Chapter 395： Play rogue

Chapter 395 Playing Rogue

Among the Boer republics, only the Orange Free State has relatively abundant finances. Although the majority of the Kimberley diamond mine was taken away by the British, it can at least leave some soup.

The Republic of Grigualand is actually very rich in resources, but they have not been explored. In addition, the climate in Grigualand is harsh and the population is sparse. Even if mineral resources are discovered, it is unable to develop and mine. The only thing that the Republic of Grigualand can engage in is The industry is nomadism. As a result, the economic level of the Republic of Grigualand is destined to be low, not even comparable to some Arab countries with similarly poor natural conditions.

A few days later, Merk annexed the territory of the Republic of Grigualand to the Kingdom of East Africa under the noses of the British and the top leaders of the Republic of Grigualand.

This made the administrators sent to Grigualand from the Cape Colony dumbfounded. Because the East African Army moved too quickly, the British did not react until East Africa blocked the Orange River.

After reporting at all levels, Johnson, the top administrator of the British Cape Colony in Grigualand, met with Merkel.

"Your Excellency Merkel, this is a naked act of aggression by your East African Kingdom. Grigualand is already a territory of the British Empire. Does your East African Kingdom want to challenge the majesty of the British Empire?" Johnson asked as soon as he saw Merkel. road.

Merck actually felt very unsure when he saw Johnson saying this. It was not because he was afraid of the UK, but because this matter was really wrong for East Africa.

"Mr. Johnson, please calm down first. In fact, we did not mean to offend your country. I would like to apologize to you first."

Seeing that Merk had a good attitude, Johnson said: "Well, that's cool, but then I will withdraw your troops from Grigualand immediately, and I can treat this as if it never happened."

"Withdraw troops?" Merkel was amused. How could he spit out what he had eaten in his mouth? He smiled and said to Johnson: "Mr. Johnson, I'm afraid this matter will not go as you wish. It is impossible for our East African Kingdom to Withdrawal from the Orange River line!"

Johnson felt greatly insulted when he heard this, but thinking about the strength of the East African Kingdom made him calm down again. Now there is a fact.

That means that the Cape Town colony cannot send troops to rescue itself. Not to mention that Cape Town does not have many troops in the first place. More importantly, it is because Grigualand cannot organize an army to recapture it.

However, as an official of the British Empire, the person standing behind him is the most powerful country in the world, so Johnson believes that the East African Kingdom does not dare to do anything to him.

 He ​​asked Merk in return: "What, do you, the East African Kingdom, want to challenge the empire and test whether the empire's martial virtue is sufficient?"

Merkel did not answer the question, but said to Johnson: "East Africa is a peace-loving country, and of course I have no intention to offend the United Kingdom. However, the withdrawal of troops is not something I, a junior officer, can decide. This requires an order from the central government." , I will send the news back to the country in time, and the central government will decide."

This is of course not the reason. In fact, Ernst is in Pretoria now, and it will take less than a few days to send messengers to let the crown prince know the news.

However, Merk did not want the British to know this. He needed to find a reason to keep East Africa from leaving, and then East Africa would take administrative measures to drive away the merchants and residents of the Republic of Grigualand and completely destroy Grigualand. Became the territory of the East African Kingdom.

This matter can be easily solved. One is to abolish the slavery system, and the other is to impose heavy taxes on the Griguarans and force the Griguarans to voluntarily move to the Orange Free State.

This is the tactic of "boiling the eagle". It would be better if the Griguarans did not take the unusual path and actively provoke the East African Army. This is exactly what Merkel wants, and the Griguarans can be directly and violently driven away. After the Republic of Grigualand is completely destroyed, the British accusations against the Kingdom of East Africa will naturally cease to exist. You said that East Africa invaded the Republic of Grigualand. Why don’t I see the so-called Republic of Grigualand? This place has been here since ancient times. It has been our German land ever since.

Merkel has the confidence to dare to do this. He has been in Africa for many years, which has also given East Africans a more thorough understanding of Africa.

