Chapter 1144 It’s easy to enjoy the cool weather with East Africa at your back
Cabinda in East Africa is only a hundred kilometers away from Pointe-Noire, so the Belgians in Pointe-Noire are no strangers to Cabinda, the “international metropolis”. All they need is a Cabinda can be reached with a ferry ticket, and of course, the two places are also connected by road.
For the citizens of Pointe-Noire, Cabinda is no less prosperous than Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Many Belgian dignitaries in Pointe-Noire even live directly in Cabinda.
Hughes called a taxi and then called his brother and his family to his residence.
Herman said with some surprise: "Isn't this too expensive?"
For Herman, cars are rare. The automobile industry in Europe is far behind that of the United States, not to mention East Africa. Therefore, only the rich can afford cars in Europe, and Herman The family is not considered wealthy, and they can only envy the rich and aristocratic people who drive cars on the streets of Belgium.
Hughes said nonchalantly: "If you pay attention to the number of cars in Point Noire, you should be able to see that there are quite a lot of cars here. I don't know how the local development has been in recent years, but back then I I was shocked when I came to Pointe-Noire. ”
“Our hometown, Antwerp, is also a big city in Belgium, but when I left Antwerp, I usually saw few cars, but I just arrived in Heilongjiang. "Especially in recent years, the number of cars in Pointe-Noire City has increased rapidly. Almost anyone with a little money will buy one." There are still many wealthy people. I estimate that the number of cars in Pointe-Noire is at least tens of thousands.”
You must know that the total population of Pointe-Noire is only a few hundred thousand, so the car penetration rate in Pointe-Noire is quite high. It is even higher than some cities in East Africa.
Hermann sighed: "Antwerp has not changed much from when you left it, but until I got to Point Noire, I would never have imagined that this place would be a Belgian colony."
Hughes said: "The main reason is that Pointe Noire's location is better. East Africa has developed rapidly in the past ten years. Backed by the big tree of East Africa, Pointe Noire has also enjoyed the dividends of development. A large number of mineral exports have made Pointe Noire extremely rich. You know The area of the entire Belgian Congo is six or seven times that of the mainland, but the population is only a fraction of the mainland. Therefore, mining here is quite developed and can create huge social benefits. Just a little leakage is enough to make many people's mouths full of oil. . ”
“This is also the main reason why I contacted you to take refuge here. What the Belgian Congo lacks most now is population, especially technical talents. You are just a small person working hard in Antwerp. You can work as a small manager here, and the salary is not lower than at home.”
“And there is almost no shortage of anything here, even for medical care, consumption, and education, you can go to East Africa nearby. The two big cities are Cabinda and Kinshasa.”
“Our boss lives in Cabinda, which is a good place with a lot of land. Kinshasa is also good, but it is a bit far from Pointe-Noire. You need to transfer to Cabinda first, and then arrive in Kinshasa by rail or bus.”
Cabinda and Kinshasa are the two most influential and well-known East African cities in the Belgian Congo. Basically, Belgians in the Belgian Congo will go to the two East African cities based on the principle of proximity.
Those on the coast will choose Cabinda, which is very convenient both by sea and land. As for the inland areas, most will choose Kinshasa. They usually reach Kinshasa through the weak inland transportation of the Belgian Congo.
After all, transportation in East Africa is completely different from that of the Belgian Congo. Except for its capital, Pointe-Noire, infrastructure construction in other areas is extremely poor and investment is not high.
Of course, in recent years, due to the export of minerals and agricultural products, the Belgian government has increased investment in transportation in the Belgian Congo, so the traffic situation in the Belgian Congo is improving.
“From what you said, it seems that East Africa played a big role in the development of the Belgian Congo?” Herman asked his brother curiously.
In fact, Herman has long been curious about the country of East Africa. In the past correspondence between the two, Hughes often mentioned East Africa. However, because of the relatively high communication costs, the frequency of contact between the two was not too high. High, maybe once or twice a year, and mainly to report safety. Hughes replied: "That's natural. It can be said that everything in the Belgian Congo is closely related to East Africa. Many industries in the Belgian Congo today are invested by East Africans, and East Africa is basically the only civilized country near the Belgian Congo, so In addition to dealing with the local area, East Africa has the closest relationship with us.”
“Some time ago, East Africa also planned to unite four countries in central Africa, including us, Belgium. At that time, transportation planning and construction of railways and roads were carried out in the areas within the territory. Unfortunately, it was temporarily interrupted due to the war."
"If it were not for the European war, Germany and Belgium became hostile countries. It is estimated that construction has already started.”
It can be said that the relationship between Belgium and Germany is very awkward. After all, they cooperated relatively harmoniously in Africa, but now they have become enemies.
Of course, this is also a helpless move. Germany's invasion of Belgium is definitely morally untenable, but France may not be a good thing.
The reason why Germany chose Belgium as the entry point for the Schlieffen Plan can be said to be related to France’s wicked military deployment.
France’s military deployment can also be related to the famous Maginot Line of Defense in its previous life. In fact, before World War I, France deployed a weakened prototype of the Maginot Line of Defense.
After all, the feud between France and Germany is no longer a matter of one day or two. Since the Franco-Prussian War, most of France's military operations can be related to Germany.
So the French government began to deploy defense projects from the border between the two countries to the Alps. Although the defense system composed of these projects was not as tight and systematic as the Maginot Line, it also greatly increased German pressure.
In fact, before World War I, the French government successfully predicted some of the future plans of the German army, so the French government formulated the so-called Operation Plan No. 17 based on these predictions.
Operation Plan No. 17 is based on the assumptions of the French General Staff about the German offensive plan. In view of the fact that the French army has built a strict defense system in the border area, the French army correctly estimated that the German army would not Launch a direct attack on the front, but bypass the French army's border fortress system through Belgium and Luxembourg to attack the French army's flanks.
In other words, the French government expected from the beginning that Germany might bypass France's eastern defense line, borrow a passage from Belgium or Luxembourg, and then attack the French mainland.
This plays into the French's hands. The French adhere to the beggar-thy-neighbor mentality and have planned to use Belgium as a battlefield between the two countries from the beginning.
Like the German army, the "quick war and quick decision idea" also occupies a dominant position in the French army, and the Eastern Defense Line will obviously focus on defense, so Belgium will also become the main breakthrough point for France's mobile war against Germany.
As long as the war is not fought in France, the French government will not feel bad at all. This is also a lesson learned from the Franco-Prussian War.
So the invasion of Belgium by Germany is inseparable from France. France may have had similar thinking during World War II and did not extend the Maginot Line, but they did not think of the German tactics in World War II. We are no longer in the same dimension as them.
Herman: "When we came, the Germans had occupied Brussels and were very close to Antwerp. This was the main reason why I made up my mind to bring my family to you. Now the two countries have become Enemy, the previous cooperation agreement is naturally a piece of waste paper. I just hope that East Africa will not take advantage of it like Germany did. "
Herman is a little afraid of East Africa in his heart. After all, East Africa is the same as Germany. It is a country of the Germans. At this time, Belgium itself has been invaded by Germany. The Belgian Congo in Africa may be taken advantage of by East Africa.
(End of this chapter)