African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 791: The picture shows the dagger
"Hello, Earl Roberts!"

The commander-in-chief of the Western Military Region, Laderne, shook hands with this British veteran who had made great achievements in battle.

Facing this East African general who was more than ten years younger than himself, Earl Roberts would definitely have admired him very much if it were not for this environment. However, the painful haze of defeat lingered in Earl Roberts's heart and was difficult to eliminate.

His facial muscles stiffened, and he said helplessly: "Congratulations, you won this time."

Although it is difficult to accept the outcome of the war, East Africa is victorious, and there is no need to say more about the winners and losers.

Moreover, this time East Africa defeated the coalition forces in an upright manner, without any opportunistic means, so Earl Roberts only had two words to evaluate this kind of opponent, and that was "terrible".

"Don't be depressed, Mr. Earl. Although the war failed, the blame is definitely not on you. The British army performed very well in the result of this war. The only pity is that there was insufficient preparation and follow-up support was not in place. Therefore, this defeat was not a result of the war. Sin, you have fulfilled the responsibility entrusted to you by history.”

Laidern comforted him by saying that the British army's record in the South African War was quite good. However, due to the unfavorable support from the British and Portuguese mainland, and the mixed forces within the coalition, Earl Roberts could lead this team to fight in East Africa for a whole year. For a long time, in Laidern's opinion, this was completely worthy of Earl Roberts' previous reputation.

After all, East Africa is a local battle, and all statistics are no worse than the British army, but the number is three times that of the British army, so Earl Roberts is not considered a failure.

As for the Portuguese army, the Indian army, and the hastily formed black servant army, in Laidern's view, they did not help much in the South African War. Instead, they held back Earl Roberts and the British army at some critical moments, which was beneficial. There are disadvantages, but the merits outweigh the faults.

All signs indicate that the East African National Defense Force has become the world's strongest army, or it is one of the most powerful armies in the world.

The uniforms of these East African Army troops are not gorgeous, but their combat effectiveness is extraordinary. The East African soldiers wearing gray steel helmets and uniforms show the strength of the world's top military.

If it were in the past, the British army could completely reverse the war with its weapons, equipment and logistical advantages. However, in the South African battlefield, the situation faced by Earl Roberts was completely different from before.

There are basically no major errors in army dispatch, which shows that the command system in East Africa is perfect, the morale of the soldiers is high, the spirit is full, the army is built very hard, and various tactics can be applied freely, especially in the later period of the war, the East African army improved faster and responded better to the battlefield situation. It worked smoothly and made up for the last shortcomings.

Of course, Laidun's comfort did not have much effect on Earl Roberts. Earl Roberts clearly knew that the outcome of this war was caused by his several faulty command in the early stages of the war.

What impressed Earl Roberts the most was the East African Army's application of various new weapons and its complete logistics supply system. This was also an important factor in East Africa's victory, and vice versa.

Although East Africa occupies the home field advantage, this kind of away battle is also the strength of the British army. On the European plains, Constantinople, the Crimean Peninsula, the Abyssinian Empire, India, Afghanistan, Persia, The Far Eastern Empire...the British army all achieved outstanding results.

Only in the fringe of South Africa did it fall into the hands of the East African Defense Forces. Therefore, Earl Roberts's impression of the country in East Africa has undergone earth-shaking changes. This is a powerful empire that has completely risen on the African continent!
Earl Roberts said to Lederne: "General Lederne, your performance in the war impressed me deeply. I even feel that we are not fighting in Africa, but in Europe and the world's top powers such as Germany and France." Lederne. En: "Your Excellency, the Earl, is too humble. There is no doubt about the strength of the United Kingdom. You just used a little strength this time. If we engage in a full-scale war, we will definitely not be able to withstand it. As for the countries on the European continent, Those are some monsters that we in East Africa cannot challenge at present. They have the mobilization potential of tens or even millions, and we in East Africa are far behind compared with them.”

So far, a total of more than 400,000 troops have been mobilized in East Africa, and the number in the South African battlefield alone has reached 360,000.

If extreme mobilization is carried out, it is not too difficult for East Africa to mobilize more than one million troops, but it is not easy to mobilize so many troops, maintain basic production order and provide sufficient weapons and equipment. This is what East Africa and several other top powers difference.

Just like the United Kingdom, if the United Kingdom mobilized millions of troops (including colonies), it would be easy and would not have much impact on the domestic economy. During World War II, Germany almost fought the entire world on its own, but Germany was able to persist for a long time. For six years, this is almost unimaginable to people today.

In the 19th century, if someone said that Germany could go to war with several other powers at the same time on its own, it would be absolutely fantastic, even if Austria-Hungary was included.

The most similar country to East Africa is Tsarist Russia, but its population is almost two to three times larger, its area is more than twice that of East Africa, and it has a profound foundation. Even so, it is very difficult for Tsarist Russia to mobilize millions of troops, just like many people during World War I. Tsarist Russian soldiers couldn't even get together a decent weapon.

Of course, the East African National Defense Force is not as "poor" as Tsarist Russia, but the premise is that the East African National Defense Force does not have many troops. Just like now, the number of the East African National Defense Force did not exceed 500,000 during the war, and before that, it only maintained a level of 200,000 to 300,000. .

Therefore, if the same military expenditure is shared by fewer people, each soldier can naturally receive more in terms of weapons, equipment, and logistics supplies.

It's just that East Africa did this because East Africa faced relatively few foreign enemies. It is no exaggeration to say that in northern Africa, except for the Ottoman Empire and Egypt, there is no single enemy.

The British in the south can bring a lot of pressure to East Africa, but not much. And there is no simple country bordering Tsarist Russia. Needless to say Germany and Austria, Northern Europe has had many conflicts with Tsarist Russia in history, even in Sweden. When it was strong, it completely suppressed Tsarist Russia. To the south, the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia were feuding, and to the south, Iran and Afghanistan were not easy to mess with.

There is the Far Eastern Empire in the east. Although it was temporarily suppressed, Tsarist Russia also did not feel comfortable. The winner of the last Western Region War was the Far Eastern Empire.

Therefore, looking at the only object that can be "bullied" around Tsarist Russia, the only remaining one is Japan, a small island country. However, Japan's strength has not yet been demonstrated. When the Russo-Japanese War breaks out, Tsarist Russia should understand that the capabilities of this island country cannot be relied on. A Siberian railway can offset this.

After chatting for a while, Ledern finally got to the point: "Count Roberts, in fact, your main force in the west has not failed. They are still stubbornly resisting near the area centered on São Jorge, so we hope that you can take the initiative to help. We persuaded them to surrender, and of course, the order from the Governor-General of Mozambique is equally important.”

The war in Mozambique is not completely over yet. There is still a main force of more than 50,000 coalition forces in the west, mainly British troops. This force has also been a powerful force that has been fighting with the Western Military Region from the beginning of the war to the present. If we want to annihilate them all, East Africa It is estimated that there will be a high price to pay, so using the name of Earl Roberts and the Governor-General of Mozambique to get them to surrender voluntarily is the best result.

(End of this chapter)