Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 587 The Lost Mogadishu

During its stay in Xi'an, the cruiser Naniwa and the cruiser Takachiho conducted a four-day sea formation exercise. These are two war reparations warships from the Fuso Kingdom. They will have another combined exercise after a lapse of three years. Has a different meaning.

When the time came to the end of June 1889, the Australian mainland continued to launch new "Brave-class" cruisers. Ship No. 8 has been launched and outfitted. Ships No. 7 and No. 9 are under construction on the berth. It is expected that they will all be launched before the end of October. The No. 10 ship has boarded the slipway and began laying the keel, and all the "Brave-class" cruiser construction plans are proceeding in an orderly manner according to the established time node.

With the successive entry of new cruisers, the two fast cruisers "Naniwa" and "Takachiho" captured from Fuso have become increasingly marginalized. The hope of returning to Australia for service one day has been dashed like a phantom. In the future, they can only contribute to the African fleet. For the rest of my life.

  On the azure sea

  "Nanisuke" and "Takachiho" led several Seagull II modified ocean-going frigates at high speeds, rushing straight into the predetermined sea area according to the drill plan, and preparing to launch firepower strikes on sea targets.

The high-speed warship rides the wind and waves, leaving a long snow-white track behind. The towering chimney emits large clouds of black smoke. The cold triangular steel mast and the black hole muzzle show strong maritime force. The mast top is high. The Red Mountain Dragon Navy flag flew to inform everyone that this is an overseas colonial territory belonging to Australia.

   coincides with this time

The British cruise ship "Miss Julia" passing through the Gulf of Aden sailed through this area. The passengers on the deck were attracted by the fleet passing by at high speed. They shouted in surprise and flocked to the ship's side to watch. This was a rare pleasure on a boring sea journey and attracted everyone. Gaze.

Among them, three short-bodied Fusang men knelt weakly on the deck and saw the majestic and mighty cruiser passing fast from a short distance. They made howling like wolves, and they soon burst into tears with painful pain. Self-sustaining.

These three are the representatives of the Fuso country’s ship purchase negotiations to the United Kingdom. The leader is Sato Yohei, who is in his 50s. He was a witness to the bombardment of Nagasaki. He saw the two fast cruisers that were once the newest forces of the Fuso Navy. My heart is already crying, and I can't feel sad.

The white-faced, elegant-looking middle-aged man around him is Fukushima Yasushi, the protagonist of the "Fuso Japanese Spy Case" that has made a lot of noise in Australia. He used to be named Fujita Hattori or Nakamura Akira, and his identity is a military attaché abroad. , Is actually a senior veteran spy.

  At this time, Fukushima Anzheng held the railing of the ship's side with his hands tightly, his face became distorted because of extreme anger, and he shouted like blood; "Nani, the shame of the empire!"

Another Fuso representative was Major Admiral Kobayashi sent by the Admiralty. His mood was not as exaggerated as the other two. After the "Naniwa" and "Takachiho" passed by, Major Admiral Kobayashi closed his eyes painfully. In the eyes, a line of old tears slipped silently from his cheeks, chanting the sad haiku in a low voice; "By the quiet ancient pond, the frog jumped into the middle of the water with a splash..."

  This is the famous haiku of Fuso Matsuo Basho, and there is a story here;

four years ago

  When the heavy cruiser "Aolong" ravaged the Gulf of Nagasaki, facing the naval capital ships that were hit hard one after another, Colonel Iguchi Iguchi, the captain of the "King Kong", chose a humiliating surrender in order to save the last trace of the imperial navy.

Colonel Iguchi Shengren returned to his Japanese courtyard after the war, dismissed his servants, killed his wife and children with a knife, and finally committed suicide by laparotomy to thank the world.

  He left a foot of white silk on his deathbed, and wrote Matsuo Basho's "Haiku"; beside the quiet ancient pond, the frog jumped into the middle of the water and made a splash...

  This is regarded as a symbol of the imperial navy's tolerance for humiliation, so it is widely circulated and has become the spiritual sustenance of many Fuso naval officers to deceive themselves.

In the haiku, "Ancient Pond of Quietness" refers to the Fusang society, which is decadent and backward and does not want to change. The "frog" is indisputably the "Qinglong" heavy cruiser, which is a devil warship that caused heavy physical and mental damage to the people of Fusang. When the firepower is fully on, it is like a demon dragon that breathes fire all over, and it is simply an invincible Yaki Orochi-level demon god.

  Moreover, "frog" and "blue dragon" both start with the word "青". Who can say that this is a coincidence?

What a mystical meaning, then "the center of the water" naturally refers to the Nagasaki Inland Sea. The sound of "plop" refers to this serious incident, which has a subversive impact on the social and national concepts of Fuso country. The center caused a "plop" sound.

  The more you think about it, the more it tastes. Therefore, this haiku is widely circulated. It is a representative symbol of the island people’s scar literature. It is miserable and gentle, which makes people remember for a long time...

   "Oh Meiga, what are their ghost names?"

   "Looks like a Fuso man, I must have been conquered by a powerful warship."

   "Oh... what a bunch of ignorant hillbillies."

