African Entrepreneurship Record

Kaster expressed his agreement with Koles’s viewpoint, ”During the three months we’ve been besieged in Kinshasa, we have only had just over six hundred troops in the entire city, while the enemy has had four to five thousand. Yet, we’ve held off the Portuguese’s assaults with just our six hundred men for three months.”

”Although this Portuguese army is merely a ragtag force with a large number of Black slaves, their firepower is a level above that of the Portuguese army during the first East-Portuguese War.”

Koles is a veteran of the first East-Portuguese War, so he is quite familiar with the situation of the Portuguese army from last time.

”And this is merely an improvement in the Portuguese ragtag forces. There are two brigades from Portugal stationed in Angola, which should be Angola’s most elite military power. It’s not yet clear where these two brigades are located, but their armament should match the average European level.”

”As for the rear, as the lifeline and colonial capital of Angola, the specific numbers of troops in Luanda are not easy to know. However, in terms of fortifications and artillery, it is definitely the place with the most in Angola currently.”

”So, in response to Luanda, we should ensure a certain number of artillery pieces to suppress the enemy, making artillery a necessity in war.”

In Koles’ view, even if the Portuguese initiated the attack early on, they couldn’t possibly commit all of their main forces to the frontline.

After all, the safety of the capital is surely the colony’s top priority. Just like Mozambique’s Maputo, to be honest, Maputo’s geographical position is not very suitable as a center of war command.

However, due to the Portuguese’s development over hundreds of years, the conditions in Maputo have far exceeded those of other inland regions, thus its position has been continuously reinforced by historical continuity.

In fact, East Africa is similar, its location is overly eastward but the most elite Guard Division is stationed in First Town as the center.

This is the privilege of the political center. Luanda is the political center of the Angola colony, so the Portuguese ”noble lords” would certainly prioritize deploying troops in the Luanda area. Even if the numbers are not large, they are definitely the Portuguese elite.

Kaster: ”Hmm, but no matter what the Portuguese do, we should be bolder. Just now, I had an idea, if successful, it could greatly reduce our time costs.”

Hans Griffin asked: ”What idea?”

Kaster: ”That is whether we can split our forces to achieve a strategic objective. Previously, our idea was to move north first then south, but why don’t we conduct military operations on both the Congo River estuary and Luanda at the same time?”

”Cabinda is certainly not as important to the Portuguese as Luanda, so we only need to send a smaller force to control the Congo River estuary.”

”As for the Luanda direction, we need to add more personnel and equipment, and launch an attack to achieve our strategic goals faster.”

Hans Griffin asked: ”How should we allocate our forces?”

Kaster: ”More than four thousand at the Congo River estuary should be enough, and all remaining troops should attack in the direction of Luanda.”

Hans Griffin: ”Isn’t there a certain risk in this?”

Kaster: ”There surely is a risk, but our probability of success is greater. After all, in this great counterattack on the Western Front, it’s not just us. The Western Military District is the true main force, and they are the focus of the Portuguese’s attention.”

”Therefore, most of the Portuguese army will probably be dragged southeast by our brother forces, making this a great opportunity for us to advance on Luanda.”

”Moreover, even if the Portuguese want to reinforce, it’s probably not that easy. The Western Military District will definitely cling tightly to their tails.”

”Also, our threat to Luanda will more easily disrupt the front Portuguese army’s morale, making them powerless to resist our offensive.”

In the end, Kaster’s confidence comes from the fact that there aren’t worthy opponents in the Angola colony. If the Portuguese can’t concentrate three times the forces, Kaster is confident of victory.

After all, the 331st Division is one of East Africa’s elite units, with very advanced combat capability. If they can’t even handle the Portuguese ragtag forces, there’s no point in continuing the war in South Africa.

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August 7, 1888.

The East Africa 331st Division began splitting into two parts simultaneously heading for the Congo River estuary and Luanda.

The 331st Division’s British route is mainly within the former Congo Kingdom territory, as the Portuguese and East Africa were the main reasons for the Congo Kingdom’s downfall.

Of course, Portugal’s annexation of the Congo Kingdom in the seventies to compensate for lands forcibly taken from the south was a direct reason.

Moreover, East Africa blocked the escape route eastward for the Congo Kingdom at that time, making them lambs to the slaughter. In Africa, if you can’t win, you can always flee. Many native kingdoms fled East Africa to West Africa back then.

Unfortunately, the fate of the Congo Kingdom was grim, with no road to escape. To the north were the most brutal Belgians, to the east the ”notorious” East Africans. In comparison, the Portuguese turned out to be the most friendly force to the Congo Kingdom.

Even though the Portuguese annexed the Congo Kingdom, Angola itself had many mixed-race descendants assisting in Portuguese governance.

These mixed-race groups became the greatest threat to the 331st Division’s southward movement, severely slowing down East Africa’s progress, making General Kaster very angry.

”The harassment by these Black servant soldiers has become a serious threat to us. To make an example, I think they should be purged,” Kaster said through gritted teeth.

Hans Griffin: ”This may delay our military operations.”

Kaster: ”It now seems those Blacks are clearly willing to live and die with the Portuguese, so if we don’t eliminate them, they’re likely to take advantage at every step, resulting in great disaster in the end.”

”Are you planning to massacre the local natives?” Hans Griffin asked, somewhat alarmed.

While East Africa does not engage in such conduct in Africa, actions targeting Blacks are almost nonexistent. Still, the Congo Kingdom area was evidently a Black-populated region. The Belgians up north were more ruthless, and now there are far fewer Blacks in Belgian territory.

Kaster: ”If I could do so, I certainly would. After all, for those obstinate individuals, physical elimination is more satisfying.”

Hans Griffin quickly advised, ”We better not engage in actions that would dirty our hands. Right now, we indeed have no way with these Blacks, but after the war ends, we have all sorts of ways to deal with them.”

Hans Griffin continued, ”Our primary goal is to deal with the Portuguese. As for these Blacks who dare challenge us, we’ll send them all to the Belgians after the war to show them true cruelty.”

As for Belgium, both Kaster and Hans Griffin held considerable respect. Since Bangui is not far from the Belgian Congo colony, many in the 331st Division were quite familiar with Belgium’s colonial methods.

It’s no exaggeration to say Belgians are natural executioners. Under Leopold II’s reactionary rule, Belgian Congo achieved negative population growth, and its injury rate might be the highest in the world. So Hans Griffin’s insidious plan planted the seeds for a tragic future for the anti-East Africa Angola Blacks. This plan is extremely malicious.