Chapter 486： Diplomatic suppression

Chapter 486: Diplomatic Suppression

The Central Railway passes through the Matabele Plateau and is hidden behind East Africa. Although the Portuguese knew that railways existed in East Africa, they did not expect that East Africa would lead to the interior.

This again involves their blind spot, because railways without people and logistics will lose money, and with Africa’s population density and economic development level, it will take too long to recover, or no one wants to believe that an African country has such strength. .

"After cutting off East Africa in the middle and Portugal taking away part of the territory in the middle, we can declare an armistice. It is still difficult for Portugal to compete with East Africa based on its strength alone." Clément also knows that enough is enough, but even with this result, East Africa It's also unacceptable.

If East Africa knew what the French were thinking, they would definitely reply, "What about thinking of good things?" The country says it will be divided by you, so divide it! Moreover, it is still the land in the middle part of East Africa. Even if the land is ceded and compensation is paid, it will only start from the edge, and there is no way to cut it from the middle.

Moreover, Clement is a bit wishful thinking. The French are used to showing off their power in the colonies, and they think that East Africa is also a soft persimmon like the French colony. Fortunately, France is just playing the role of a slanderous villain this time. If it really gets involved, East Africa will definitely destroy it. A mouthful of rotten teeth.

…

Schönbrunn Palace.

“Your Majesty, this morning British diplomats revealed to us that war will break out in Portugal and East Africa, so we should not intervene easily.”

"Well!" Franz said angrily: "When did the British get involved in our affairs? If they say they don't want to interfere, they won't interfere?"

Franz didn't know at all that a war might break out between Portugal and East Africa, because the East African side had not disclosed the news to him before. In the end, he still learned about it from the British. However, the British attitude made Franz very unhappy. Everyone was The leader of the world order, at least the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not think that it was any worse than the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom still wanted to command it!

“Your Majesty, the behavior of the British just shows how much they attach importance to Africa, or in other words, the importance they attach to East Africa. East Africa obviously threatens the interests of the British, so they allow them to target East Africa in this way.”

Franz: "Huh, does the British think that we are commanding East Africa? And their attitude is simply too arrogant."

"There is nothing we can do about it. In fact, the British control the Suez Canal and have a strong naval force in the Mediterranean. It can easily separate us from East Africa. The Imperial Navy is naturally not strong enough to challenge the British, so the British Let’s stay out of it, there’s really nothing we can do.”

Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not have a strong desire for overseas colonization. Although its naval strength is not weak, it is blocked in the Adriatic Sea. If it establishes overseas colonies, the navy will not be able to protect it, and it will be easily cut off by Britain, France and other countries. .

Of course, it is not impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to follow Germany's approach of picking up leftovers as its own colonies, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously pays more attention to the cost issue. The more rotten land it takes, the more money it loses. After all, the colonies also have to pay for their rule. As for the cost, if the colonial income is not high, how can we expect the mainland to repay it every year?

Why was East Africa able to grab a big chunk of territory in Africa? It relied on hard work and opportunities. It happened to seize the window period, and then expanded step by step to where it is today. Although East Africa’s efforts have made great progress in the local economy, it is still struggling After the fruits are planted, there are always people who are jealous and want to pick peaches.

“The more I say this, the more I want to see the British suffer. How do you think we should support East Africa?” Franz asked.

“Your Majesty, do we really want to offend the British for East Africa?”

"What do you mean by offending the British for East Africa? I just can't swallow this breath. Do you just do whatever the British say? You are not the lower-level British government!"

"However, we really have no way to support East Africa. The geographical location of East Africa, no, to be precise, our geographical location is naturally limited to only play a role in Europe. East Africa has exceeded the radiation range of the imperial army. As long as the British want to , we can’t even send a shipment of supplies to East Africa.” It is indeed difficult for the British to verbally threaten the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both sides are world powers, and no one is superior in status, but the British strength is indeed higher Austria-Hungary was first, so the British dared to threaten the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the matter of East Africa. As for why they threatened the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was because of the quasi-alliance treaty between East Africa and Austria.

A quasi-alliance is not an alliance, but from an outsider's perspective, the meaning is completely different. The British believe that East Africa is the younger brother of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If they want to defeat someone else's younger brother, they must first deal with the other party's older brother.

Of course, out of "respect" for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British would not end up. They would just let Portugal and East Africa have a one-on-one challenge. It seemed fair, but Britain and France got sidetracked. On the one hand, it prevented the Austro-Hungarian Empire from intervening, and on the other hand, it vigorously provided military assistance to Portugal.

“Furthermore, we don’t seem to have anything to support East Africa. East Africa’s weapon systems seem to be more similar to Germany’s. Only the artillery is the same as ours.”

Military assistance must be the first choice for weapons and equipment, but it is obvious that East Africa has a self-contained weapons supply system, and East Africa is also self-sufficient in other aspects. The Austro-Hungarian Empire really does not know how to assist East Africa.

Franz had no choice but to personally find the East African ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and ask what East Africa's plans were: "The British are preparing to take action against you. Haven't you got any information at all?"

“Your Majesty, we know very well that Britain and France are trying to use Portugal as an agent to fight a war with East Africa in an attempt to weaken East Africa.”

"There is something about France involved here? Moreover, since you know that the war is about to break out, how can you still sit still?" Franz asked, looking at the calm East African ambassador.

“Your Majesty, as long as the British do not personally die on the battlefield in Africa, we in East Africa have the confidence to defeat the Portuguese. Even if the British die, we still have the confidence to confront the British.”

Franz: “…”

Now Franz feels that East Africa and Prussia are really carved out of the same mold. Is it the surname Hohenzollern that is the culprit that makes Prussia go further and further down the road of using force to solve problems.

Seeing that Franz didn't believe it, the East African ambassador had no choice but to say: "We in East Africa have more than 200,000 well-trained army troops, all equipped with new Mauser rifles and relatively complete machine guns and artillery. This military force is definitely unparalleled in Africa." First, East Africa is not afraid of the threat of war, and strength is the real reason why East Africa can remain calm."

In the past, there was Egypt before East Africa, but since the era of the Dreiser rifle, East Africa has actually been the de facto number one military force in Africa. Especially after making up for the shortcomings of the navy, Egypt is no longer comparable to East Africa.

Franz: "You must not include the militia. Without professional soldiers as a framework, a makeshift army would be useless."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that we will not lie. In fact, Archduke Ferdinand is very clear about the military strength of East Africa. If your Majesty is worried, you can directly send a telegram to inquire."

In the past, East Africa hid many things, but now it is no longer necessary. After all, once the war breaks out, East Africa's strength will be revealed, and there is no need to deliberately hide it.

(End of this chapter)