Christmas Offensive

Eastern Defense Line.

The Eastern Defense Line encompassed East Africa's Matabele Province and those parts of Hechingen Province bordering Mozambique.

However, as the Eastern Military Region acted in northern East Africa, steadily squeezing the operating space of the British Army and Portuguese Army in Mozambique, the loss of northern territory caused the Eastern Defense Line to grow shorter and shorter.

The forces of the East African Western Military Region also became increasingly concentrated in Hechingen Province. After the fall of Angola, the Western Military Region's forces in the Angola Region and the main forces of the Nile Military Region successively moved to support the Eastern Defense Line.

At present, the Eastern Defense Line's total strength had reached more than 130,000 men, while the line itself had shrunk by nearly a third compared with before the war. East Africa had begun to gain a troop-strength advantage over the British-Portuguese coalition on the Eastern Defense Line.

Of course, this troop advantage did not mean an absolute advantage in numbers, but one in quality. The East African National Defense Army's combat strength was naturally beyond comparison with weaklings like the Portuguese, so when East Africa assessed coalition forces, it was more inclined to use the British Army as its benchmark. The Portuguese, blacks, and Indians were all mere freebies thrown in.

It was not that East Africa looked down on the Portuguese. The main issue was that Portuguese combat effectiveness varied enormously, though overall they still ranked among the poorer forces and were only suited to fighting battles with the wind at their backs.

Yet compared with the Portuguese, Indian soldiers dragged down their allies even when fighting battles with the wind at their backs. They were practically a replica of WWII Italy.

Moreover, much like Italy, Indians were also the coalition's foodies.