Chapter 802 Argument
Three o'clock in the afternoon.
Nine countries including East Africa, Britain, Portugal, Austria-Hungary, Germany and France participated in the Venice Conference negotiations. Of course, except for a few parties, the rest of the countries mainly focused on soy sauce. It is worth mentioning that the Boer Republic also sent representatives, but the Boers could only sit in the gallery.
Count Ellenthal was responsible for presiding over the meeting: "Gentlemen, it is an honor for everyone to gather in Venice to participate in this meeting on the reconciliation of the South African War. I hope that both parties can sit down and resolve the South African issue calmly. To make its due contribution to regional peace, I will now give the floor to the British representative.”
As one of the protagonists of this meeting, the United Kingdom is undoubtedly the most eye-catching country and also the most powerful in the war. A powerful country, so the British were the first to express their opinions, and East Africa would naturally not object.
British Foreign Secretary Salisbury first said: "The South African War is a war that took place in southern Africa. It has lasted for a full year from last year to now and has not yet ended. The main culprit of this war is the East African Kingdom's The brutal expansion of southern Africa has caused serious humanitarian disasters in Africa. In Angola, Mozambique and other regions, large numbers of people have been displaced or swallowed up by East African artillery fire. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives, and the East African Kingdom has ignored The principle of the sanctity of private property has led to a massive expropriation of the legitimate property of local people in southern Africa. Therefore, on behalf of the British government, I strongly condemn the crimes of the Kingdom of Hechingen in the war, and the East African Kingdom should pay the price for it..."
< br>When Salisbury came up, he shifted all responsibilities to East Africa, and pretended to be righteous, as if East Africa had committed war crimes.
Herman knocked on the table, interrupted Salisbury's speech: "Your Excellency Salisbury, I know that the defeat of the war makes you feel dissatisfied. This kind of psychological dissatisfaction The imbalance is understandable, but I cannot ignore any country’s denigration of our Kingdom of Hechingen.”
There is a huge difference between the names of East Africa by Count Hermann and Salisbury, and the current official name of East Africa. The name is the Kingdom of Hechingen, but other countries still use the Kingdom of East Africa as the official name of East Africa according to inertia or future convenience.
Of course, this does not rule out the fact that some countries do this deliberately. After all, if Africa is not purely geographical, it is synonymous with barbarism and uncivilization in the world.
Salisbury said without blushing to Herman who interrupted him: "I am just objectively describing what the East African army is doing in southern Africa. After all, now Angola, Mozambique and Orange are even launching... Cape Town has fallen into your hands in East Africa, and you know best what you have done there.”
Although what Salisbury said is biased, it is not wrong, and it is humanitarian. Disaster, if black people have "human rights", then it is indeed the case, but this is not a problem belonging to East Africa at all. After all, Britain itself started out by engaging in the black slave trade, and the colonial governments of various countries in Africa were all accomplices, so they did not treat the indigenous Africans. When people see it.
As for the infringement of "private property", it is even more ridiculous. It only allows the British and Portuguese to plunder Africa, and does not allow East African tigers to snatch food. This is the same reason that only state officials are allowed to set fires and the people are not allowed to light lamps.
Essentially, Britain, Portugal, and even the Boers were all latecomers, and they all obtained wealth by plundering black people. Even the black people (Bantu) themselves plundered the San people, so East Africa They just robbed bandits and were no different from the colonists in southern Africa.
Of course, knowing it in your heart is one thing. The East African government will definitely not admit it. Herman also learned Salisbury’s way and said shamelessly: "Your Excellency Salisbury, we in East Africa The military discipline is very strict, unlike some countries in southern Africa where the military is like bandits and does not even spare the crops in the farmers’ fields.”
The military discipline in East Africa is much stronger than that of countries such as the United Kingdom in the current era. Moreover, the British and Portuguese possessions in South Africa cannot even cover the military expenditures of East Africa. As for the land in South Africa that is slightly valuable, it is not ordinary land. People's pockets were confiscated instead.
Of course, if the East African soldiers hide some small items, that is also feasible, but the wealth in places such as Angola and Mozambique is not much, it is just a place where Portugal continues to suck blood, so it is shared equally with everyone Not much to share. Compared with the East African Defense Forces, the British and Portuguese armies were the real bandits. However, Ernst had long been on guard against them and had almost no industries deployed in southern Africa. Therefore, in addition to the serious losses in the port city of New Hamburg during the war, , losses elsewhere in East Africa were almost negligible.
Furthermore, even the damage to the New Hamburg Port was mainly due to destruction. The only thing that allowed the coalition forces to take advantage was the farmland in East Africa that was too late to destroy, which provided a source of food for the coalition forces. Convenient, but some of the food crops in New Hamburg Port City are actually imported from the east, and the planting industry itself is not too developed.
"Haha, Count Hermann, your so-called strict military discipline is just empty talk. Our British Empire has a long history, and the fine military traditions are not something that countries like you in East Africa with a mere decades of history can rely on. "Yes, everyone here must agree with me more. In contrast, the British Empire Army pays more attention to chivalry, while your East African Defense Force is good at opportunism," Salisbury said.
However, other countries present agreed with Salisbury's words. Although East Africa's military strength is not weak, everyone subconsciously compares East Africa with Prussia. After all, they are both thugs of the Hohenzollern family, and their styles should be Pretty much the same.
Of course, this is also the stereotype of Prussia in European armies. Since the Prussian army has undergone several reforms in recent years, it has long ceased to be Wu Xia Amon.
The East African National Defense Forces did "not pay attention to martial ethics" in war. East Africa cannot refute this, because Ernst himself is not very particular about it.
The "chivalry" spirit that the European army pays attention to, in Ernst's view, is simply a product of idle moaning. As long as the army can win the battle, it does not matter what tactics it uses.
Furthermore, the military commanders of the East African army are basically civilians, and they cannot be as "fastidious" as the military nobles in Europe.
"Haha, let's not argue about this. As for the war, the coalition forces took the lead in launching the war. This is an unchangeable fact. Therefore, the war was unjust from the beginning. As the initiators of the war, Britain and Portugal The government itself is the culprit. For us in East Africa, this war is completely a self-defense war to defend our country. This is also the main reason for your failure in the South African War," Count Hermann said aggressively.
The initiators of the war actually include East Africa, but the coalition forces took a step ahead of East Africa. This coincides with the national strategy of East Africa.
But the coalition forces are unlucky. If they start the war even two months later, the culprit of the war will become East Africa.
Of course, the war in East Africa was aimed at Portugal and the Boers. It was impossible for East Africa to directly challenge Britain. Britain's participation in the war was completely greedy and swallowed the elephant.
(End of this chapter)