African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 775 Shaokui

 Finally, through mutual consultation between Bougival and Count Roberts, it was decided to relocate most of the Mozambican administrative agencies, including the coalition headquarters and the Governor's Palace, to the Chaukwe area.

Chaoqui is also located in the former Gaza Province of Mozambique. Today it is only the size of a town, but the town is already considered a well-developed administrative level in Mozambique. After all, there are few Portuguese people in Mozambique, and the population is mainly concentrated in several cities along the coast.

 The entire Mozambique coast is now unsafe, so inland towns like Saukwe naturally stand out.

If you look solely at the Portuguese settlements in the inland areas, Nasaukwe is definitely the best choice. It is a relatively large town in the entire interior of Mozambique, especially after losing a lot of land.

Therefore, there are not many options that can serve as the location for the coalition command and the Mozambique government. The Mozambique government and the coalition command combined have more than a thousand people. With so many people eating, drinking and sleeping, small villages and towns simply cannot afford it.

Bougival: “Saukwe is in the plain area on the south bank of the Limpopo River. It has always been a relatively developed agricultural area in Mozambique, so we can solve the food problem there. The most important thing is that the shipping conditions in the lower reaches of the Limpopo River are pretty good, and the deployment of materials is also relatively convenient. .”

Of course, the shipping conditions mentioned by Bougvar are not as good as those in Maputo. Maputo has a natural harbor and is more convenient to receive assistance from the local area.

However, Maputo is far away from the center of Mozambique and is instead located in the southernmost corner. This is not conducive to Maputo's concentration of resources throughout Mozambique.

On the other hand, although the Limpopo River is a relatively large river in South Africa and the downstream shipping conditions are not bad, the siltation at the outlet of the Limpopo River is very serious, with a large number of shoals and silt, so there is no way to form an estuary port.

The Limpopo River has only inland water transport value, but this is perfect for the current coalition forces. After all, having a seaport means that East African warships can also enter the inland river.

Although the Limpopo River has similar topography, it is located downstream of Shaokui, and the downstream section of Shaokui can be said to be very "unruly".

Just like the ancient Yellow River, it often changed its course, leaving many abandoned river channels and oxbow lakes. However, the change of the Yellow River has sediment problems, while the Limpopo River is only affected by the geostrophic deflection force.

The Limpopo River Basin is an important agricultural area in Mozambique, so even if East Africa cuts off Mozambique’s external resource channels, food and water shortages will not occur.

Of course, Count Roberts is just exaggerating. Although the location of Sauquet is good, it is far from the standards of the ancient city of Paris. The ancient city of Paris is built on an island in the middle of the Seine River.

The last straw that forced Earl Roberts and Bougival to move the capital was that East African warships could directly threaten the security of Maputo, so Saukwe in the Limpopo River Basin was more reassuring to the coalition forces in terms of security.

"The Limpopo River is 100 meters wide and has military defense functions. It is one of our reserved defense lines. Even if the East Africans break through the Sarwe River defense line, we can still deal with them through the Limpopo River, and Shaokui is surrounded by the Limpopo River on three sides. Encirclement, this is a favorable terrain similar to Paris in the Middle Ages. We can easily complete the defense work by just building fortifications on the south side." Earl Roberts analyzed from the perspective of military value.

This is also an important reason why agriculture in the Limpopo River Basin is relatively developed. The downstream is a large alluvial plain with flat terrain, fertile land and abundant water resources.

The only pity is that Portugal’s development of the Limpopo River Basin is too weak. The lower reaches of the Limpopo River are all natural rivers and a large amount of undeveloped land.

 In the Far Eastern Empire, the Limpopo River can be developed anyway, in areas with developed agriculture such as the Jianghan Plain. Even in the hands of East Africa, it may become another food base in East Africa. In fact, the same is true for East Africa's arrangements for Mozambique. The agricultural conditions in the entire region of Mozambique are comparable only to the Great Lakes region in East Africa. It is a natural agricultural base, and it would be a waste of resources in the hands of a people like Portugal who are accustomed to taking shortcuts.

"Shaokui can more easily contact the main force of the Western Defense Line and the Savui River Defense Line, as well as Maputo. Now Maputo belongs to the front line, and East Africa has accumulated a large number of troops around the New Hamburg Port City, which also makes Maputo is under unimaginable pressure.”

"And Saukwe is only more than 170 kilometers away from Maputo, so even if the headquarters is moved to Saukwe, it won't take too long. The only drawback is that the level of construction in Saukwe is relatively low, and there is no such thing as Maputo. The city has the advantage of defense, so we have to recruit a large number of black slaves to build Shaokui, which requires the cooperation of the local government." Earl Roberts said.

The most lacking thing under Earl Roberts now is troops, so the construction of Shaokui cannot be done by the army. Of course, it does not mean that it will not be done at all. The guidance and supervision work must be completed by one's own people.

If left alone, based on the efficiency of the Portuguese and the laziness of the blacks, I am afraid that Shaokui's city defense will directly turn into a "tofu dregs" project.

 Earl Roberts is well aware of this. Of course, compared to the Indians under his command, the Portuguese are still much better. Although they are slow, they can still do the basic work well, just like the city defense of Maputo is very solid.

The Portuguese were definitely not like this during the Portuguese Empire, but with the decline of the Portuguese Empire, the entire Portuguese society was full of decadence and decadence, and even colonies like Mozambique were the same.

The colonies of Britain and France would not be as lifeless as the Portuguese colonies. Take Britain as an example, India, Canada, and even Australia, the place where prisoners were sent to prison, were well built.

 Bougival was unaware of Earl Roberts's inner complaints. His task was to assist the "Emperor" from England.

Portugal relies entirely on Britain to survive, which is not surprising even to Portugal itself, and Britain's big brother is still relatively reliable.

Just like this South African War, without British support, according to Bougival's estimation, Portugal may not be able to withstand it for even half a month. The East Africans' military is too strong compared to Portugal.

So Bougival said: "Even if they are black people, we still need time to arrest them from the surrounding areas. However, in a state of war, this matter should not be too difficult, and under the oppression of East Africans, the number of black people in Mozambique is more than before. It’s still very cost-effective to let them work.”

After East Africa occupied northern Mozambique (north of the Zambezi River), a large number of black people were driven into southern Mozambique, so the density of black people in the Mozambique colony became even denser.

Therefore, it is not difficult to requisition black slaves from various tribes. Although the strength of these black tribes has also increased, the increase in population cannot match the guns in the hands of the Portuguese. Coupled with Portugal's hundreds of years of accumulated prestige, the local blacks have long been " "Tame", not to mention that compared to East Africans, the Portuguese appear "kind-faced".

“Very good, we don’t have much time, so it’s best to build the framework of Saukui within the year. If we can’t break the offensive in East Africa this year, our situation will be even more dangerous next year.” Count Roberts said.

 (End of this chapter)