German colonies in Africa

When the First World War began, Germany had four colonies in Africa: Turkoran, Cameroon, German Southwest Africa, and German East Africa. Germany's colonials began relatively late in Africa, but their colonies were governed with the traditional spirit of the Germans and they put in a lot of effort. Therefore, when the war started, the German colonies had already developed as much as those in Britain and France.

After the outbreak of the European war, the German colonial government has been working hard to keep Africa out of the matter and tried to quote a treaty on African peace to protect the colonies. They have three reasons: first, they believe that this war will be resolved on the European battlefield, and that it is not suitable for war in remote places like Africa; second, they do not want African indigenous people to see the war between white people, and they are worried that indigenous people will learn that there are conflicts between white people and will take the opportunity to incite; third, these four colonies are surrounded by colonies of Britain, France and other countries, while Germany The colonists were not large, and there were only indigenous security forces, and they were responsible for police tasks and had no military power at all. Unfortunately, Britain, France and other countries had different ideas. They continued the history of the struggle for colonies in the 19th century, believing that this was a good time to drive the Germans out of Africa. For the British, although these German colonies were unable to actually participate in the war, they could provide German supplies for traded sabotage ships and submarines, as well as radio stations for communication with Germany. Therefore, Britain and France united to attack these German colonies.

Soon, Turkoran, Cameroon, and German Southwest Africa all fell into the hands of Britain and France. A few German and indigenous police forces could not resist at all, and the German colonists also held the hope that the European war would decide everything, and did not cause much trouble to Britain and France. However, when Britain wanted to invade German East Africa, it encountered serious setbacks.

Leto-Fobeck appears

German East Africa is quite large, with an area of ​​about 380,000 square miles, a population of about 7.65 million, only more than 5,300 whites, and 15,000 Indians and Arabs. It is surrounded by enemies, surrounded by British East Africa (Kenya), Uganda, Northern Rhodesia (Sambiya), Niasaran (Malawi), and Biz Congo (Say), most of which are British colonies, and only Portuguese Africa (Mosanbik) in the south is neutral. Therefore, it can be said that it is almost embattled in defense.

But what makes it different from other German colonies is its military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Paulvon Lettow-Vorbeck. Lieutenant Colonel Paulvon Lettow-Vorbeck, was born in a military family in 1870. His father was a general. He was trained to become a professional soldier since childhood. He was born into an artillery and participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900. He was deeply impressed by the incompetence of the British command system. In 1904, he assisted in suppressing indigenous rebellions in German Southwest Africa, and then returned to Germany to coordinate with the navy. He was later sent to Norway as a military officer, then took over the Schutztruppe in Cameroon, and then at the end of 1913 he was transferred to German East Africa to take over the security forces.

Although he, like the military and political leaders of other German colonies, believed that the success or failure of the European war was the decisive factor, he extended a different conclusion: he decided to drag down a large number of enemy troops in Africa in various possible ways, and the longer the better; because one more British army was invested in the African battlefield, it meant one less British army was invested in the European war, not to mention the weapons, equipment, supplies, medicine, etc. He wanted to help Germany win the European war as much as possible.

Therefore, when he arrived in German East Africa in early 1914, he was committed to transforming the local security forces into a combat force. He spent several months patrolling the entire German East Africa, familiarizing himself with the geographical environment, and communicating with commanders and reserve officers of the guards from various places (German colonists) to let them understand his guiding principles and ideas, and encourage them to strengthen their combat readiness. On the eve of the war, his troops included 68 white men. The officers, 60 white non-commissioned officers, 132 white medical officers and administrators, 2 black officers, 184 black officers, and 2,286 black soldiers (askaris). They were relatively weak in weapons, with only 67 machine guns and 31 outdated light field guns. In addition, the rifles equipped by the soldiers were old Mauser rifles of the 1871 type. The bullet loading still produces a large amount of black gunpowder with white smoke.

He may not be a tactical genius like Rommel or Mannstein, but his organization and leadership skills are absolutely superior. His personality and leadership style allow his subordinates to exert the maximum ability, and his perseverance inspires the admiration of others, allowing them to survive four years of hard fighting. Shortly after the war began, he abandoned the seniority system and allowed capable officers to serve as commanders, and sometimes even let lieutenants command regiments. He even organized black and white sergeants to form a mixed group of black sergeants, in addition to letting white soldiers and black soldiers fight side by side in the same unit, even black officers command white troops. Thanks to his efforts, his troops were integrated into a combat group with strong centripetal force, and maintained high morale throughout the war.

The British Army's Advance

At the beginning of the war, he had adhered to the principle of not concentrating the decisive battle, but he still took the initiative to take advantage of the unpreparedness of British East Africa to occupy some land and raise the level of conflict. As expected, these lands were actually not of great military value, but they caused panic in British East Africa, thinking that the Germans would invade large. These sounds of protection were heard directly and alarmed the wartime cabinet far away in London, England, so the British leadership decided to send troops to attack German East Africa. Since the troops in British East Africa and Uganda were the only "King's Rifle Regiment" composed of indigenous people (King's Rifle Regiment) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (King's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (Ken's) (K AfricaRifle, referred to as KAR, has a population of about 2,000, as well as the East Africa Regiment and East Africa Mounted Rifle (EAMR), which were volunteered by white colonists. British senior officials believed that they could only serve as a warning and were unable to carry out offensive operations, so the British Foreign Office coordinated the Indian Army to send two brigades to fight, and the number was designated as the B Detachment of the Indian Expeditionary Force.

