The Passive British Army

Maputo.

Count Roberts stood in the command post, staring despondently at the military map. The course of the war was now increasingly turning against the Allied forces.

"The situation is very unfavorable for us. Just last month, Angola was completely defeated by East Africa. Portugal's military capability in Angola has been utterly destroyed. In other words, only we remain to fight East Africa now," Count Roberts said weakly.

"Your Excellency, the war strength East Africa has displayed is astonishing. We have now been surrounded by East Africa. The only way to break this deadlock lies at sea. Only by reopening the Indian Ocean route can we turn defeat into victory!"

His subordinate's consoling words could not rouse Count Roberts again. He said, "Even if we regained control of the seas, it would not change the course of the war. The East Africans have compressed our area of activity into less than 150,000 square kilometers. Moreover, the defeats of the Boers and Angola mean that two strategic fulcrums have been destroyed, while Mozambique is the hardest among us to support."

If the main battlefield had originally been chosen in Angola, Britain might still have been able to effectively reinforce Count Roberts's forces, because the East African Navy's presence in Angolan waters, and indeed throughout the Atlantic Ocean, was practically nonexistent.

However, Count Roberts's main idea at the time had been to attack East Africa's central and eastern regions, the two core areas of East Africa. Therefore, Mozambique, situated deep in East Africa's very heart, had appeared to offer superior conditions.

But that required one premise: that the Allied forces maintained the advantage. Yet the so-called Allied forces now existed in name only, with Britain alone still struggling to hold on.

"Furthermore, no amount of additional support has much meaning for the