Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 488 Invades like fire, immovable like a mountain.

  "Mr. General, is it possible for us to withstand the ferocious invasion of Queenslanders without the help of Lisbon?"

Facing the Governor’s question, General Silva replied in a difficult tone after thinking about it for a while; "Difficult, very difficult, this time is different from the invasion of a small group of three to five hundred French and British troops, but an organizational system. An army of tens of thousands of people landed across the sea. The Queenslanders have proved that their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Dutch. The infantry equipment has reached the world-class level. This is an extremely severe test for us. We want to pass this test unless there is a miracle. ."

   "Which aspect of the miracle do you mean?"

  "Armed civilians can endure great sacrifices and the spirit of resistance, outstanding military command, enemy mistakes, and God's mercy, so that we can have no more than 30% chance of winning."

   "Oh, 30% is not low anymore." Governor Bernardo Fernandez's emotions are obviously rising. He doesn't want to lose Mozambique during his tenure. It will be an indelible shame that will accompany the family for life.

   "This is a prerequisite."

"Tell me?"

"First of all, the terrible Qinglong-class heavy cruiser you mentioned cannot come to East Africa. The defensive walls of Mozambique Island cannot withstand the cannon attack, and the fatal flaw of this defensive fortress is that the area is too small, only less than one square. Kilometers, artillery fire will cause a lot of damage to defensive soldiers and urban civilians, which we cannot afford."

  Governor Bernardo Fernandez's smile just appeared on his face. He imagined the invincible power of the Qinglong heavy cruiser to destroy a country's navy, and he was in the city, and he couldn't help but shudder.

  Pray for Father, Mother, and Son, this terrible war monster not to come.

   "Are there any more?" he asked dryly.

   "Yes, the news we have received is that the size of the Queenslander army is about 10,000. If we maintain the current army size and do not continue to increase, we still have a chance to reverse, otherwise..."

  General Silva said nothing. Of course, Governor Bernardo Fernandez knew the meaning behind otherwise, but he could not guarantee that the Queenslanders would stop decisively in the event of unfavorable conditions and would not continue to recruit. Who can guarantee this?

   "Are there any more?"

"We have more than 70,000 white settlers in Mozambique, and we can mobilize no less than 20,000 armed civilians to participate in the fight. The biggest difficulty is logistical supplies and weaponry. We must have enough rifles and ammunition. This is everything. Premise."

"I have a way." Governor Bernardo Fernandez, who felt extremely weak in the face of the first two issues, rekindled and said after serious consideration; "The 22,000 ounces of gold mined earlier this year is due to turbulence. It was temporarily stored on the island of Mozambique and was not shipped back to Lisbon, and there are no less than 13,000 ounces stranded in Quelima. I can withhold this fund in the name of the wartime emergency and use it to purchase weapons, equipment and ammunition, and to protect all resistance. All are armed, we can find Germans or French, and they will be very happy to add trouble to the British."

"This is the only good news I have heard today." General Silva was obviously not as optimistic as the governor, and said in a heavy tone; "It is easy to arm civilians, but the combat power is worrying. Going out of the city and fighting the enemy in the field must be self-defeating, wise man. Therefore, the strategy adopted by our army can only be to shrink the defense, abandon the large number of white settlements and pastures in Mozambique, and all the armed forces will retreat to the two fortresses of Mozambique Island and Quelimane, without giving the enemy a chance to break them. , This is the last prerequisite."

   "This...I'm afraid I can't do it!"

   Hearing this request, Governor Bernardo Fernandez took a bit of embarrassment and took a breath.

  From a military point of view, this proposal is undoubtedly pertinent and realistic, and it is also the most successful defense strategy at present.

  But the problem lies in people's hearts, just think about it;

Counting on those large ranchers who have ten thousand hectares of fertile fields and flocks of cattle and sheep, Pajia Sheye brought all hands to the island of Mozambique to participate in the defensive operations, to shed blood and sacrifice their lives for the interests of the Portuguese Kingdom, and fight against the Queensland invaders. This is purely trying to fart!

  If there is such a noble feeling of giving up a small family for everyone, Portugal could not be annexed by Spain in history. It is nothing more than an individual who is thinking of his own interests and is a mess.

  If this is the case in the mainland, how can it be possible to ask overseas colonies for free donations?

First of all, it doesn’t make sense logically. Mozambique belongs to the overseas territory of the King of Portugal. Instead of sending a soldier to defend the territorial rights and interests, the lord’s lord instead requires the civilians to throw their heads and blood, and leave the family to generate electricity for everyone’s love. Come on such a good thing?

  It is clear that Portugal has more than 70,000 white descendants in the Mozambique region, and it also holds 100,000 indigenous armed forces, which is a powerful force.

  Essentially a disc of loose sand, unable to twist into a rope.