The total number of this unit is more than 8,000. Except for one battalion, which is composed of pure white people, the other battalions are Indian troops commanded by white officers. Their training level and combat effectiveness are quite doubtful. Moreover, due to the complexity of Indian race, the battalions may be completely different races. Not only does it increase coordination difficulties, but even supplies are problems, and food must be supplied to the race. What's worse is that the British military's staff operations are in a mess. Many troops have been on the ship for a month before the fleet set sail from India. With three weeks of sailing, it is really worth worrying about how much combat effectiveness these troops will have after arriving in Africa.

However, before the two brigades from India arrived, the local British army launched an offensive against German East Africa. The troops of about 1,500 people, including the East African Rifle Regiment, advanced towards Longido, but were repelled by the German troops of 600 people, greatly increasing the morale of the German side.

When the Indian Expeditionary Force arrived in British East Africa in late October, its British commander made a foolish decision. Not only did he let the troops get off the ship and rest for a few weeks before conducting military operations, he instead sailed directly to the port of Tanga in northern Germany. During the landing, due to the British army's own dullness, he missed the opportunity to quickly occupy the undefensive port. After they took a firm foothold on the shore and transported most of the supplies to the shore, they began to attack the port. At this time, Leto-Fobeck himself and about 1,000 German troops had arrived.

After understanding the situation, Leto-Fobeck immediately ordered an attack, causing great chaos among the Indian troops. These panicked Indian troops were repelled from the port, and many soldiers threw away their rifles and retreated to the beach to try to escape. After a day of battle, the Indian Expeditionary Force collapsed completely. If the Germans attacked again, it would be almost certain that it would be a massacre. But at this time, Leto-Fobeck gave the British army a chance to retreat. The British commander had to take down the air to accept the proposal and withdraw all the soldiers, but all supplies and weapons fell into the hands of the Germans. In this battle, the British army suffered about 800 casualties, while the Germans only had about 150. More importantly, the Germans captured a large number of modern rifles and ammunition, sixteen machine guns, as well as countless food, clothing, and other useful supplies; many of these equipment were used by the Germans until the end of the battle.

Onshore confrontation

After this battle, the British army's morale was greatly depressed and there was not enough force to attack again. The two sides formed a confrontation throughout 1915. However, the Germans were not idle. They often sent small troops to infiltrate British East Africa to attack the weak defense of Uganda railways and bridges. For example, in July 1915, the Uganda railway was blown up five times in a week (usually reimbursed with trains). This small-scale infiltration operation made the British army unable to defend themselves. The number of troops to defend the railway alone reached 8,000, which in contrast increased the morale of the German army.

During this period, both sides tried to increase their troops. The British transferred white troops from South Africa and Rhodesia, supplemented by Indian troops, and local indigenous troops accounted for a very small number; their supplies also came from all over the country, and weapons and ammunition were supplied by the British. In terms of resource consumption, Leto-Fobeck's strategy was successful. The British not only allocated weapons that were originally available on the European battlefield to Africa, but also sent troops that could have been transferred to Europe to fight against him. As the Germans were blocked, they tried to be self-sufficient and did not rely on German local supplies. In terms of military sources, in addition to accepting volunteer service from white colonists, they recruited more local indigenous troops. These indigenous troops proved that they could adapt to the local climate more than the white British troops and were a very important factor in future operations.

Water confrontation

During this period, in addition to land confrontation, there were also confrontations on the water. The German cruiser "Cornesburg" arrived in German East Africa before the war. After the war, they engaged in a trade and destructive war, captured the British merchant ship "Wenchester", and sunk the British cruiser "Pegau" and a patrol ship. However, soon her engine malfunctioned and had to hide in the waterway of an estuary delta for repair. At this time, the British Admiralty mobilized a large number of ships to search the waters of the German East African waters and finally found its traces. Since the British Navy did not have the hydrological pictures of the delta, it could not send large ships to attack it, so it sent a fleet to blockade it on the offshore. In order to supply it and Leto-Fobeck, the German Admiralty specially sent a supply ship with a fake Danish ship, transported from Germany thousands of miles away from Germany. Supply. Unfortunately, the German naval code was deciphered by the British. The British navy was heavily guarded. The "Cornesburg" could not break through and meet. The supply ship was destroyed by British cruisers on the nearshore. However, the parochialism of the British navy was fully revealed here. After being attacked, the German supply ship rushed to the shore and sank less than 10 meters deep. Most of the structures were still exposed. The British cruiser thought it was done and left proudly without completely destroying it. The Germans immediately carried out salvage work. Although the hull could not be repaired, most of the supplies on her, including the new rifle, ammunition, machine gun, and field guns, which were to be transported to Leto-Fobeck, were all salvaged. After cleaning, it still had a new function, which made many British soldiers grit their teeth for their navy in the future.

