Chapter 451

  Djibouti faces the Gulf of Aden and is only a few tens of kilometers away from the Mande Strait, which is an important part of the Red Sea. There are several small oasis along the coast of this area, and more than ten rivers and lakes are distributed, providing the water source most needed for human survival and reproduction.

  If the Gulf of Djibouti is an open mouth, then the town of Xi’an is located at the deepest throat and tonsils. There is a seasonally dried riverbed passing here, backed by the largest Lake Assal in the region, and natural conditions are very favorable.

  This oasis has been run by Chinese immigrants for several years, with canals and diversion ditches all over it. It has become a land of fish and rice with hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land.

  The rainy season is from November to March of the following year, which is commonly known as the "cool season". Most of the annual precipitation is concentrated during this period, and the weather is relatively cool.

  It's the end of December

Just after a heavy rain, the vegetation was fresh, the rain-moistened wasteland and the Gobi Desert were lush and lush. The seasonally dry riverbed that originally led to the Gulf of Aden was blocked by the dam. It spreads towards the surrounding Gobi Desert and desert.

  Standing on the plateau in the coastal area, you can see a huge white lake in the southwest. The lake has spread to the far side of the skyline. The lake has soared more than 10 times than when the dry season was the least, flooding a large area of ​​wasteland and Gobi desert.

  Under the moisture of a lot of water vapor, the weeds along the lake grow wildly, showing a green scene, which is extremely rare in the arid Horn of Africa.

  The west coast base fort inspected by Huo Xiaohu and Li Shuanzhu was built on the plateau platform.

This is a rolling hilly area with an altitude of about 200-300 meters. The mountains descend suddenly to the bay side, forming a nearly vertical platform terrain. The long-barreled shore cannon is erected at a high place, and it can be seen accurately shot far away, which is very useful for defense. One side.

The    shore artillery position was set up on a plateau about 10 kilometers away from the town of Xi’an. There were a shore artillery group along the east and west wings of the bay, which tightly sealed the bay less than 20 kilometers wide, forming a terrifying crossfire.

  The east side of the fort is called Dongfangbao, and the west side of the fort is called West Fort.

  Deputy Commander Huo Xiaohu is inspecting Fort West, which is equipped with 8 280mm Krupp long-barreled shore guns, and 4 reinforced concrete artillery positions that can be equipped with heavy artillery over 305mm, which are temporarily vacant.

  In addition, the West Fort is also equipped with some 95mm Miss Australia artillery and 60mm field infantry cannons. The concrete machine gun tower and the thick rock wall form a small fortress with strong defensiveness.

  You can get support from the town of Xi’an during the war to prevent the enemy from crossing the desert to touch it from behind. This is also the only feasible combat plan.

  The town of Xi’an has a turret guard. For any fleet, rushing into the depths of the bay with an expensive steam armored battleship against the fire of a shore gun is an out-and-out suicide, and it is really undesirable.

  The shore gun set up at a height of more than 300 meters has a surprisingly long range and occupies a geographical advantage. The shooting accuracy of the shore gun is much higher than that of the naval gun. A larger body weight can be used to increase the shooting stability. Compared with the same caliber naval gun, the advantage is obvious.

  In addition, the thick reinforced concrete fortifications are extremely defensive. The two sides suffered from the bombing battleship and its losses, and almost no one wanted to do it.

Huo Xiaohu, the deputy commander of the division, expressed overall satisfaction after a round of inspections. The West Fort is still under construction. The small fortress is planned to be built up to 4.2 meters high with dense shooting holes. The top platform can be equipped with small artillery. Now only half of the repairs have been completed. .

  A small fortress can be stationed with more than a thousand troops. The barracks have not yet been constructed, and it will take time to be officially put into use.

  Thousands of black slave laborers dig into mountains and chisel rocks, working hard under the scorching sun.

"The situation looks very good. The town of Xi'an is an important base to support the forward deployment of the Greater Hanish Island in the Mande Strait. It can be stabilized here, and the Greater Hanish Island has a steady stream of resources. It constitutes a complete system of military presence in the Horn of Africa, and the overall situation is good."

   "What the division said is that the town of Xi'an is our foundation in the Horn of Africa, with influence all over Somalia, and it is also a forward base for attacking Africa!"

   "Hahaha... This time the African Expeditionary Force Command has arranged for you to take the lead. Is there any pressure?"

   "Reporter seat, this is really not there."

Li Shuanzhu has walked all the way through the rain of bullets and bullets over the past few years. He exudes a kind of perseverance that ordinary people can hardly possess. He raised his hand and said; "After the **** battle of Moresby, our generation of soldiers has grown up. It’s not at all shocking to the European army, not to mention these Portuguese...hehehe, I guess they dare not do anything to us, otherwise they will teach them how to behave every minute."

