Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

By this time, the military strength of 20,000 was almost the same, reaching a balance.

Italy has basically occupied the northern and eastern territories of Ethiopia. If Italy stops at this time, Ethiopia will not dare to fight back.

However, Italy's native Emmanuel II and Prime Minister Luigi were too eager to win.

On April 8, 1863, when Italy occupied eastern Ethiopia and felt that the overall situation was decided, Emmanuel II announced in Milan that Italy had achieved a phased victory and announced that it would continue to increase its troops by 50,000. On April 30 I recently set foot in Ethiopia.

And strive to complete the invasion mission throughout Ethiopia in the first half of the year.

With the success of Italy's two sneak attacks in the south, Italy seemed to be beginning to take the initiative in the war.

At this time, among the Ethiopian army, only 20,000 local troops commanded by Duke Kasa and Duke Seum were left, stationed in Fiche, north of Addis Abele, to prevent the western front from attacking Addis Abele. .

As Dutch weapons slowly entered the country from the Kenyan border in the south, they then reached the most important city in the south, Hawassa, and went straight to the Nazret front line in the north.

With their troops and weapons and equipment at a disadvantage, the Ethiopian military and civilians relied on their bravery to resist the invaders.

Although there were heavy casualties, it also made life difficult for Italy. More than 200,000 corpses were buried in Ethiopia.

As Dutch weapons are completed step by step, the Ethiopian military begins to fight back

Especially the route close to the transportation channel with the Netherlands. In order to prevent this life artery from being disturbed, Ethiopia began to counterattack Asela.

This time Ethiopia invested 50,000 people.

Ethiopia sent a camel cavalry column from Jimma in the south to the east to support Hawassa.

Passing through the vast desert area, it showed that the eastward march from Hawassa quickly defeated the 10,000 Italian troops including the wounded Italian troops who stayed there.

Only by pushing to the north of Asella, the battle of Asella that changed the situation was fought on April 13. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and more than 20,000 Italians died in the battle.

Mainly died under intensive bullet fire from the Ethiopian army.

The Ethiopian army also suffered more than 10,000 deaths, mainly due to the speed attacks brought by camels.

This battle reversed the situation between the Ethiopian army and the Italian army, creating a situation that was completely favorable to the Ethiopian army.

Defense turned into offense. His Majesty Tewodros II of Ethiopia was so bold and careful. He chose to maintain a stalemate with the Eastern Front and at the same time sent many teams to the Western Front to counterattack.

The Second Crown Prince Menelik personally led a team of 40,000 people, including a 10,000-person Camel Army rapid reaction force, which advanced towards the Ethiopian plateau, followed by 30,000 infantry troops.

Crown Prince Menelik had a reputation as a wise man, so the army was able to recruit people on the roadside as it walked. When it arrived at Efesson, south of Desai, the force increased by 10,000 people, reaching 5 Thousands of people.

At this time, Desai's garrison numbered 25,000.

Since Ethiopian cities are not built with tall and solid buildings like those in Europe, the cities are not large. Many of them even use low-rise buildings as residences. And they are called big cities. In fact, in Europe, the scale is only It's almost like a small town with a few thousand people.

Therefore, in terms of defending the city, the Italians actually do not have a great advantage.

Especially the opponent, the Ethiopian Army, who is very familiar with this place.

Therefore, the Battle of Desai began again. The defense and offense, and the stalemate on the eastern front, destined the importance of the western front to increase invisibly. Moreover, at this time, the military strength of both sides was already tight. This battle is very likely to It will have the greatest impact on the overall war situation in Ethiopia and Italy.

Because if Desai is recaptured by Ethiopia, then Ethiopia will directly recapture the western border if Italy currently has no reinforcements.

The Eastern Front will also be isolated and helpless.

Fighting alone has always been a taboo for military strategists.

Therefore, if Italy failed in the Battle of Desaix, it is very likely that the Ethiopian army would descend from the southeast and cut off the retreat route of the Italian army on the eastern front. This would very likely result in the complete annihilation of the Italian army.

It was precisely in this situation that the news that Italy would increase its troops by 50,000 troops came, which made Alfonso Ferrero Lamarmola, the Italian deputy minister of the army, who was stationed in Desai, even more supportive.

However, in the face of absolute strength, the word "strong support" is just a word that is destined to fail, and it is only a matter of time.

When 50,000 troops supported by Italy landed in Eritrea on April 29, and were preparing to rest for a day before heading south to enter the war on the Western Front, on this day, a piece of news reached Asmara.

