Chapter 218: The Wrong Meeting
December 30, 1869.
Maputo.
“This is the news sent back by Yaris, the president of the Kazembe Chamber of Commerce. The Germans have appeared in the Kingdom of Kazembe, and they are still stationed there. They probably have no plans to leave.” Governor of Mozambique said.
"Mr. Governor, the Germans are expanding rapidly in the interior of Africa. I think we should contact the Angolan colony to jointly curb the development of the Germans."
"Yes, if the Kingdom of Kazembe is occupied by the Germans, the land passage between us and Angola will be cut off by the Germans."
"However, Angola may not necessarily act with us unless It is possible to convince the kingdom, but there is a very fatal problem here. How can we invest our troops inland? The British have evil intentions towards us. This year, the British directly marched their troops into the Dragua Bay in Mozambique. If If it weren’t for our powerful artillery fire, the British would not have fled.”
“It’s really a wolf in front and a tiger in the back. If Germany is a wolf, the British are tigers. The Germans fight every day and have always been strong on land. , and the British can directly attack our ports with warships. "
Unlike a large number of inland cities in East Africa that were planned and built in advance, the core of Mozambique is the cities and ports along the coast.
So it is difficult to say which one, East Africa or the British, poses a greater threat to Mozambique. On land, the East Africans are definitely larger, and the two places are directly bordered. However, in recent years, East Africa has been relatively peaceful along the Rufuma River. The colonies got along fairly peacefully.
“Everyone, the Germans are developing too fast in Africa. If they are allowed to develop like this, sooner or later Mozambique will be under great threat.
You know, the Germans have only been in East Africa for more than three years. They are just parasites in Zanzibarsu A small thing under the Dan Kingdom, now they have not only eliminated the Sultanate of Zanzibar but even expanded their sphere of influence to the interior of Africa. How terrifying is this?
Look at this map, this is Rufu? Mahekou, this is Lake Malawi, and this is Katzen Bei Kingdom, these three points are connected in a line to semi-encircle us.
And I won’t go into details about how long this line is. This shows that the area occupied by the Germans is very large.” br>
"Mr. Kelton, I disagree with you, It's good for the Germans to go deep into the interior, but how can they gain a foothold! Although the capital of Kazembe was occupied by the Germans, the chiefs and tribes under him still existed. We also tried to expand into the interior, but we were attacked by the indigenous people. Resist tenaciously and give up.
So it would be good for the Germans to at most support a few puppets in the interior to rule on their behalf. And Mr. Kelton, look at the line you drew, the distance is not that long.
If the Germans follow this pattern and expand inland, we should be lucky. It looks like a long snake, which is convenient for defeating them one by one. Look here, this is the Kingdom of Malawi, which happens to be stuck in the German land. In the middle, if we attack from here, we can prevent the Germans from looking at each other.
Our colony in Mozambique has always developed Mozambique in an orderly manner. After so many years of rule, it has become very stable. The Germans came late, but they are not popular. Their local rule foundation must not be stable. Firmly, if we have a conflict with the Germans, as long as we instigate the local indigenous people in East Africa, East Africa will be in chaos in an instant. "
"Instead of discussing the threat of the Germans, it is better to talk about the threat of the British. The Germans are only likely to cause harm to us, and the British have already acted.
This year the British have begun to test us. Fortunately, we have enough artillery to prevent the British from succeeding. "Furthermore, the British have a colony of Cape Town in the south, which is actually not too far away from us. The so-called Zulu Kingdom in the middle cannot act as a buffer at all, and if the British borrow the passage, they probably won't refuse." ”
“In this way, the British can pose a threat to us from the sea or land, and they have already started to take action. The British are the country we should be most wary of.”
“ On the surface, the kingdom has a good relationship with the United Kingdom, but once it reaches the colony, it is a mess. The British have been evil in recent years. "
"Germany. People have to be on guard. At least the three kingdoms in the west, we should give them some support to withstand the pressure from East Africa."
"No, just support the Kingdom of Malawi, Malawi. The Kingdom is our buffer country with East Africa, and the two countries in the south are our future expansion directions. Giving them support is equivalent to cutting off our own retreat.”
"That's right, Chrisis, can you think first before you speak? The Germans can't reach there. Instead, we have been penetrating there over the years, so you'd better read it first when you speak next time. Look at the map and don’t be too smart to invent the so-called German threat theory. That will only let everyone here know that you didn’t have any brains when you went out today.”
The congressman’s words made everyone laugh, and the supporter. Chrysis, who was assisting the countries to the west, wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
"Okay, be quiet." The Portuguese Governor of Mozambique, who had been listening to everyone's discussion, spoke.
“I have just listened to the suggestions of everyone here, and after careful analysis, I still feel that the threat from the British is greater than that from the Germans. The most important thing is that the Germans do not have a strong navy. In this regard, the Kingdom of Portugal has an advantage.< br>
In the inland areas, we are temporarily unable to expand, but we can negotiate with the Germans first. The most important thing is to beware of the British. Otherwise, if we really conflict with the Germans, the British will definitely attack us from the sea in the end. So before East Africa infringes upon our core interests, we must remain calm
Moreover, we have not learned enough about East Africa in the past two years, so that the sudden appearance of the East African army in Kazembe was reported by the Kazembe Chamber of Commerce. We can use this negotiation as an excuse to inspect the development of East Africa and get a feel for it. The strength of the Qing Germans. "
"Mr. Governor, the most important thing in this negotiation is to let East Africa protect our interests in the Kazembe region. It is best to bring the Kingdom of Malawi together to talk. To be honest, the Kingdom of Malawi It is better to keep the south in our own hands. "
"You are right. The Kingdom of Malawi should have entered the garbage dump of history long ago. We can discuss with East Africa to divide the Kingdom of Malawi. ”
As soon as they heard that there was a profit, everyone immediately changed their faces. One second they were a serious problem in East Africa, but now they have become an accomplice who can share the spoils.
But originally they said they would support The Kingdom of Malawi has also shut up now. If East Africa is easy to talk to, wouldn't it be a win-win situation for everyone to divide Malawi directly? This is much better than directly confronting East Africa.
Unconsciously, the theme of the meeting deviated. The original discussion of East Africa and the British threat turned into a discussion of how to carve up the Kingdom of Malawi with East Africa.
(End of this chapter)