Chapter 750 Complaints of Portuguese Soldiers
While major military breakthroughs were being made in both directions in East Africa, the Angolan colonial army in the west also encountered trouble.
It's just that this trouble is not from East Africa, but from the African environment and the Portuguese army's own lack of preparation.
Luaina is a small East African village in central Danube Province. It is a small stronghold established during the development of western East Africa.
However, as East Africa implemented strongholds and cleared the country in the western region, Luaina had already been emptied of people. In the end, the East African National Defense Force destroyed the village.
A small force from the Angola colony was the first to discover this place, but everyone was greatly disappointed when they found that it was an empty village.
"Aldin, damn it, this is another empty village. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would have thought it was plagued, and it wouldn't be popular at all!"
The climate in Africa is like this. If no one lives there, it will soon be swallowed up by nature. It has been two months since Luaina Village was evacuated to the rear. The ruins of the village are also covered by various weeds, moss, and various small animals. Building a nest here reflects the "harmony" between "man and nature".
"Chris Luther, don't complain. It would be nice if you could find a place to rest. I don't want to sleep in the wild tonight. At least there are ruins left by the East Africans here. Although they are in bad condition, they can provide shelter from the wind and rain." It still has some effect." Aldin said to his comrades.
Although there are ruins, the open space and some ruins here in Luaina Village look particularly friendly given the dense rainforest surrounding it.
Aldin was lying on the half-collapsed soil slope, squinting his eyes at the sky, holding a pipe in his mouth and said: "Look at how wonderful this sunshine is! We have been dealing with the rainforest for the past few months, and we haven't enjoyed it for a long time. It’s such a comfortable sunshine.”
Since the Portuguese army entered the Danube Province in East Africa, it has been very painful, especially in the dark and humid environment of the rainforest, as well as the harassment of various poisonous insects and wild beasts.
A waste like Luaina Village has already made Aldin, who has suffered for two or three months, feel very satisfied.
"Speaking of sunshine, I haven't seen it for a long time. The road here is still very difficult, or there is no road at all. Now I want to know how the East Africans attacked Angola? Didn't they have such troubles?" Chris Luther asked curiously.
Aldin explained: "I heard from the old people here that the last war in East Africa was to attack Angola from the south. The south is drier than the north. I heard that there are grasslands and deserts there, so the conditions are much better than here. After the last war between East and Portugal, the kingdom was forced to cede the southern land to East Africa."
"Then why don't we take back the south? Anyway, we have already broken up with East Africa. How can they still block our troops from passing by? We rarely encounter East African troops here." Chris Luther said.
"It would be nice if it were that simple. In fact, the south is the province of Letania in East Africa, and ours is the so-called Danube Province. The conditions in Letania Province are better than those in Danube Province. It is a plateau, which seems to be more suitable. We live there, so there are a lot of troops there in East Africa. Although the conditions in Danube Province are difficult, there are no battles to fight. All in all, there are pros and cons!"
Although the development of Letania Province is not very strong, the economic and population conditions in the eastern part of Letania Province far exceed those of Danube Province.
Because Letania Province is also an important transportation route between East Africa and Southwest Africa, the Kalahari Basin, and the central part of the country.
Therefore, more emphasis is placed on East Africa in the province of Letania. Therefore, the South African War can actually be regarded as a war with central East Africa as the core and with the coalition forces. No matter which direction it is, it is aimed at maintaining the industrial belt of the three central provinces. As the first target, it was eastern East Africa. Apart from experiencing naval battles, it was not greatly affected by the war.
However, these are not things that Portuguese soldiers like Alding and Chris Rudd can figure out. Currently, even the Portuguese military is very confused and cannot figure out the situation in South Africa.
Although Portugal has a long colonial history in Angola, it is far less clear about the situation in the interior of Africa than the latecomer in East Africa.
In the past, Portuguese caravans once traveled through the interior of Africa to open up the trade route from Angola to Mozambique, but these were ruthless people who "seek wealth through danger" and were not professional at the same time.
The commercial routes drawn by these unprofessional merchants became the only maps that the Portuguese and allied forces could use. However, the development of Africa by East Africa made these maps obsolete long ago.
Just like Alding and Chris Rudd's troops, they were busy and dizzy in Danube Province. The northern part of Danube Province was dominated by a tropical rainforest climate and had not been developed on a large scale at all.
Therefore, the Portuguese army could only bite the bullet and search for roads to the hinterland of East Africa. The village of Luaina was one of their achievements.
This village of Luaina is not recorded at all on the ancient maps of the Portuguese. At the same time, there is another opposite situation, that is, many maps mark African indigenous villages or tribes, and the kingdom has disappeared from the map.
This is obviously the "credit" of the East Africans. Except for the very vague mountain and river situation, the Portuguese army could not obtain any effective map information. Even so, the crude map was full of loopholes, especially the errors, which were very different.
All in all, although the troops on the northern front of the Portuguese Angola colony had not fought a few major battles, they suffered even more mental torture. If they stayed here for a long time, it would be better to go to the southern front and fight the East Africans desperately.
While Aldin and Chris Luther were enjoying the sunshine, the voice of their comrade Mars came to their ears.
"The farmland around the village was also destroyed by the East Africans. We also found a lot of ashes, and there were traces of smoke on the broken walls. The iron pots on the stoves were all taken away by the East Africans. The East Africans left nothing behind." Mars said very helplessly.
"Damn it, how can East Africans endure this damn place? Compared to Europe, the environment in Africa is hell!"
"And malaria is rampant in the army now, and our non-combat attrition is very severe. Why haven't the kingdom's medicines been sent to the front line?"
"Only a few native plantations have quinine, but the price they charge is so high that we simply can't afford it," Alding explained.
"Asshole, these planters mean whose interests we are fighting on the front line for. Angola is just a colony. Without the support of the kingdom, they would have been annexed by East Africa. At this time, they should fully support the front line instead of Thinking about how to get rich, these greedy bastards,” Chris Rudd yelled.
"Fortunately, there is no large-scale infection in our company. Otherwise, according to the current environment, I am afraid that there will be no treatment at all, and basically there will be no life." Alding said with emotion.
The reason why Aldin and Chris Rudd's troops were special and did not have large-scale malaria infections was not actually because of their special physiques, but because they had been in Angola for a long time.
Therefore, they were infected with the terrible disease malaria a long time ago. At the same time, they have got rid of the problem of acclimatization in Angola for a long time, so they can survive.
Of course, this is also thanks to their early arrival. It was still a peaceful time and medicines and the like were not scarce.
But even so, many comrades died in Africa. People like Aldin and others were actually lucky ones who had been screened by the "environment" once, so they were not easy to be infected again and had a certain resistance. As for those with poor physical fitness People have long been eliminated.