Chapter 773: Passive British Army
Maputo.
Earl Roberts looked at the military map in the command post with a dejected look on his face. Now the war situation was developing increasingly in a direction unfavorable to the coalition forces.
"The situation is very unfavorable to us now. Just last month, Angola was completely defeated by East Africa, and Portugal's military capabilities in Angola were completely destroyed. That means now we are the only ones left fighting against East Africa." Roberts said weakly.
"Your Excellency, the war strength shown by East Africa is amazing. We are now surrounded by East Africa. The only way to break the deadlock is the ocean. Only by reopening the Indian Ocean channel can we turn defeat into victory!"
The comforting words from his subordinates could not cheer up Earl Roberts. He said, "Even if we regain control of the sea, it will not change the situation. Our range of activities has been compressed by the East Africans to an area of less than 150,000 square kilometers. In addition, the defeat of the Boers and Angola also means that two strategic fulcrums have been destroyed, and Mozambique is the most difficult one to support."
If the main battlefield had been chosen in Angola, Britain might have been able to effectively support Earl Roberts' troops, because the presence of the East African Navy in the Angolan waters and even the entire Atlantic region was basically zero.
However, Earl Roberts' main idea at the time was to attack central and eastern East Africa, the two core areas of East Africa, so Mozambique, located in the heart of East Africa, seemed to have better conditions.
This requires a prerequisite, that is, the coalition forces have always maintained their advantage, but now the so-called coalition forces are actually in name only, and only Britain is still struggling to support it.
"Moreover, no matter how much support we provide, it is meaningless for the South African battlefield. East Africans have a complete military industrial capacity, which makes them fully capable of replenishing the losses in the war. The cost we need to pay is indeed several times that of East Africans."
"And the most important problem now is that the crisis in New Hamburg has been resolved. East Africa has cut off our passage to the south or the passage of the British troops in the Natal colony to the north. Our supplies have entered a state of pure consumption and cannot be effectively replenished at all."
So by now, Earl Roberts could already determine the outcome of this war. As long as East Africa did not make any stupid moves, it would be basically impossible for Britain to win.
Of course, the biggest reason why Roberts is so pessimistic is actually the current state of the British Army. If it is just a disadvantage in the situation, then Earl Roberts will naturally not be so negative. For an aristocrat from a military family like Earl Roberts, it doesn't matter even if he sacrifices his life for his country.
However, the current combat effectiveness of the British Army is not caused by problems within the British Army itself, but by a terrible disease - malaria.
That’s right, as the war progressed, serious infectious diseases broke out in Mozambique, the most serious of which was malaria.
Unlike the "natives" of East Africa, in order to deal with diseases such as malaria, East Africa attaches great importance to military hygiene and mosquito prevention, etc., and it can be said that it has reached a desperate attitude.
The British Army was obviously unaware of this problem, so its sanitary conditions were very poor. After Britain's supply channels were cut off in East Africa, there was a lack of medicine and alcohol, which made the British Army even more negative.
In addition to numbing the soldiers' mental state, improving combat morale and having medical value, alcohol also has an important function, which is to prevent people from being infected by parasites or bacteria and viruses by drinking unclean water.
The East African army does not drink raw water, and the British army obviously does not have such a "weird" rule, but this also caused the British army to pay a heavy price for it. Coupled with the untimely cleaning of corpses on the battlefield, given the current temperature in Africa, the problem is too big.
In fact, battlefield clearing is also a headache for East Africa. However, through years of fighting in Africa, East Africa has formed norms and various experiences, so it can minimize the risks, while the coalition forces are much worse.
There is also the problem of mosquitoes, which are the main culprit for the rampant malaria. The Portuguese and local natives are better off, but the British Army has never suffered such hardship!
Of course, if it was the British Army from India, the situation would be much better, because India is also a country where malaria is rampant.
However, based on the knowledge of the time, it was impossible for the British army to effectively deal with this problem, after all, they did not know the medium by which malaria was transmitted.
This has to mention the British Ronald Ross, who was born in the northwest of India. He studied at St. Bartholomew's Medical College in London, England in 1874. In 1881, Ross was assigned to India to treat malaria for soldiers. Ross was instructed by a master - Manson, a pioneer of British tropical medicine. Manson introduced to Ross the malaria specimens discovered by Laveran in 1880 and the hypothesis that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes. Through unremitting efforts, Ross finally found the mosquito that transmits malaria - "Anopheles" on August 20, 1897.
If history had not changed significantly, this hypothesis would not be proven in India until ten years later.
At the same time, Ross's experience also fully illustrates that even in India, Britain's core colony, the British are now very troubled by the problem of malaria. After all, Ross's job is to treat malaria for the British army in India.
Under Ernst's guidance, East Africa has indeed effectively avoided mosquitoes that transmit malaria, and as a major producer of pyrethrum, it is among the world's leaders in mosquito repellent products.
However, East Africa currently does not have a good way to deal with malaria and can only reduce the infection rate to the lowest limit. East Africa's local combat advantages allow the East African army to obtain sufficient supplies of quinine and other drugs, and good living habits, which can reduce non-combat casualties to a minimum.
Earl Roberts frowned and said, "Quinine and other special medicines cannot be effectively replenished. This is one of the biggest difficulties facing the army. Before this, our army was able to suppress the outbreak of malaria, but now the spread of malaria is too terrible. Even I can't avoid it, and I'm afraid the soldiers below can't avoid it either."
Earl Roberts was also attacked half a month ago, but as the highest military commander, Earl Roberts would certainly not lack quinine and other special medicines. However, during his recovery period, Earl Roberts also had an important impact on the South African War.
Of course, the most fatal point for the British army is that malaria can be infected repeatedly. After all, malaria is not a bacterium or a virus, but a parasitic disease, which is difficult to prevent relying solely on human immunity.
This caused the number of people infected with malaria to increase exponentially. As the British army was unable to effectively solve the mosquito problem, the British people did not know that mosquitoes were the culprit for spreading malaria, so they fell into a vicious circle.
With all these unfavorable factors combined, the morale of the British army naturally fell to the lowest point. Without alcohol and tobacco to numb their nerves, and with death surrounding them all the time, a negative attitude spread throughout the entire camp.
Even the East Africans don't need to take action. If they surround the British for a few months, the British army will probably collapse without a fight.
Of course, the British also thought about getting a solution from East Africa, but unfortunately they gained nothing, because East Africa simply strictly enforced the "weird" regulations formulated by Ernst in the army. At most, everyone felt that the crown prince was more particular about hygiene.
As for the spread of malaria, Ernst never made it public. After all, he was not a medical scientist like Ronald Ross and could not prove it.
However, after East Africa's medical capabilities reached the standards, East African medical personnel were instructed to take this direction as their research goal. It's just that East African medical personnel have not yet obtained effective evidence. However, with the correct direction, East Africa's scientific understanding of malaria transmission should appear earlier than Ronald Ross.
(End of this chapter)
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