Chapter 122 Northern Development
February 11, 1868.
Omorat Town is located on the east bank of the Omo River in Kenya and is the northernmost immigrant settlement in the current East African colonies.
With the full support of the Nairobi government, a large number of immigrants were sent to settle here in a short period of time. The current population totals more than 800 people.
The Nairobi government organized all the vehicles to transfer the migrants who landed in Mombasa and headed west to Nairobi to the Omorat area.
The poor Nairobi government has gained nothing from its game of chess in East Africa. Instead, it has continued to support other parts of Kenya, slowing down local development.
As the capital of Kenya in its previous life, Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania in its previous life, was the same city that suffered the same fate as Nairobi. The two are worthy of sharing the same fate. How dazzling they were in their previous lives, they feel so lonely now.
Of course, because Dodoma was developed earlier, the situation is much better than Nairobi. At least it has accumulated a sufficient population. In the early days of Nairobi's establishment, some people were diverted to build coffee plantations in the north. Now , I haven’t had time yet, and I want to support the development of Omolat Town.
The status of these two cities is completely incomparable to that of their previous lives. Of course, this is the current status of the East African colonies. The closer the colonies are to the center, the slower the urban development is.
On the contrary, a large number of cities on the edge of the colony have been fully developed, and Omorat is such a city on the edge.
Omorat was the first nail in East Africa's bid to seize the Omo River Basin. In order to secure it early, even the local indigenous people did not have time to clear it.
As for why Omorat was chosen as the current northernmost city, it is because the geographical conditions here are good, the land is flat, and it is easy to develop.
Going north along the Omo River, there are mountains and plateaus, which are very difficult to develop. Due to terrain restrictions, the upper reaches of the Omo River can be said to be winding and winding. It’s not enough to describe the twists and turns of the Omo River.
It’s no wonder that in the previous life, Ethiopia wanted to build hydropower stations upstream. Its water energy resources are indeed rich.
The southern part of Omorat is close to the Omo River Delta, about thirty kilometers away from Lake Turkana.
The Omo River Delta is home to indigenous tribes who make a living by fishing, so Omorat bypassed the Omo River Delta and chose to build a town further north.
This location is very good. Compared with the delta map, it is not prone to flooding, and the land is also very fertile. The local indigenous people have no planting experience.
So the land here has never been developed. Coupled with the nourishment of the Omo River and thousands of years of accumulation, both sides are fertile land.
The establishment of Omorat Town is the same as the previous expansion routine in East Africa, which is to first enclose the land and then slowly invite the original owners of the land out.
The land in the circle became the East African colony's own land. Ernst used this trick to circle the entire Tanzania inland plateau.
Using Mwanza, Kigoma, Mbeya, Karonga... and other large cities surrounding the Tanganyika region (collectively known as the inland plateau) as strongholds, it separates Tanganyika from other forces. .
Then the land in the circle was completely occupied by immigrants, and slowly the Tanganyika area fell into the hands of the East African colonies.
As for Kenya, it was plundered through war, so it is not this routine.
Now, the establishment of Omolat Town has once again demonstrated the East African colony’s best expansion method.
From the moment the town of Omorat was established, it completely separated all Ethiopian forces (including the Abyssinian Empire) from the land south of Omorat.
Once the village stronghold under Omorat was established and completed, these forces' connections and access to northern Kenya were blocked by the East African colonies.
The vast land along Lake Turkana (approximately half a million square kilometers) has become the possession of the East African colonies. The East African colonies can start from the south (Nairobi) to the north (Omorat) Both directions slowly digest the area in between.
As a saltwater lake, Turkana has not many tribes and indigenous people around it. After being isolated and helpless, it can only become a lamb to be slaughtered.
The precipitation in the Omo River Basin ranges from 1500mm to 2000mm, so there is no shortage of water in Omorat downstream. In this area, rice can be grown on a large scale to feed the immigrants.
Lake Turkana south of Omorat Town and the Kenya area east of Lake Turkana are not suitable for large-scale food cultivation. Deserts and grasslands are intertwined, so they are planned as pastures. Pastures are the land use with the lowest economic value in East Africa.
