Chapter 486 Diplomatic Suppression
The Central Railway passes through the Matabele Plateau and is hidden behind East Africa. Although the Portuguese knew that railways existed in East Africa, they did not expect that East Africa would lead to the interior.
This again involves their blind spot, because a railway without people and logistics will lose money, and with Africa’s population density and economic development level, the recovery period is too long, or no one wants to believe in a African countries have such strength.
"After cutting East Africa off in the middle and Portugal taking away part of the territory in the middle, we can declare an armistice. It is still difficult for Portugal to compete with East Africa based on its strength alone." Clement also knows that enough is enough, but Even this result is unacceptable to East Africa.
If East Africa knew what the French were thinking, they would definitely reply, What about thinking of good things? The country says it will be divided by you, so divide it! Moreover, it is still the land in the middle part of East Africa. Even if the land is ceded and compensation is paid, it will only start from the edge, and there is no way to cut it from the middle.
Moreover, Clement is a bit wishful thinking. The French are used to showing off their power in the colonies, and they think that East Africa is also a soft persimmon like the French colony. Fortunately, France is just playing the role of a slanderous villain this time. If it really gets involved, East Africa will definitely destroy it. A mouthful of rotten teeth.
……
Schönbrunn Palace.
"Your Majesty, this morning the British diplomat revealed to us that a war will break out between Portugal and East Africa. Let us not intervene easily."
"Well!" Franz said angrily: " When did the British get involved with us? If they say they don’t want to interfere, then they won’t interfere.”
Franz didn't know at all that a war might break out between Portugal and East Africa, because the East African side had not disclosed the news to him before. In the end, he still learned about it from the British. However, the British attitude made Franz very unhappy. Everyone was The leader of the world order, at least the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not think that it is much worse than the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom still wants to command it!
“Your Majesty, the behavior of the British just shows how much they value Africa, or how much they value East Africa. East Africa obviously threatens the interests of the British, so they let them target East Africa like this.”
Franz: "Huh, does the British think that we are commanding the movement of East Africa? And their attitude is simply too arrogant."
"There is no way around this. In fact, the British control With the Suez Canal and a strong naval force in the Mediterranean, it is easy to cut off the connection between us and East Africa. The Imperial Navy is naturally not strong enough to challenge the British, so the British told us not to interfere. We really can't do anything. ”
So the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not have a strong desire for overseas colonization. Although its naval strength is not weak, it is blocked in the Adriatic Sea. If it establishes overseas colonies, the navy will not be able to protect it. It is easy to be cut off by countries such as Britain and France.
Of course, it is not impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to follow Germany's approach of picking up leftovers as its own colonies, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously pays more attention to the cost issue. The more rotten land it takes, the more money it loses. After all, the colonies also have to pay for their rule. As for the cost, if the colonial income is not high, how can we expect the mainland to repay it every year?
Why East Africa was able to seize a large chunk of territory in Africa was due to hard work and opportunities. It happened to seize the window period and then expanded step by step to where it is today. Although with the efforts of East Africa, the local economy has greatly improved. There is an improvement, but after working hard to grow the fruit, there are always people who are jealous and want to pick peaches.
"The more I say this, the more I want to see the British suffer. How do you think we should support East Africa?" Franz asked.
"Your Majesty, do we really want to offend the British for East Africa?"
"What do you mean by offending the British for East Africa? I just can't swallow this breath. Did the British say anything, you What are you doing? You are not a lower-level government in the UK!”
"However, we really have no way to support East Africa. The geographical location of East Africa, no, to be precise, our geographical location is naturally limited to only play a role in Europe. East Africa has exceeded the radiation range of the imperial army. As long as the British want to "We can't even send a shipment of supplies to East Africa." It is indeed difficult for the British to verbally threaten the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both sides are world powers, and there is no one who is superior in status, but the British strength is indeed higher. Austria-Hungary was first, so the British dared to threaten the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the matter of East Africa. As for why they threatened the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was because of the quasi-alliance treaty between East Africa and Austria.
A quasi-alliance is not an alliance, but from the perspective of an outsider, the meaning is completely different. The British think that East Africa is the younger brother of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If they want to beat other people's younger brothers, they must first Calm down the opponent's elder brother.
Of course, out of "respect" for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British will not end up. They will just let Portugal and East Africa have a one-on-one challenge. It seems fair, but what about Britain and France? On the one hand, Britain prevented the Austro-Hungarian Empire from intervening, and on the other hand, it provided vigorous military assistance to Portugal.
“Moreover, we don’t seem to have anything to support East Africa. The weapon systems in East Africa seem to be more similar to Germany’s, only the artillery is the same as ours.”
Military assistance must be the first choice for weapons and equipment, but it is obvious that East Africa has a self-contained weapons supply system, and East Africa is also self-sufficient in other aspects. The Austro-Hungarian Empire really does not know how to assist East Africa.
Franz had no choice but to personally find the East African ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and ask what East Africa's plans were: "The British are preparing to attack you. Don't you get any information at all?"
" Your Majesty, we know very well that Britain and France are trying to start a war with East Africa through Portugal as an agent, trying to weaken East Africa."
"There is something about France involved? Moreover, since we know that the war is about to break out. , then why can you still sit still?" Franz asked looking at the calm East African ambassador.
"Your Majesty, as long as the British do not personally die on the African battlefield, we in East Africa are confident of defeating the Portuguese. Even if the British die, we will still have the confidence to confront the British."
Franz: "..."
Now Franz feels that East Africa and Prussia are really carved from the same mold. Is it the surname Hohenzollern that makes Prussia go further and further down the road of solving problems by force? The farther away the culprit is.
Looking at Franz’s disbelief, the East African ambassador had no choice but to say: “We have more than 200,000 well-trained army troops in East Africa, all equipped with new Mauser rifles and relatively complete machine guns and artillery. This military force Strength is definitely No. 1 in Africa, so East Africa is not afraid of the threat of war. Strength is the real reason why East Africa can be calm.”
In the past, there was Egypt before East Africa, but since the era of the Dreiser rifle, East Africa has actually become more powerful. Egypt is already the de facto number one military force in Africa, especially after making up for the shortcomings of the navy, Egypt is no longer comparable to East Africa.
Franz: "You must not include the militia. Without professional soldiers as a framework, a makeshift army would be useless."
"Please rest assured, your majesty, we will not lie. In fact, Archduke Ferdinand is very clear about the military strength of East Africa. If your majesty is worried, you can directly send a telegram to ask."
In the past, many people in East Africa were hidden. , it is no longer necessary now. After all, once the war starts, East Africa's strength will be revealed, and there is no need to deliberately conceal it.
(End of this chapter)