Chapter 222： decent

Chapter 222 Decent

January 20, 1870.

Grady Sultanate, Mogadishu.

Mogadishu is called by the East African government. This name is derived from ancient Persian, and the locals call it Hama. The Eastern Ming Dynasty called it Mugudushu. The three names show the long history of the city. and the prosperity of cultural exchange.

Now this ancient city has been completely destroyed by the East Africans. Stew bombarded this place with more than 30 artillery pieces. Finally, under the attack of more than 3,000 East African soldiers, the strongest fortress of the Geredi Sultanate was completely destroyed. Turned into a pile of hills.

After the Battle of Mogadishu, the Gradi Sultanate basically declared its subjugation. This is already the most populous area of ​​the Gradi Sultanate.

Grady Sultanate has not been able to support too many people since ancient times. Even Mogadishu is mainly based on animal husbandry, and it is difficult to develop planting.

Mogadishu City is located on the east bank of the Shabelle River. Although the Shabelle River is the largest river in Somalia, its water volume is very small.

(picture)

During February to March, the entire river will dry up directly. If it hadn’t originated in the Ethiopian plateau, the amount of water in other seasons may not be too much, so that the entire river’s shipping and water energy value is almost useless.

Although the shipping value of those rivers in East Africa is not high, they are rich in hydropower resources. The Shabelle River is not sticky, and the Shabelle River is also like the Yellow River, which is very easy to divert. Even in the 21st century, there will be riverbeds higher than the two banks in its downstream. Wonderful, no wonder Ernst said that the Grady Sultanate was of no great value.

"Report to the Chief of Staff, here is a letter from the Central Committee."

Sweet, who was about to lead his army upstream along the Shabelle River, was stopped by the intelligence agent.

He opened the letter and looked at the contents.

"Ravis?"

"Here, Chief of the General Staff!"

"You will stay here and take care of the residents of Mogadishu. From now on, no one is allowed to leave the city. Later, the government will send people to receive the population. At that time, you have to cooperate with the government and show me the people in the whole city."

"Yes, Chief of Staff!" Lavis replied sonorously.

"But the Chief of Staff, what is written in the letter?"

"It's not a big deal. It's okay to tell you. Now East Africa needs more indigenous people to serve as labor force. It's as simple as that."

"By the way, I want to emphasize with you that the royal family and nobles of the Geredi Sultan are detained separately. These people have other uses."

"Yes, Chief of the General Staff!"

This time, Lavis is not curious anymore, the native royal family! In the eyes of Lavis, this thing is no different from those chiefs, so the name is nicer. There are not thousands, but hundreds of indigenous chiefs wiped out in East Africa, which is too common.

…

The territory of the Geredi Sultanate is still very large, mainly in the Shabelle River and Juba River Basin. Next, Sitt will sweep across the entire Shabelle River Basin to wipe out the remaining forces of the Geredi Sultanate, so going up the Shabelle River is about to Can.

The Juba River was struck in the south of the Geredi Sultanate when East Africa went north. Now it can be done by the military police who used to patrol the border in East Africa.

This time, Wei Te's combat scope is not limited to the territory of the Gradi Sultanate, but also includes the territory of the Cushites in the west. After eating the land in the south of the Cushites, the newly occupied Somalia area in East Africa can be connected with the Omo River. The river basins are connected together.

That is to say, the southern regions of Ethiopia and Somalia were merged into the territory of East Africa in history, forming a natural geographical barrier with the Ethiopian plateau and the desert area of ​​Somalia as the boundary.

Once this goal is achieved in East Africa, Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia in the previous life, will directly become the border area between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire. (In history, Menelik II officially moved his capital to Addis Ababa in 1887. This is a terrace in the mountains, which was completely a wilderness before it became the capital of Ethiopia.)

(picture)

"The advantage of fighting in the desert is that you don't have to play hide-and-seek with the indigenous tribes like you do on the grasslands. These tribes of the Geredi Sultanate live by water and grass. We can clean up these indigenous peoples at designated points as long as we follow the river or look for oases." Sitter said.

Not long after leaving Mogadishu, Sit wiped out another village in the Gradi Sultanate, with dozens of people, who raised camels.

"Keep going, this time we're going all the way to the source of the Shabelle River!"

…

"Mr. Platini, if you look at the port of Dar es Salaam alone, what do you think is the strength of East Africa?"

The Portuguese Mozambique Mission is discussing the division of the Malawi Kingdom with the East African government. Although East Africa has essentially occupied the northern part of the Malawi Kingdom, this meeting only needs to allow the Portuguese to invade the southern part of the Malawi Kingdom.

But in order to show that East Africa attaches great importance to this matter, the Dar es Salaam city government actively engaged in an unnecessary tug-of-war with the Portuguese mission.

During the spare time of the meeting, the Portuguese would also conduct official business and assess the strength of East Africa, but the East African government rejected their application for free activities and only allowed them to operate in the port area.

"In terms of urban construction, Dar es Salaam can already be compared with Maputo, but this is of little value. After all, no matter how many houses are built, it cannot increase its strength. However, the construction of the German offshore defense project is still That’s right, Mozambique doesn’t even have such a large-caliber coastal defense gun.”

"Mr. Platini, this is for sure. Just think about the poor navies of Prussia and Austria, and you will understand why the Germans attach importance to coastal defense guns, hahaha!" Evelton laughed heartily.

Platini was also amused by Everton's words. He said: "Mr. Everton, you are right. Without a strong navy, if the Germans don't even have a few coastal defense guns, they will be completely finished." gone."

In fact, the strength of the Portuguese navy may not be comparable to that of the Prussian and Austrian navies, but as the land powers of the Prussian and Austrian countries, their armies are too powerful. At the same time, due to the limited terrain of the navy, it has become a coastal fleet, which is very easy to cause the strength of the two navies. Weak illusion.

Although there are many Portuguese ships, it is estimated that the East African Navy can play heads-up with those old ships.

The earthquake and tsunami in 1755 interrupted Portugal's national fortune, and Portugal's national strength has been steadily declining since then.

Although there are many ships, after all, this is the livelihood of many Portuguese, but the Kingdom of Portugal is unable to support the new shipbuilding plan, and the current situation of the Portuguese Navy is extremely bleak.

In history, it was not until 1876 that the first ironclad ship, the Vasco da Gama, was launched. This old ship, which is not even as good as the Dingyuan, actually participated in Queen Victoria's Diamond Festival, which shows the decline of Portugal.

But this does not prevent the Portuguese from laughing at the maritime power of East Africa. Except for those big countries, the naval power among small countries is very flexible. The two warships taken over from the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the East African Navy are actually as practical as the ocean-going merchant ships of the Hexingen Consortium. There is not much difference, except that more artillery is installed, and in terms of power and volume, most of the ocean-going trading ships of the Hexingen Consortium are newly built, but more advanced.

Similarly, the merchant ships of the Kingdom of Portugal can also serve as warships. This is where the Portuguese have the confidence. They occasionally act as pirates, and they can even play a guest role in the Portuguese navy. The army, the people and the thieves are integrated to maintain the dignity of Portugal, an old colonial kingdom.

(end of this chapter)