Ethiopia (Part 1): Italy learns from Japan's invasion of China, how can Africa's "Little China" fight back?

In the distant East African plateau, there is a country that is called Little China because it learned the Chinese model. The country is Ethiopia. Due to the imitation in place, under the guidance of the Chinese model, China's economy has improved significantly. However, looking back at the history of Ethiopia, we can find that this small African China, at a certain period in history, had a strikingly similar experience with China, and that experience was the Second Italian-Egyptian War.

Speaking of this war, we have to mention the past of Ethiopia and Italy. Ethiopia, located in northeastern Africa, is an ancient serfdom country with an area of about 1 million square kilometers. Unfortunately, Britain, France and Italy have a tiger's eye on the country, but the three leaders seem to be unable to agree, and neither wants Ethiopia to become a separate colony of a certain country. So Ethiopia has always maintained nominal independence, and the three countries have tacitly maintained a certain tacit understanding, and no one will blatantly drool about Ethiopia. It has to be said that Italy has the strongest endurance, because as early as 1885 and 1895, Italy launched two consecutive wars of aggression. In both invasions, the rebels were defeated by the Egyptian army, especially in the famous Battle of Adua on March 1, 1896, when the rebels were defeated. Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia ruled himself.

The 100,000-strong army annihilated 17,000 Japanese troops and captured all antibacterial guns and a large amount of weapons and equipment. After the war, Italy reluctantly signed a contract to recognize Ethiopia's independence and sovereignty and promised to pay 10 million lira in reparations. For this, Italian imperialism has always held a grudge in its heart, secretly vowing to take revenge on snow hate. On October 20, 1922, the Italian Fascist Party seized state power, and Mussolini became the face of Italy. As soon as he came to power, he could not wait to propose the conquest of Ethiopia twice, but was blocked by other high-ranking officials for various reasons. Mussolini's resolve, however, did not waver in the slightest. Day and night he dreamed of seeing his old rival Ethiopia again on the battlefield. Why is Mussolini so persistent? Because it not only wants revenge, but also has other plots, trying to dominate the dreams of the fascist rulers of the Mediterranean, and the annexation of Ethiopia is Mussolini's first step towards his dream blueprint.

I have been waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to convince myself and others to send troops to Ethiopia. After the Events of September 18, 1931, Mussolini seemed to see hope. Although Britain, France and other Western powers were very dissatisfied with Japan's aggressive behavior, when they looked in the mirror, they found that they were no different from Japan, so they chose to turn a blind eye. Mussolini took all this in his eyes, thinking that he could completely replicate Japan's success and take the opportunity of Japan's invasion of China to annex Ethiopia. In order to start the war, Mussolini had one more problem to solve. He had to get the consent of his old friends, England and France. As he racked his brains to persuade Britain and France not to interfere with his invasion of Ethiopia, the rise of German fascism helped him solve the problem. In order to resist Germany, France was eager to win italy over, so after hearing about Italy's invasion plan, it pretended not to hear it. The UK has the same considerations, so the UK government has adopted a tolerant attitude.

In 1932, Mussolini went all out to prepare for the war. The most important thing in war is people and supplies. Mussolini's first order was to ask the General Staff to send 400,000 troops, 100,000 mules and horses, 20,000 cars and 100,000 workers to Ethiopia's neighbors before the war broke out. In this way, AtSomalia and Eritrea became The Arms Base of Italy. Mussolini, because he had been beaten by Ethiopia, did not dare to take the enemy lightly, so in 1934 he stipulated that children over the age of six and the elderly who could operate weapons must participate in military training. Everything is ready. Mussolini thought it was time to go to war, but hitting someone for no reason was bound to attract public condemnation. So, in order to cloak the invading Ethiopia in the guise of justice, Mussolini ordered the forces stationed in Somalia to deliberately create trouble. On December 5, 1934, the Japanese army marched to Varwar, Ethiopia.

Patriotic Guard forces in charge of protection launched a surprise attack, killing 107 patriotic residents, wounding 45 others, and conveniently occupying Varvar. Italy later took a bite back, saying the incident was entirely provoked by the Egyptian army and was motivated only in self-defense. It also demanded an apology from the patriotic government and recognition of the legitimacy of the Italian occupation of Varvar. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was furious at Italy's outrageous demands to the point of vomiting blood. He categorically rejected Italy's unreasonable demands and lodged a complaint with the League of Nations, which adopted an attitude of indulgence. At this point, war is inevitable, so how will Ethiopia, known as Little China, resist the counterattack?

