Chapter 665 There must be a battle in Dongying
At the time of the Berlin Conference, the resistance movement in the Orange Free State had completely subsided, and was declared over with the last batch of northern Orange Free Resistance troops fleeing to East Africa.
"The Orange Free Resistance Army was doomed to fail from the beginning. Their strength was limited, and their territory was too small. They were unable to fight against the Transvaal and the British. If they wanted to win, we had to take over the Orange. battlefield, but this is obviously impossible, and being able to provide considerable assistance to the Orange people is considered to be the most benevolent of the East African government." Felix said.
In fact, East African officials agree that it is not easy for the Orange Free Resistance Army to persist for such a long time. The main factor is that the current depth of the Orange Free State is too narrow.
As long as the British and Transvaal people blockade the Orange people, they will soon achieve results, but it is impossible for the Orange people to ensure production at the same time and fight against the British and the Transvaal at the same time.
And the aid from East Africa is even a drop in the bucket. After all, East Africa is not a charity, and the Orange people need to exchange supplies for aid from East Africa.
"Then how do we deal with these Orangemen who have fled to East Africa? There are currently more than 2,000 of them. There is no possibility of reconciliation between these people and the British, but it is still unknown whether they are willing to be driven by us!" Southern Military Region Commander Merk asked.
The Orange Free Resistance Army is indeed a trouble, because the Orange people have their own claims, rather than merging with East Africa. This should be clearly distinguished, but East Africa has its own ambitions for the entire Orange Free State.
It would be self-defeating if it had the same consequences as when the United States and the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan in the previous life. Therefore, it is not easy for East Africa to deal with these Orange people who fled across the river to East Africa.
"The Orange people are destined not to be owned by me. The best way is to scatter them, integrate them into East Africa, and erase their national character, or give them a free aid and let them continue to cause destruction in the Orange Free State. , and finally let them return to the Netherlands."
Ernst said: "Strongness is not sweet. If you are willing to become an East African citizen, you must obey the arrangements of the East African government. I don't think all Orange people want to keep fighting. A stable life is for the ordinary people. Pursuing, as for the Orange people who want to continue to fight against the British and have strong nationalist tendencies, we will send them back to the Orange Free State. This trouble should be left to the British! As for the last option, We won't stop it, after all, the Netherlands is the former suzerainty of the Orange (Boer) people, and it is understandable to return to the Netherlands and develop again."
"Your Highness, after the Orangemen are dealt with, I'm afraid the British energy will fall on us. After such a long war, the Transvaal Restoration Army has expanded to more than 60,000 people. The British are starting to There are also more than 20,000 troops on the border with Cape Town, and the total number of troops in our Eastern African Southern Military District is only more than 60,000. After integrating the Orange Free State, will the Transvaal and the British continue to fight against each other? East Africa takes action?" Felix said.
After a long war, the Transvaal Restoration Army grew larger and larger. With the destruction of the Orange Free Resistance Army, a large number of Orange soldiers were recruited, which made the strength of the Transvaal Restoration Army already greater. Not to be underestimated.
Moreover, there is Britain behind the Transvaal, plus two Portuguese colonies. These are two agents. And judging from the explicit data, the power of the Transvaal plus the African Portuguese is no longer as powerful as that of East Africa. No matter how weak it is, it can completely act as an agent of Britain.
Of course, this not weak refers to the number of troops in active service. Just like in the previous life, a country as small as Korea had more than one million troops. The number of troops of Portugal and the Transvaal is obviously also excessive. The two sides add up to almost the same number. It's also around 300,000.
Although there are many troops in East Africa, the defense pressure in East Africa is also greater, especially on the eastern coast. There is military pressure in the north, and it is impossible to guard against the Transvaal and the Portuguese in the south.
East Africa's advantages lie in a sound defense industrial system, developed railway transportation (in Africa), and a strong navy. This is East Africa's most important achievement throughout the 1970s. It is also an important reason why Britain has always been hostile to East Africa's rise in Africa. reason. The population of East Africa is more than 30 million (excluding blacks), but a closer look at the population structure shows that the number of adults (the age of adulthood in East Africa is seventeen years old) only reaches more than 10 million, excluding nearly half of the female immigrants and adult males. The population is just over five million.
And many adult men may be over forty years old, because East Africa has a history of twenty years from the founding of the country, and many of the earliest immigrant groups are already quite old.
However, people in this era are generally relatively precocious. If East Africa lowers the age of recruitment, it can still realize its terrifying war potential. Moreover, as the war progresses, East Africa will have a new adult population every year.
"We in East Africa are the strongest in Africa, but we are not able to sit back and relax. What East Africa actually lacks most is time, so it must be treated with caution in the face of any danger. This is also the fundamental reason for the previous nationwide military mobilization, and East Africa lacks a national foundation. We have never really fought against a world power that went all out," Ernst said.
As for Portugal, in the eyes of East Africa, it is not a powerful country at all, and Portugal's strength is mainly reflected in its homeland. The victory over Portugal's two colonies does not mean that East Africa's military armed forces are strong.
Judging from the course of the last East-Portuguese War, the situation of the Portuguese army was not much different from that of the indigenous countries with a strong sense of resistance.
This can be compared with the Abyssinian Empire. The Abyssinian Empire is an old "power" in Africa and is currently in a stalemate with Italy.
Italy's military strength in Africa is stronger than that of the Portuguese before. Italy is also an industrial country. At its core, the former Kingdom of Sardinia, has much stronger industry than Portugal itself.
Therefore, it turns out that the strength of the Portuguese in Africa may not be able to compete with indigenous countries like the Abyssinian Empire. Not to mention the Abyssinian Empire, even the original Sultanate of Zanzibar can compete with Portugal. As for now It's really hard to determine the strength of the Portuguese colonial army in East Africa. This mainly depends on the strength of Britain's support for Portugal.
"Know your enemy and your ally, and you can win a hundred battles. However, wars are often uncertain. Faced with competition, we must not take it lightly. Moreover, there will definitely be a war between Dongying. If this does not happen in the 1980s, it will break out in the 1990s, because If the United Kingdom does not contain East Africa at this time, they will completely lose this opportunity. After the 20th century, East Africa will inevitably become a world power and change the geopolitical structure of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean."
As a maritime hegemon, Britain is bound to suppress East Africa. At the same time, it has illusions about central and southern East Africa, and East Africa also covets the geographical location and land of Cape Town.
The contradiction between the two sides is irreconcilable. In other words, even if the British do not take action, they will inevitably take action against the British South African colony after East Africa fully develops.
This is the same as when the United States attacked Canada, except that the United States lost, so it could only choose to remain dormant under the international system established by the United Kingdom.
(End of this chapter)