As the East African Central Government issued its orders, East African border forces began to stir as well. The first shot was fired on the Zambezi River basin battlefield.
Inside the Songo stronghold, Merke addressed a group of East African Army generals. "The Portuguese arrived yesterday. They have camped a kilometer outside the Songo stronghold. It looks like they intend to fight us in the open."
But Merke had guessed wrong. The balance between attack and defense had now shifted, and the Portuguese—especially the French commander Clement—were not particularly willing to continue taking the initiative.
When the Songo stronghold received a large number of reinforcements, Clement knew that the chance of taking it had become slim. And if they could not capture the Songo stronghold, they would be unable to smoothly occupy the southern bank of the Zambezi River according to plan.
But Clement could not simply withdraw his troops or pull them back to Tete. If East Africa took the opportunity to pursue them, they would be finished.
So Clement told the Portuguese generals, "We cannot move backward. To be honest, every city in Mozambique is extremely important. Take Tete, for example. It is the only Portuguese settler town within two hundred kilometers. If we cling to Tete to save our own skins, that would naturally be pleasant, but it would mean losing most of the territory to the west."
"Then what do we do now?" someone asked.
Clement said, "We must use the narrow passage through the western plateau to block the East Africans at the plateau's western end. That will also prevent them from slipping beyond our sight and launching a surprise attack on Portugal's rear."
The Portuguese had no choice but to make this decision. Earlier, the advance force led by Rhodes and Kri had failed