  These white descendants are using their own calculations and are willing to fight for the protection of family property and generations of manor, but it does not mean that they are willing to give everything to defend Mozambique Island and Quelimane, including property, blood, and life.

  After discussing for a long time, Governor Bernardo Fernandez and General Silva reluctantly came to a conclusion;

  Mozambique Island and Quelimane still have to be held fast, and defense forces must be strengthened. Other places can only do their best to obey the fate. As for the final situation, only God knows.

The two were talking, and the guard of the Governor’s House came in with a dignified expression and submitted a report with both hands; Come, gather tens of thousands of horses with the vanguard forces and have already surrounded the city of Kolimali, requesting emergency reinforcements."

  Oh sell it!

  The news was like a blow to the head, and the two shocked big figures looked at each other and kept silent for a long while.

  The Queensland army has won three flavors in Sun Tzu's art of war with soldiers;

  So it is as fast as the wind, as fast as the forest, invading like fire, immovable like a mountain, hardly known as yin, and moving like thunder.

  Since the face is torn apart, the Portuguese will not be left with a chance to breathe.

  Only one day of effort

News of the defeat came from Quelimane. The defenders only persisted for less than three hours before being blasted away from the city wall. Queensland soldiers swarmed in. It took a short period of time to completely clear the resistance in the city. This population reached An important city of 21,000 people fell.

  Qulimane is the capital of Zambezi Province, an important gold mining area and trading city. It is the second largest town after the island of Mozambique and the only town in the entire Mozambique region with more than 20,000 people. The other is the island of Mozambique.

The loss of Quelimane means that the Portuguese have lost control of Zambezi Province, and also lost control of the inland northwestern and southwestern provinces. The remaining sporadic resistance is irrelevant. It is really a knife in the heart. Come on, it hurts my heart!

After the loss of Quelimane, the Portuguese Viceroy’s Palace was panicked and ordered to shrink its defenses. White descendants from other provinces gathered in the port of Mozambique, and some discouraged white descendants left here by boat and returned to Europe. I don't want to return to this sad place.

  One time

  The population of Mozambique has skyrocketed, reaching 38,500 at its peak. With some people leaving, the population gradually dropped to around 35,100.

In the next month or so, the African Expeditionary Forces in Mozambique went all out to consolidate the presence of the African Expeditionary Force in Mozambique. They continued to remove the settlements and farms of white Portuguese descendants. By the way, they took over the rule of the black indigenous tribes in the region and expanded their forces to the south. Province and Northern Province.

The British moved internationally and launched a series of operations. They notified the signatories of the Berlin Conference of the fact that Queensland occupied the Mozambique region at the first time. They were the first to recognize Queensland’s colonial rule in the region and promoted the Austro-Hungarian Empire through diplomatic efforts. , Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, France, Greece, etc. have recognized.

   mid-June 1886

With the international mainstream public opinion acknowledging, the United States, Germany and other important world powers squeezed their noses and admitted that they did not want to see the expansion of British colonial power in Africa, but they played against the British. This hand is helpless.

  Queensland’s colonial rights in Mozambique were determined, and the army won a round beautifully.

The Portuguese retreated on the island of Mozambique with an area of ​​just over 1.5 square kilometers, strengthening the city walls day and night, preparing for war, and buying a large amount of weapons and equipment from the German colonies, arming all men from 14 to 60 years old, and A large amount of ammunition, food and fresh water are stored, and they are prepared to stick to it for a long time.

   never thought

The African Expeditionary Force has no intention of attacking the island of Mozambique at all. They continue to send small groups of troops to spread across Mozambique, covering an area of ​​one million square kilometers, to encircle insurgents and unstable factors, and conscript more than 80,000 strong laborers to build roads. , Docks, ports and towns, and started the work of Chinese immigration, and started a vigorous construction boom.

  The Portuguese dropped their eyes. It felt like a carefully prepared gluttonous feast without anyone admiring it. It fell into a void, and the huge gap in the heart can be imagined!

  The embarrassing discovery of Governor Bernardo Fernandez;.

  Without the backing of the abundant Mozambique colony, the island of Mozambique is just an isolated island with an area of ​​1.5 square kilometers, but it is crowded with up to 35,000 people. Not to mention that it is difficult for food to supply fresh water, and all material needs need to be transported from outside.

  There is no gold, no ivory, no cattle, sheep, flour, no fruits, no continuous input of various special products, so naturally there is no trade.

  The island of Mozambique has now become a giant baby who cannot take care of itself. It needs to import all commodities from the outside, but there is no commodity to export. The fortress-type fortress armed with nearly 20,000 people has become a huge burden that can only be exported.

  When the Portuguese were armed to the teeth, the African Expeditionary Army did not come to attack. Which one did this play?

  (End of this chapter)