The navy's current inability to play a leading role in the situation in South Africa is largely due to the lack of a strong British foothold in the nearby waters, which was historically annexed by the British to contain German East Africa, which has long since been destroyed.

It is the lack of Zanzibar as a strategic fulcrum that has led to the lack of British naval power in the entire western Indian Ocean, and Britain's naval power in South Africa is basically concentrated in Cape Town, but due to the influence of the Suez Canal, Cape Town's naval power has not actually increased much in recent years.

On the contrary, the strength of the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria, British Somaliland, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Fleet was strengthened, which reflected the importance of the Red Sea route.

……

The Army was the main force in the South African War compared to the naval show, and at the same time as the Battle of Lamu Bay began, the Allies launched attacks on the East African mainland from several areas.

East Africa was under military pressure from the south, east, and west, and the north was at peace at present, but the main reason was that the Sudan region was not conducive to marching, Britain was temporarily unable to launch military operations against northern East Africa through Egypt, and British Somaliland had weakened military strength, mainly navy, and did not have the conditions for land war.

However, the military pressure from the three directions still made the East African Defense Forces feel a great threat, Angola, South Africa (Cape Town and the Republic of Boer), Mozambique, hundreds of thousands of troops attacked the hinterland of East Africa at the same time, and for the first time in Africa, East Africa fell into a situation of shortage of troops.

First Town City.

Count Yarman reported to the government on the current war situation in East Africa, and this information was collected by the various fronts and transmitted back to the first town and city within a day through the East African telegraph system for the reference of the General Staff and the government.

"At present, the Portuguese army on the Angolan side is mainly oppressing us in two directions, the strength of the Western Military Region can only delay its military operations, and cannot organize a large-scale counterattack, and the three western provinces are buffer zones in the army's plan, and at the same time, we must implement a strong wall and clear the wilderness in the west, so that its large-scale offensive cannot be effectively supplied, but this also means that the construction of the western region for several years has been abandoned."

"Portugal must be blocked in the west, and it must not be allowed to invade the central region of our country, as for the implementation of a strong wall clearing in the west, it is feasible, except for agriculture, there is basically no much value industry in the west, even if agriculture in East Africa occupies less than 3 percent of the share, the population is relatively small, and it can be completely retreated to the rear, and it will not have much impact on our country."

"In the south, the combined military forces of the two countries, with the Boer Republic as the main force and the British as the auxiliary, are simultaneously launching offensives against the Fett River Line, as well as along the Orange River, but we have invested military forces in the area for many years, especially the Fite River Line, which has been in operation for many years, can be regarded as impregnable."

"The main military pressure in the south is on the Tuguera line, the British have amassed a large number of troops in the Natal colony, so the Tugueila line is most likely to be captured, and the situation in the new port of Hamburg behind the Tugueila River is not good, Maputo in the north, and the British and Mozambican coalition forces have moved south."

"So at present, it seems that Britain and Portugal intend to break our military presence in the Southern Frontier Province first, so as to achieve the goal of uniting forces, and if they are allowed to achieve this, then the British and Portuguese coalition forces can draw a large number of troops into the south of our country."

"And now it is very unfortunate that our forces in the city of New Hamburg are weak, so the General Staff thinks that it is necessary to draw troops from the province of Heisingen and take over the rail and road access in the Drakens, so as to avoid the British and Portuguese forces launching an offensive to the west by rail after the fall of the port of New Hamburg, so that the Southern Military District may be surrounded by the armies of the three countries in the Orange River Valley."

For the city of New Hamburg, it can be said that East Africa nails the most "disgusting" nail in South Africa, due to the existence of the city of New Hamburg, the hundreds of thousands of troops of Mozambique and the British Natal colony cannot form a confluence.

At the same time, this small territory is also the main sea passage of the five southern provinces of East Africa, and the fastest economic connection channel with the eastern part of East Africa.

However, it is precisely because of this that the General Staff is not optimistic about the situation in the port of New Hamburg, which is surrounded by coalition forces on both sides, and at the same time has no large territory as a buffer, and faces the threat of regional naval forces of the two countries at sea.

Therefore, the military pressure on the port of New Hamburg is unprecedented, and Britain and Portugal will definitely launch a frenzied attack on the area, as long as the port of New Hamburg is in the hands of East Africa, then the Allies will not be able to carry out the next military action against East Africa in peace.

After all, Maputo, the headquarters of the Allied forces, was only a few days away from the city of New Hamburg, and it would be more convenient if it was a navy, and they also had to consider the possibility of launching a military counterattack against the Allied forces in East Africa, centered on the city of New Hamburg.

Count Yarman continued: "On the eastern defensive line, that is, on the border of the province of Matabele, the Portuguese and the British have concentrated at least tens of thousands of men to carry out a tentative attack on our eastern defense line at the same time, especially several important military positions, which are under a great deal of pressure, but by virtue of the terrain, these strongholds are now firmly controlled by our hands. ”

"Then there is the Zambezi River defense line, where the Anglo-Portuguese allies do not have strong offensive intentions, so we can be sure that the main direction of the Allied offensive is the central and southern regions of our country now, and the main pressure on the eastern region at present is the sea."

"The Battle of Lamu Bay has just ended, and while the main force of our navy still exists, relying on the eastern naval base, there is no security problem for the time being, and the British expeditionary fleet has not come into contact with the city of Mombasa."

Of course, this is the main credit of the navy, if Britain really crosses Mombasa to fight in the Tanga line of waters, then the East African Guards Division can consider organizing a war to defend the first town of the capital as the core, which also shows that the political center of East Africa is under great threat.

If this is the case, then the relocation of the capital has become a matter that must be considered, for the time being, there is no need for this, first of all, the navy withstood the first wave of British attack, secondly, even if the naval force is completely destroyed, there are still naval forces under the Guards Division that can continue to assume the function of coastal defense, and finally, the coastal defense system that Ernst originally built on the coast of East Africa can also play a role.

The coastal zone of the Central Province, suitable for a large-scale landing of the enemy, was suitable for only three large ports, all three of which were deployed with large-caliber shore defense guns of the European class.

Even if this last layer of defense was breached, it would be only the army taking over the battlefield, and by this time the East African government would have been able to withdraw to the rear along the railroad.

"There is no British military movement in the north at present, but we have found suspicious people along the Nile, this information was discovered by the Defense Security Agency in Khartoum, Egypt, but no troops have been found to enter Khartoum, so the Nile Province is still in a security situation, but the appearance of suspicious people also means that Britain has the intention of considering sending troops from Egypt to East Africa, so in this direction, we need to be vigilant."

"Finally, there is British Somaliland, which is the weakest British military in the area bordering us, so it does not pose a threat to our country."

"The current national defense and security situation, as expected before the war, we are now in a situation that can be described as embattled, especially the British, Portugal and the war potential of the Boers, we have underestimated, this South African war is obviously after nearly ten years of planning, that is, to kill our military forces with one blow."

(End of chapter)

.