African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 790 - 94 Christmas Offensive

Eastern Front.

The Eastern Front refers to the area of the Matebel Province in East Africa and part of Heixinggen Province that borders Mozambique.

However, with the operations of the Eastern Military District, the space for activities of the British and Portuguese forces in northern Mozambique has been continuously compressed, leading to the loss of northern territory, shortening the Eastern Front.

Moreover, the strength from the Western Military District in East Africa has become more concentrated in Heixinggen Province. After the fall of Angola, the main forces in the Nile River Military District and the Western Military District in the Angola region have successively supported the Eastern Front.

Currently, the total strength of the Eastern Front has reached a staggering 130,000, although the Eastern Front itself has shortened by nearly one-third compared to before the start of the war. East Africa has already begun to gain a manpower advantage over the British and Portuguese allies on the Eastern Front.

Of course, manpower advantage does not necessarily mean an absolute numerical advantage but rather a qualitative one. The combat power of the East African Defense Army is naturally not comparable to the "weak chickens" of the Portuguese, so when East Africa estimates the strength of the allies, it uses the British forces as a reference, while the Portuguese, Black people, and Indians are considered extras.

It's not that East Africa looks down on the Portuguese; it's mainly because their combat effectiveness is highly uneven. Overall, they are still relatively poor, only suitable for fighting under favorable conditions.

Compared to the Portuguese, Indian soldiers even drag their allies down in favorable conditions, almost reminiscent of Italy during World War II.

Moreover, similar to Italy, Indians are the "foodies" in the allies. Currently, most of the allied food supplies are managed by Indian chefs, and in cooking, they are indeed far superior to the Portuguese and British.

As for the British, who are skilled in dark cuisine, they aren't the worst in the allies. British dark cuisine is hard to stomach, but there are signature dishes like fish and chips. Mozambique's natives have no concept of "food culture," only capable of basic roasting and boiling. When natives cook, it's usually a mishmash stew.

Aside from the Indians leading in "culinary skills" within the allies, their biggest role in the army now is maintaining logistics work. As for combat duties, Count Roberts fears he'll be driven mad.

Currently, the total number of British forces in Mozambique is close to 100,000. So, the strength of the East African Eastern Front has a numerical advantage over the British forces.

This doesn't account for the Eastern and Southern Military Districts, which together with other forces amount to over 100,000, almost the majority of the East African Army's assets.

All the main forces of East Africa except the Northern Military District and Nile River Military District participated in the South African War. The reason the Nile River Military District and Northern Military District didn't go all out is to prevent invasions from the British in Egypt and British Somaliland, and to guard against British incursions from northern sea areas into the East African hinterland.

...

Giani.

Located at the border of Heixinggen Province, Giani is an important town on the Eastern Front of East Africa, on the right side of the Limpopo River. Previously, the East African Defense Army primarily stationed on the left bank within the Matebel Province.

But as the Mozambican colony was continuously consumed, the East African Matebel Province garrison kept moving south to Heixinggen Province.

The original Giani was just a stretch of wilderness, forcibly transformed by the East African Defense Army into a "Soldier City," also serving as the wartime command center of the Western Military District's Eastern Front.

In Giani and nearby areas alone, there are stationed over 60,000 East African troops, whereas the current strength in Matebel Province has dropped to less than 30,000.

Opposite to Matebel Province is the southern crossing point of the 221st Division, which is primarily within a vast area of primitive grassland, poorly developed, and lacking water sources, hence fewer allied forces. Correspondingly, East African forces deployed on the border are much fewer.

South of Giani lies the Drakensberg mountain range, which is why Giani has become the new center of the Eastern Front for East Africa, as the terrain south is unsuitable for large scale troop operations.

With the Eastern Military District firing the first shot, the Western Military District, as the main force of the Mozambique war, naturally refused to be inferior and launched a major strike against the allies at 8 p.m. on the 12th.

"The 331st and 421st Divisions participated in the battle for Angola. The 331st Division once engaged in the war in the Transvaal region, so returning to South Africa now is like revisiting old territory," said Lidun, the commander of the Eastern Front, to Karl, the commander of the 331st Division.

As a mountain division, the 331st Division originally advanced along the Drakensberg mountains southwards against the Boers and Zulu people. Giani was a place where the 331st Division had fought before, so veterans of the 331st Division feel quite nostalgic here.

Lidun valued the 331st Division not only for its "long-standing" history and strong combat power but also due to its affiliation to the Nile River Military District, which is a visiting force, while other forces belonged to the Western Military District.

Karl: "Commander, in this war, our division will definitely not disappoint, especially in the former Kingdom of Swaziland area, where we have fought before, so we hope you allow us to participate in the Maputo Offensive."

Karl clearly had his own calculations; everyone's aware that Mozambique is already in decline, so there's nothing more valuable than being the first to conquer Maputo in terms of gaining battle achievements. Capturing the highest British military commander, Count Roberts, alive would be even better.

Lidun, not being narrow-minded, expressed no bias and said to Karl: "Of course, no problem. But this means you'll have to act alongside the 411th Division. The main garrison in Mbabane now is the 411th Division. Just like when you worked with the 421st Division to capture Luanda, this time I hope you collaborate sincerely to be the first to breach Maputo."

The 411th Division is the main division of the Western Military District. As for the old partner of the 331st, the 421st Division, Lidun has other plans. The 421st Division is a cavalry unit and it's certainly not feasible for them to go to the mountainous area of Swaziland to coordinate with the 331st.

Lidun plans for the 421st Division to take charge of the northern plains battlefield, which is the cavalry's domain. Being the only cavalry unit in the Western Military District, the 421st Division is seen by Lidun as the "ultimate weapon" of the Western Military District.

Back then, Lidun deployed the 421st Division in Angola to maximize interference with the Portuguese advance eastward with minimal force. Later, the 421st Division excellently completed their mission. Although their siege tactics are lacking, on the plains, they are like reapers of the enemy, prompting Delaine to think to himself that this time, how would Merk even compare!

...

The commander of the Southern Military District, Merk, was unaware of his old friend's thoughts and is currently contemplating how to conquer Maputo.

The Southern Military District has a significant geographic advantage, being the closest to Maputo among all East African units, but unfortunately, Maputo is most wary of forces from New Hamburg Port City and surrounding East African troops.

"The terrain from New Hamburg Port to Maputo is narrow, so a direct assault would certainly result in significant casualties, which we cannot afford. Thus, we can only detour through the western mountains or bypass the Maputo garrison with the navy."

Merk eventually decided to adopt a flanking tactic. Of course, the advantage of New Hamburg Port City lies in having a naval fleet deployed, but even with naval cooperation, it might not be possible to transport too many troops. Thus, Merk plans to divide the troops into three parts: one part to flank from Swaziland, another from the sea, and the last part will be a frontal assault. With these three pronged approaches, it's certain to break through the Portuguese defense.

On December 12th, East African units and military districts launched a large-scale military action against Mozambique. This battle, planned by the general staff, aimed to eliminate Mozambique's main forces before Christmas, thus named the Christmas Offensive.