The main way to connect the east and west coasts of East Africa is to solve the problem by rail, of course, it is not impossible to connect by water, but it is definitely not possible to achieve it in East Africa now.

The interconnection of the Zambezi and Congo basins will require the establishment of a large number of water projects to improve navigation between the two basins.

This kind of engineering is basically impossible even in the 21st century, and the Zambezi River basin alone is very difficult to adjust.

Of course, it would not be too difficult for East Africa to connect these intermittent inland river waterways by rail and road.

However, these ideas are too far away for East Africa today, and even after the national water conservancy construction in East Africa in the 70s and 80s, there are still a large number of natural rivers in East Africa that have not been renovated, and the conquest of these rivers and waters may take hundreds of years to complete.

……

August 4, 1888.

On the premise of ensuring that there was no change in the British Royal Navy in the east and north, the East African Navy dispatched a fleet of two capital ships, six gunboats and ten auxiliary ships to the waters of Mozambique.

In the face of this "powerful" sea force, the coalition naval forces were simply unable to cope, and the coalition ships urgently withdrew to Durban and Maputo to preserve their strength.

The route from eastern East Africa to the port of New Hamburg has resumed, and although there are still coalition navies attacking and sneaking up on the route, it is basically difficult to achieve a climate.

At the same time, the East African Navy also retaliated with a military blockade of Maputo and Durban, and the two sides changed offensive and defensive positions.

At the same time, this maritime operation also completely declared that the balance of war is developing in the favorable direction of East Africa, and East Africa has already grasped the initiative in the war, whether on land or by sea.

The role of the Comoros Islands as a naval base in East Africa has also been thoroughly activated, and it has become a reliable strategic fulcrum for the East African Navy, which has played a huge role in the blockade of coalition forces.

At the same time, in response to the decision of the Navy Headquarters, the naval detachment of the Port of New Hamburg also switched from defense to offensive and began to confront the Cape Town Navy in the waters off Durban.

The premise of the fox is that there is really a tiger, and although Rear Admiral Bruce's strategy led to the fact that the East African Navy in the Mozambique Strait basically did nothing in the early stage, it preserved its strength.

The naval strength of the Port of New Hamburg was certainly insufficient for the British, but the Portuguese navy against Mozambique had the strength to fight.

With the fall of sea supremacy, it was now time for the Coalition to be the head of the puzzle, and the only way for the Coalition to transport supplies was the narrow area along the eastern coast of the Transkens Mountains.

However, with the resumption of supplies to the city of New Hamburg, two East African brigades in the region are also preparing to enter the counteroffensive phase.

At the same time, the Southern Military District will also send troops to respond to the garrison of the port of New Hamburg and launch an offensive to regain control of the southern frontier section of the Central Railway.

In this way, East Africa has completely cut off the only external access of the Mozambican coalition forces, forming a war situation of "closing the door and fighting the dog".

According to the economic strength and industrial capacity of the Mozambican colony, it is obvious that it cannot supply the main material support of the coalition army.

East Africa has invested heavily in the port of New Hamburg, which ensures that the East African Defence Forces (EDF) can maintain a military presence in the region, albeit difficult, while trapped in the area.

And it has the ability to launch a number of large-scale-for-tat tactical operations during the siege, which Mozambique obviously does not have.

Although Mozambique has been preparing for war for a long time, it has concentrated all its efforts on the vicinity of Maputo.

Maputo is like Paris in France, if Paris is lost, then France's will to resist will basically take a sharp turn.

The same goes for Maputo's importance to Mozambique, but Maputo is even more dangerous than Paris, which is, after all, in the hinterland, and Maputo on the coast.

Now the East African Navy will be able to shell Maputo, and this coalition will be able to shell the city of New Hamburg in the same way.

It was difficult for East Africa to breach this huge and strong military fortress in a short period of time, so the siege was a prerequisite for resolving Maputo.

But Maputo also has a considerable hinterland, and the resources of the whole of Southern Mozambique can be channeled to Maputo.

The East African Navy is certainly powerless to do anything about this, and can only target the Portuguese and British ships on the sea and cut off the import of supplies from the two countries to Mozambique.

The decisive battle still depends on the operation of the army, and the current idea of the army is to give priority to the Portuguese army in Angola.

If you want to concentrate superior forces, you need to wait until the overall situation in Angola has been decided, and of course, if the operation of the Southern Military District against the Boer Republic can be concluded as soon as possible, East Africa also has the ability to conduct large-scale operations on two fronts.

This possibility exists, and the main war in the Republic of Boer is currently a law and order war against Bloemfontein and parts of the region.

Bloemfontein is the capital of the Boer Republic, where the last roots of the Boers are concentrated, and at the same time it is a difficult point in the military operations of the Southern Military District.

Bloemfontein not only served as a military fortress, but also connected the rear of the Boer Republic, together with other Boer forces and the British army, and now formed the prototype of the second line of defense of the Boer Republic.

On the map, as a whole, it broke into the southern battlefield in a triangular pattern, and the Boer forces were compressed into a triangular area.

The British troops in the direction of Cape Town have done their best to reinforce the area as much as possible, and Kimberley, which the British army originally valued, has been abandoned.

The location of the Kimberley is not good, the main thing is that the local economic base is completely based on the development of the diamond industry, and it is far inferior to a naturally formed city like Bloemfontein in terms of comprehensive conditions.

Of course, from a Cape Town perspective, the Kimberley must have a priority over Bloemfontein, but Cape Town is not just a city, but a general term for the British colony of South Africa.

In the rear of the support front, it was not actually the city of Cape Town, but the port of Port Elizabeth and the port of East London, the port cities of southeast Africa.

The British had already developed Port Elizabeth in 1820, and the Port of East London was also built in 1847.

The two places were important economic centers in the southeast of the Cape Town colony, and the name alone shows that the British favored these two places.

The city of Cape Town is located in the southwest corner of the Cape Town Colony, and in fact, the transportation conditions with the inland hinterland of the Cape Town Colony are not very convenient.

The distance from Port Elizabeth and East London to the Boer Republic is just over 400 kilometres, while the distance from Cape Town to the Boer Republic is more than 700 kilometres.

The climatic conditions to the north and east of Cape Town are far less favourable than those in the south-east, as can be seen in the density of roads and settlements.

So the British could only choose to support Bloemfontein as the center, to defend East Africa militarily, of course, support was only support.

The British had already begun to build a defensive line on the north bank of the Orange River, and were not actually too optimistic about Bloemfontein, and now it was mainly to buy time.

Once Bloemfontein is lost, the road to the south of East Africa is basically smooth, and only the Orange River is of little use.

However, the British population in Cape Town is a fatal shortcoming, and the importance of the Boer Republic is even more important at this time, even in Cape Town, the Boer population is dominant, if you add the Boer people of the Boer Republic, then the Boer population of the entire South Africa is absolutely dominant.

So uniting the Boers against East Africa is almost the only option for the British, and in this case, the government of the Boer Republic, headed by the government of Bloemfontein, is the only option for the British at present.

(End of chapter)