Chapter 814 Comeback?
During this period, Archduke Ferdinand was very confident in the East African Navy. During the South African War, the East African Navy was under the greatest pressure. Under such high pressure every day, the East African Navy gained a lot of experience. , eliminating a large number of potential problems.
“Now in the naval department, after the baptism of war, it can be said that except for the powerful British navy with deep internal strength, we dare to use our sword against any navy, so we are fully confident to win the island of Madagascar, which is very close at hand. Archduke Ferdinand said confidently to Ernst.
"Madagascar is not a small place. If you want to control the vast area except the Kingdom of Imerina, you will definitely not be able to do it with less troops. Therefore, this time the army should be stationed on Madagascar permanently after the navy seizes the target, and the troops should be It cannot be less than one brigade, and it is best to equip them with cavalry. At the same time, in order to guard against the private expansion of the Kingdom of Immerina, we must knock them out and let them stay peacefully in the eastern plateau area," General Staff Officer Sweet said.
Currently, the Kingdom of Imerina is the biggest obstacle to East Africa's expansion to Madagascar. Since the Kingdom of Imerina has the highest level of civilization on Madagascar, they also have the intention of annexing the entire island of Madagascar.
This is obviously not in the interest of East Africa, so the Kingdom of Immerina must be dealt a heavy blow to restrain its people from migrating into the East African region in the future until the East African people's base in Madagascar is enough to prevent the expansion of the southwest and southwest of Madagascar. .
This is a typical "immigration real border" policy, which in turn can also be called an "immigration invasion" plan. East Africa can develop from a small area in East Africa to a large country spanning the southeast, middle, north and three African regions. It relies on a steady stream of immigration activities.
This kind of rogue style of play is simply impossible for traditional colonists to resist. Once they confront East Africa, there will be a shortage of manpower.
However, for a long time to come, East Africa is unlikely to have a large population on the island of Madagascar. In this case, it is particularly important to beat the Kingdom of Imerina.
The current population distribution in East Africa is very uneven, especially in places such as Angola and Mozambique, where the population base is basically zero. Even the most densely populated eastern part of East Africa is actually relatively sparsely populated.
For a long time in the future, the priority development direction of East Africa will definitely be the west and south, as well as the developing central part. For the time being, there is not much remaining population to consider Madagascar.
“The territorial expansion of Madagascar must be completed within one year, otherwise we will miss the best opportunity when France or Britain complete their colonization of the Kingdom of Immerina, so we must Before the end of 1890, the conquest of the western and southern parts of Madagascar must be completely completed,” Ernst said, “As for the strength of the troops, let the Southern Military District place a brigade on Madagascar, and the Northern Military District provide a cavalry brigade, especially on Madagascar. The arid areas in the south. "
This is basically equivalent to placing a division of troops on Madagascar, which is more than enough to deal with the Kingdom of Immerina, which has a population of only more than two million.
That is to say, the island of Madagascar is close to the mainland of East Africa, otherwise it would be difficult to support the scale of this garrison. But in turn, because Madagascar is close to East Africa, East Africa cannot turn a blind eye to this place.
……
September 21, 1889.
Not long after the South African War, East Africa once again launched a colonial war against the island of Madagascar. A total of more than 12,000 East African navy and army troops landed on the island of Madagascar.
And this also gave a painful lesson to all Malagasy ethnic groups except the Imerina people, because the Imerina people are of the yellow race, and the rest except the Kingdom of Imerina Most of the power belongs to the Bantu people, the black people who lived in West Africa in ancient times.
Of course this is purely coincidental. They happen to live in the area that East Africa is about to expand. East Africa has always been merciless to black people. In addition, the development of Madagascar lacks a population, so a large number of Bantu people became slaves. However, the black population in the East African controlled area is not large. Because they live in the savanna area, these black people are no different from the black tribes who lived on the East African grasslands. The entire black population of Madagascar is only a few hundred thousand, and there are many black people. Yellow mixed breed.
As for the rapid increase in the black population in Madagascar in the previous life, it was entirely caused by the introduction of black slaves by France in order to expand plantations. The French introduced at least more than 500,000 black people into Madagascar.
In addition, Madagascar is too close to the African continent, and even blacks, a race with low technical level, can cross the sea, so there are naturally more and more blacks on Madagascar.
However, since the founding of East Africa, even if the French occupied Madagascar, they would not be able to introduce cheap black slave resources. Unless they introduced the population from West Africa regardless of the cost, it is obvious that Madagascar is not worth the French effort.
Of course, the French are still huddled on the northern and eastern coasts, and they have not even settled the Kingdom of Immerina, so the history of Madagascar has been completely changed beyond recognition.
……
"What do the East Africans want to do? Our two countries have just signed an armistice agreement, and now you are attacking Madagascar. It is too much. Do you want to provoke the South African War again?" Bruce, the first British Minister to East Africa, asked the East African government protested.
No wonder Minister Bruce was nervous. When the East African cavalry appeared at the border of the Kingdom of Imerina, he was almost frightened to death.
I even thought that East Africa was going to "come back" and start a new war. This worry was not unnecessary. After all, Britain did not gain an advantage in the South African War.
So they were worried that the victorious East Africa would become swollen, which was not conducive to the stability of the South African region. The ensuing military operation in Madagascar further confirmed Minister Bruce’s speculation, which was why he actively contacted Causes of East African Governments.
“Minister Bruce, please be patient. Of course we respect your country’s interests in Madagascar, but as far as we know, Britain’s influence on Madagascar is limited to the Kingdom of Immerina. There is not even a deployment of troops, and the western and southern parts of Madagascar have been 'terrain without a citizen' since ancient times, so our East African activities in Madagascar are completely reasonable and legal," the receptionist at the East African Embassy answered.
After hearing this, Minister Bruce asked: "Does that mean you will not invade the Kingdom of Immerina?"
"Naturally, East Africa has never had any thoughts about the Kingdom of Immerina. We are in Madagascar The military operations in the west and south of the island are entirely to ensure the security of the western Indian Ocean route."
For the shameless remarks in East Africa, Minister Bruce sneered: "On the island of Madagascar, the Kingdom of Immerina is the core of our UK. interests, so no matter what East Africa does, it cannot enter the territory of the Kingdom of Immerina. At the same time, in order to determine the spheres of influence of the two countries, we must make a detailed border demarcation on Madagascar.”
The East African government is very reluctant to Bruce’s request. It was easy to accept it. After all, we can’t “deceive others too much”, and East Africa would like to see a peaceful solution to the Madagascar issue.
However, even if the trouble in East Africa is solved, it will not be easy for the British to control the Kingdom of Immerina, because France is the main force that really expands to the Kingdom of Immerina, and it is still the kind that the British cannot stop. .
(End of this chapter)