However, the British Navy was quite dedicated to its duties. During this period, they received three inland gunboats (similar to the armored gunboat Monitor of the Northern Army during the American Civil War) that Brazil originally customized in a British shipyard, and dragged them from Britain through the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, and the Suez Canal to East Africa. Because they had a shallow draught, they could enter the waterways of the delta, and then cooperated with the plane to observe and bombard the "Cornisburg". The British Navy was lucky. After two days of war, they sank the "Cornisburg" and had only one of them. A minor injury was slightly injured. But parochialism took effect again. The British Navy saw the sinking of the "Cornesburg" and then happily withdrew its troops. However, the Germans worked hard to salvage the 10 105mm guns and ammunition on the "Cornesburg", which also had a great effect in future operations. Although the "Cornesburg" was sunk, it fully played its role in attracting British military forces. During the entire 255-day blockade, the British Navy sent up as many as 27 ships to serve the blockade, which consumed a total of 38,000 tons of coal.

At the same time, at the junction of German East Africa and Belgium Congo, Lake Tanganica is the second largest lake in Africa - Lake Tanganica. When the Germans started the war, they first converted the two ferries into gunboats, bombarded the Belgian and British ships on the lake without leaving any armor, and took control of the entire lake. In order to check and balance, the British also transported two small motorboats from the British mainland from the west coast of Africa along the Congo River, and then used trains, tractors and ox rigs to slowly transport them to Lake Tanganica by land. They were also very lucky. They did not have any damage when fighting with German ships, and captured two modified gunboats, taking back control of the lake.

British offensive

By the end of 1915, the British commander in the British East Africa was replaced and replaced by General Smart, who was from South Africa. He launched an offensive in early March 1916, and despite the rainy season, he advanced step by step. By the end of August, he captured the "Central Railway" in northern Germany's northern East Africa. On paper, this was a great victory, because not only was this region a region with a large population in Germany, but it was much better than the situation where it took several months to occupy a few yards in the European war; but in fact it was not the case. On the German side, Leto-Berveck insisted that he would not fight. The strategy is to retreat gradually with a plan. If the timing and location are appropriate, fight a guard ambush, or they will put things that cannot be taken away to clear the field and burn it. The British army has taken a step forward, and their supply problems will be even more serious. Many troops are struggling with half of their food rations. Insufficient food rations and poor weather, soldiers fell ill one after another. Many troops have only less than 10% of their combat power, so naturally they cannot complete the two encirclements that Simath envisioned and forced the German army to fight to the decisive battle. At this time, the Congo also sent troops to invade the western part of Germany's East Africa. Although they were attacked on both sides, the Germans still maintained a very high morale.

In early 1917, the British army replaced the commander again, and spent a whole year expelling the German army from German East Africa. Leto-Fobeck led the troops into Portuguese Mosanpik and continued to deal with the British army to the end. What the British leadership could not understand was that even though the entire German East Africa had fallen into the hands of the British army, why could not be solved? Why did it come back to the news that they fought with the Germans in a certain place, and then there was no follow-up? At this time, Leto-Fobeck's troops were actually only a few thousand people left, but these thousands were already troops who had been through battles in the bushes. Moreover, because they had a small number of people and needed few supplies, they could still support the attacks and looting everywhere in Portuguese Mosanpik; the huge British troops faced the problem of supply and could not keep up with the erratic German troops.

The Expedition of the L95 Zipperlin Spacecraft

When Leto-Fobeck struggled in Africa, Germany did not forget him. The German command decided to send a Ziberlin spacecraft to carry the necessary medical equipment and tools to supply Leto-Fobeck's troops. Of course, this would be a one-way mission, so even the spacecraft itself had to be modified in order to be disassembled after successfully reaching East Africa for other purposes. Finally, the Ziberlin spacecraft L59 took off from Hungary on November 21, 1917, passing through Turkey, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and on November 23, 2017, the Ziberlin spacecraft L59 took off from Hungary on November 21, 1917, passing through Turkey, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and on November 23 In the early morning, I received a radio message west of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and ordered my return. I returned to Hungary at 3 pm on November 25. The whole journey took 95 "hours" for a total of 4,220 miles. It did not reach German East Africa, nor reached the equator (the equator crossed Uganda and Kenya), and the southmost point was about 15 degrees north latitude. However, the radio command was suspicious. Until today, I don't know who ordered the return. Some historians believed that it was a fake order issued by British intelligence units, which successfully deceived the German army.

end

In this way, the war continued until the end of the European War (11 November 1918). It was not until the news of the ceasefire reached Africa that Leto-Fobeck surrendered on November 25. At this time, his troops also had 150 white troops, non-commissioned officers, 1,156 African soldiers, 1,598 porters, a field cannon captured from Portugal, 37 machine guns (30 of which were captured from the British), plus about 1,000 British and Portuguese rifles.
Chapter completed!