This time, Schwar's luck finally played its role, and less than an hour and a half after Schwal had led his men into the jungle, a Portuguese force arrived at the scene of the incident.

The Portuguese commander Howell frowned at the coast, which had been "spoiled" by East Africans, with all sorts of footprints covering the narrow sand.

"How many people did you see coming ashore?" He asked, turning his head behind him.

"Lieutenant Report, we didn't dare to get close to them to observe, so we don't know the number of people who landed in East Africa, but the enemy has several warships anchored in the coastal waters, so there must be a lot of East Africans." Morderice, the leader of the squad who found traces in East Africa, replied a little nervously.

Howell asked impatiently, "Didn't you hide and watch carefully?" The jungle next to this should be a good hiding spot! ”

After swallowing his saliva, Modrice was very nervous and said: "We just want to convey this news to you as soon as possible, after all, this is a matter of racing against time, if you come quickly enough, maybe we can stop the East Africans on the coast, but unfortunately it is still a step late." ”

Of course, Modles would not say that he was terrified at the time, so slipping away was the first option, and it would not be good if East Africa was captured.

Seeing the trembling appearance of his subordinates, Howell scolded: "Waste! ”

Morderice is "serious" about this, but for Morderice he must put his life first.

As for sacrificing one's life for the country, it is necessary to have this concept of the Kingdom of Portugal in the first place, and it is difficult for Morderice to feel a sense of belonging from the top and bottom of the Portuguese army, which is even in arrears of daily wages.

Moreover, the Portuguese army is more like mercenaries, taking money to do things, and it is difficult to stimulate combat effectiveness without money, in fact, the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army is not weak now, but it lacks "a little" start-up capital.

In the early days of the war, Portugal was the aggressor side, but now Portugal has actually become the invaded side.

But the "invasion" of East Africa did not arouse the patriotism of the Portuguese soldiers, first of all, the money was not in place, of course, the amount of wages is not the main problem, the so-called not suffering from the lack of but suffering from unevenness, he sprinkled his head and blood on the front line, and as a result, his own commander "Jiuchi Meat Forest" did not play a leading role, why?

Grassroots commanders actually have the greatest influence on soldiers, they are the main group of people who directly affect soldiers, but they are also the group that is most prone to filter breakage.

Most of the Portuguese grassroots commanders are not right on the top and crooked on the bottom, which makes the Portuguese soldiers despise their military commanders in their hearts, so they identify with their "cannon fodder" identity, so they are more inclined to save their lives on the battlefield and avoid being killed by incompetent commanders with fat heads and big ears.

The second is that Portugal and Britain were the first to start the war, which made the Portuguese soldiers think that they were the "aggressor" side from the beginning, and this psychological disadvantage has continued to this day.

Of course, it would be very cool if you could bully the "weak", but the Portuguese just encountered such a hard stubble in East Africa, which did not even count Portugal in the combat effectiveness of the coalition army, because the Portuguese army was very negative from top to bottom.

The ordinary army was crushed at the first touch, and even the elite could not withstand the firepower superiority and artillery attack of East Africa, and the disadvantage in equipment was extremely prominent in the Portuguese army.

Finally, Mozambique is essentially a Portuguese colony, and the main inhabitants living here are indigenous, which is very different from Portugal itself.

In the homeland, everyone has families, and most of the European armies are basically bandits and soldiers, so in order to avoid being invaded, everyone still has a certain degree of enthusiasm to fight, but the colony of Mozambique can not inspire the consciousness of the soldiers.

In the eyes of low-level soldiers like Modrice, people come to Mozambique to protect the interests of "the aristocracy, the big planters, the capitalists and the mine owners." ”

Compared with the interests of these people, it is natural that life is at stake, and there are many negative factors that affect the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army.

Including inadequate training, three days of fishing, two days of drying nets. They often default on basic wages, corporal punishment of soldiers, eating, drinking, prostitution, gambling, drugs, and so on.

So the Portuguese should be most grateful to the Spaniards, if it were not for the same "waste", I am afraid that Portugal would have perished long ago.

Howell looked at Morderice who didn't eat oil and salt, and he couldn't get angry, and the fat on his body was a little shaken.

However, now is not the time to pursue responsibility, it is most important to solve the serious problem of East Africa first, but looking at the vast primeval forests in the west, Howell has made a difficulty.

"How big is this forest?" Howell asked.

"It's about seven or eight kilometers long from north to south, and about two kilometers wide from east to west." The adjutant said.

After listening to the adjutant's answer, Howell thought for a while and said, "In this way, if it is not too big, it should be possible to pursue the enemy according to the traces in the forest." ”

Schwar's troops did not hide the whereabouts of the troops, so they made a "road" directly in the forest, of course, this road was nothing more than a collapsed branch and fallen leaves, but it was very different from the surrounding environment, so it was easy to distinguish.

However, the adjutant cautiously suggested to Howell: "The forest is very dangerous terrain, and there is a lot of shelter here, which is very suitable for ambushes, so you must be careful. ”

The adjutant's words reminded Howell that it was indeed not impossible to be ambushed by the enemy, and although this forest was not large, it was entirely possible to use it as a battlefield, even if it was enough for a division of troops to hide in it.

This made Howell shiver, and he said, "So what should we do now?" ”

The adjutant said helplessly to the useless top boss: "Send someone to search first, if you find something abnormal, immediately fire a warning shot, and at the same time, report the situation to the brigade headquarters, this is not the time to be afraid of being held responsible, in case the enemy causes greater losses, then we will all be miserable." ”

Hearing this, Howell's mood also became depressed, in any case, this time the enemy landed from his defense area, and this fault cannot be shaken off even if he wants to.

"Is there no remedy?" He asked the adjutant for help.

"Absolutely."

Howell seemed to grasp the straw and hurriedly asked, "What way!" ”

"That's to wipe out this shareholder non-army."

Howell: "That's the way you say?" ”

The adjutant nodded and said, "Otherwise! Now that the East Africans have entered our rear, their forces should not be many, so they can land in such a short time, and I have observed the situation on the coastline before, there are no traces of large ruts, indicating that the enemy did not carry heavy weapons and livestock manure, this force should be all infantry, and there are not many traces of small boats left on the beaches along the coast, the enemy cannot be too numerous, I estimate that it should be about a regiment. ”

After listening to the analysis of professionals, Howell thinks it is very reasonable, if this is the case, then this East African army is the same as his own side, since this is the case, then what are you afraid of?

"Very good, now that we have a clear idea of the strength of East Africa, the scouts will open the way first, and we will pursue in the rear, looking for traces of East Africans."

It is likely that both sides will only have one regiment of troops, so Howell will not be afraid, anyway, the person who is charging forward is not himself, and this may also become an opportunity for himself to turn defeat into victory and be promoted.

After all, fighting on the mainland, there should always be some advantage, even if it really can't resist the East Africans, other Portuguese or British "big brother" troops can also quickly support.

(End of chapter)