chapter 188

Although Portugal has conducted a rigorous assessment of the Dutch counterattacks in Mozambique and Angola and has made corresponding deployments, this estimate has proved to be wrong.

In the first half of March 1864, the Netherlands had gathered on the border between Tanzania and Mozambique in the southwest Indian Ocean, and the speed was so fast that Portugal was shocked after the war.

Specifically, William IV signed the mobilization order on February 25, and the Dutch army began to set off from there.

The Dutch strategy in Africa was: Congo to stabilize first, then to attack as soon as possible in Mozambique, and finally to counterattack to Congo.

Lest Portugal defeat the Congo in the west of Africa and focus on Tanzania and Kenya in the east.

Therefore, the Netherlands quickly deployed two armies. Among them, the Congolese army used a mixture of Transvaal forces that had once shamed the British Empire and used hundreds of thousands of local British troops. The army, in the northern Congo city of Pointe Noire and in Matadi, Kinshasa, Bandundu, Kananga, Solwezi, etc. in the middle reaches of the Congo River, has made it difficult for the Portuguese to attack since January. Except for Banana and Cabinda, there is almost no revenue.

Especially in Pointe-Noire and Kinshasa, the Portuguese army was difficult to shake because there were tens of thousands of people stationed there.

Although Angola is geographically breaking into the territory of the Dutch Congo, there are only two practical offensive routes.

Along the Congo River to the north of the area and Lucapa to the northeast were separate routes of advance.

However, Kinshasa in the north was heavily defended, and there was Bandundu behind Kinshasa, so the Portuguese army could neither pass through nor conquer them in a short period of time.

Once invaded this area of ​​the Congo River, it is bound to face the many river algae fields composed of the Kuweilu River, the Kuango River and the Kasai River.

These places where many natives exist that are simply impenetrable.

The eastern part also faces the huge wilderness of the upper reaches of the Kasai River and the Sankuru River, and in the Congo on this route, the Dutch are still heavily guarded in Kananga and Ilebo, etc. If Portugal attacks , it will be difficult to get out, such as falling into a quagmire.

What's more, what Portugal has to face is the Dutch Transvaal soldiers, a white alternative combat force that only talks about changing in Europe. They are the strongest in field warfare, and there is no one.

So from the beginning of the war to the current naval advantage of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean, which is more convenient and closer to the Netherlands, Portugal does not actually have much advantage in the army.

Even Louis I and many others suspected that the deployment of the Transvaal soldiers in the Congo as early as more than a year ago seemed as if the Netherlands had long predicted the Portuguese invasion today.

Angola in the west annexed the Congo, while Mozambique in the east has bad news one after another.

It seems that Portugal has experienced ups and downs in these two colonies for hundreds of years.

Portugal had no choice but to split in two, attacking Holland in the east and west, respectively.

I wanted to cooperate, but due to the long distance between the two places, and the two armies have their own leaders, it is actually very difficult to cooperate.

In contrast, the Netherlands has an advantage in coordinated operations.

The reason, of course, is that the Netherlands is in Africa, with Tanzania and Kenya in the east and Congo in the west.

And more importantly, the army leaders of Tanzania and Kenya in the east are George Nash, the leader of the Orange Free State in South Africa, and now the Deputy Minister of the Dutch Army.

On the Congo side is Martinas, the leader of the Transvaal Republic, who was the best partner in the fight against the British in South Africa.

The tacit understanding of the partners for many years made the two people quickly complete the operation plan in the Netherlands, perfectly and beautifully.

Martinas faced the Portuguese army at sea and Angola for defensive resistance in Congo, and George Nash cooperated with Leon Booker, deputy chief of staff of the General Staff from Madagascar, in Tanzania to attack and land in Mozambique.

Under the command of George Nash, who had 50,000 troops, he went directly south to occupy Pemba from the north.

Madagascar's Leon Booker made landfall at several other locations.

The two attacks made the northern part of Mozambique without resistance. Finally, the Portuguese army formed a great strength after concentrating its military strength in the Zambezi River in the south, which blocked their attack. At the same time, the British army in South Africa was more in Europe Nelspruit added 20,000 troops, and has already moved towards the part occupied by Portugal in the direction of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), close to the city of Quilu. Obviously, the United Kingdom deliberately made the Netherlands scruples, suggesting that the Netherlands should stop, and finally George Nash and Lay Ang Booker was concerned about the United Kingdom, and the strategic policy changed accordingly. George Nash sneaked westward along the Zambezi River into Zambia, while Leon Booker was covering up the northern Mozambique that he had just acquired.

As a result, the Portuguese Army of Mozambique was placed in southern Mozambique and entered into the strategic plan of the Netherlands. This plan, except for the unexpected changes in the United Kingdom, looked very detailed, and the results were not bad.

