Chapter 395 Playing Rogue
Among the Boer republics, only the Orange Free State has relatively sufficient finances. Although most of the Kimberley diamond mine was taken away by the British, it can still have some soup.
The Republic of Grigualand is actually very rich in resources, but they have not been explored. In addition, Grigualand has a harsh climate and a sparse population. Even if mineral resources are discovered, it is unable to develop them and cannot mine. Grigualand The only industry that can be engaged in in the Republic is nomadism. As a result, the economic level of the Republic of Grigualand is destined to be low, not even comparable to some Arab countries with similarly poor natural conditions.
A few days later, Merk merged the territory of the Republic of Grigualand into the Kingdom of East Africa under the noses of the British and the senior leaders of the Republic of Grigualand.
This made the administrators sent to Grigualand from the Cape Colony dumbfounded. Because the East African Army moved too quickly, the British did not react until East Africa blocked the Orange River.
After many reports, Johnson, the top administrator of the British Cape Colony in Grigualand, met with Merkel.
"Your Excellency Merk, this is a naked act of aggression by your East African Kingdom. Grigualand is already a territory of the British Empire. Does your East African Kingdom want to challenge the majesty of the British Empire?" Johnson saw it. Asked when arriving at Merk.
When Merk saw Johnson saying this, he actually felt very unsure. It was not that he was afraid of Britain, but that East Africa was really wrong about this matter.
"Mr. Johnson, please calm down first. In fact, we did not mean to offend your country. Let me apologize to you first."
Seeing that Merk has a good attitude, Johnson then said: "Well, that makes sense, but then I will immediately withdraw your troops from Grigualand, and I can treat this as if it never happened."
"Withdraw troops?" Merkel was amused. How could he spit out what he had eaten in his mouth? He smiled and said to Johnson: "Mr. Johnson, I'm afraid this matter will not go as you wish. It is impossible for our East African Kingdom to Withdraw troops from the Orange River line!"
Hearing this, Johnson felt that he was greatly insulted, but when he thought of the strength of the East African Kingdom, he calmed down again. Now there is a fact.
That is, it is impossible for the Cape Town Colony to send troops to rescue itself. Not to mention that Cape Town does not have many troops in the first place. More importantly, it is because Grigualand cannot organize an army to recapture it.
But as an official of the British Empire, the person standing behind him was the most powerful country in the world, so Johnson believed that the East African Kingdom did not dare to do anything to him.
He asked Merk: "Why, do you, the East African Kingdom, want to challenge the empire and test whether the empire's martial virtue is sufficient?"
Merkel did not answer the question, but said to Johnson: "East Africa is a peace-loving country, and of course I have no intention to offend the United Kingdom. However, the withdrawal of troops is not something I, a junior officer, can decide. This requires an order from the central government." , I will send the news back to the country in time, and it will be decided by the central government.”
This is of course not the reason. In fact, Ernst is in Pretoria now, and it will only take a few days to send the communication troops. The crown prince can be informed.
But Merk didn’t want the British to know this. He needed to find a reason to keep East Africa from leaving, and then East Africa would take administrative measures to drive away the merchants and residents of the Republic of Grigua. Turn Grigualand completely into the territory of the East African Kingdom.
This matter can be easily solved. One is to abolish the slavery system, and the other is to impose heavy taxes on the Griguarans and force the Griguarans to voluntarily move to the Orange Free State.
This is the tactic of "boiling the eagle". If the Griguarans do not take the usual path and actively provoke the East African Army, that would be better. This is exactly what Merkel wants, and they can directly and violently expel the Griguarans. . After the Republic of Grigualand is completely destroyed, the British accusations against the Kingdom of East Africa will naturally cease to exist. You said that East Africa invaded the Republic of Grigualand. Why don’t I see the so-called Republic of Grigualand? This place has been here since ancient times. It has been our German land ever since.
Merkel has the confidence to dare to do this. He has been in Africa for many years, which has also given East Africans a more thorough understanding of Africa.
