Chapter 497: Preparing to Mediate
Just as Ernst anticipated, the Portuguese forces were pinned down on three fronts, while East Africa, unhindered in the north, continued to devour Mozambican territory at will.
At this point, the Portuguese began to realize something was seriously wrong. Despite deploying a sizable army, East Africa still had the capacity to confront them from multiple directions. Britain and France noticed this too—how many troops did East Africa actually have?
Due to the East Africa–Portugal War, East Africa had expanded its military to over 300,000 soldiers, including more than 70,000 Black troops.
Because East Africa was deliberately sending Black legions to the front as cannon fodder, these units were not particularly motivated. Ironically, their Mozambican counterparts were just as lazy. The result? Two half-hearted armies battling to a draw.
Clément was furious: "These idiots can't even win against East Africa despite having more advanced weapons?"
He'd realized the Black troops weren't giving it their all. East Africa didn't care—but Clément did. Aside from the Black legions, Mozambique had no other reliable forces. Unless Portugal sent reinforcements from the mainland—which it clearly couldn't—there were no alternatives.
As East Africa gradually consumed more of Mozambique, things were also heating up on the western front. Like Mozambique, Angola had joined the war against East Africa.
But Angola wasn't as lucky—it had run into East Africa's regular army: the 411th and 412th Divisions.
Unlike the gunplay on the eastern front, the west was seeing full-scale modern warfare. The two East African infantry divisions demonstrated what modern combat really looked like.
Mauser rifles outclassed the ones Britain and France had provided to Portugal. And with artillery, machine guns, and grenades freely deployed, the Portuguese were overwhelmed.
The Anglo-French-backed Angolan troops were shell-shocked when they crossed into East Africa. Was this really the army of an African nation? There was no honor in this war!
"What about contacting Lisbon? Have they replied?" the Governor of Angola roared.
"Governor, word is the Germans are already heading for Luanda. Even if we reach out now, it's too late!"
"Damn it! So only Mozambique is their golden child? Angola is more important to the homeland than Mozambique!"
But the delay in Lisbon's reply wasn't entirely its fault. The West African coast was underdeveloped, and communication still depended on ships. Meanwhile, East Africa's eastern coast had submarine cables—laid by East Africa itself—allowing messages to be sent directly to Europe. These cables were even accessible to foreign entities via pay-for-use stations in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. So while Mozambique was at war with East Africa, it could still use East African infrastructure to report battle updates to Lisbon in real time.
Mozambique was now in a defensive position, but its reports to Lisbon were full of bluster and overconfidence—perhaps bolstered by minor victories over East Africa's Black troops.
East Africa's and Mozambique's Black legions were two sides of the same coin. But East Africa's units suffered higher casualties.
Angola, however, had faced East Africa's regulars right from the start—so the outcome was different. East Africa's army cut through them like a knife through butter.
It was also apparent that Britain and France weren't as invested in Angola as they were in Mozambique. Britain was certainly doing this on purpose.
France may have believed it held sufficient sway in West Africa and focused instead on weakening East Africa's eastern core. Southwestern Africa, where Angola was located, held little appeal. But this misjudged East Africa entirely—its name was misleading.
East Africa's territory had far exceeded its namesake. It now included parts of Southern, Central, and Southwestern Africa. East Africa didn't even dominate the eastern region alone—there were other players in the northeast. The only thorn left in its southeastern flank was Mozambique.
Previously, Mozambique had helped East Africa mask its inland expansion. But once East Africa reached the Atlantic, its territorial scope could no longer be hidden. At that point, there was no value in letting Mozambique linger.
Britain understood just how much East Africa disliked Mozambique. That's exactly why they sought to preserve it—as a thorn in East Africa's throat.
In the end, Britain and France viewed Mozambique as a strategic counterweight. Angola, on the other hand, was too far west to be a threat. East Africa's economic center was in the east, so even if Angola conquered land in the west, it wouldn't dent East Africa's power.
That's why East Africa had zero restraint toward Angola—the difference in treatment was stark. If the Governor of Angola knew this was why he was being targeted, he'd probably die of frustration.
While he stewed, gunfire rang out outside the city.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"Governor, the Germans are attacking! What do we do now?"
"Hold Luanda! Don't let them into the city! Ready the ships—we're fleeing north!"
With the support of two East African divisions, Luanda—the capital of Angola—fell the same day. As the political center of the colony, Luanda should have had strong defenses. But as a coastal fortress, it had made a fatal mistake: its artillery and defenses were focused on the Atlantic. The eastern side, facing the land, was neglected—an error born from the days when threats came only from spear-wielding natives. Now, the attackers were Germans, not tribesmen.
With Luanda lost, the Angolan colony was essentially finished. The governor fled by ship to Cabinda to continue resisting.
Angola's fall was a massive blow to Portugal. Mozambique's situation was slightly better.
With East Africa occupying northern Mozambique, Portuguese forces were now caught between Lake Malawi and the Tete region.
But this hadn't come as a surprise. The north had been abandoned voluntarily. Though Mozambique was much smaller than East Africa, it still spanned over 600,000 square kilometers—while mainland Portugal had only about 90,000.
Mozambique, too, was vast and sparsely populated, with even fewer whites. The undeveloped north was practically a blank slate. If East Africa hadn't risen when it did, Portugal wouldn't have stationed even 300 troops there.
So now that East Africa had taken the north, the Portuguese weren't too shocked. They'd anticipated it before the war even began.
Their bigger concern now was troop numbers. East Africa was applying pressure from all directions—even its South African forces were on the move. This had Governor Lefort deeply worried.
Portugal had no chance of winning. But the British weren't worried at all. Instead, they were busy analyzing East Africa's military strength.
"We clearly underestimated them. So far, we've confirmed East Africa has deployed at least 70,000 troops. It's possible they mobilized close to 100,000 for this war—twice as many as in the South African campaign."
"We've also seen that their army isn't made up solely of whites and Asians. There are many Black soldiers too."
"Add in the western front with Angola, and the total number must exceed 100,000."
"If we want Cape Town to expand northward, we'll need at least 100,000 troops ourselves. That's achievable—but the question is, are Indians or Africans more combat-effective?"
"For now, let's focus on mediating this war. Portugal is doomed. But we have to preserve its presence in Africa. If East Africa swallows both Angola and Mozambique, it'll cost a fortune to make the Germans cough it back up at the negotiating table."
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