With the victory on the battlefield in Mozambique, the morale of the Netherlands, whether in the east or west, or in the homeland, has been greatly boosted by the Dutch national rule.

On April 1, 1864, the eastern part of the Netherlands was divided into two groups, all the way to stay in Mozambique to continue fighting, led by the deputy chief of staff of the Netherlands, Leon Booker, and continued to attack Mozambique.

The other route goes upstream, from the Zambezi River to Zambia, and then north to the southern town of Lumbashi in the Congo. Then follow the northwest corridor route, passing Tengkai Town, Kamina, Kananga, Ilebo.

George Nash did not continue to move west, but chose to station in Kananga, a city in central Congo.

In addition to leaving 10,000 people to return to Tanzambique for defense, the 50,000 people who went south this time led 40,000 people to Kanan according to the instructions of William IV and the Chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense Mark Rudd. add.

"Kananga is a place that can be attacked and defended, defending central and southern Congo.

Entering Lucapa in Angola from the southwest of Kananga, as long as we take the Saurimu, then we can either go west to attack Portugal in Luanda, the largest city in Angola, or go south to capture Luena and then carry out the Angola Two lateral routes. "

George Nash looked at the map and thought hard.

The homeland has not asked him to specifically attack Angola.

Just given the task is to help Martinas resolve the Congo crisis.

"The Portuguese invasion obviously angered all of us in the Netherlands," George Nash said fiercely: "Although my official position is currently the military's defense minister and not the deputy army minister, in the local officialdom, people are still soft-spoken and have no personal connections. That's the case. , we need a big victory to break this embarrassing situation, and Martinas thinks so too."

Thinking of this, he immediately picked up a pen and paper, and quickly wrote a top-level military letter,

"The person who comes, send it to the deputy minister of Martinas in Kinshasa in the east at the fastest speed. You must meet him before giving it to the other party."

"Yes, my lord"

With the sending of this letter, George Nash began to worry about the deployment of all the generals accompanying the army.

On April 6, 1864, the war between Portugal and the Netherlands was exposed in the world's newspapers some time ago. In this week, it was overshadowed by the Ethiopian Oeip War and the American Civil War, which made many people think that Britain and France The reconciliation played a role, and both countries chose a quiet meeting.

But just like King Louis I of Portugal, they are obviously a bit naive.

Because in the newspapers of this day, everyone could not help but see a headline that dominated the major newspapers. : "Eastern Dutch army ran thousands of miles to Angola in West Africa! "

"The Netherlands, thousands of miles away in East Africa, has been attacking Angola on the 7th after the main battle force arrived in Kananga in southern Congo. In just three days, they occupied Lucapa and Saurimu.

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According to the estimates of the Portuguese garrison in Saurimu, the army numbered more than 30,000 people.

After occupying these two places, the next target of the Dutch army is said to be Luena in the south. According to military experts in this newspaper, if the Netherlands really wins Luena in eastern Angola, then Angola will enter It is a very dangerous situation, because Luena has a special status. He is located in the eastern part of the central waist of Angola, in the center of the eastern part of the south and the north, and is far away from the coastline. It is difficult for the Portuguese navy to play a role.

Portugal's current **** in Angola would be in immediate danger if it fell. "

Portugal is naturally aware of this~www.mtlnovel.com~ as early as after the occupation of Saurimu, and began to quickly gather the surrounding forces where.

However, the final force was in the early 10,000s, and the Dutch invaders, in addition to the 10,000 people who stayed behind in Saurimu and Lucapa, had 20,000 people heading south to Luena.

Under the most violent attack from the Netherlands, it paid a price of more than 1,000 people. The Portuguese even more because of the mutiny of the natives in the city, made this 10,000 people eventually injured and killed more than 7,000 people, and the remaining 2,000 people surrendered.

It's not good if you don't surrender, those natives have been holding back for too long, and they have been riding on their heads for too long, so it is absolutely terrifying to retaliate. George Nash saw the appearance of the head being twisted off by the natives of Angola. different.

However, he remained calm, this action, thanks to the Luenaaba Congolese leader of Angola in front of him.

As the Congo fell into the hands of the Netherlands, the King of Gang explained the history of the Kingdom of the Congo. Therefore, the indigenous chakras in Angola also became an important condition for this operation, because in the account of the King of Gang, the early migration was The Bagong people who arrived in northern Angola actually had a long-term desire to return to the Congo, and the treatment in Angola was more suitable for the record of being squeezed by the grape people.

Therefore, George. Nash used the Bagong people to cooperate with each other and achieved unprecedented results.

With Luena in his hands, under the banner of the Portuguese-Dutch War, his fame would immediately expand in Europe.

In fact, he guessed it right. Now the heads of states in Europe have the latest battle reports about Angola on their desks, and his name has been mentioned many times.