military strength and war preparations of the East African Kingdom. But did the British make no mistakes in this war?"
"The British were the main force behind this war, but they did not follow through on their pre-war promises. Although I don't know what the situation in Mozambique is like now, the fact that East Africa was able to mobilize so many troops to march into Angola is very telling."
"Either the coalition forces in Mozambique are not contributing, or they are in the same predicament as us."
"But one thing is clear: the British did not achieve their pre-war strategic goals, otherwise the East Africans would never have been able to increase their troops on the Western Front!"
Owen's analysis was recognized by everyone. The Angolan senior officials were indeed somewhat "incompetent", but compared with the performance of the British, it was acceptable.
Before the war, the British solemnly assured Portugal that as long as they joined forces, the East Africans would be defeated.
As a result, the two sides are now separated by the central territory of East Africa, and have not achieved their pre-war strategic goal of joining forces in the central territory of East Africa for three months.
It would be fine if the Portuguese were embarrassed, after all, they had embarrassed themselves several times in Brazil and Europe. But the British were in trouble this time. This was probably the most embarrassing time for the British since the Afghan uprising.
"Your Excellency the Governor is right. Moreover, the biggest mistake in the war was not our fault or that of the British. The biggest enemy is actually those insects in our homeland!"
"From the beginning of the war to now, our supplies in Angola have never reached the standard line. The front line lacks guns, ammunition, artillery and other weapons. This is all the fault of the logistics department. If it is not their corruption, then it is because the efficiency problem is too serious. Therefore, the Portuguese logistics department should be held responsible for the failure of this war. After all, in the absence of various materials, what can the frontline soldiers use to fight East Africa?"
Owen looked at his subordinates with approval. This was indeed an excellent excuse for the failure of the war. After all, it was a fact that Angola did not receive enough war supplies.
Although the Angolan government is not very clean and everyone is more or less corrupt, the supplies sent from the mainland are definitely not enough.
Anyway, the Angolan government can put all the "normal" losses on East Africa, and the local bureaucrats will have no place to pass the buck. However, given the current situation of the Kingdom of Portugal, it is estimated that nothing will be found out. At most, after the war, a few scapegoats can be found and shot to appease the public anger.
Of course, doing so is consistent with Governor Owen's understanding of the Portuguese government, but saying all this now is of little use. The most important thing is how to get out of the quagmire of Angola.
Owen asked the military personnel, "General Madrid, what is the real situation on the front line now?"
Here Irving specifically emphasized the real battle situation. After all, the military had falsified the information too seriously before, and now Irving has lost trust in them.
General Madrid was somewhat embarrassed. Although Owen was nominally the highest military commander, specific military affairs were handled by him, a general transferred from the mainland. So now that the front line had failed, he might have to bear the biggest blame.
He said a little stiffly: "The main force of our army is now being held back in the east by East Africa, and it is difficult to get back to support us. But now according to our intelligence, two main forces of East Africa are heading towards our rear, especially the one in the north, which is likely to be heading for Luanda."
"So what is your plan? Can you stop this East African army?" Owen asked anxiously.
The same goes for others. After all, if East Africa comes directly to Luanda, it will really threaten everyone's life and safety.
"We are currently working hard to get the front-line troops back to support Luanda, and at the same time organizing manpower to hinder the East African army from moving south. Now we have achieved some results, especially many black tribes have performed very well." Madrid said.
Owen asked, "Can we destroy this East African army?"
Madrid shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not, because this East African army is very strong. Even if those tribal warriors obstruct their military operations on the road, it will probably be a drop in the bucket and can only temporarily delay their arrival in Luanda."
Owen: "Are we just going to watch the East Africans approach the city?"
General Madrid said: "It is very likely, but now I have begun to organize manpower and deploy military forces in Luanda. If the front-line troops can return to support us in time, our predicament should be resolved in time."
Although Madrid said this, everyone has now realized the seriousness of the problem, that is, Angola may really be finished.
Unless a miracle happens, the enemy will soon reach Angola, and even the mainland can only watch Angola fall without being able to do anything.
(End of this chapter)
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