African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 507: Chapter 185 Fake Intelligence

”The British and French Naval forces haven’t moved, but it seems they are indeed paying some attention to the development of East Africa, willing to join forces to support Portugal.”

”Our navy can’t interfere in this regard. The final outcome still depends on how the land wars in East Africa are fought, but with British and French backing, can East Africa really handle Portugal?”

Faced with his colleagues’ inquiry, Grand Duke Ferdinand smiled silently. He didn’t answer the question, knowing well that East Africa’s strength lies mainly in its army.

...

The strongest army, according to Grand Duke Ferdinand, finally converged with the Mozambican forces at Songgo. The standoff didn’t last long because East Africa’s main forces arrived unexpectedly early.

Just a day ago, East Africa’s main forces arrived at Songgo Fortress ahead of Mozambique’s colonial forces. The sudden arrival of tens of thousands of troops at the frontline caused quite a commotion.

This startled the Portuguese vanguard, which had intended to delay. Kerry had thought that, one way or another, his own forces should arrive first, but East Africa had completed assembly beforehand, leaving him perplexed.

He frowned and said, ”Is East Africa reacting so quickly? Or do they already have large forces nearby ready to provide timely support?”

Portugal had meticulously planned for months for this war, hoping to open something unexpectedly in the center, but now that East Africa’s main forces have arrived, it seems this plan may be thwarted.

However, why East Africa’s reinforcements arrived so quickly at the frontline remains a mystery to Kerry, as he can’t magically see the operations of the Central Railway from East Africa’s rear.

Seeing the suddenly arrived East African forces, Luo De nervously said, ”Enemy reinforcements have arrived; we must retreat quickly, or Colonel Clement will only arrive afterwards to witness our deaths!”

The situation was more powerful than people, and Kerry had to change his usual style, ordering his troops to retreat eastward towards Tete.

His severe face seemed to squeeze out water as he said, ”It’s not appropriate to stay here for long; let’s first meet up with the main forces and see what Colonel Clement intends!”

Luo De’s troops arrived like a turtle, but they were experts in retreating—covering over forty kilometers in a day backward, they ran head-on into the main forces led by Clement.

”Why have you returned? Was Songgo’s stronghold taken? I didn’t order you to retreat, did I? Kerry, explain what’s going on?” Clement strictly questioned.

There’s usually only one reason for the vanguard to retreat—an unfavorable battle leading to failure. However, Clement held onto a sliver of hope, as Songgo was merely a small stronghold; it shouldn’t be that hard to capture!

Kerry looked slightly embarrassed at Clement, and with a stiff upper lip, said, ”Commander! Songgo’s stronghold is not a small one at all. Its size is comparable to Tete, and its defense facilities are clearly more complete than Tete’s. The most hateful thing is Songgo doesn’t just have two or three hundred people, as Portuguese merchants claimed, but at least over five hundred. Without heavy weaponry, it’s impossible to break Songgo’s stronghold, and we’ve been deceived by false intelligence.”

Kerry was speaking the truth, but Clement wasn’t entirely convinced and continued to ask, ”Why does this matter with your sudden withdrawal? I wouldn’t blame you for not being able to conquer Songgo’s stronghold quickly, but you could have held your position and resolved it once we arrived. Why did you flee? Plus, your troop makeup hasn’t decreased much?”

Luo De complained, ”General Clement, if we hadn’t fled, these fellows might have all perished at Songgo’s stronghold.”

Clement wasn’t very convinced: ”Even if Songgo has at least five hundred troops from East Africa as you say, it’s not enough to force a retreat, is it?”

Kerry said, ”Commander, East Africa’s main forces arrived at Songgo’s stronghold early, so I had no choice but to order a retreat.”

”Reinforcements?” Hearing this news, Clement became slightly unsettled and urgently asked, ”How many East Africans arrived? Are they all gathered at Songgo Fortress?”

Like Kerry, Clement instantly questioned how East Africa’s reinforcements could arrive at the frontline so swiftly.

Kerry continued, ”From the noise, the East African reinforcements are at least on a scale of ten thousand; Songgo’s stronghold might not even fit them all. So, I had no choice but to lead the troops in retreat.”

Observing Kerry speak as if it wasn’t falsehood, Clement said, ”Alright, if what you said is true, then there is a reason. This time, I’ll spare your department from punishment, but next time, don’t easily mobilize without my orders. Until I order it, you should fight to the last man without surrender or retreat.”

...

While Portugal encountered trouble, the East African side was also somewhat beleaguered. The load capacity of Songgo’s stronghold wasn’t strong, capable of accommodating only a thousand people at most, yet East Africa directly transported over thirty thousand reinforcements from behind, which had far exceeded Songgo’s limit.

Merk said, ”We must be careful at first since our troops consist mainly of Black people; they may not keep up with the pace. We should let them acclimate to the unfamiliar environment first rather than letting them pull our people down.”

This has been one reason why East Africa hasn’t immediately annihilated the Portuguese vanguard upon arriving at the frontline. After months of training, East Africa understands the intricacies of the Black Corps, which significantly falls short of East Africa’s organizational capability, and coordinating tens of thousands of Black people is even more disastrous, or more accurately put, a calamity.

In fact, fighting hadn’t begun, but the Black Corps had already plunged into chaos, like a marketplace outside Tete City, if they were to engage in battle, then order is even less conceivable, with some possibly defecting or fleeing.

However, the efficiency of East Africa’s Black people is slightly better than Portugal’s, as East Africa often organizes Black Slaves for production activities and engineering construction, so while they can’t follow military orders precisely, they can maintain an overall formation without scattering.

Why these somewhat orderly Black people became disorganized upon reaching Songgo was similar to the Portuguese forces; the East African Black Corps also lacked experience in large-scale rapid marches, so upon arriving at Songgo, they appeared exhausted, with various positions and immense fatigue.

Having expended a great deal of physical and mental energy, the Black Corps naturally couldn’t maintain the comfort of low-intensity training, indicating that East Africa had no intention of training them into qualified soldiers. Looking at East Africa’s regular army, arriving at Songgo showed they remained spirited and disciplined, as long-distance drills were necessary training subjects.

Merk continued, ”Prepare the machine guns first. If any senseless Black soldiers dare to retreat during combat, let them know the consequences.”

Machine guns are indeed a good invention, but this war mainly involves consuming Black and Mozambican forces, so East Africa’s machine guns will instead primarily target their own Black Corps. As soon as the frontline commanders order, they’ll mindlessly charge forward without retreating, or face East Africa’s army bullets. As for casualties, they aren’t within East Africa’s consideration, merely cold statistics.