On 1 September 1888, the 421st Division arrived in Luanda first, but it was difficult for the 421st Division to open up the situation in the face of the well-prepared defenders of Luanda.

However, on 3 September, the 421st Division, freed from the local indigenous obstacles, also arrived in Luanda, and the two sides met victoriously in Luanda, which basically meant that Portuguese rule in Angola was shaken.

After combining the current situation, the 331st Division and the 421st Division reached a willingness to cooperate, with the 331st Division responsible for the main attack and the 421st Division responsible for intercepting the Portuguese army that tried to return to Luanda.

The 331st Division had a much advantage over the 421st Division in terms of heavy weapons, which was one of the important reasons why the 331st Division arrived in Luanda later than the 421st Division.

The large number of cavalry units of the 421st Division can ambush and encircle the Portuguese troops that have returned to the reinforcements, give full play to the advantages of mobility, and even if East Africa cannot conquer Luanda in a short time, it can also use Luanda to achieve "encirclement and reinforcement".

Of course, the firepower of the 421st Division itself was still very impressive, and all the artillery of the two armies, after consulting with Custer, was concentrated and used together, so that it could be compared with the firepower of Luanda.

At the same time, other forces in East Africa were also putting pressure on the Portuguese army on the front, and the current Portuguese main forces were actually "surrounded" by the reverse of East Africa.

Angola's important ports, Luanda, Benguela, and Cabinda have been surrounded by East Africa, which means that the retreat of the Portuguese army has been blocked, and there is a hot East African army behind it, and the current situation is difficult for Portugal to change.

And the key point is Luanda, which can also be connected to the outside world, including the support of local material personnel, so Luanda is the only hope for Portugal now.

If Luanda falls, it will essentially be declared inevitable that Portuguese military defeat in Angola, the political, military, economic and foreign trade center of the Angolan colony, will be inevitable.

The besieged Luanda region is like a hostage strangled by gangsters, as long as the two East African forces "twist" the head of Luanda, the rest of the Angolan troops can only be at the mercy of East Africa.

……

Everything is going well in the western theater at present, but the purpose of the General Staff has not been fully achieved, mainly because the time spent on the western theater is beyond the expectations of East Africa.

The last East African attack on Angola was light and the troops were free-handed, and Portugal's military strength in Angola was very weak at that time, so it was easy to succeed.

But now the situation has changed, East Africa has improved qualitatively in terms of numbers and equipment, but the Portuguese have made great progress, and although the Portuguese tactics have not changed the situation on the battlefield, they have greatly delayed the time in East Africa.

Siite: "At present, although the implementation of the Western Front is progressing smoothly, too much time has been wasted, and more troops have not given full play to the advantages of our army in the last East Portuguese War, but have made the entire war system more complicated. ”

The biggest concern of East Africa about this war has actually been the invasion of the industrial belt of East Africa by the coalition forces, and now the two battlefields in the east and west, with a large number of troops replenished, have temporarily solved this problem.

Especially in the eastern theater, East Africa and the Western Front have replenished a large number of troops, but the Eastern Front is facing the Anglo-Portuguese coalition army, so it is impossible to carry out a full-scale counteroffensive against Mosanac like the Western Front.

Therefore, East Africa's industrial investment in the three central provinces, led by Matabele Province, has become the reason for the Middle East and Africa in the South African War.

Of course, even if he had to start all over again, Ernst would still choose to build an industrial system in the three central provinces, because East Africa was too uneven.

Before the industrial development of Matabele, East Africa was the dominant economy in the eastern region, and the only natural advantage of the east was the port.

And early investment and early results, if we wait until the East African industry is completely finalized before developing the central region, I am afraid it will not be corrected, historical experience tells Ernst that the greater the first-mover advantage, the more difficult it is for latecomers to catch up and surpass.

And according to Ernst's overall idea, it is still hoped that all parts of East Africa will develop in a balanced manner, of course, according to the national conditions of East Africa, this whole mainly refers to all the plateaus in East Africa.

As a tropical country, the plateau is more livable, which cannot be changed in East Africa, which has a more balanced distribution of plateaus from south to north and east to west, which is conducive to East Africa's risk sharing.

"Chief of the General Staff, at present, the western battlefield has disrupted our implementation and deployment, but the results of our army in the southern battlefield are not bad, just last month on the 20th, our army conquered Bloemfontein, and now the southern battlefield has completely entered a state of law and order warfare, mainly to deal with small-scale attacks by the Boers."

Witt asked, "Have you taken all the lines of the Orange River?" ”

"Five days ago, the Southern Military Region was approaching the north bank of the Orange River, and now the Boers and British troops are withdrawing into the territory of the East Cape Town, according to reports from the front."

Witt: "Send a telegram to the Southern Military District and ask them to take control of the north bank of the Orange River as soon as possible, and I'll only give them a week. ”

The changes in the southern battlefield made Witt realize that this was an opportunity, that is, to let the main forces of the Southern Military District advance eastward, recapture the eastern part of the Southern Frontier Province, and cooperate with the defenders of the port of New Hamburg to restore the central railway.

The combat effectiveness of the Southern Military Region is relatively strong among the military regions in East Africa, because it has been facing the Transvaals for many years, an enemy who has the hatred of destroying the country, so it has maintained a state of armament all year round.

And the war of the Southern Military District against the Boers also illustrates this battle, the sword of the Southern Military District is still very sharp, after all, the Boers have a stronger will to fight than the British army.

The combat effectiveness of individual soldiers can be said to be second only to the existence of Gurkha mercenaries in the coalition army, the only thing is that their background is too weak, not to mention that compared with the British army, the Portuguese army is more wealthy than the Boers.

No matter how bad Portugal's finances are, there are some industries, and the Boers can only eat agriculture and animal husbandry, and the conditions of the former Orange Free State are actually far inferior to the former Transvaal Republic, and it has squeezed in so many people and experienced a civil war.

Therefore, the Boers confronted East Africa completely by looking at "blood", but it is a pity that under the absolute superiority of East Africa's troops and weapons and equipment, the Boers did not complete the task of "defending their homeland and defending the country".

The wariness of the Boers in East Africa has never dissipated, after all, the people of the Transvaal Republic have always shouted the slogan of "restoration", which is why the per capita military expenditure of the Southern East African Military Region has been maintained at the highest level except for the Guards Division.

Now the Boers still choose to resist as the main force, but only need to expel the main Boer force to the south bank of the Orange River.

The Boers of the Orange Free State were left at the mercy of East Africa, so that the Southern Military District could reclaim the Southern Frontier Province.

Of course, for the sake of safety, the goal of Situ is only to recover the entire territory of the Southern Frontier Province first, and the decisive battle against the main forces of the coalition forces must be considered in the long run.

After all, the border between East Africa and Cape Town is too long, and the Southern Military Region must maintain a certain number of troops to prevent the British army in Cape Town from rushing to the eastern battlefield.

Although the capture of the Orange River has greatly reduced the defense pressure in East Africa, it does not mean that it is easy to sit back, and according to the pre-war East African military forecast, even if the Orange River is relied upon, East Africa will need to retain at least 20,000 troops to defend Cape Town.

After the annexation of the Orange Free State, it does not mean the end of the war in the region, and at least more than 10,000 people must be reserved to deal with the Boer guerrillas, plus other areas, then the entire Southern Military Region must retain at least 40,000 troops to deal with emergencies.

(End of chapter)