"Hahaha...Okay, it’s very good to have confidence in winning, but you must be careful. There is no simple country in Europe with a big booger. The Belgians just won more than 2 million square kilometers in the Congo River Basin. The land relies on a mouthful, so I can’t underestimate them."

   "Understood, Master."

  The current international situation is unpredictable. The British Liberal Party’s cabinet stepped down after its defeat in the general election and turned to the Conservative Party, which won the general election, to form a cabinet. Various government policies are quite different from the previous ones.

  Don’t say anything else, just take the African strategy as an example. The Conservative Party’s cabinet policy has become more radical, hoping to occupy more space in Africa.

Queensland is in the Colony Department. The campaign to attack Madagascar has been intensively planned. At this time, most of the British Army's troops are involved in Egypt, South Africa, India, Burma and Afghanistan, and can be used in other parts of Africa. It is extremely limited, and I am afraid that there is only one infantry regiment with less than 2,000 people in total.

  This little force is scattered across the vast Africa, like a bottle of pepper noodles poured into a river, there is no shadow at all.

  Therefore, the new Secretary of the Colony, Sir Robert, put his idea on the Queensland army. He knew that Queensland had a force of tens of thousands of people stationed in the Horn of Africa, and he could attack at any time.

Compared with Madagascar, which is isolated from the African continent, Sir Robert values ​​the Portuguese-occupied area across the strait. There is no shadow of Portuguese East Africa in this era. The Portuguese occupation of the dry area has not been universally recognized by the Berlin Conference. No contract.

  If history has not changed

  In 1891, the United Kingdom and Portugal passed years of bargaining, and finally signed an agreement to recognize that the entire Mozambique was placed under Portugal. So far, the Portuguese East has formed informally, and the Portuguese set up a governor to manage the region, which has been universally recognized by the international community.

  Mozambique was formally delimited in 1891 and was called Portuguese East Africa.

  In 1898, the Portuguese colonial governor moved the capital from Mozambique to Lourenço-Maquis, and officially began its colonial rule over the Zambezi River.

  None of this happened now!

The British have always been concerned about the rain-rich Zambezi River basin, which is rich in gold, diamonds and ivory, with endless tropical forests and pastures. The Zambezi River basin has many tributaries, developed water systems, suitable for agriculture and pasture, and natural conditions. Compared with other arid desert regions in Africa, I don’t know how many times it is stronger.

In general

  Africa has a few treasures with a long history. Egypt, where the ancient civilization was born, is located in the Nile River Basin, which is rich in products and rich in culture. Of course, it can be ranked first. It has always been the greedy target of emerging empires that emerged in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Southern Africa has become a hot spot since the discovery of diamonds and gold, followed by the Congo River Basin in Central West Africa and the Zambezi River Basin in Central East Africa. These two places are also the green lungs of Africa, with rich products and superior natural conditions, which are among the treasures. one.

  The former was just acquired by the Kingdom of Belgium, and the latter were mostly owned by the Portuguese. They built colonization bases in the Zambezi River basin and forced other European countries to intervene in the area, including the British a few years ago.

In addition, the African continent has the famous Ivory Coast, which is the Côte d’Ivoire region. In addition to the Ivory Coast, there are also the Gold Coast (Ghana), the Pepper Coast (Liberia), and the Slave Coast (Benin), but these places are no better than the North and South. , One east and one west four treasures.

  According to the request of the British Colony Department received by Queensland, it is hoped that the troops stationed in the Horn of Africa will be the first to land in Mozambique, creating a fait accommodating fact of occupation.

  After receiving the official letter from London, the Red Fort stopped the expedition and prepared to bargain with the Colony Department.

  If the conditions are not opened at this time, even if it is stupid?

  Of course, Li Fushou will not go to London in person. Tang Shaoyi, the diplomatic representative in Europe, will participate in the mediation of this matter. He is negotiating in London at this time, trying to seek more benefits.

  The current British Empire is very fat, casually leaking fingers, it is enough for Queensland to eat and wear, and live a leisurely and prosperous life.

  The African Expeditionary Force stationed in the town of Xi’an has now been informed that it is preparing to land in the Zambezi River Basin. The specific location has not yet been determined. It depends on the outcome of the final discussion.

  The current situation is that Queensland has the ability and conditions to expand. London is fully supporting its siege in Africa. Anyway, it is occupied by the British Empire, which is the place where Her Majesty shines.

  According to the British Empire’s complex colonial system, there are first-level colonies, second-level colonies and protectors, regions of major interest, and trusteeships to which the colonies belong. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about finding a good cause.

  The true mainland of the United Kingdom is only the British Isles. Strictly speaking, it is only the Isle of England plus the Isle of Scotland. As for Ireland, hehehe...

  The Red Fort is now like a young wife to be married. There were 10,000 people in their hearts who were willing to go out and go on a sedan chair. But seeing the urgency of the British Colonial Department, they became more and more twitched. This is probably the situation.

  (End of this chapter)