Matilda and Brazzaville are only separated by a river, but Matilda's area is more than twice that of Brazzaville, and its population is more than three times greater.
After the establishment of the Kingdom of Congo, Lu Taitai still spent a lot of effort on Matilda. Many modern buildings were added to the city, and the urban infrastructure was further improved. Now the city appearance of Matilda is similar to that of Pretoria, Los Angeles.
Although there is a big gap compared with big cities like Asia, it is already a level above Brazzaville.
In 1880, in order to curb the expansion of the Congo Free State, the French-Italian explorer Pierre Savognan de Brazza signed an agreement with the local King Makoko of Brazzaville to annex the Kingdom of Makoko.
under the protection of France.
At the Berlin Conference in 1884, France's occupation of the French Congo was confirmed, and the French built Brazzaville on the opposite bank of Leopoldville at the time.
Nominally now Brazzaville is not only the capital of French Equatorial Africa, but also the capital of the Kingdom of Makoko.
Standing in the attic of the Governor's Palace castle, Nivele looked at the Southern African destroyers showing off on the Congo River with mixed emotions.
In order to safeguard the interests of the Kingdom of Congo, Southern Africa spared no expense. Nivele did not know how Southern Africa got a destroyer into the Congo River. Compared with the destroyer, the motorboat of the French Equatorial Africa Marine Police was as useless as a toy.
No threat.
At this moment, the Southern African destroyer may have crossed the center line of the Congo River, but two motorboats from French Equatorial Africa bravely approached it and tried to drive the Southern African destroyer away from the waters of French Equatorial Africa.
The Southern African destroyer ignored the call from the French Equatorial Africa motorboat and continued to sail to the north bank of the Congo River.
At this time, a motorboat suddenly made a surprising move, accelerating past the destroyer and blocking the front of the destroyer.
This action is relatively dangerous. It is not easy for a destroyer to turn at high speed, and the towering bow of the destroyer blocks the view of the bridge. The destroyer does not seem to notice the motorboat in front of it, and just rams it straight into it.
Seeing that the destroyer was getting closer and closer, the motorboat started its emergency operation and narrowly missed the destroyer.
The moment the destroyer and the motorboat passed by each other, Nivele felt his heart stop for a beat.
"Send a telegram to the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa to immediately stop provocations against French Equatorial Africa, otherwise we will recognize it as an act of war -" Nivele was going crazy. The destroyer's dangerous behavior just now almost caused a misfire.
The secretary took the order and left, and after a while he came back with two telegrams.
One from Paris and one from the Kingdom of Congo.
The Kingdom of Congo's telegrams are increasingly worded in stronger terms. This time they are asking for fishing boats and crew members seized by French Equatorial Africa, and they are also demanding appropriate financial compensation.
Paris issued an explicit warning to Nivele, requiring him to immediately stop supporting the Mbandaka rebels and ensure that similar incidents would not happen again.
"The destroyers from Southern Africa have blatantly crossed the center line of the Congo River and entered our side. Now I am asked to restrain myself. How can I restrain myself? Is it true that I have been slapped on the left cheek by Southern Africa, and I still want to move my right cheek towards it?"
Le was furious in the office. He knew that Paris did not want conflict with southern Africa, but blind tolerance could not bring peace.
The deputies of the Estates-General in Paris should really go to the Congo River and see how southern Africa is pushing the envelope.
Buckley Henry remained unexpectedly silent. He finally had a deeper understanding of the operating style of southern Africa. Facing the southern African destroyers, French Equatorial Africa lacked sufficient countermeasures.
"We also need destroyers, more troops, and local support--" Buckley Henry had a heavy face. He was a standard Frenchman, with high vision and low hand, blind optimism, the ability to cause trouble, but no ability to calm down the situation.
.
"Can't you see? Paris will not give us a single soldier." Nivele roared, France only plundered French Equatorial Africa and never carried out large-scale construction like Matilda.
It is also understandable that France colonized Africa not to give Africans a better life, but to benefit France.
So we can understand why the gap between Brazzaville and Matilda is so big now.
"Then how should we resolve this situation?" Barkley Henry was completely at a loss.
Nivele sat on the chair angrily for a long time, and finally sighed: "Put the boat back and don't intensify the situation anymore——"
"If southern Africans demand reparations -" Buckley Henry doesn't think southern Africa will be satisfied with this outcome.
"Then compensate them, if their demands are not too excessive -" Nivele looked dejected. The situation was stronger than the others, so Nivele had to give in.
Two days later, the Southern African Union Sixth Infantry Division, which had completed its assembly in Matilda, left Matilda and advanced towards Mbandaka.
The railway between Matilda and Mbandaka has not yet been completed, so the troops can only march along the Congo River towards Mbandaka.
