African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 306 Handover of Mayotte

On the Indian Ocean, a fleet headed south along the east coast of Africa. An eagle-headed flag of the German region fluttered in the sea breeze. This flag is the famous Prussian Black Eagle. Of course, it can be traced back to Frank Kingdom and Roman period.

  The Black Eagle flag later became very popular as Germany became stronger, and it almost became one of the representative symbols of the German Empire.

  But the Black Eagle flag is not unique to Prussia. For example, the flag of the Kingdom of Hexingen is also the flag of the Black Eagle, and this fleet flying the flag of the Kingdom of Hexingen is the East African Navy under the leadership of Archduke Ferdinand.

The East African navy hangs the East African flag for daily training and going out, but today is a special day, so the East African royal family turned out the flag of the Prince of Hechingen and hung it for the East African navy, mainly because they are afraid of a certain world Great powers break their defenses.

  On the deck, Archduke Ferdinand was talking with a young man. The young man was Captain Brommel of the Prussian Navy. This time he was entrusted by the Prussian government to go to East Africa to help East Africa receive the French Mayotte colony.

  Archduke Ferdinand: "Brommel, the unification of Germany in Prussia is now a foregone conclusion. I think your Prussian navy will definitely usher in a big development in the future. Your naval department probably plans to build several warships."

Brommel: "Your Majesty, don't make fun of me. Our navy department has never been taken seriously in the kingdom. Even if it is unified, I am afraid it will be suppressed by the army in the future. In comparison, I still envy your leadership. Although the hardware of the East African Navy is not very good, its status is much higher than ours."

So far, the Federal Navy (Prussian Navy) is still a subordinate of the Federal Army (Prussian Army) and has not been independent from the Army. The East African Navy has been on the same level as the East African Army since its establishment, although Ferdinand The East African navy led by the Grand Duke is not even a fraction of the army.

   Grand Duke Ferdinand of Versailles said: "It's just a name, this does not allow His Majesty the King to arrange more funds and ships for us."

   Brommel: "At least the starting point of the East African Navy is much higher than that of the Prussian Navy, and the future potential is also good."

  The Prussian Navy originated in 1815. After the victory of the Anti-French Alliance, Sweden ceded West Pomerania to Prussia. After that, Prussia received West Pomerania, and at the same time received the Pomeranian Navy left by Sweden. This is a naval force composed of militias. They have 6 unusable 65-ton single ships Among the two remaining naval officers, Prussia selected a lieutenant named Dietrich John Lange, making him the first naval officer in Prussia.

Archduke Ferdinand: "Hahaha, that's all in the past tense. The development of any major country cannot avoid the navy. A rookie like Prussia cannot avoid the problem of the navy. At least you have more potential than the Austro-Hungarian Empire." many."

   Brommel shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily the case! The Austro-Hungarian Empire has regained Venice, and the naval power will surely rise to a higher level."

Archduke Ferdinand: "Venice is important, but the Austro-Hungarian navy is still trapped in the Adriatic Sea. It is still unknown whether it can further expand in the Mediterranean Sea. After the reunification of Germany, it can still expand in the Atlantic Ocean." Work hard."

   Brommel nodded and said: "Prussia does have an advantage in this regard, but it is only compared with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The navies of the two countries are limited by the terrain. In contrast, East Africa has no shortcomings in this regard."

Archduke Ferdinand shook his head and said: "Although the coastline of East Africa has some advantages compared with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our naval power is limited by our national power. This is much worse than yours. The worst thing is to have a sea without defense. .”

   Brommel: "But no country will travel thousands of miles to the Indian Ocean to attack East Africa! There are no naval powers around the Indian Ocean, so your self-protection capabilities are still sufficient, especially as the East African navy slowly develops in the future."

  Ferdinand: "Although there are no powerful countries around, there are colonies of powerful countries, and even the Egyptian navy is much stronger than ours."

Having said that, Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief of the navy, is still very comfortable. Although Constantine and Ernst were drawing big cakes at the beginning, this cake is not vain. Just half a month ago Ernst It has been promised that after the Bagamoyo Shipyard is completed, the Venice Shipyard will give priority to building two new steam warships for the navy. It is not that the Bagamoyo Shipyard is not trusted, but the Venice Shipyard has an advantage in this regard.

Although the Bagamoyo Shipyard was built by copying the Venice Shipyard, it cannot replicate the complete industrial chain in the Venice area. The Venice Shipyard cannot get rid of its counterparts in Venice. It is even more impossible for the Bagamoyo Shipyard. Many Parts and core technologies need to be imported from Europe, so it is better to build East African naval warships in Venice, and the cost is also lower. As for the Bagamoyo shipyard, it has accumulated experience in the field of civilian ships first.

  …

   "Commander-in-Chief! The island of Mayotte is ahead, and we have arrived at our destination." The guard reported to Archduke Ferdinand.

   "Enter the port!" Ferdinand ordered.

  At this time, people in the French colony of Mayotte also saw the flag of the East African Navy Fleet.

   "It's the Prussian Navy."

  The Black Eagle flag played a role at this time. The French didn't know much about the Prince of Hexingen, so they believed that the fleet in front of them was the Prussian navy who came to hand over.

   Not long after, Archduke Ferdinand and Colonel Brommel landed on Mayotte Island. At this time, the French Mayotte government had been waiting for a long time.

They received an order from the Republican government two months ago. Mayotte was ceded to Prussia because of France's defeat. Although they were reluctant, there was no way. Mayotte was of little value to France. When they arrived in Mayotte, most of the officials of the Republican government had never heard of the name of the colony. Finally, after figuring out that it was only a small island near Madagascar, the French government simply and neatly took ownership of the island. ceded to Prussia.

  The main reason is that Mayotte is too remote, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal, the value is basically equal to zero, and there is Madagascar next to it, so it doesn’t matter if Prussia takes it away.

   "I am the person in charge of Mayotte, Artil."

   "Prussian Navy Captain, Brommel." Brommel stepped forward and said.

Artil: "Colonel Brommel, all Mayotte officials are here. According to the request of the French central government, we will transfer Mayotte to your country, but according to the agreement between the two countries, your country must guarantee our The safety of our personnel, while ensuring the safety of our property, must not prevent our personnel from transferring personnel and assets during the evacuation period."

   Brommel: "Of course!"

After a simple handover ceremony, Mayotte Island completely fell into the hands of the Navy of the Kingdom of East Africa. Ferdinand found that the French evacuated very cleanly. Except for the houses that were too late to destroy, there was nothing left for East Africa. , including the blacks on the island were taken away by the French.

  In order to develop Mayotte, France deliberately introduced a large number of blacks from Réunion. Therefore, the blacks on Mayotte are an important labor force and asset for the French, and the French do not want to cheapen the Prussians. But this is also good, saving East Africa a lot of trouble.

This handover ceremony was held between France and Prussia, so Colonel Brommel traveled across the ocean to come here to make a formality, and then according to the agreement between the Prussian royal family and the Hechingen royal family, the ownership of the island fell into the East African hands.

  The significance of Colonel Brommel's existence is to let the French know that the island was taken by Prussia. As for the subsequent treatment of Mayotte, it is Prussia's own business. Even if it is bombed, it has nothing to do with France itself.

  The fact that the Kingdom of East Africa didn’t take over in person was out of consideration for France’s face. After all, France could still consider themselves unlucky if they lost to Prussia, because their strength was inferior to others! But the nature of East Africa taking Mayotte directly is different. You, a "colony", dare to humiliate France.

   Mayotte is a spoil of war, so it cannot be handed over directly to East Africa, but to go through the motions in the hands of Prussia.

  (end of this chapter)