Chapter 496 Battle
As the East African central government issued an order, the East African border troops were also ready to move. The first shot was fired in the battlefield of the Zambezi River Basin.
Merk said to a group of East African army generals in the Songo stronghold: "Yesterday, the Portuguese arrived. They were stationed one kilometer away from the Songo stronghold. It seems that they plan to fight us in the wild area."
However, Merk guessed wrong, because now the offensive and defensive situation has changed, and the Portuguese side, especially the French commander Clement, is actually unwilling to continue to take the initiative to attack.
After a large number of reinforcements arrived at the Songo stronghold, Clement knew that the chance of conquering the Songo stronghold was slim. If the Songo stronghold could not be conquered, he would not be able to successfully occupy the south bank of the Zambezi River as planned.
However, Clement could not allow his troops to evacuate or move back to Tete City. If East Africa took the opportunity to pursue him, it would be over.
So Clement said to the Portuguese general: "We can't go back. To be honest, every city in Mozambique is very important, such as Tete, which is the only Portuguese immigrant settlement within two hundred kilometers. If we look at It’s great to save Tete City’s life, but this means that most of the territory in the west will be lost.”
"Then what should we do now?" someone asked.
Clement: "We must use the narrow passage on the western plateau to block the East Africans in the western section of the plateau. This will also prevent them from crossing our field of vision and sneaking into Portugal's rear."
The Portuguese had no choice but to make this choice. Previously, the vanguard troops led by Rhodes and Kerry failed to remove the nail in the Songo stronghold, thus losing their battlefield advantage. The Portuguese army could only build temporary fortifications. In order to prevent the East African Army from It was a sneak attack, so the camp could only be built two miles away.
However, the temporary defenses are definitely not as good as the Songo stronghold that was built in East Africa for several years. It was too hasty and even the stones were not collected. The defensive capabilities are definitely not very effective, but it is better than nothing.
Clement: "I know you have concerns. We are not trying to confront East Africa head-on. We are just trying to see if we can delay East Africa. If nothing can be done, we will retreat to Tete City."
When the Mozambique army was operating, East Africa gave the black troops a final education to prevent them from making mistakes, but it was impossible not to make mistakes.
"Line up as I taught you in the previous training. All in three rows. Don't stand blindly and don't leave too much space in the middle."
Because of the problem of blacks lining up, soldiers of the 512th Division were not allowed to correct the mistakes of blacks in person. Although they had received intensive training in South Salzburg Province, many blacks had forgotten the combat skills taught in East Africa.
In fact, those who teach these black regiments in South Salzburg Province in East Africa have only a little knowledge. It is most likely due to language communication barriers, so there are big loopholes in the training.
This requires experienced East African soldiers to correct them. As for why they are experienced, it is because the regular army has completely said goodbye to flintlocks, especially the new soldiers, who have probably never seen them before, so they are equipped with a large number of old-style muskets. The black regiment must be educated by those veterans.
"Advance slowly, don't sprint, and don't be too slow. Don't look back when facing the enemy, otherwise our machine guns will not have long eyesight."
…
While the reinforcements supporting the Songo stronghold were resting, Clementine also led his team back to the front of the Songo stronghold. Clementine was now in a difficult situation. The troop mobilization in East Africa had been completed, and his plan was ruined, but he could not withdraw.
Clement: "Let's just touch East Africa. I believe that after destroying these East African reinforcements and the Songo stronghold, East Africa will have no troops in the interior to hinder our plan."
In the end, Clement was still unwilling to give in and wanted to give it a try. In his opinion, the defenders of the Songo stronghold this time had reached a point similar to that of his own side in terms of numbers, so Clement believed that East Africa should not be able to take out more More troops.
Without further ado, let’s get straight to it. This time, East Africa took the initiative to launch an exploratory attack. The East African black regiment was at the forefront. Not to mention, pre-war corrections prevented the black regiment from causing chaos and steadily advancing forward. Because of the weapons, they lined up. Shooting tactics are back on the African continent.
Following the command of the white officers, the black troops lined up in three lines and fired at the Mozambican army in an orderly manner. However, the error was quite large. In one round, not many Mozambican soldiers fell to the ground.
Looking at this scene, Clement and others found that the weapons and equipment used by the East African black army were somewhat backward. This made Clement sigh a big sigh of relief. He had always heard that there were no black people in the East African army, but now it seems to be a complete hoax. , aren’t there tens of thousands of East African black people in front of us, so there is no difference between East Africa and other colonies, and we still need Ergouzi.
Clement: "The Songo stronghold cannot hold so many troops, so they must also fight outside the city. This is our opportunity."
It is not polite to come and not go. East Africa took the lead in firing, and Mozambique could not remain idle. The black soldiers on both sides began to shoot at each other. However, compared to the East African side, the Portuguese black soldiers fought in a more organized manner.
"The rifles in East Africa can't shoot far, and they are still using primitive front-loaded flintlock guns." The Portuguese officers were delighted to find that Portugal did have a great advantage in this regard, but East Africa had more ammunition.
"Let the cavalry company come out from the rear, and the cavalry put a little pressure on the Portuguese from the flanks!" Seeing that the black army was in decline, the commander of the 512th Division who was watching the battle at the Songo stronghold ordered.
…
The same situation is playing out on the battlefields on the eastern shore of Lake Malawi and the Zambezi River Valley. The two main forces in Mozambique are tied up by black troops in East Africa.
Both sides had their own victories and defeats in both places, but they were all fought through black troops. The East African Army did not actually join the battle, but watched the show from behind.
However, the East African Army did make big moves in the north. Hundreds of small boats from East Africa carried East African soldiers on the Rufuma River and began to cross the river. Just like on the other side, there is no development on the south bank of the river here, so the wilderness is still dotted with large and small boats. Small tribe.
"Now our brigade is divided into three directions and goes deep into the interior of Mozambique. The enemy does not have large-scale military deployment in this area, so they are more likely to play tricks on us. The terrain here is complex and the vegetation is dense. Be prepared to deal with the enemy. Attack by a small force."
East Africa's tactical arrangement for such a vast and sparsely populated area suitable for fighting guerrillas is to attack steadily and step by step. At the same time, this is the key area of East Africa, so it cannot capsize in the gutter.
Ernst was worried about guerrilla tactics anyway, so he had been asking the East African Army to study these tactics to prevent being defeated by guerrilla warfare.
But it did work. Portugal had a total of more than 300 armed forces in the north, which was insignificant to East Africa. However, the local black tribes were quite unfriendly to the invasion of East Africa.
Because many East African natives fled into northern Mozambique, East Africa was notorious in the region, so the black tribes desperately resisted, which indeed caused a lot of trouble for the East African Army.
For this reason, East Africa went on a killing spree in the area and showed no mercy to any indigenous tribes that participated in the resistance. Those who did not participated were driven south, and a large number of indigenous tribes fled into southern Mozambique.