That is, except for the East African Kingdom, there is currently no opponent on the sub-Saharan African continent worthy of the East African Kingdom's full strength.
Of course the British are not weak, but Merk does not believe that the British will have trouble with the East African Kingdom for the sake of the little Grigualand. Could it be that the British can mobilize large armies from other regions to conquer East Africa? .
The East African Kingdom is not Egypt. Abyssinia is a seemingly powerful country, but turns out to be broken at the first touch. The British really have no way to defeat the East African Kingdom that has already established a foothold in Africa. .
Even if the British blockaded the coastline of East Africa and cut off East Africa's foreign trade, this will not work now. Ernst was afraid of this move in the past because the East African kingdom did not have enough population, and in the early stages of the colony, it had to rely on blood transfusions from the Hechingen Consortium. The rations, seeds, livestock, tools, weapons and equipment needed to maintain operations and develop the East African colonies in the early stages all needed to be imported from Germany and other parts of the world.
Now the East African Kingdom can completely rely on Africa to achieve independence. Relying on a population of nearly seven million, it has achieved internal circulation, has a strong planting industry, and has a handicraft system that is barely self-sufficient, especially in the military industry. , there is basically no generational difference between the East African Army and Europe.
Now the mainstream weapons of the army are nothing more than two types, guns and artillery. The Dresser rifles and small-caliber artillery equipped by the East African Army are not bad. They are first-class in Africa. The most important thing are these two things. , East Africa has been able to produce and sell its own products.
Large-caliber artillery is actually not bad in East Africa. Although it cannot be produced, there are enough stocks in East Africa. The large-caliber artillery deployed near the coastline can be dispatched and used at any time. This is not a big deal. East African ports Artillery adopts a saturation defense counterattack strategy to deal with enemies at sea. From the day the East African Kingdom obtained the sea port, Ernst knew that the biggest threat to East Africa in the future would come from the sea, so the number of artillery along the coastline was actually excessive, even The number of artillery along the East African coast exceeds the number of coastal defense artillery in the Austro-Hungarian Empire around the Adriatic Sea, giving Austrian military-industrial enterprises a huge dividend.
However, this is also a strategy implemented by the Hechingen Consortium in Europe. As one of the world's top grain merchants, the Hechingen Consortium must gain a foothold in Germany and Austria. It must make some balance and sacrifices, otherwise It would be impossible for the Junker aristocracy and the Hungarian aristocracy to allow the food companies of the Hechingen Consortium to exist.
In fact, the food company of the Hechingen Consortium is one of the largest purchasers of agricultural products in Germany and Austria. In recent years, the wine industry in the two countries has been promoted by the Hechingen Consortium, allowing landowners in the two countries to diversify some cash crops. Only cheap food can naturally fill the gap. In the end, both parties can benefit. The only one injured is Tsarist Russia. The entire market is too huge. Although Tsarist Russia has tens of millions of gray livestock, the gray animals are not as good as the more than 20 million black slaves in East Africa. Great value for money.
Neither the East African mainland nor the Hechingen Consortium will come to a standstill because of British sanctions, so there is no weakness in East Africa. The ice-covered Alaska is a burden, but the British may not think of it, because well Stern himself often forgets that this territory still exists in the hands of the Hechingen royal family.
In short, East Africa's national strength gives Merkel the confidence to act rogue. Even if the other party is the United Kingdom, East Africa has nothing to fear.
Merkel's insufferable attitude put Johnson in trouble, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, Johnson became even less calm.
At this time he realized, East African Kingdom, East African Kingdom, since it is an East African Kingdom, how did they come to South Africa?
Also, East Africa dispatched so many troops just to deal with the small Republic of Grigualand. So what is the overall strength of the East African Kingdom? It’s scary to think about it!
Johnson suddenly realized that he had noticed something extraordinary. This matter must be reported to Cape Town and even London, but now he must get out of Grigualand first.
(End of this chapter)