African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 765 - 69: Soft Persimmon

The actions in the west of East Africa belong to a bottoming out rebound, but at this time, Count Roberts far away in Mozambique has yet to receive this news.

The command among the Allies was divided into three parts by East Africa, and when the Boer Republic was defeated, the war results could still be timely communicated to Mozambique via the Cape Town contact line.

As for Angola, it had no such opportunity. After all, without East Africa's consent, land telegraph lines could not be established at all. And the coast had to pass through the Skeleton Coast of Southwest Africa, and laying such a telegraph line was destined to be unprofitable, so no capital was willing to invest here.

The uniqueness of Mozambique was entirely due to the needs of the British army before the war. There was only a small New Hamburg Port City between the Natal Colony and Mozambique, a relatively short distance.

Therefore, the inconsistency in intelligence further gave East Africa an advantage in the war.

...

First Town.

The intelligence returning from various fronts lifted Ernst's spirits considerably. Currently, apart from within the Boer Republic where the Boers were still resisting tenaciously, the other two key counterattack areas were proceeding very smoothly.

In comparison, the performance of the Portuguese was the "worst", which was very much in line with Ernst's impression of the Portuguese army. The combat strength of Portugal, much like its national fortune, has always been on the decline, so you never know the bottom line of the Portuguese.

At this point, Von der Leyen suggested to the crown prince: "The current situation shows that the situation is developing in a positive direction, so we should participate more proactively and resolve the negative impact of the war on East Africa as soon as possible."

The war did bring some disturbances to East Africa, which can be summed up as both advantageous and disadvantageous. On one hand, East Africa's military industry was integrated and further optimized during the war; at the same time, the railway and communication systems and the logistics system were also tested, and the war brought about increased demand, with the production capacity of various factories in East Africa more than doubling compared to before the war.

Of course, before the war began, all factories in East Africa had already started to increase their production capacity, as this war was a result of a mutual approach between East Africa and the Allies, with preparations made before the battle.

However, this wartime demand was only short-lived, and the main difficulty in East Africa's economy was still in foreign economic exchanges. Now, merchant ships flying the East African flag no longer existed, and could only roam the oceans under various national flags.

Furthermore, the war comes with uncertainties; it's already been determined that the strength of the Allies is not suitable for further delay, as the longer the time, the more likely it is for changes to occur.

Additionally, people die on the battlefield, and although the population in East Africa is not as scarce as it once was, it is still considered a valuable resource, especially the able-bodied labor that joins the military, which is particularly lacking.

Sivert also agreed with this, saying: "The current situation on the battlefield is developing in a direction favorable to us; especially now that the reserve training has concluded, we can reinforce or even expand the frontline troops, and with superior forces, secure victory in the war."

Of course, the advantage Sivert mentioned does not just refer to quantity, but also quality. Since the start of the war, East Africa has been dealing with the Three Kingdoms with only half the troops of the Allies, while the reserves have been receiving military training at the rear.

Now, East Africa not only needs to be superior in quality but also in quantity compared to the Allies. Although it may not be possible to mobilize as many troops as the Allies, the gap should not be too large. Deploying an additional 200,000 troops at this time is still within the acceptable range for East Africa.

Ernst asked, "Does the general staff have a detailed plan?"

Sivert explained: "We plan to deploy 50,000 troops on the western front. The Portuguese military strength is the weakest among the Three Kingdoms, so it is easiest to first resolve the Portuguese troops in Angola. Once we deal with the Portuguese troops in Angola, we can also threaten the supply line for British forces in the South Atlantic."

"At the same time, the Nile River Military District will also cooperate with the western military district's actions. Currently, Belgium is unlikely to participate in the South African battlefield, so in this scenario, we can have the troops in the northwest from the Nile River Military District move south along the Ubangi River to support Kinshasa and threaten northeastern Angola."

"In this way, we can launch a large-scale battle on the western front with 100,000 troops, annihilate the Portuguese in the Angola colony, relieve the military pressure in the western region, and the new troops on the battlefield, after being tempered by the Portuguese, can be redeployed to the main eastern battlefield. Combined with our current geographical advantage, we can further compress the enemy's living space."

Picking the soft persimmons first—this is the plan of the East African Defense Army. According to the war data currently controlled by the Defense Army, the Portuguese proved to be the "weakest link" of the Allies.

As for the Boers, although defeated by East Africa on the front line, the fighting spirit and resistance capability of the Boers exceeded East Africa's expectations.

During the civil war period, the various facilities established between the Transvaal and Orange people for the war began to play a role, effectively delaying the progress of the East African troops and bringing considerable trouble to East Africa.

As a result, the main forces of the Defense Army in the south are currently unable to free themselves and are forced to play a game of "cleansing and counter-cleansing" with the Transvaal people.

To ensure no accidents occur, Ernst has not ordered the Defense Army to reduce personnel to support the eastern front but has commanded the troops to methodically eliminate Boer resistance forces step by step.

Of course, this relates to East Africa's national policy of wanting to annex the Boer Republic. East Africa's demand is "to acquire the land, not the people," as the Boers have now made deep enmities with East Africa.

Not to mention the Transvaal, even the Orange people's resistance mindset is very strong; therefore, to leave this land within the East African borders, all hidden dangers must be removed.

And war is a very effective means; back then, the Boers moved north to escape the British, and now East Africa is merely repeating what the British did before.

This requires enormous effort and time, and with fewer people, there is a risk of failure. East Africa's deployment of 50,000 main troops against the Boer Republic, with its population of just over 300,000, is already a recognition of this small country's strength.

"Within the Boer Republic, according to the requirements of the Crown Prince, we are primarily consuming for the Boers, implementing dispersed handling. Currently, we have relocated over 4,000 people from the Boer Republic, coupled with the over 20,000 captured, this almost constitutes one-fortieth of the Boer population, with a significant number of Boers fleeing towards Cape Town to avoid the war."

"The soil for the enemy's guerrilla tactics is also being rapidly compressed, and at this pace, the Boer ethnic group may only exist within the British territory in the future."

Regarding the Boers, this is mainly to deal with the Transvaal guerrillas. This time the Transvaal, unlike the last time, are well-prepared, having been armed by the British on a large scale and possessing ample wartime experience over many years, not to mention the advantage of familiar terrain.

This caused great hardship for the East African soldiers at the front lines, and the only effective way East Africa could deal with them was through the physical extermination of the local population.

Of course, East Africa would not resort to mass slaughter. On one hand, they would plunder the Boer population, and on the other hand, destroy Boer villages, forcing them to migrate.

This dual approach would deprive Boer guerrillas of their soil for resistance. Naturally, if the British could provide effective support, they might be able to resolve the Boers' plight.

But unfortunately, Britain has now reached a point of only looking after its own affairs, ignoring others' troubles.