Chapter 1184 Take All
In fact, the Sahara Railway is a completely achievable project. At least Ernst knew it very well. After all, the railways in Egypt and Sudan were connected in the previous life, and in this time and space, East Africa has also been connected for a long time. The railway has been expanded to the city of Gezira, so as long as Egypt and the United Kingdom are dealt with, there will be no obstacles to the completion of this railway.
It is the least difficult to connect to the Mediterranean from Egypt, which is entirely due to the existence of the Nile River. If other areas are chosen for construction, such as Libya, the difficulty and economic benefits will also deter East Africa.
Not only is the distance long, but the climate conditions are harsher, and there is no cost recovery in densely populated areas like the Nile River.
Of course, if it involves mineral resources, that’s a different story. This is not without cases. In its previous life, Mauritania built a railway deep into the hinterland of the Sahara Desert to develop its own iron ore resources.
Therefore, Ernst did not completely deny the possibility of other routes. He told senior government officials: "It is not impossible to go through Libya, but the premise is that Libya has enough resources to make us excited."
"Although the economy and population of Libya are basically distributed along the northern coast, this does not mean that there are no resources in the vast desert in the hinterland of Libya. "
"After all, the Libyan area covers an area of more than one million square kilometers. Even under such a large land area, there must be rich mineral deposits."
In fact. Sturt's conclusion is completely correct. In addition to oil, Libya is also very rich in mineral reserves of iron, potash, manganese, phosphate, copper, tin, sulfur, kaolin and other minerals.
It’s just that Libya’s oil resources are so prominent that many people tend to ignore other mineral resources in Libya, and Ernst is one of them.
Of course, the development of these mine resources in desert areas is obviously much more difficult than in other areas. After all, the mining industry requires a lot of people, and desert areas generally lack water resources to supply a large number of people for production and life.
Ernst continued: "Libya is a French colony, but France's control of Libya is mainly concentrated in the coastal area. We can send professionals to the areas bordering southern Libya and South Germany to conduct surveys, maybe in the future "
Libya does not border on East Africa, but borders on the South German Kingdom, a subordinate country in East Africa. The South German Kingdom even annexed a lot of land in Libya in its previous life.
So if East Africa has the idea of building the western line of the Sahara Railway in the future, it cannot bypass the Kingdom of South Germany. It is certainly feasible if it goes through Sudan, but there are also closeness and distance between countries. East Africa will definitely favor the Kingdom of South Germany. .
The discussion on the "Sahara Railway" ends here. According to the current international situation, geopolitics, natural environment and other factors, it is simply impossible for the East African government to build the Sahara Railway.
Of course, Ernst still left some people with some suspense. After all, the Sahara Desert is in the north of East Africa. If East Africa wants to strengthen its influence on the North African region in the future, the Sahara Railway plan may not be impossible.
Although the Sahara desert is vast, the length of the Sahara railway will only be three to four thousand kilometers, which is not too long. If the Egyptian route plan is chosen, that is, the eastern route plan, its length will only be More than two thousand kilometers can be solved.
Back to the topic, the fanciful idea of the Sahara Railway was thrown up at the East African government meeting, mainly to circumvent British restrictions on trade between East Africa and Europe.
So the primary goal of the East African government at this stage is to ensure the smooth flow of routes as much as possible and safeguard the interests of East African countries.
Ernst said: "The Sahara Railway does not solve the problem. The railway capacity is limited and the cost is too high. Especially the maintenance costs of operating in desert areas are unimaginable, and even if we plan to build this railway now , I’m afraid it will take several years. By that time, the war in Europe will probably be over, so the gains will not be worth the losses, so everyone should think of other ways.”
In the final analysis, the British still do nothing. This also shows the advantages of maritime powers. By controlling a few core shipping channels, the British can achieve a material and trade blockade against most countries. Taking the overseas colonies in East Africa as an example, Britain only needs to cut off the Strait of Malacca to isolate East Africa from the colonies in Southeast Asia, Alaska, the South Pacific and other regions, and it can also cut off the trade between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire.
Not to mention that the UK also has Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, the English Channel, the North Sea, the Drake and the Falklands near the Strait of Magellan, etc. In addition, there are many important islands such as Malta and Cyprus. , Seychelles, etc., coupled with the Royal Navy, this is the foundation for Britain to become a world hegemon.
As for maritime transportation hubs like the Suez Canal, Gibraltar, and Malacca, East Africa does not have any of them, so East Africa is quite passive now.
In the past few decades, East Africa has not planned any plans for these places that Britain attaches most importance to. For example, the South African War involves the Cape of Good Hope, so East Africa has not conquered a single battle.
If these core areas of the UK are really touched, the UK will not declare war with Germany, but with East Africa. After all, even if the European continent is unified, the UK will be injured at most, but these strategic locations overseas are missing, and the UK's Hegemony is really over.
Of course, East Africa does not want to compete with Britain, which is at its peak. The resources available to Britain are still very large, and under the power it has accumulated for hundreds of years, Britain's overseas colonies are still very loyal, such as South Africa and Australia. , India, Canada and other British loyal dogs.
If Britain uses all its power to deal with East Africa, East Africa will never feel better. Of course, East Africa cannot accept that East Africa and Britain fight to the death and end up benefiting the United States, Japan, Germany, France, and Russia. nation.
So it is easy to destroy the old system, but the ultimate beneficiary is not East Africa, which would rather the old world system continue to survive.
Germany is a typical case. Today, Germany is a warrior challenging the old world order. But even if Germany can win the final victory, the gains in East Africa and the United States will never be inferior.
If this happens, East Africa will definitely be the first to add insult to injury to Britain and inherit the British heritage around the Indian Ocean such as Egypt, India, South Africa, and Australia.
That would be equivalent to East Africa directly controlling the trade of Eurasia and controlling the two continents of Africa and Australia. Even if Germany unified Europe at this time, East Africa would in fact become the new British Empire.
So as long as East Africa does not end, regardless of whether the Entente or the Central Powers win in the end, East Africa will be the biggest beneficiary, not even the United States can compare with this.
After all, the United States could at most gain a lot of economic benefits from the European War, but it could not go further politically and territorially. This had actually been reflected in the early stages of the war.
At this stage of the war, in addition to gaining a lot of economic benefits, East Africa has also successfully imported military power into West Africa, the Persian Gulf, the South Pacific and other regions along with the rapid expansion of East Africa's overseas territories. Economically, Achieving universal access at the political and military levels.
The United States cannot do this. This is determined by the geographical location of the United States. After all, the United States is too far away from the World Island. In fact, Africa can also be regarded as part of the World Island. After all, Africa and the Eurasian continent are also bordered, and the Ring North Africa within the Mediterranean has always been an indispensable part of Western civilization.
So if the geographical location of East Africa can be utilized, it is no less than the Middle East, the crossroads of the world. After all, the crossroads of the world also means the place of four wars. It has both advantages and disadvantages in its impact on the Middle East, but East Africa is relatively It is safe and has certain transportation advantages.
After integrating local resources in East Africa, East Africa is already in a position where it can advance and attack, and retreat and defend. At least in Ernst's view, East Africa's geographical location is very good.
(End of this chapter)