Chapter 569

After more than two years of construction, Williams Royal Palace has been basically completed.

Oriental Pavilion, Western Castle.

The Royal Palace of Williams is located on the top of the mountain. It not only reproduces the magnificence of Afang palace in the Qin Dynasty, but also restores the grandeur of ancient Rome. It can be called the most powerful palace in the world's architectural history and has become a landmark of Williams empire!

Henry came to the world and worked in the front hall of Williams royal palace!

After sending off the presidents of the four countries, Henry went back to the royal palace. In the office, the phone suddenly rang. After receiving the call, Villette, with a look of surprise, hurried up to Henry and said, "Your Majesty, Apollo Carroll, a senior official of the northern province of Somalia, called and said that the president of Djibouti, Isaiah Wycliffe, hinted to him that Djibouti is willing to belong to the Williams empire!"

After Somalia joined the Williams Empire, the Williams Empire Divided Somalia into three provincial administrative units: Northern Province, Mogadishu city and southern province; Madagascar is divided into four provincial administrative units: tananarivo province (central), Digo city (northern), Southeast Madagascar province (southeast) and southwest Madagascar province (southwest); The boundary between Comoros and Socotra is divided into a province. So there are nine provinces in the Williams empire!

Originally the president of Somalia, Apollo Carroll is now appointed as a senior official of the northern province of Somalia.

"You mean that Djibouti is willing to join the Williams Empire?" Henry was stunned and asked again in uncertainty.

"Yes, your majesty!" Willy nodded and answered with certainty.

Information about the country of Djibouti flashed through Henry's mind. Djibouti is a country located on the West Bank of the Gulf of Aden in northeast Africa. It is adjacent to Eritrean in the north, Ethiopia in the west, southwest and south, Somalia in the southeast, and Yemen across the Mander Strait of the Red Sea in the northeast. With a land area of only 23200 square kilometers and a population of less than 830000, the country is one of the least developed countries announced by the United Nations. However, its strategic position is very important because it is adjacent to the Red Sea to the East and enters the Mander Strait, the key point of the Indian Ocean.

In addition, Henry remembers that in order to weaken Ethiopia, he sent people to secretly stir up the relations between Djibouti and Ethiopia and undermine the signing of the peace agreement between the two countries.

It is reasonable to say that the strategic position of Djibouti is so good that it belongs to "beautiful women taking the initiative to throw themselves in their arms". Henry should be happy, but he frowned.

"Your Majesty?" Villette looked at Henry with a puzzled expression.

Henry shook his head and sighed: "the country of Djibouti is a hot potato!"

After a pause, Henry continued, "Djibouti is poor in natural resources. 90% of its territory is occupied by deserts and volcanoes. It can be said that it is destitute. It produces neither food nor oil, and there is no income from fishing. The industrial and agricultural foundation of the whole country is also very weak. In this case, do you know how the country makes money?"

As the king's secretary, Villette should know all the countries in the world.

She thought about it and replied, "Your Majesty, the rental military base in Djibouti accounts for more than 25% of the income of Djibouti! The United States, France and Japan have established permanent military bases here one after another, and the United States alone has to provide more than 60 million US dollars of base rent to Djibouti every year! "

Henry nodded and said, "yes, it's because of the base garrison, so the problem is more difficult! In the early years of France, 3000 or 4000 troops were stationed here. Later, in the name of anti-terrorism, the United States also stationed troops here. Since Somalia was merged into the Williams Empire, the United States knew that the Williams empire was incompatible with Japan, so in order to suppress the Williams Empire militarily, Japan was allowed to establish an overseas military base in Djibouti in the name of anti-terrorism and anti piracy! And Djibouti has become Japan's first overseas base, and also the first permanent overseas base! Originally, Japan was a defeated country in World War II. The 1947 Peace Constitution stipulates that Japanese armed forces have only the right of self-defense, which prohibits the deployment of military bases overseas. However, by embracing the thighs, Japan can not only establish military bases overseas, but also follow the United States to participate in various military operations, with rich combat experience! "

Henry said, his brow involuntarily wrinkled into a "Sichuan". Williams Empire had conflicts with France, and now Japan and the United States are eyeing it. It's like there are three bombs nearby, which may explode at any time.

And there are troops from other countries. The Gulf of Aden and the exit of the Suez canal are guarded by Djibouti, which is far away from the Persian Gulf. It is the throat of maritime traffic. If an army is stationed here, it can control the world's oil lifeline and east-west shipping with a little deployment. There are both the so-called "terrorist" forces in the West and pirates running rampant in the areas around Djibouti, which makes the major countries find excuses to intervene.

Gibb's summary is that when he joined the Williams Empire, not only the United States, Japan, and France would oppose it, but other countries would also oppose it. If not, the war broke out. So Henry had no confidence in annexing Djibouti. The reason why Djibouti proposed to join the Williams empire is probably because after seeing Somalia join the Williams Empire, great changes have taken place.

"Your Majesty, what shall we do?"

"Djibouti can't be merged, but we have to make some preparations." Henry said with a smile: "according to statistics, about 30% of the world's oil goes through the Gulf of Aden route, and the place where Djibouti is located is just above the throat of this hub. The major military powers in the world have set up military bases here one after another, whose main purpose is to ensure the safety of their own country's oil transportation. As a major oil importing country, will China not be moved? You know, about 34% of China's oil imports come from the Middle East and Africa... "

"Your Majesty is looking for an alliance with China?"

"You're only half right. It's right to form an alliance. On the other hand, once China establishes a military base in Djibouti, the main attention of Japan and the United States will be focused on China! " Henry said with a smile.

"Villette, when you reply to the president of Djibouti, you say that because of the pressure from the United States, Japan, France and other countries, the Williams empire can't agree to the request of Djibouti to join the Empire, but we are willing to provide us $100 million as a consolation. After that, you call the Chinese ambassador to the Williams Empire to support China's establishment of an overseas military base in Djibouti! "

"Yes