African Entrepreneurship Record

While preparing for war in East Africa, the Triple Alliance was not far behind, but at a critical moment, Count Roberts suddenly changed his plans.

He came up with a new plan, and although he assumed command of the allied forces in the entire South African region, he had his own views on the war, given that he arrived relatively late.

Roberts convened a military meeting of the allied forces and presented his decision at the meeting: ”As the main battlefield, we must strengthen Mozambique’s military, because Mozambique faces the risk of fighting on three fronts, and East Africa has the advantage of a home battlefield with a substantial population. If we want to quickly gain the upper hand on the battlefield, we must distribute our forces reasonably,” said Count Roberts, outlining his plan.

In this regard, Mozambique’s military commanders naturally agreed wholeheartedly, as Mozambique was their own territory, and they were more meticulous about the defense.

Count Roberts was well aware of the subtle changes among the Portuguese, but as an experienced military commander, he would not let this disturb his deployment. Narrow-minded commanders find it hard to achieve victory on the battlefield.

From the start, his objective was to defeat East Africa, without engaging in petty disputes over interests with this group and focusing on strategic goals, even if it might incur some losses for the British Empire.

”Commander-in-Chief! I oppose concentrating military power in Mozambique; providing some military support is fine, but it’s unnecessary to go this far,” said the military commander of the Natal Colony, Wilson.

”Oh? What differing opinions do you have?” For the first person to object being a British commander, he wasn’t surprised.

Wilson: ”The distance between the Natal Colony and Maputo is very short, with only one East African port city between them. We don’t need to disrupt the initial deployment with massive military adjustments. According to the plan, capturing New Hamburg Port City first would open up a northern passage and connect Natal and Mozambique.”

”Besides, this was the already established strategy. Even if we strengthen Mozambique’s military, our next step is still to cooperate on two fronts and attack New Hamburg Port City.”

”A large-scale military movement will undoubtedly attract the attention of the East Africans. I suspect there are plenty of East African intelligence spies in Maputo, and they would swiftly relay information back to East Africa, risking our strategic deployment being exposed!”

After Wilson finished speaking, Roberts didn’t immediately refute him but responded, ”Of course, I considered these points, but I don’t believe New Hamburg Port City is easily conquered. Given its unique position, East Africans wouldn’t allow us to take it easily.”

”Moreover, we need to understand that the Natal Colony’s location poses no threat to East Africa. If we can’t capture New Hamburg Port City smoothly, it may restrict our army’s performance. With the Tugela River and the Drakensberg Mountains, a small military force can confine our troops to the Natal Colony’s narrow area.”

”If we can’t open the situation, isn’t it just wasting all our military power? Should we then consider crossing the Drakensberg Mountains westward to support the Boer battlefields? That would consume considerable time, and significant changes might occur on the battlefield by then!”

This was also Count Roberts’ perspective on the South African situation. If it were just a war between Britain and East Africa, then the importance of the Natal Colony would indeed be significant, but with Mozambique, it gave him more options.

”As for military movements, if it gets exposed, so be it. We only need to station our main force in Mozambique; however, predicting where they might launch offensives isn’t something the East Africans can easily deduce.”

The long border between Mozambique and East Africa was Count Roberts’ confidence to risk mobilizing troops.

They could choose to attack New Hamburg Port City in the south, advance west into Central East Africa, or threaten the core eastern areas of East Africa by moving north.

”Of course, all of this requires the cooperation of the Mozambique Colony, Governor Bugival,” said Count Roberts, looking at Bugival.

Bugival expressed, ”Commander-in-Chief, our Kingdom of Portugal will fully support your decisions. However, please instruct us on how to coordinate specifically.”

Count Roberts was pleased with Bugival’s attitude. Although the Portuguese weren’t very reliable, as long as they were obedient in front of the British, it was sufficient.

He addressed the senior officials of the Portuguese Mozambique Colony, saying, ”First, as Wilson mentioned earlier, the issue of East African spies is something we indeed need to guard against, as it’s very frustrating. Our intelligence with East Africa is not on equal footing. It’s easy for East Africa to plant spies on our territory, yet we can’t use the same methods against them.”

”Currently, only a few port cities on the East African eastern coast allow us to gather information, but the data obtained is fragmented, making it hard to analyze for real useful information. There’s indeed no effective method to solve this due to East Africa’s isolation.”

”Since we can’t solve this problem, we must at least disrupt the East African intelligence network in the South African region, especially at the ports. Checking personnel will become the responsibility of the military once the war begins, ensuring we cut off the East African sources of intelligence.”

This was Count Roberts’ instinct. He didn’t trust the Portuguese fully, so he had to enforce it himself, as the Portuguese merchants doing business with East Africa didn’t have the capability to trouble a Britisher like him.

”Besides intelligence work, there’s also the issue of hosting and arranging the army. I assume you have made some preparations?”

Bugival frowned, ”There’s no issue with that. Before deploying the black troops, we can let your forces share Mozambique’s facilities and camps.”

As for the black auxiliary troops, they were just numbers for the Portuguese. Clearly, the British Army was more reassuring, so it made sense to inconvenience the blacks first.

”However, the conditions might not be very accommodating, given our limited means in Mozambique. Even maintaining an army is quite a struggle.”

Roberts was indifferent to this aspect, as soldiers weren’t meant for luxury. He had experienced harsher conditions in Abysinnia, Afghanistan than those in Mozambique.

”Thus, the Natal Colony will gather five brigades of British main forces and deploy them to Mozambique. Given this short distance, it should be completed within a week, leaving only one brigade in Natal.”

This accounted for 20,000 British troops, and in Mozambique, Count Roberts already had over 30,000 troops from India, bringing the British main force in Mozambique to over 50,000.

With these 50,000 troops, Count Roberts felt unbeatable, despite the jokes about the British Army. It was still one of the top-five global powers (Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia) and beyond the level of other countries.

As for the United States, the world knew little about their war capabilities, much like East Africa, owing to a short history with no significant achievements. Even after the First and Second World Wars, the U.S. Army hadn’t gained widespread acceptance; rather, it was the Navy and Air Force that earned prestige post-WWII.