April 11, 1887 – the Re-Invasion of East Africa!
After the Europeans had been driven out of East Africa by the Mahdi (with other worldly support of the Martian Cephalopods) – plans were made to regain a foothold.
The DEF (Deutsch Expeditionary Force) with some help from the unemployed French Foreign Legion have decided to land near the port town of Tanga in the former German East Africa.
It was hoped that the DEF could achieve strategic surprise, but it is evident from what transpired that the force had been under observation, probably by a Cephalopod Scout Flyer. The DEF had barely got ashore when the Madhi's Field Force approached the beaches…
Left Wing – General Sams – C-in-C
Center – General Graves – German Heavy Sea Bee Brigade Commander
Right Wing – General Stelzer – French Foreign Legion Commander
The German SeeBattalions landed at the head of the Bay with the French on their right, but behind as their forces landed further up the beach. On the left our CinC command was more supporting of our flank.
Unloading in the heavy surf proved difficult with the French being driven too far up coast by the tide and surf and much of our ammunition getting a bath of salt water that did not improve the effectiveness of our gunners. Fortunately, the Dynamite Gun Tractor was able to find hard-pan on the beach and landed without trouble.
Our flyer crew radioed by the Marconi Device that a large force of Ansar were approaching in great haste, with the intent of catching us on the beach and throwing us back into the sea.
1st SeeBattalion was surprised at how quickly the Ansar approached, even crossing broken ground at speed. They found themselves in close combat after a single ineffective volley of fire and without support from the gatling, artillery or Dynamite Gun Tractor that were still unloading and organizing.
2nd SeeBattalion was having trouble advancing through the village as they kept getting pinned by snipers.
The infantry of the CinC command moved up to support our left flank, as more and more Foreign Fighter (Pathans) poured out of the scrub brush surrounding the village fields.
A clanking and wheezing sound signaled the arrival on the field of a strange mechanical monster lumbering up the road toward the village. The crew of the flyer was ordered to engage it and they reported little success penetrating its thick hide, but like some great beast it paused on the road to swat away the annoyance. The Ansar War Machine found it could not bring effective fire against the flying machine and eventually continued its slow progress up the road.
1st Battalion was all the while in a desperate struggle to not be thrown back into the sea by the endless hordes of battle-hardened Ansar that came against them. However, slowly and relentlessly they were driven back. Worse, they kept looking to the right for support from either the 2nd SeeBattalion (or hopefully) the French, but none appeared. Even worse the CinC's command on their left was taking a beating from masses of Ansar that outnumbered them three to one and also were very effective charging and engaging us in hand to hand combat.
The C-in-C's battalions grew steadily thinner and shorter as they desperately tried to stand against the onslaught, but the result was inevitable as one by one the infantry and artillery was destroyed or driven into the sea. The East Asia battalions were populated with German volunteers with more enthusiasm than discipline, and they were quickly hammered apart by veteran Ansar riflemen and Beja fanatics. The Askaris held out valiantly, but were surrounded and destroyed.
1st SeeBattalion fought gallantly to virtually the last man, literally fighting in the surf before being overwhelmed. A few survivors swam out to the support ships from the bloody surf, but most of the battalion was lost on the shore or to drowning.
If There were any bright spots, we learned the Foreign Legion had successfully driven off the Beja on our right flank and the Dynamite Gun had been remarkably successful, destroying or driving away three Ansar units and even damaging the hulking War Machine that had defeated the 2nd SeeBattalion.
The CinC made the decision to pull out under the cover of the French Foreign Legion, we were able to save the Dynamite Gun, but most of the other artillery had to be abandoned. It was a serious setback in our efforts to reclaim East Africa from the Mahdists.
….NEWSFLASH…. Dateline Aden…Mahdi forces defeat Germanic Empire…Islamic
forces march on to Red Sea. Kaiser sees opportunity and sends forces
to seize more empire. Kaiser forces with SOME support from French
Foreign Legion land and are immediately meet by tribal forces.
Kaiser forces take Tanga town and with air cover
are able to repeatedly clear the date palms orchard on the edge of
town. The Sheikhs forces push again and force a German unit back into
the sea. Then the German left flank collapses as ammunition problems
The Brass Djann – needs work!
develop for all of the Kaisers big guns. At the end of the day the
Germans left was swarmed, but they 'held' the town. The Sheikh forces
lost their left flank and center the Islamic right rolled up the beach
to the edge of town. Islamic victory. ……
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