African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 768 - 72: The Shift in Offense and Defense

The main method to connect the east and west coasts of East Africa is still through railways. Of course, connecting via waterways is not impossible, but it's definitely not something East Africa can achieve now.

That would mean networking the Zambezi River Basin and the Congo River Basin, which would require building a large number of hydraulic projects to improve navigation conditions between the two basins.

Such a project would be almost impossible to achieve even in the twenty-first century; just managing the Zambezi River Basin alone is incredibly challenging.

Of course, connecting these fragmented inland river waterways with railroads and highways wouldn't be too difficult for East Africa.

However, these ideas are too far-fetched for current East Africa, even after national water conservancy construction in the 1970s and 1980s, East Africa still has a lot of natural waterways not yet transformed, and it would probably take a hundred years to gradually conquer these rivers and water bodies.

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August 4, 1888.

The East African Navy, ensuring that there were no moves from the eastern and northern British Royal Navy, dispatched a massive fleet of two main ships, six gunboats, and ten auxiliary vessels towards the Mozambique waters.

Faced with this "powerful" naval force, the Allies' naval forces could not respond, and their ships urgently retreated to Durban and Maputo to preserve strength.

The shipping route from East Africa to New Hamburg Port City resumed, although the Allies' navy continued to strike and raid the route, it was generally difficult to make an impact.

At the same time, in a turn of events, the East African Navy, adopting a tit-for-tat strategy, imposed a military blockade on Maputo and Durban, just as how the Allies had previously blockaded New Hamburg Port City.

This naval operation also decisively tilted the war's balance in favor of East Africa, and whether on land or at sea, East Africa had already seized the initiative in the war.

The role of the Comoros Islands as a base for the East African Navy was also fully activated, becoming a reliable strategic pivot for the East African Navy, playing a crucial role in blocking the Allies.

In response to the navy headquarters' decision, the New Hamburg Port City naval squadron transitioned from defense to offense, starting to confront the naval presence in Durban and Cape Town.

The precondition for "borrowing the tiger's might" is the presence of a real tiger. Although Major General Bruce's strategy led to a lack of action by the East African Navy in the Mozambique Channel initially, it preserved their strength.

The strength of the New Hamburg Port Navy is certainly not enough to confront the British Army, but it can hold its own against the Portuguese Navy in Mozambique.

With the fall of sea control, the one now troubled should be the Allies, whose only supply route currently is the narrow area along the eastern coast of the Drakensberg Mountains.

However, with supplies to New Hamburg Port City resuming, two East African brigades in the area are also preparing to enter a counteroffensive stage.

Simultaneously, the Southern Military District will dispatch troops to support the New Hamburg Port City garrison, launch an offensive, and retake control of the Southern Border Province section of the Central Railway.

In this way, East Africa would completely cut off the only outbound route for the Mozambique Allies, forming a "close the door and beat the dog" war situation.

Given the economic strength and industrial capacity of the Mozambique colony, it's obviously unable to supply the main forces of the Allies with the necessary materials.

East Africa has invested heavily in industry in New Hamburg Port City, which ensures that the East African Defense Army, although tough, can maintain a military presence in the area while being besieged.

Furthermore, it is capable of launching multiple large-scale tactical counterattacks during the siege, something Mozambique clearly lacks the capability for.

Although Mozambique has not skimped on war preparedness time, all efforts are mainly concentrated around Maputo.

Maputo is akin to France's Paris, if Paris falls, France's will to resist would likely plummet.

The importance of Maputo to Mozambique is similar, but even more dangerous as Maputo is on the coast, whereas Paris is inland.

The East African Navy can now shell Maputo, similar to how the Allies shelled New Hamburg Port City.

In the short term, East Africa finds it difficult to breach this massive military fortress, so a siege is a prerequisite to solving Maputo.

Yet, Maputo still has a sizable hinterland, and resources from the entire southern Mozambique can still be transported to Maputo.

The East African Navy is helpless in this regard and can only intercept Portuguese and British ships on the sea to cut off their supplies to Mozambique.

Decisive victory still depends on army operations, and the current focus is on dealing with the Portuguese forces in Angola first.

Concentrated military advantage requires waiting until the situation in Angola is stabilized; however, if actions against the Boer Republic by the Southern Military District conclude sooner, East Africa can engage in large-scale operations on two fronts.

The possibility exists, as the main conflict within the Boer Republic is currently focused on stability in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas.

Bloemfontein, the capital of the Boer Republic, holds the last remnants of Boer strength, and it is also a challenging point in the Southern Military District's operations.

Bloemfontein not only serves as a military fortress but also links the rear of the Boer Republic, forming a nascent second line of defense with other Boer armed forces and the British Army.

Overall, from the map, it protrudes into the southern battlefield in a triangular shape, compressing Boer forces into this triangular region.

The British Army in the direction of Cape Town is doing its utmost to reinforce this area, while Kimberley, initially regarded highly by the British, has been abandoned.

Kimberley's position is not ideal, mainly because its economic foundation is entirely dependent on diamond industry development, far inferior in integrated conditions to naturally-formed cities like Bloemfontein.

From the Cape Town perspective, Kimberley's priority is certainly above Bloemfontein, but Cape Town is not just a city, but a term for the British South African colony as a whole.

The support for the front lines actually doesn't come from Cape Town city but from Southeast South African port cities like Elizabeth Port and East London Port.

Britons had already begun developing Elizabeth Port as early as 1820, and East London Port in 1847.

These places are significant economic centers in the southeast of the Cape Colony, evident in the emphasis placed on them by their naming.

Cape Town city, located in the colony's southwest corner, actually doesn't have very convenient transportation conditions with the inland areas of the Cape Colony.

The distance from Elizabeth Port and East London to the Boer Republic is only over four hundred kilometers, while the direct line from Cape Town to the Boer Republic is over seven hundred kilometers.

Moreover, the climate conditions to the north and east of Cape Town are harsh, far inferior to the southeastern regions, as can also be seen from the road and settlement density.

Therefore, the British can only support Bloemfontein as a center, to conduct military defenses against East Africa, yet such support is only that—support.

The British Army has already begun constructing defensive lines north of the Orange River, not placing too much hope on Bloemfontein, mainly trying to buy time.

If Bloemfontein falls, then the road southward for East Africa would be unobstructed, with only the Orange River being of some use.

However, the British population in Cape Town is a fatal shortfall, which makes the Boer Republic's importance even greater, as even within Cape Town more Boers outnumber the British, not to mention the Boer population within the Boer Republic, which decisively dominates all of South Africa.

So, uniting the Boers to resist East Africa is almost the only choice for the British, under such circumstances, with the Bloemfontein government at its head, the Boer Republic government is currently the only British option.