African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 773 - 77: The Ambition of the 421st Division

This isn't entirely the fault of the Black people fiercely resisting; the reputation of East Africa among African tribes isn't so bad as to say it's "heinous," but it does have the effect of quieting crying children at night.

The closer the Black people are to East Africa, the more they fear it. East Africa is like a mythical beast, only entering and never leaving. The former boundaries of the Congo Kingdom, where many Black people once lived within East Africa, now show almost no trace of their existence.

This is naturally due to a large number of Black people fleeing to the Congo Kingdom and other areas, but people only know the objective fact that under East African rule, the number of Black people has significantly decreased. Coupled with artistic embellishment and dramatization by those who fled, East Africa has naturally become a "demon's lair."

Of course, East Africa wasn't that unspeakable, but some people, when recounting their experiences, always like to insert their subjective conjectures.

However, speaking of which, the Portuguese indeed treated the Black people "well," relatively speaking, as the earliest global colonial empire.

In centuries of accumulation, the Portuguese found it easier to integrate with the locals. Now in Angola, there are hundreds of thousands of mixed descendants of Portuguese and indigenous people, which is one of the important foundations of Portuguese rule in Angola.

These mixed descendants actually belong to the ruling class in Angola and are beneficiaries of the colonial system, so they are naturally supportive of maintaining the Kingdom of Portugal's rule over Angola.

After being persuaded, Kaster's mood had stabilized, and he said to Hans Griffin: "Forget it, it's just that it's the first time I've encountered such a situation, so it's hard to suppress my anger. As for their disposal, the kingdom will naturally decide in the future."

United against the colonizers, Kaster had roamed Africa for many years, yet it was his first encounter with such resistance, so it was inevitable he'd be a bit upset. After all, everyone's an invader, and the locals' double standards easily agitated Kaster.

...

As the 331st Division attempted to seize the victory while the main Portuguese forces were held up by allies at the front, the allies in the Western Military Region were unwilling to be outdone.

In Letania Province.

The 421st Division had a similar intention. As a rare cavalry division in the west, the 421st Division was cherished in the Western Military Region.

Commander Helmund of the 421st Division was formulating the next battle plan in Mei Longgai City.

Mei Longgai, originally named Selsa Pinto after a Portuguese explorer, was ceded to East Africa after the end of the first East-Portuguese War and has since been renamed.

This place is located in what used to be southern Angola, a significant city where Angola once had railroads and airports, and is now the garrison of the 421st Division.

As a cavalry division, the 421st Division could effectively play a role in this region. Southern Angola consists mostly of grasslands and deserts, primarily the former, making it highly suitable for the 421st Division's operations.

One important reason Catanica Province didn't lose large areas like Danube Province early in the war was the 421st Division's strong mobility warfare capability.

The 421st Division frequently launched harassment operations against Portuguese troops on the expansive grasslands of the south, and even when the Portuguese concentrated superior forces, they were helpless against the 421st due to its highly mobile operations.

Often, by the time Portuguese reinforcements arrived, the 421st Division and their horses would have long since vanished, leaving the Portuguese in Letania Province only on the defensive.

Of course, one of the key reasons East Africa didn't abandon Letania Province is due to its excessively important location, serving as a crucial link between East Africa and the Kalahari Basin, as well as southwestern Africa.

If the Portuguese were allowed to succeed, it would severely threaten the overall national defense of East Africa, especially regarding the southwestern African regions, which heavily rely on inland supply lines.

If the Portuguese occupied Letania Province, the East African Defense Army in southwestern Africa would practically have to surrender.

Currently, ships along the West Coast can no longer provide supplies to southwestern Africa by bypassing Cape Town, concentrating all pressure on two land routes.

One is the Mangjing Highway, and the other is the northern bank of the Orange River in the west, which the 421st Division must ensure remains open.

Of course, as the war progressed, the mission of the 421st Division has been considered complete; now, achieving greater proactive gains is more critical for the 421st Division.

Analyzing the current Angolan war situation, Helmund said: "Now, other units led by the 414th Division are already engaging the Portuguese in the east, and the 331st Division has also moved south. The 331st moving south at this time isn't necessarily good for us, as key Portuguese cities like Luanda are concentrated in northern Angola."

"If we can't achieve results before the 331st Division does, it'll be too much of a loss. We need to realize that even without relying on reinforcements from the Nile River Military Region, our Western Military Region is capable of taking Angola."

"Now that they've stepped in, letting them capture Luanda and other places would be a blow to the pride of our Western Military Region!"

"Therefore, we must fully leverage our advantages and achieve remarkable results on the Angolan battlefield."

Everyone strongly agreed with Helmund's sentiments, as no one would mind receiving military honors, and it was also about upholding the reputation of the Western Military Region and the 421st Division.

Primarily, the main forces of the Western Military Region were actually engaged in standoffs with the Matebel Province and Mozambique Colonial Allies, with only two main force divisions retained in the west.

Being one of them, the 421st Division viewed the Nile River Military Region's 331st Division as trying to steal the limelight, given that the 421st Division, along with the 414th in the western battlefield, had been fighting the Portuguese for over three months, and now the war situation had changed.

The 331st Division joining now undoubtedly had a whiff of grabbing ready-made credit, while the 421st Division naturally had to represent the Western Military Region in making contributions to the war to avoid letting the 331st have all the glory.

"Commander, as it stands, the 331st Division is surely focusing on Luanda; they have the advantage of proximity, and the northern Portuguese forces are weak. This could make them an early catalyst for capturing Luanda, so we should focus on Benguela, which is second only to Luanda."

Benguela City, with its port established in 1587 and the town itself in 1617, was one of the earliest colonial footholds in southern Africa, now ranking as an important Angolan city, second only to Luanda.

Additionally, Benguela isn't far from Mei Longgai; with the 421st Division's mobility, the success in capturing Benguela City is very likely.

"It's not just Benguela; before the war started, Benguela was already considered a piece in our pocket, given that we captured it once during the last war."

In fact, during the first East-Portuguese War, Benguela was briefly occupied by East Africa, only to be returned to the Portuguese after the truce.

However, capturing Benguela last time didn't involve only the 421st Division; other forces were also involved, like the 412th Division currently engaged with Mozambique on the eastern front and the 414th Division containing the main colonial forces in Angola.

In reality, the 414th Division is the one really struggling in silence, forced to watch as the 331st and 421st Divisions achieve glory while it alone is held back by the main Portuguese forces.

Of course, in reality, it's the Portuguese who were stalled by the 414th Division. The majority of East Africa's newly expanded forces were deployed in Danube Province, cooperating with the 414th, preventing the Portuguese from smoothly withdrawing their frontline troops, creating vast strategic vulnerabilities in both the southern and northern directions in Angola, thereby providing excellent opportunities for the 331st and 421st Divisions.