Chapter 749 Going South
All this is understandable. After all, sea power and land power countries have different priorities. East Africa currently attaches much more importance to the army than the navy.
Although the East African reserve army is not as large as the army powers in Europe, it is not comparable to the reserves temporarily recruited by the United Kingdom from the country.
The British standing army only has a few hundred thousand, and the mainland and India account for the vast majority. The standing army certainly cannot be deployed in large numbers on the South African battlefield. After all, it must always be alert to changes in the situation in Europe or to ensure the security of various colonies.
Therefore, the British troops under Earl Roberts were not elite at all. Most of them were reserves or temporarily recruited from the country.
Although East Africa has temporarily added about 100,000 reservists to serve in the army, many of the reservists in East Africa have military experience. Although they have not fought in any big battles, they have a lot of experience. Even some recruits have experienced long-term military service. training, which is embodied in the compulsory education system in East Africa.
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Zambezi Line of Defense.
It did not take much effort for East Africa to break through the Zambezi River, because the number of coalition forces on the other side of the Zambezi River was very small, and it was simply not enough to support the confrontation with the East African Army.
"Currently, our army has a total of four divisions moving south, including the newly formed 221st Division, which is affiliated with the Northern Military Region, and the other three divisions are affiliated with the Eastern Military Region, including the 111th Division, which is stationed in the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone. The 112th Division on the Zambezi River Defense Line, and the 122nd Cavalry Division in Dodoma," said Rosenwell, commander of the 112th Division.
The 112th Division was originally established in East Africa as the main force for the defense line of the Rupuma River. Later, after the first East-Portuguese War, the border between East Africa and the Portuguese colony of Mozambique advanced southward to the Zambezi River line, so the 112th Division's station also followed. moved south.
Therefore, this military operation against Mozambique was mainly hosted by the 112th Division, an old rival of the Portuguese.
Douglas, commander of the 111th Division, said: "In fact, the cavalry is not suitable for fighting in southern Mozambique. It is the rainy season in Mozambique at this time. Although Mozambique has a large number of plains, they are divided by rivers and forests, so the cavalry is not as flexible as the infantry."
"Now is not the time to be picky. Other areas that want cavalry support do not have such conditions. Originally, the 221st Division and the 122nd Division, the two cavalry divisions, were prepared to support the central battlefield, but the central battlefield is now in a stalemate, so the staff department put the two cavalry divisions together. A cavalry division was sent to the north.
And don’t use the road conditions in East Africa to speculate on the road conditions in Mozambique. If you are stationed on the border between East Africa and Mozambique all year round, you will know that the road conditions in Mozambique are simply a piece of shit. Although such road conditions are very detrimental to the cavalry, the infantry is also Don't think about it, but boats are very suitable as means of transportation. " Rosenwell said.
"The Zambezi River also has many tributaries downstream, but we don't have enough ships, so even if we break through the Zambezi defense line, it will be difficult to march within the area. These Portuguese are simply lazy. They have not been able to do so for hundreds of years. I don’t know if we can build more roads, even the simplest dirt roads, it won’t cause us any trouble.”
The biggest difficulty that hinders the East African Army from moving south is the road conditions in Mozambique. In fact, when East Africa did not have major infrastructure, the road conditions were not necessarily that good.
However, East Africa is mainly dominated by grasslands. Although Mozambique also has a savanna climate, the rainfall and vegetation are much stronger than those in the East African plateau, and there are correspondingly more rivers.
Therefore, after the East African Defense Force entered Mozambique, they clearly felt the pain of the German army entering the Soviet Union in the previous life. This harsh traffic environment relieved the pressure on Count Roberts to a certain extent.
Of course, this cannot be the reason for the stagnation of the East African Defense Forces. In fact, the German army also faced the problem of poor road conditions in the previous life, but their early advance was not slow at all.
"Our army should arrive at the line of the Pungue River in Mozambique within a week. At present, the main force of the Mozambican coalition is mainly contained in the west. This is a good time for us to go south." Rosenwell said.
Douglas: "If you want to completely annihilate the Mozambican army that blocked us before, you should advance this time by one or two days. I think marching forty kilometers per day should be a more appropriate progress. The distance between the Zambezi River and the Pongwe River is about two hundred meters. More than 30 kilometers per day, so more than 30 kilometers per day is too slow, and I’m afraid the enemies will all run back to Antonio by then!”
Rosenwell once again advanced the time and said: "The Mozambican army is more familiar with the terrain than we are, so we may waste more time on the road, so without affecting the combat effectiveness, it is best for us to control the Pengwe River in four days. With the front line in hand, we can cut off the connection between the Portuguese and the north of the Punggui River, catch turtles in a jar, and at the same time rest on the north bank of the Punggui River."
"This is basically the limit of general army marching, but it can only be considered for infantry. What is more important is the whereabouts of our two cavalry divisions. The cavalry division should play a greater role."
"So the 122nd Cavalry Division should play a role this time. Their fast mobility may be able to intercept the enemy in advance and eliminate risks in advance."
Rosenwell also carefully considered why he chose the 122nd Division as the vanguard. The 122nd Division is a veteran cavalry unit in East Africa. It has participated in many battles and has rich combat experience.
This war was operating in enemy territory, and the East African Defense Forces lacked understanding of Mozambique. In fact, let alone East Africa, I am afraid that the Portuguese were not too familiar with the Mozambique colony.
In this case, old troops like the 122nd Division are more experienced and can deal with danger more calmly even if they encounter danger in Mozambique, while the 221st Division of the Northern Military Region lacks relevant background.
In fact, the mission of the 221st Division in Mozambique this time is to support the Eastern Military Region, rather than undertake the main combat mission. After all, the 221st Division was established too short ago and must first run in on the battlefield for a period of time. The 222nd Division, which was formed later, is still Training in the Northern Military Region does not even have the opportunity to touch the battlefield.
After formulating the combat plan, the East African Army showed the enemy the large-scale strategic march speed in East Africa for the first time, and the troops of four divisions quickly advanced towards the rear of Mozambique.
The 122nd Division, as the vanguard, captured the Portuguese blocking force that had previously evacuated from the south bank of the Zambezi River the next day and severely damaged it. Then the 2nd Brigade of the 112th Division joined the battle and annihilated the main force of the Portuguese army. , only a small number of Portuguese troops fled.
But no matter how fast they ran, they could not compare with the four-legged horses. It took only two days for the 122nd Division to complete the combat mission and reach the front line of the Punggui River and blockade along the Punggui River.
Then other East African troops began to play hide-and-seek with the defeated Portuguese army north of the Pungue River. These remaining Portuguese troops were powerless even if they wanted to fight against East Africa. More Portuguese troops took the initiative to surrender to East Africa.
As of late June 1888, the original 20,000 Portuguese troops (including blacks) on the north bank of the Punque River were completely wiped out by East Africa. Of course, the Portuguese army also had many "missing personnel", especially black deserters.
It is basically difficult to find these missing persons. Most of them are black people who took the opportunity to escape from Portugal. Mozambique is vast and sparsely populated, and it is impossible for East Africa to go deep into various places to search carefully. They can only wait until the war is over and Mozambique is developed in the future. Uncover these hidden people.