That is, except for the East African Kingdom, there is currently no opponent on the sub-Saharan African continent worthy of the East African Kingdom's full strength.

Of course, the British are not weak, but Merk does not believe that the British will have trouble with the East African Kingdom for the sake of the small Grigualand. Can the British mobilize large armies from other regions to conquer East Africa?

The East African Kingdom is not Egypt. Abyssinia is a seemingly powerful country, but turns out to be broken at the first touch. The British really have no way to defeat the East African Kingdom that has already established a foothold in Africa on land.

Even if the British blockaded the coastline of East Africa and cut off East Africa's foreign trade, this will not work now. Ernst was afraid of this move in the past because the East African kingdom did not have enough population, and in the early stages of the colony, it had to rely on blood transfusions from the Hechingen Consortium. The rations, seeds, livestock, tools, weapons and equipment needed to maintain operations and initially develop the East African colonies all needed to be imported from Germany and other parts of the world.

Now the East African Kingdom can completely rely on Africa to achieve independence. Relying on a population of nearly seven million, it has achieved internal circulation, has a strong planting industry, and has a handicraft system that is barely self-sufficient. Especially in the military industry, the East African Army and European Basic There is no generational difference.

Now the mainstream weapons of the army are nothing more than two types, guns and artillery. The Dresser rifles and small-caliber artillery equipped by the East African Army are not bad. They are first-class in Africa. The most important thing is these two things. East Africa has been able to realize its own Self-produced and sold.

Large-caliber artillery is actually not bad in East Africa. Although it cannot be produced, there are enough stocks in East Africa. The large-caliber artillery deployed near the coastline can be dispatched for use at any time. This is not a big deal. The artillery in East African ports adopts the saturation type. A defensive counterattack strategy to deal with enemies at sea. From the day the East African Kingdom gained access to the sea, Ernst knew that the biggest threat to East Africa in the future would come from the sea. Therefore, the number of artillery along the coastline was actually excessive. The number of artillery along the East African coast even exceeded The number of coastal defense guns the Austro-Hungarian Empire had around the Adriatic Sea gave Austrian military-industrial enterprises a huge dividend.

However, this is also a strategy implemented by the Hechingen Consortium in Europe. As one of the world's top grain merchants, the Hechingen Consortium must make some balance and sacrifices to gain a foothold in Germany and Austria. Otherwise, the Junker aristocracy and the Hungarian aristocracy It would be impossible for the food companies of the Hechingen Foundation to exist.

In fact, the food companies of the Hechingen Consortium are one of the largest purchasers of agricultural products in Germany and Austria. In recent years, the wine industry in the two countries has been promoted by the Hechingen Consortium, allowing landowners in the two countries to diversify some cash crops. Only cheap food can naturally fill the vacancy. In the end, both parties can benefit. The only one injured is Tsarist Russia. The entire market is too huge. Although Tsarist Russia has tens of millions of gray livestock, the gray animals are not as good as the more than 20 million black slaves in East Africa. Great value for money.

Neither the East African mainland nor the Hechingen Consortium will come to a standstill because of British sanctions, so there is no weakness in East Africa. The ice-covered Alaska is a burden, but the British may not think of it, because Ernst himself often forgets This territory still exists in the hands of the Hechingen royal family.

All in all, East Africa's national strength gives Merkel the confidence to act rogue. Even if the other party is the United Kingdom, East Africa has nothing to fear.

Merkel's reticent attitude put Johnson in trouble, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, Johnson became even less calm.

At this time he realized, East African Kingdom, East African Kingdom, since it is an East African Kingdom, how did they come to South Africa?

Also, East Africa dispatched so many troops just to deal with the small Republic of Grigualand. What is the overall strength of the East African Kingdom? It’s scary to think about it!

Johnson suddenly realized that he had noticed something extraordinary. This matter must be reported to Cape Town and even London, but he had to get out of Grigualand first.

(End of this chapter)