African Entrepreneurship Record

”Benguela must be taken. However, with the lessons from the last East-Portuguese War, Benguela is likely to be even harder to fight. Therefore, we cannot focus on Benguela as our only target,” Helmuth analyzed.

Benguela has been occupied by East Africa once, so the Portuguese must have learned their lesson. Moreover, this time confronting the Benguela garrison, there will be no allied troops to assist, which is also a challenge for the 421st Division.

As a mobile unit, the 421st Division has less firepower compared to a regular infantry division. There are trade-offs; for mobility, some firepower must be sacrificed.

Of course, during the long-term warfare in the province of Letania, the 421st Division has already become less pure. In order to contend with the Portuguese army, the 421st Division has also adopted many tactics of regular infantry divisions.

Moreover, although the firepower of the East African Cavalry Division is somewhat inferior to other regular infantry divisions, it can still crush the Portuguese army.

The finances of Portugal make it impossible for them to provide their army with a large number of advanced weapons, while East Africa, with the development of its military industry, has seen decreasing costs and increasing production, continuously enhancing the army’s firepower and weapon performance over the years.

Of course, more importantly, is the premise of fighting on ”native” soil. If Angola and Mozambique were not next to East Africa, but Portugal’s homeland was, the situation of the war might be very different.

Although Portugal’s homeland has declined considerably, overall, it’s not too weak by European standards, especially the homeland’s military industry, which should have the strength to fight against East Africa.

However, Portugal’s home military industry is certainly not as robust as East Africa’s because its military civilian industry is influenced by external national military industries. Just like the army equipment in Portugal, much of it is imported from Germany and France, while naval equipment is mainly imported from Britain.

Under such circumstances, Portugal’s military industry development is inevitably hindered. Moreover, East Africa’s military industry development is systematic, something Portugal certainly lacks compared to East Africa.

And Angola and Mozambique clearly cannot compare to Portugal’s homeland. Even faced with Portugal’s homeland, East Africa is not afraid, let alone these two colonies.

And this might also be the confidence of the Portuguese; fighting in colonies is vastly different from fighting in the homeland. For instance, if Spain were to invade Portugal, it would certainly provoke a national resistance in Portugal.

But in a colony, Portugal is not afraid of war, but will not be too serious either. What fear is most, about war, is inflicting severe damage to the development of the nation, especially the core area.

Just like in ancient times, nomadic tribes would often move south, continuously bleeding the Far East Empire, and the empire didn’t have a good way to handle the steppes.

East Africa also had this concern before the war, thus adopting a conservative approach: first stabilizing the front lines, and the overall strategy was to first prevent the central industrial provinces from being affected by the war.

After all, East Africa’s opponent, within the region, almost had no industry. Plantations are not something East Africa lacks, nor does it lack Black people.

But should the opponent penetrate the central area, it would destroy East Africa’s industry, which would be too unfavorable. Therefore, in the early stages, East Africa’s strategy was very conservative, entirely focused on defensive consumption to weaken the enemy’s offensive momentum.

However, now the situation has shifted; East Africa is entering a counter-offensive phase, and the enemy is beginning to struggle, unable to address issues from all sides.

Helmuth said, ”We need to take Benguela. Luanda is also our target, even though Luanda is about six to seven hundred kilometers away from our forces. However, if we move fast enough, it’s possible to reach Luanda before the 331st Division. Even if we can’t capture Luanda in the short term, the 331st Division won’t be able to share in our achievements.”

”Commander, this means our task is heavier, especially with logistics concerns. A long-distance raid can be achieved, but it also makes it easy for our logistics to be cut off.”

Helmuth: ”As the most vital areas of the Portuguese Angola colony, Luanda and Benguela are surrounded by numerous plantations. Although the Portuguese are not keen on cultivating food crops, they surely have some grain reserves, which is sufficient for us.”

”Subsequently, just wait for the transport team. Of course, if the war ends quickly, we might not even have to wait for a logistics crisis to erupt before solving the problem. Benguela and Luanda cities surely won’t lack food.”

In Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, regions with slightly better conditions wouldn’t face famine at all.

Especially in less developed areas like Angola and Mozambique, there are plenty of wild plants, many of which are edible if selected carefully.

And Africa has plenty of wild animal resources. In many parts of East Africa, due to overdevelopment, wild animals have significantly decreased.

The Portuguese territories are not like this, so even if there is a food crisis, East African troops can temporarily solve the problem by slaughtering animals.

After all, what the East African troops hold aren’t mere sticks, but rifles, which are an entirely different level of threat to Africa’s wild animals. Lions, hippos, zebras, wildebeests, they can all be used to stave off hunger.

Although due to East Africa’s repeated propaganda, many East Africans avoid such practices, in wartime, some measures can be compromised.

Furthermore, the large plantations built by the Portuguese in the Angola area can contribute to East African supplies, as the Portuguese developed large plantations in Angola.

These plantations span thousands or even tens of thousands of acres, with smaller ones still around a hundred acres. Although there aren’t many Portuguese, the black workers in these plantations still need to eat.

So in emergencies, the food rations of these black workers can suffice. Of course, if what Helmuth said occurs and the Portuguese are utterly defeated, naturally, there wouldn’t be a food crisis.

Of course, such a scenario is unlikely. The Portuguese have certainly put considerable effort into managing Luanda and Benguela. They’re fortress-like cities, much like Maputo, so breaking through these cities frontally indeed requires some effort.

Both the 331st and 421st Divisions want to achieve rapid success, leveraging their own advantages to seek control of Luanda, the colonial capital of the Portuguese.

The 331st Division’s advantage is proximity, while the 421st Division’s advantage is speed. However, for the 421st Division, the most important target remains Benguela City.

Successfully capturing Benguela City is akin to securing a minimum assurance, ensuring significant accomplishments in this war for the 421st Division. If they can take Luanda City, that would be an unexpected bonus.

In fact, besides the 331st and 421st Divisions, other allied forces also have their sights on Luanda, such as the 414th Division currently battling the Portuguese main forces in the east. Although delayed, they are also determined to claim Luanda.

The 414th Division might not have the advantages of the 331st and 421st Divisions, but if time allows, they might join the siege of ”Luanda’s” campaign midway.

Currently, it isn’t the Portuguese forces delaying the 414th Division but the complex terrain of Danube Province. With numerous surrounding units, they can surely delegate some encirclement tasks of the Portuguese to ally forces and advance towards Luanda themselves.

Besides a few well-established main combat units, other East African troops harbor similar intentions, even if they can’t all participate fully, sending smaller forces deep into the Portuguese rear is still feasible.

In conclusion, everyone certainly wants to be the first to break into Luanda, with a feeling reminiscent of the historical World War II Berlin ”chicken-eating contest” vibe.