Ethiopian Crown Prince Menelik led 50,000 Ethiopian troops to defeat the Italian garrison in Desai in just two days, and shot and killed Italian Army Vice Minister Alfonso Ferrero Lamar who was too late to retreat. Mora, this is shocking news to the entire Italian army in East Africa.

Since the war began, although not a few high-level officials in Ethiopia have died in the war, including several local dukes.

But Italy generally has majors and the like, just middle-level generals in the army.

But this time, Italy's top general was killed in Ethiopia. This was definitely a huge loss for Italy.

Because the Vice Minister of Army who lost his life was once the Prime Minister of Italy.

"My father was about to support him again to run for the Italian Prime Minister in 1864, making him the candidate to be elected Prime Minister for the second time. Therefore, this Ethiopian battle was the capital for him to build a military industry and win votes. But now he died in the battle. In Ethiopia.

Alas, Italy really suffered too much this time.”

Crown Prince Umberto became the leader of Italy's 50,000 support army this time, but he will not enter the battlefield, only in Asmara, Eritrea.

Originally, Emmanuel II planned to ask him to run around, and after the gold plating was successful, he could establish greater prestige in the country. But as soon as he stepped into Ethiopia, bad news came, which put him in an embarrassing situation.

In the end, he led 50,000 people to leave Eritrea and settled in Mekelle, the northernmost city in Ethiopia, and chose to stand still.

Naturally, there is a purpose for doing this. It would be safest to stay in Eritrea. However, if this was spread back to the country, it would be criticized by the Italian people, which would have a huge impact on his future succession to the Italian throne.

If he immediately went south to start a war, he believed that he did not have the ability of Alfonso Ferrero Lamarmora, the Vice Minister of Army, both in terms of experience and actual combat ability.

Therefore, he gave up the idea of ​​direct contact with Ethiopia.

Among the two, he finally chose to enter Mekele. First, he could prove that he had entered Ethiopia and became a soldier who had invaded Ethiopia, winning the support of the military.

At the same time, Mekele has a unique location. As long as you go north, you can reach Eritrea. If you cannot defeat it, you can still return to Asmara. Feel free to take a boat and run back to Italy.

It is safe and able to achieve the purpose of coming here, so Mekele is the best choice.

However, the consequence was that the Western Front was almost completely recovered by the Ethiopian Crown Prince Menelik, except Mekele in the north.

Moreover, the Ethiopian crown prince was lucky enough to survive. He actually stationed 30,000 troops in Mayijou, a small town on a traffic artery dozens of kilometers away from Mekele.

In addition to the north-south route, you can also go east to enter the Jipti Port.

As a result, the Western Front formed a situation where the 30,000 Egyptian troops of Ethiopian Crown Prince Menelik faced off against the 50,000 Italian troops of Italian Crown Prince Umberto, while the remaining 20,000 Egyptian troops attacked from all over Desai and reached the east. Milei, reached the western part of Jipti.

Together with the north, they formed a force to encircle Jipti.

This Italian eastern naval port immediately fell into danger.

This made the troops on the Eastern Front outside Nazret City uneasy.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Army Chief of Staff, was even more frightened.

"Chief of Staff, we can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer, after they take over Jipti, we will have no way out."

"Yes, Crown Prince Umberto lacks military experience and will never be a match for Menelik. Now he has put pressure on the opponent in Mekele and has done his best to prevent Menelik from attacking Gypti. After all, Gypti also has a garrison of 10,000 troops, and Menelik is afraid that Crown Prince Umberto will attack from behind, but over time, they will see Crown Prince Umberto’s true nature, and Gypti will be in danger.”

Just when Giuseppe Garibaldi hesitated, other generals in the army began to remind him.

Helplessly, he still had a general attack order in his hand from Prime Minister Luigi and Emmanuel II, ordering him to launch a general attack order, but this order was before Alfonso Ferrero Lamarmora died. issued, now that the other party is dead and the situation has changed, does he still need to carry out this order?

Although he resisted orders twice before, the natural execution ability of a soldier still made him feel pressured.

He gritted his teeth and said: "This is the last time we can launch an attack. If the attack fails, everyone will retreat. As for where to retreat?"

Giuseppe Garibaldi looked around at the locations on the map and said, "Just retreat to Diquile."

"Yes, Chief of Staff."

On May 10, 1863, after the Battle of Hawassa and the Battle of Desai, the Italian army on the eastern front was in a weak situation, and the western front was obviously defeated by the Ethiopian Crown Prince Menelik. Finally, in Ombe, Italy, After the reinforcements from the Crown Prince arrived, the Egyptian army stopped.

The news spread back to Europe, and countries were shocked for a while.

The awareness of Ethiopia's combat power has reached a new height.

Chapter one, there is another chapter in the evening.