At 5:00 a.m. on October 3, 1935, the bacteriostatic bacteriostatics, without declaring war, crossed the Alai Discord and occupied Aldoui in just three days. Two days later, Italian troops captured the patriotic city of Axum. The rebels made great strides forward, mainly because the gap in strength between the two sides was too large. Italy carried out pay increase attacks mainly from the north-south hinterland. Italy invested 126 aircraft, 112 tanks, 3,700 vehicles, 580 new guns, 4,200 machine guns and 35,000 mules, horses and camels on the northern front alone. Ethiopia's weapons, by contrast, are simply out of control. There are only 200,000 vintage rifles, 4,000 machine guns of different brands, and hundreds of real guns produced in the 19th century. In actual combat, most people use simple spears and large knives. Ethiopia is also slightly less powerful. Although the forbidden and feudal lords had 350,000 troops, only 10,000 were better trained.

Italy mobilized a total of 500,000 troops, and the three stations were basically regular troops. The disparity in strength is so great that the results seem obvious. But the Ethiopian people are not so easy to bully him. Seeing that the area was occupied by the Italians, 100,000 reinforcements of the Egyptian army immediately rushed to the front line to fight the Iraqi army to the death. China's counteroffensive in small Africa officially began. The First World War saved you some face. The rebels killed and wounded thousands, and even commander Debono was too frightened to enter the palace easily. Seeing this, the Ethiopian people gathered their strength and vowed to defeat the Italian army. People lived frugally, sending food and water to officers and men at the front. So there was a scene where wherever the Italian army went, people hid grain and filled wells. Where the Italian army had seen such a battle, the combat effectiveness was greatly weakened in an instant. But Mussolini was reluctant. He repeatedly urged the army to seize the Ethiopian capital, so the rebels had to surrender bitterly.

After five days of fierce submarine warfare, the Italian army suffered heavy casualties. Although barely capturing Makan and its surrounding areas, World War I also greatly weakened the rebels' armament and strength. The commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army, Haile Selassie I, seized the opportunity and immediately launched a counter-offensive, recovering some of the lost ground. The Italian army had to flee back to the trenches where the battle had begun. When the Italian people learned of the defeat of the rebels, they almost all thought that the defeat was almost irreversible. At first, even Italy's supporters, Britain and France, thought Italy could not win the war. But how could Mussolini just do that? He came up with a trick, such as throwing poison gas bombs at lakes and fields in war zones. With the help of poison gas, the war entered a turning point. With the cooperation of the air force and tanks, the Italian army was unimpeded, and 270,000 patriotic soldiers and civilians were killed by the Japanese army. To avoid more innocent casualties, the Egyptian army had to retreat, and the Italian army pursued it.

Penetrate the Egyptian defensive line for 400 kilometers. On 31 March 1936, Hale Selassie I personally led an attack on the rebels, but was unable to withstand repeated bombardments by hundreds of aircraft. On 7 April, the Japanese captured Ethiopia, the stronghold of the German army. The Japanese then continued their march to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Seeing that the city was about to fall, Hel Selassie I boarded a British warship with the queen and a small number of retinues and went into exile in London. Ethiopia became a colony in East Africa. However, the Ethiopian people still did not give up fighting, and the war of resistance entered a stage of guerrilla warfare. In 1939, there were 401,000 guerrillas in China. On January 20, 1941, Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia with a 2,000-strong death squad. Three months later, the capital, Addis Ababa, returned to Ethiopia. In November of this year, alas, all the Italian troops were transferred.

They were all kicked out. In the end, Ethiopia raised its eyebrows and became the only country in modern African history to repel Western colonizers twice. In the next issue, after the outbreak of the Korean War, Haile Selassie I was very optimistic that the United Nations army led by the United States would go to East Asia to confront the Chinese volunteers in Shangganling. But the country, once an enemy of China, has now written its development model into textbooks. Why is there such a change in Ethiopia?