The Congo River has a total length of 4,640 kilometers and a drainage area of 3.7 million square kilometers. It is the second largest river in Africa, second only to the Nile River, but its water flow is 16 times greater than the Nile River.
The 6th Infantry Division is mainly composed of soldiers of Congolese origin, with a total of 18,000 soldiers. All officers and non-commissioned officers have participated in world wars and have rich experience and bravery in combat.
After the establishment of the Southern African Union, elite soldiers were drawn from the Congo and West Africa to form infantry divisions. The officers and non-commissioned officers were all professional soldiers from Southern Africa. All weapons for the troops were uniformly provided by the Southern African Union. In addition to the Lee Enfield equipment,
It has a large number of general-purpose machine guns and grenade launchers. The commander of the Sixth Division, Andy Allston, served as the deputy commander of the 203rd Division during the World War. He just turned 35 this year.
"We will advance along the Congo River to Irebu, establish a forward base after landing in Irebu, and wait for the reconnaissance results of the air force and reconnaissance forces. The Fifth Division will set off from Cabinda after us and is expected to arrive in Iraq a week later.
Lei Bu; At the same time in Bukavu, there is a southern African army that will cooperate with our actions to complete the outflank of Mbandaka." Xue Rui, chief of staff of the 6th Infantry Division, also participated in the world war and served as a senior officer in the expeditionary force staff department.
Staff officer, participated in planning a series of battles during the World War.
"Why can't we launch a direct attack on Mbandaka? We are fully capable of this. Along the Congo River, we can advance all the way to the heart of the rebels and give them a center to bloom -" Andy Allston is decisive in using troops.
, during the Second Battle of Ypres, Andy Allston led the troops to advance 90 kilometers day and night, cutting off the German army's retreat, and made a huge contribution to the victory of the battle.
"General, your Lord's purpose is to put down the rebellion without making heavy sacrifices - of course our Sixth Infantry Division has the strength to wipe out the rebels, but your Lord wants more troops to be trained." Xue Rui understood Luo Rui.
Rock, counterinsurgency is not the ultimate goal. Rock hopes that the rebels can play a greater role.
"Lee, how long do we have until we reach Ireb?" Andy Allston asked his adjutant loudly.
"Sir, in about 12 hours-" The adjutant is a young man who graduated from Nyasaland Army Academy. He is full of energy and vitality.
Andy Allston sat on a chair, staring at the map on the wall and saying nothing.
At this time, a burst of gunfire suddenly came from the shore.
Immediately, a patrol boat rushed over. The machine gunner on the patrol boat ripped off the machine gun cover, pointed at the dense forest on the shore, and began to fire wildly.
Andy Alston is used to this scene.
In order to block the advance of the troops, the rebels arranged many troops along the river to conduct harassing attacks in order to slow down the advance of the troops.
Andy Allston didn't care about these stragglers. As long as Mbandaka was captured, these small forces would be destroyed.
However, as they got closer to Ireb, the rebels' harassment became more and more intense, and their firepower became stronger and stronger. Yesterday, the rebels even used mortars.
Although the mortars did not cause much damage to the troops, they still put great pressure on Andy Allston. New recruits were afraid of cannons, while veterans were afraid of guns. Bullets are not very good on the battlefield.
"Send troops ashore to encircle and suppress us. We cannot be passively beaten." Andy Allston was upset. Although the rebel attack did not cause much substantial damage, it did have a huge blow to the morale of the officers and soldiers of the 6th Infantry Division.
"But sending troops to counterattack will definitely affect the forward speed of the troops. Look at the terrain around here, it is simply impeccable." Xue Rui was helpless. These harassing troops were as annoying as flies.
"Hey, send the reconnaissance brigade -" Andy Ouston was confident. To deal with a small group of troops, there was no need to engage in large-scale combat. The reconnaissance brigade was only one company in size, which was very suitable for such a small-scale operation.
The reconnaissance brigade in southern Africa is actually the predecessor of the special forces. Its functions and functions are almost the same as those of the special forces.
The officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance brigade are all composed of elite soldiers. This is the only army unit that has not disrupted its organization and retained its integrity after the establishment of the Southern African Coalition Forces.
The captain of the reconnaissance brigade of the 6th Infantry Division is Captain Liu Yi. In ordinary infantry companies, the company commander is usually a lieutenant, but the captain of the reconnaissance brigade is a captain. This is not a high ranking. In other units, there are even majors serving as reconnaissance brigade commanders.
Captain.
Captain Liu Yi just turned 32 this year. He graduated from Nyasaland Army Academy and also participated in the World War.
After receiving the mission, less than 150 kilometers away from Irebu, Captain Liu Yi led the reconnaissance group ashore. Their mission was to clear out the rebel forces along the Congo River. Andy Allston gave Captain Liu Yi enough
Authorized, the troops can take no prisoners and use all means to attack the rebels.