Chapter 680 Buffer Zone
Kairos said: "The location of the Belgian Congo is actually very important. In Europe, it is equivalent to Luxembourg or Belgium. If a war breaks out between Germany and France, then these two countries will Even though we are in a dangerous situation, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a battleground for military strategists, and we have a very good relationship with Belgium, so we must always pay attention to the Congo and pass information that is beneficial to East Africa to East Africa. "< br>
If a war breaks out between Germany and France, Belgium and Luxembourg on the German-French border cannot be bypassed, so both countries are trying to win over them.
And they are very sober and almost no longer take sides between Germany and France, especially in Belgium, where the population is divided into two major groups: German and French.
For example, Lenoir, who worked for the Hechingen Consortium, was originally French in history, but in fact he was born as a Belgian in Luxembourg in his previous life, so he was half German. One of the reasons why the Hingen Consortium could easily invite him to work in Germany.
Leopold II himself was also a master of balance. He moved between Germany and France without overturning and gained a lot of benefits. This was the reason why the Belgian Congo was established. At the Berlin Conference, both countries sold Belgium. To save face, and with the two countries of East Africa and Portugal not objecting, the Belgian colony can be said to have the strongest legitimacy in Africa.
“The Belgian Congo is a colony after all, and it is very different from our East Africa. In particular, the rule of Leopold II can be said to be quite brutal. This is particularly obvious in his attitude towards black people, so Don’t complain when you see him every day,” Kairos reminded Val, his new colleague.
"Mr. Kairos, I am not a bad person. I know that the national interests of East Africa are what we should safeguard. As for the bad things in the Belgian Congo, I will not make irresponsible remarks." Val stated.
"The best thing you can think of is this. In fact, many young people nowadays, because they have too little experience, have forgotten that the foundation of our East African country has never been kindness and compassion. Otherwise, it will be difficult to gain a foothold on the African continent. , so I was a little worried about you at first, but now it seems that you are indeed different from ordinary people," Kairos praised.
Val sneered at this. Although he received ten years of compulsory education in his motherland, his family was not comparable to those who later immigrated. His parents came to East Africa in 1868, when he was actually seven years old, and My parents traveled across the ocean from the Far Eastern Empire to live in East Africa.
And he also caught up with the good times and became one of the first batch of primary school students to receive compulsory education in East Africa.
So he still has a lot of memories of the process of founding the country in East Africa, and even of living in the Far Eastern Empire. However, through sporadic pictures and the oral accounts of his parents, he knows that life was not easy.
And he has experienced the entire process of slavery in East Africa. After all, a large number of black slaves were used in East Africa in the early days. At that time, East Africa could not afford cattle and horses, so blacks could only do most of the labor.
The Val family assigned several slaves to use. This was later solved due to the de-blackization of the East, the improvement of the performance of production tools in East Africa, and the development of animal husbandry.
So Val not only has no sympathy for black people, but even thinks that it is natural to enslave black people like Belgium. This is related to his former living environment.
Just like now in the central and western parts of East Africa, many plantations and farms still use a large number of black slaves. Until a substitute is found, they absolutely support the continued use of black slaves.
In the eastern region where slavery has actually been abolished, most people probably think the same way, and they are even willing to return to the era of slavery.
Although cattle and horses are now more powerful, black slaves can complete a lot of work, especially agricultural maintenance and labor. Black slaves have unparalleled advantages.
Just like cotton planting, when the cotton harvest season comes, cattle and horses cannot pick cotton, but black people can easily do it.
However, East Africa conforms to the trend of the times. After all, slavery is a backward and cruel system that is destined to be abandoned by the times. East Africa has also been criticized by abolitionists represented by the Virgin Mary in Britain and France. Of course, from Ernst's point of view, he was more afraid of the backlash of colonialism, so in order to solve the problem once and for all, it was necessary to completely eliminate these "victims" from the land of East Africa.
Val: "Mr. Kairos, you said before that the Belgian Congo is as important as Belgium itself in Europe. Do we in East Africa also have this idea and draw our ideas from Belgium?"
Kairos: "It's almost like this. As we all know, the hatred between us and Portugal cannot be erased. Such an enemy exists and has blocked many of our country's two oceans. Therefore, there must be a relationship between us and Portugal. There is a war, and war is the superposition of multiple factors. An important strategic location like the Belgian Congo is naturally also within the attention of our East African military. "
Kairos explained to Val generously. In this regard, after all, his future work will inevitably involve dealing with the intelligence agencies and the military in East Africa, so it is necessary to understand part of the work content in advance.
After all, Kairos is the East African consul in the Belgian Congo, a diplomatic staff, and Val is his assistant. In this case, there are still many tasks.
Val: "Does the military want to take a detour to attack Portugal?"
Kairos: "I didn't say that. After all, we in East Africa are very peace-loving now. All parts of the country are busy with construction and have no thoughts of external expansion. ”
In fact, there has been no war in East Africa in recent years. It is indeed a lot more honest. After all, large-scale wars will greatly occupy the government’s energy and hinder national development. As for small-scale wars, that is not necessarily the case. You can sharpen the army at any time to ensure the military level of the army.
There have been relatively few small-scale wars in East Africa in recent years. The military has mostly been involved in suppressing slave rebellions and cleaning up wild animals.
Kairos went on to say: "Some things can only be understood and cannot be said. Moreover, the Belgian Congo is a buffer zone. This is the neutral zone that has been acquiesced by the countries of the Berlin Conference. Therefore, we in East Africa do not wait until the last moment. It is impossible to take advantage of the Belgian Congo easily.”
As for the last moment, naturally it means that when the war situation is unfavorable, East Africa has to adopt various means to ensure victory on the battlefield, including borrowing passage from the Belgian Congo and attacking Angola from the rear.
However, this situation is generally difficult to happen, at least most East Africans think so, because East Africa has defeated Portugal once and the fighting power of the Portuguese is still fresh in the memory, so there is a psychological problem Advantages.
The East African military naturally has the same mentality. However, as an important weapon of the country, the military cannot act recklessly and must take into account all the plans it needs to make.
The armies of all countries will try to increase data for the enemy to the greatest extent. Just like many countries in the past life used the United States and Russia as their imagined enemies. In the simulation, they wished that all the US military would drive Gundams, and then fight with this kind in extreme environments. A military confrontation that cannot exist in reality.
When deducing the war, the East African General Staff will also consider the factors in case of defeat on the front line. After all, Portugal has the support of the British behind it, and Portugal itself has some capabilities. What if it is really supported by the British? !
As for the capabilities of the British Army, it is indeed not as large as Germany and France, but the quality of individual soldiers is also firmly in the top five, at least better than Tsarist Russia.
(End of this chapter)