  There were passengers from various European countries on the British cruise ship. They couldn't help pointing at three emotional Fusang men, showing their contempt in their words.

at this time

Two more tearful young men ran out of the cabin. They knelt down on the deck and shouted with a thud. They were extremely excited. Then the two young men unbuttoned their chests and took out their sharp shorts. The blade pierced directly into the stomach, snarled and cut down, and in a blink of an eye, blood ran to the ground.

  This **** incident caused a crowd of passengers to scream and avoid.

There were also many Chinese passengers on the cruise ship, most of them immigrated to African colonies at their own expense, and a few people’s destination was Europe. They watched this farce coldly, and looked at the weeping Fusang people and the mighty distance away. Battleship, it seems to understand something...

   "My goodness! Would you like to exaggerate?"

   "Huh, you can kill yourself at every turn, these Japanese slaves are barbarians, and you should die!"

  "I see, it should not be that simple. I saw that there are no two large warships. I heard that it was the spoils captured by our navy in Fusang. These Japanese Japanese slaves know shame anyway. They are all the result of my celestial education."

   "Well, this is reasonable... I heard that it is disrespectful to our navy officers and soldiers, so I will be punished slightly."

   "That's really a dead end, I hope they will learn from it."

  "I say everyone, do you know that the cheap and good-quality Nanyang sisters are all from Fusang? I think these widows are not bad, at least the girls are very affordable! The personality is also gentle."

   "Cut... stinky, who doesn't know?"

  The Chinese passengers talked a lot, and they all had a condescending sense of superiority in their words. They regarded these Fusang people as barbarians, revealing a sense of intangible pride.

  This episode of unexpected encounters at sea will not be mentioned for the time being.

one week later

  The cruiser "Naniwa" ended its patrol in the town of Xi'an and arrived in Mogadishu.

This is another important town in Somalia. Mogadishu is located in southern Somalia, on the edge of the Indian Ocean. It is the location of a large oasis surrounded by the vast Gobi. It has a cool climate and is suitable for farming and grazing. It has a history of more than 1,200 years. "The State of Myrrh" is surrounded by black indigenous nomadic tribes.

  Mogadishu has more than 23,000 Chinese immigrants, and there are more than 140,000 black indigenous tribes in the area. It used to be the seat of the Zanzibar chief’s court. After being expelled, it became an important town in Somalia.

The main river in Mogadishu is the Shabelle River. When it flows to the outskirts of Mogadishu about 30 kilometers away from the Indian Ocean coast, it turns violently to the southwest and continues to flow through 320 kilometers in a direction parallel to the coastline. It flows into the sea from the swamp area north of the mouth of the Juba River.

  Therefore, the area of ​​the oasis in this area is more than 60 times that of Xi’an, with a vast area of ​​pasture and traditional farmland, and the natural conditions are not better than that.

The Shabelle River is often dry and dry in February and March each year, but it has plenty of water in other seasons, providing enough irrigation water for the surrounding areas of Mogadishu, including sugar cane, wheat, cotton and bananas. Such traditional crops.

  Although the oasis here is large, the number of immigrants is small, and the economic development is relatively lagging. It is still dominated by traditional farming and grazing, and the overall economic development is at a backward level in overseas territories.

The Somali garrison has only one cavalry company garrison in the area. It is an armed militia of more than 1,000 people that assists the cavalry company to consolidate its rule. With this military force, it has been able to firmly control the security in Mogadishu, and Sangge Chief Barr's dream of a comeback is shattered.

  What does the town of Mogadishu say?

   can be summed up in the four words "innocent". It has been 5 years since it has been included in the ruling power of the Red Fort, and its development has not been disturbed. It is still a traditional farming and animal husbandry town.

It must be mentioned here that the Suez Canal has brought great changes to the world structure. The traditional Eurasian trade route does not need to pass through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. This allows important cities along the way to Cape Town, Mozambique Island, and Dar es Salaam. The importance of Mogadishu has been greatly reduced, and it is declining.

  South Africa has amazing gold reserves, which has attracted the attention of the world. What is there?

  Sugar cane, cotton, wheat or cane sugar or cattle?

  These agricultural products are neither large-scale nor have much development potential, and can only meet the needs of the region and surrounding areas.

   Therefore, this town can hardly find any place in the entire Red Fort development strategy, and it is in a forgotten corner.

  To discuss the conditions for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, whether it is population, land, climate or water sources, Mozambique is 100 times superior to this place. This is really without any bragging.

If the cotton planting industry in Mozambique develops freely, it can meet the needs of less than half of Europe. Even if the United Kingdom’s strong opposition is taken into account and the cotton planting area is reduced by itself, it will be able to meet the needs of the Hongbao population of more than 18 million people, and it will have strong exports. ability.

  In contrast, the cotton planting industry in Mogadishu can only meet the clothing needs of the nearby two to three million people, and there is no greater potential to tap.

  Under such circumstances, it is reasonable for the town of Mogadishu to be lonely.

  The development resources invested above are very few. The focus of Somalia's attention is also in the four northern cities and towns instead of here. Mogadishu has some feelings that grandma doesn't hurt and uncle doesn't love it. Many people have forgotten it.

  Even the local garrison company commander is looking forward to adjusting to other areas early, so as not to waste a lot of time in this remote East African coastal town.

   Therefore, "The Lost Mogadishu" has become a famous piece in the African colony, often used to tease those who are not taken seriously.

  (End of this chapter)