Chapter 775 Shao Kui
Finally, after joint consultation between Bougival and Count Roberts, it was decided to move the coalition headquarters and most of the Mozambique administrative agencies, including the Governor's Palace, to the Chokwe area.
Chokwe was also located in the Gaza Province of Mozambique in the previous life. It is still only the size of a town today, but a town is already considered a well-developed administrative level in Mozambique. After all, there are few Portuguese in Mozambique, and the population is mainly concentrated in several cities along the coastal areas.
The entire coast of Mozambique is now unsafe, so inland towns like Chokwe naturally stand out.
If we only look at the Portuguese settlements in the inland areas, Chokwe is definitely the best choice. It is a relatively large town in the entire inland of Mozambique, especially after the loss of a large amount of territory.
Therefore, there are not many options that are qualified to become the office locations of the Joint Forces Command and the Mozambique government. The Mozambique government and the Joint Forces Command have more than a thousand people in total. Small villages and towns simply cannot afford to feed so many people.
Bougival: "Chaokwe is located in the plain area on the south bank of the Limpopo River, which has always been a relatively developed agricultural area in Mozambique, so we can solve the food problem there. The most important thing is that the shipping conditions in the lower reaches of the Limpopo River are quite good, and the allocation of materials is also relatively convenient."
Of course, the shipping conditions mentioned by Bougival are naturally not as good as those in Maputo. Maputo has a natural harbor, which makes it more convenient to receive local aid.
However, Maputo is far away from the center of Mozambique and is located in the southernmost corner. This is not conducive to Maputo concentrating the resources of the entire Mozambique.
On the other hand, although the Limpopo River is a relatively large river in South Africa and the shipping conditions in the lower reaches are not bad, the estuary of the Limpopo River is severely silted up, with a large number of shoals and silt, so it is impossible to form an estuary port.
The Limpopo River is only valuable for inland water transportation, but this is perfect for the coalition forces now. After all, having a seaport means that East African warships can also enter the inland river.
The last straw that forced Earl Roberts and Bougival to move their capital was that East African warships could directly threaten the safety of Maputo, so Chokwe in the Limpopo River Basin was more secure and could make the coalition forces feel more at ease.
The Limpopo River Basin is an important agricultural area in Mozambique, so even if East Africa cuts off Mozambique's external resource channels, there will be no food or water shortage problems.
"The Limpopo River is a hundred meters wide and has military defense functions. It is itself one of the defense lines we have reserved. Even if the East Africans break through the Sawy River defense line, we can still deal with them through the Limpopo River. Moreover, Chokwe is surrounded by the Limpopo River on three sides. This is a favorable terrain similar to medieval Paris. We only need to build fortifications on the south side to easily complete the defense work." Earl Roberts analyzed from the perspective of military value.
Of course, Earl Roberts was just exaggerating. Although Chauquet's location was good, it was far from the standard of the old city of Paris, which was built on an island in the middle of the Seine.
Although the Limpopo River also has similar terrain, it is located downstream of Chokwe, and the downstream section of Chokwe can be said to be very "unruly".
Just like the ancient Yellow River, it often changed its course, leaving behind many abandoned river channels and oxbow lakes. However, the Yellow River's course change caused sediment problems, while the Limpopo River was only affected by the Coriolis force.
This is also an important reason why agriculture in the Limpopo River Basin is relatively developed. There are large alluvial plains in the lower reaches with flat terrain, fertile land and abundant water resources.
The only pity is that Portugal’s efforts in developing the Limpopo River basin are too weak, and the lower reaches of the Limpopo River are all natural river channels and a large amount of undeveloped land.
In the Far Eastern Empire, the Limpopo River can be developed at any rate, and agriculturally developed areas such as the Jianghan Plain can become another grain base in East Africa even in the hands of East Africa.
In fact, the same is true for East Africa's arrangement for Mozambique. The agricultural conditions in the entire Mozambique region are comparable only to the Great Lakes region in East Africa. It is a natural agricultural base. It would be a waste of resources if it were in the hands of a nation like Portugal that is accustomed to taking shortcuts.
"Shaokui can more conveniently connect with the main forces of the western defense line and the Sawy River defense line, as well as Maputo. Maputo is now on the front line, and East Africa has stockpiled a large number of troops around the New Hamburg port city, which has also put Maputo under unimaginable pressure."
"Chokwue is only 170 kilometers away from Maputo, so it won't take too long to move the headquarters to Chokwue. The only drawback is that Chokwue is less developed and does not have the city defense advantage like Maputo. So we have to recruit a large number of black slaves to build Chokwue, which requires the cooperation of the local government." Earl Roberts said.
What Earl Roberts lacks most now is manpower, so the construction of Shaokui certainly cannot be done by the army. Of course, it does not mean that he will not do it at all, the guidance and supervision work still needs to be done by his own people.
If left completely unchecked, given the efficiency of the Portuguese and the laziness of the blacks, I'm afraid Shaokuei's city defense would become a "shoddy" project.
Earl Roberts was well aware of this. Of course, compared to the Indians under his command, the Portuguese were much better. Although they were slow, they could still do the basic work well, just like the defense of Maputo was solid and reliable.
The Portuguese were certainly not like this during the Portuguese Empire era, but with the decline of the Portuguese Empire, the entire Portuguese society was filled with a decadent and corrupt atmosphere, and the same was true for colonies like Mozambique.
The colonies of Britain and France were not as lifeless as the Portuguese colonies. Take Britain for example, India, Canada, and even Australia, a convict exile place, were well developed.
Bougival was unaware of Count Roberts's complaints. His task was to assist the "emperor" from Britain.
Portugal is completely dependent on Britain to survive, which is not surprising even to Portugal itself, and Britain, as its big brother, is still relatively reliable.
Just like the South African War, if there was no support from Britain, according to Bougival's estimation, Portugal might not be able to hold out for even half a month, as the military of East Africans was too strong compared to that of Portugal.
So Bougival said: "Even if they are black, we need time to capture them from the surrounding areas. However, in a state of war, this should not be too difficult. Moreover, under the oppression of East Africans, the number of blacks in Mozambique is more than before. It is still cost-effective to let them participate in the work."
After East Africa occupied northern Mozambique (north of the Zambezi River), a large number of blacks were driven into southern Mozambique, so the density of blacks in the Mozambique colony became even higher.
Therefore, it was not difficult to recruit black slaves from various tribes. Although the strength of these black tribes had increased, the increase in population could not withstand the guns and cannons in the hands of the Portuguese. In addition, due to hundreds of years of accumulated power of Portugal, the local blacks had long been "tamed". Moreover, compared with the East Africans, the Portuguese people seemed "kind-hearted".
"Very good, we don't have much time, so it's best to build the framework of Shaokwe within this year. If we can't break the East African offensive this year, our situation will be even more dangerous next year." Earl Roberts said.
(End of this chapter)
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