Rhodesian invasion of Mozambique

Could Rhodesia and South Africa with RENAMO launch an invasion of Mozambique in 1977 . Occupying the area between the Zambezi and Save rivers and turning the Territory over to RENAMO

Would RENAMO be able to hold the area on their own or would they need south African and Rhodesian Forces

would a RENAMO controlled port Beira and a shorter border to defead lead to a longer lived Rhodesia

484110b2f3288daae502ff0de4007856.gif
 
I really don't think Rhodesia had anything like the military power required to do something like this - by '77 they were spread really thin, after all. This is just a year away from the Internal Settlement, remember.
 
I really don't think Rhodesia had anything like the military power required to do something like this - by '77 they were spread really thin, after all. This is just a year away from the Internal Settlement, remember.
Wouldn't South Africa and especially RENAMO be able to provide forces
 
Not a chance unless South Africa helps, they did have access to high end weapons, but numbers and naval access for supplies from the Combloc countries would bite the Rhodesians in the Ass, then there is Angola and the uprising in Namibia as well. Rhodesia was surrounded on half of its territory by powers that hated it and its only ally, South Africa.
 
I think the OP is plausible if the US helps out or at least turns a blind eye while someone else does (UK? France? Israel?). Otherwise it’s a bust.
And if SA/Rhodesia can get that level of outside support, why do they need to embark on such a venture rather than just prosecuting the bush war with greater resources?
 
I think the OP is plausible if the US helps out or at least turns a blind eye while someone else does (UK? France? Israel?).
South Africa was able to launch operation Savannah without large amounts of Western help and if RENAMO is in control of Beira, US can ship supplies to RENAMO

why do they need to embark on such a venture rather than just prosecuting the bush war with greater resources?
Rhodesia is dependent on port Beira and it would give Rhodesia a shorter border to defend.
 
Last edited:
Eh. Operation savanna was quite a strain for SA, and I think the terrain in Mozambique is a bit more difficult than in Angola. More importantly I believe the Angolan operation was a short-term in and out, in the context of a proxy war within fairly well understand limits. An operation like that proposed seems like it would be perceived as a major escalation by everyone. The West and non-aligned powers wouldn’t react well to perceived SA new-colonialism, the soviets and Chinese would see it as an attempt to tip the balance against them in the whole continent. Embargoes and counter-interventions all over the place.

More practically - if the US wants to get supplies to RENAMO, they just give it SA in unmarked boxes who get it RENAMO. No muss, no fuss, completely deniable. If Rhodesia wants to reduce its endence on Beira, upgrade the links to SA and ship out of there. Defending a shorter border, all well and good but most likely it will come at the cost of helping RENAMO defend not just their borders but their territory too, as well as holding back more pressure from Zambia and the rest of Mozambique once the USSR & Chinese and North Koreans and Cubans really open the taps in response.
 
Eh. Operation savanna was quite a strain for SA, and I think the terrain in Mozambique is a bit more difficult than in Angola.
The area is mostly grassland and smaller then what South Africa and UNITA took during Operation Savanna
y5744e0r.jpg

An operation like that proposed seems like it would be perceived as a major escalation by everyone.
Isn't this similar to operation Savanna a short operation with a largely black force backed up with South African and Rhodesian forces

it will come at the cost of helping RENAMO defend not just their borders but their territory too, as well as holding back more pressure from Zambia
Wouldn't the Zambezi and Save rivers work as good defensive lines and you could leave behind black Rhodesian forces disguised as RENAMO to help
 
The area is mostly grassland and smaller then what South Africa and UNITA took during Operation Savanna
I really don't know. Certainly the photos from Savanna seem to show a semi-desert, and the satellite imagery of the area you describe looks more heavily vegetated than southern Angola.
Isn't this similar to operation Savanna a short operation with a largely black force backed up with South African and Rhodesian forces
Wouldn't the Zambezi and Save rivers work as good defensive lines and you could leave behind black Rhodesian forces disguised as RENAMO to help
Now I'm confused as to what you are proposing. Is it a short operation, or a permanent occupation force of Rhodesian soldiers who you will be diverting from the bush war? It logically cannot be both. And the colour of the soldiers is irrelevant, since they will still need supply and support, and if they are in Mozambique they are not in Rhodesia.

Then there is the minor issue of Operation Savanna itself, which grew out of control militarily once the Cubans went all-in and therefore turned into a diplomatic disaster that forced the south Africans to give up on it
 
Wouldn't South Africa and especially RENAMO be able to provide forces
South Africa, sure, but the problem is it requires someone stupider than Vorster or Botha to be in charge. This was the era when Pretoria was trying for peaceful noninterference with the frontline states. They would never support such a counterproductive move from Salisbury. Smith and/or Van der Byl would meet with suspicious car accidents...
 
Wouldn't South Africa and especially RENAMO be able to provide forces

No. South Africa was putting enormous pressure on the Rhodesians as it was to transition to a black majority moderate government. They wouldn't even give them the support they needed to hold on at home, never mind joining some cockamamie scheme to invade Mozambique.

If the Rhodesians tried it the guerrillas would fold them up. They were losing at home as it was, and this would do nothing but draw off huge numbers of troops, put them in a full-scale war with FRELIMO, and force them to garrison extremely hostile territory. If they did this in 1977, they would be Zimbabwe by 1978.
 
They would be less conspicuous than white soldiers
Lol what? Europeans are all the same colour, doesn’t stop them being able to figure out who is on the wrong side of the border. But as has already been pointed out, the core problem is that every Zimbabwean stationed in Mozambique is one less fighting the insurgents back in Zimbabwe, which has more borders to worry about than just Mozambique.

RENAMO got 33.74% of vote in Mozambican elections of 1994 and they were based around that area
again, lol. A lot happens in 17 years, especially in Africa.
 
Lol what? Europeans are all the same colour, doesn’t stop them being able to figure out who is on the wrong side of the border.
I was talking about in terms of foreign media rather than locals

again, lol. A lot happens in 17 years, especially in Africa.
I couldn't find anything about who support what during the war itself but the election was 2 years after the war ended
 
Top