African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 765: The history of the South African War changed beyond recognition

 Due to delays in the western battlefield, Sweet had to temporarily change the plan, and soon the General Staff's plan was reported to Ernst.

After reading it patiently, Ernst said: "Is the southern battlefield as a whole over now?"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Crown Prince, the main forces of the Boers and British troops have withdrawn to the south bank of the Orange River. Boer cities and important villages including Bloemfontein, Kimberley and others are basically under the control of our army." Sweet replied.

However, this did not completely convince Ernst, because the Boers performed very well in South Africa in the previous life, so the de facto supreme ruler of East Africa always had a filter towards the Boers.

Ernst said cautiously: "The plan can be implemented, but there are some details that need to be changed, especially the attack on the Boer guerrillas cannot be interrupted. After the Southern Military District deploys troops to move eastward, the rear will definitely be empty, and several southern provinces have always been There is a lack of population, so the Ministry of Armed Forces also organized militiamen from the central and eastern parts of the country to support the southern military region, cut and exterminate the remaining Boer forces, and the most important thing is to solve the problem of the soil for the guerrillas to survive."

Ernst was not attentive to the development of the province of Hechingen, or he did so deliberately. After all, the province of Hechingen was too close to the British. If the gold and other minerals in the province of Hechingen were exposed to the eyes of the British, I am afraid that Britain has already let its arms go in this South African War.

 Not only the United Kingdom, but also the Portuguese's combat capabilities can be improved to a higher level. The pursuit of gold in the 19th century was extremely fanatical, just like oil in the 20th century, it had important strategic significance.

In the previous life, the British attacked the Boers for the sake of gold. Naturally, they had sufficient interests to consider. Without the support of the South African gold mines, the British would not go all out to deal with the small Boers.

 In this life, not to mention the British, even East Africans except Ernst do not know that the world's largest gold mining area is buried on both sides of the Fal River.

This has also dampened Britain's current enthusiasm for the war in South Africa. At present, although there are more than 300,000 British troops in South Africa, more than 200,000 of them are Indians. The intensity faced by the Boers in East Africa is completely different from that faced by the Boers in previous generations. .

 But the problem lies here. East Africa does not lack talents with broad vision, and it also has rulers like Ernst who have received "nine years of compulsory education" and "useless" knowledge dividends in the era of the Internet explosion.

This is also the biggest headache for the British. If East Africa is the kind of "country bumpkin" who does not pay attention to coastal defense and has limited vision, it will be easy to handle.

Therefore, when East Africa had no money, it was keen on offshore defense, and when it had money, it actively expanded its navy. Therefore, even if the British could spare no effort to kill the East African navy, they would not be able to enter and exit the Far East Empire's offshore waters as unscrupulously as they did in the Far East Empire, or even It is an inland river.

The one who really dared to blatantly challenge British hegemony was "William II". However, William II's challenge to British hegemony was more like a "rebellion" against his mother. His mother, Princess Victoria's childhood "tyranny" of William II made this The monarch had a natural aversion to the British.

Compared with the entire coalition, East Africa is equally matched. The most important thing is that East Africa is fighting "on its doorstep". Although Britain and Portugal are not inferior in national strength, this power cannot effectively support the South African battlefield.

Of course, the British also found the Portuguese and Boers as helpers, which to a certain extent made the scale of this war exceed that of the previous Boer War.

Moreover, although Ernst acted very cautiously, he did not have the "Anglophobia" of this era, so East Africa did not waver in its attitude against the British army.

 Don't think that "Anglophobia" does not exist. Like Germany, France, Tsarist Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which one of the United States is not stronger than East Africa? But they all developed secretly under the British Empire's maritime hegemony, especially other countries in the world.

However, in terms of the quality of the war, the South African War may not be higher than the Boer War, because the strength of the Boers in the previous life was too far behind that of the British.

 It is worth mentioning that William II went online more than two months ago and officially became the ruler of the German Empire.

 Frederick III did not get rid of the torture of the disease in the end and passed away. For this German emperor who had a good relationship with the Hechingen royal family, the Hechingen royal family could only send people to mourn.

 In fact, before William II, Germany had always been one of Britain's close allies. This is also an important reason why Germany has not intervened in the South African War until now. And now William II's foundation is still unstable, and he is still fighting with Bismarck. If the South African War lasts a few years, and it is about the same time as the previous Boer War, then William II may come to help.

 All in all, today’s history has changed beyond recognition. I just don’t know whether William II will continue the same old path of fighting against Britain and France as in his previous life.

At the same time, the attitude of Tsarist Russia is also worthy of vigilance, because the relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not been as rigid as in the previous life.

The political landscape in Europe has also undergone some "small" changes. For example, Italy, a "master" who has repeatedly jumped around, has lost the opportunity to become a "great power".

After this war ends, Portugal will probably be completely reduced to one of the third-rate countries in Europe, and Portugal's situation will be even more miserable than Italy's.

Italy can also get a colony in Africa, while Portugal is likely to only have small colonies in West Africa and the Far East, and its economic level is not as good as Italy's.

 Although Italy's last unification failed, Italy's economy has actually been developing in a good direction in the past two years.

In Italy's previous life, it may have been that after unification, the expansion of its national power caused it to think too highly of itself in Africa, so it was severely beaten by the Ethiopians. In this life, due to its lack of national power, it adopted a steady and steady strategy in Africa, so it did not overturn.

 Italy’s Red Sea colonies have greatly alleviated the domestic population pressure. At the same time, the existence of the colonies has also stimulated the recovery of the domestic economy and has been able to restore blood to the mainland.

There are also changes in Belgium, a small European country. After all, the Belgian Congo and the former Belgian Congo are completely different concepts. Although the current Belgian Congo has relatively concentrated resources and is supported by excellent ports, its population and economic size are Far inferior to the Belgian Congo in its previous life.

Of course, the brutal rule of Leopold II remained unchanged, and the black people in the Belgian Congo suffered even more appalling treatment than in previous lives.

 The current Belgian Congo is the French Congo in the previous life. Although the French did not implement "benevolent rule" in the Congo, they did not completely implement "tyranny" in the Belgian Congo like Belgium.

And the worst thing is that in the previous life, people in the Belgian Congo could escape, but now the residents of the Belgian Congo cannot escape. They are surrounded by land that has been divided up in advance. Anyway, East Africa will not let them go to the east bank of the Ubangi River. Run away, these black people from the non-East African region are not even qualified to be "slaves" in East Africa.

Although the black people in East Africa are not living a satisfactory life, they can still "endure" it. After East Africa exports them abroad, they may still be able to gain "freedom".

In addition to Europe, East Africa has also made some changes to the Far East. In addition to the several colonies established in East Africa, the biggest result is that the Far East Empire has avoided Japan's coveting of "Egg Bay Island". Without the Southern Ryukyu Islands as a springboard, the Japanese have not yet had this idea.

Of course, as a price, the Pacific Fleet in East Africa was under pressure. After the start of the South African War, Japan made several rounds of trials for the so-called recovery of the "Southern Ryukyu Islands".

However, although East Africa has no way to teach "Japan" a lesson now, the Southern Ryukyu Islands are not an easy bone to chew. For East Africa, the Southern Ryukyu Islands are a strategic fulcrum used to contain the Far Eastern countries. Therefore, from the beginning, the construction of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is a conflict. Went with "war".

The Japanese Navy is not yet ready for a head-on confrontation with East Africa. After all, the outcome of the South African War is still unclear. If it is "settled later in the fall," the gains will outweigh the losses.

 (End of this chapter)