The entire East African Plateau has a savanna climate, so there is no shortage of grassland. Moreover, there is more precipitation in the south, and the aquatic plants are more luxuriant.
In addition, there is currently a large amount of land in East Africa that is not developed. Even the most densely populated Upper Coastal District has a large amount of grasslands and forests.
So the natural conditions in northern Kenya are simply not good enough. That is to say, in order to immigrate to the border, the choice of pastures is tilted towards northern Kenya.
Grazing is not so easy. In East Africa, "armed" grazing is practiced.
Except for the Sahara Desert, which is a truly barren land, almost all areas in Africa are full of wild animals. Even the Kalahadi Desert in the south is a paradise for wild animals.
No matter how bad the conditions are in northern Kenya, the number of animals is indispensable. There are quite a lot of lions, leopards, hyenas and other animals.
As a large ranch planned in East Africa, the population in northern Kenya is destined not to be too large, and it will certainly not be able to compete with wild animals in terms of numbers.
The wild beasts will definitely threaten the safety of the colonial animals. In this era, there are no barbed wires and electric grids to separate the two.
Even if there is, East Africa cannot afford it given the current economic conditions. So what can East Africa afford? That's the gun in hand.
The number of guns in the hands of the East African colonies was around hundreds of thousands, almost one for every five people.
It is absolutely economical and safe to carry a gun to herd. East Africa can produce this thing on a small scale.
The plan of the East African colonies was to first select a good pasture, and then organize personnel to physically eliminate wild beasts and wild animals within the range of the pasture.
Then immigrants formed grazing groups, each group being responsible for its own area.
Different from farmers, herdsmen have one weapon in each hand, which is used to patrol the pasture and prevent wild beasts and savages from harassing the pasture.
Speaking of savages, the herdsmen are also obliged to capture the savages who break into the pastoral areas, and then the superior departments will escort them to the south.
In this way, northern Kenya is covered by large and small pastoral areas, and the living space of the indigenous people is naturally getting smaller and smaller. If they resist and break into the pastoral areas, they will be captured by the East African colonies.
The day when Kenya is covered with pastures and plantations, it will also be the time when the indigenous people are completely cleared away.
This was a rough plan for the development of northern Kenya by the East African colonies, simple but effective.
Unlike the vast area in northern Kenya, Omorat town has its own unique political and economic status.
This is an agricultural planting area, and it borders Ethiopia and leads directly to Sudan to the northwest. Its strategic and economic value is very high.
At the same time occupying this area, there are also considerations for the future, just like ordinary Americans in previous generations had a headache with immigrants smuggling across South America.
East Africa will definitely face this situation as well. The race of people in northern Ethiopia is not bad, many are Arabs or white North Africans with light skin.
There are a large number of purely black people in Ethiopia and southern Somalia, which Ernst, who is committed to cleaning up the black population, has to guard against.
Based on Ernst’s experience in his previous life, the skin color of black people is very conspicuous everywhere (except at night). If you want to prevent the appearance of black people in the East African colonies in the future, you cannot just clean up the black people in your own territory. Arrived.
The black people in the areas near the colonies also need to be cleaned up. Otherwise, the indigenous people in these backward areas will definitely run to East Africa in the future. And based on Ernst's understanding of the bureaucrats and capitalists, they may do it at any time.
Just like when American politicians granted legal status to Latin American illegal immigrants, it was the people at the bottom of the United States who suffered in the end (the U.S. government also wants ordinary people to be involved, and Latin American immigrants are obedient and can also divide the unity of the bottom... Anyway, for From the perspective of the upper level, it is beneficial to the United States and does no harm to the United States. For the people at the bottom, there is no benefit at all.)
Anyway, the American people will never suffer, and the worms at the top will never suffer. They will only make more or less, even if the United States is fooled by them. It's over, with the capital and force in their hands, they can also open up a new battlefield (Run the World).
(End of this chapter)