Chapter 126 Border Patrol
Ernst tried his best to change Rudolf's fate because he was really curious about the future. No matter how Rudolf changed, it would not affect his plan to develop East Africa. The specific effect would not become apparent until after World War I.
Someone once said in the past that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the empire of Franz alone. That makes a lot of sense. The establishment and demise of this empire were closely related to Franz.
Anyway, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no future at all. With that dualistic political system, only Franz could control it, and it was only a matter of time before it would split up.
…
The sound of camel bells was heard in the distance, and a camel caravan appeared on the horizon of Kenya. There were not many camels, only about twenty or so.
The camel leading the way walked gracefully on the sandy ground, and the people sitting on it swayed back and forth rhythmically with the camel's steps.
He wore a Mexican-style straw hat, a specially made light yellow Prussian military uniform, and carried a Prussian Dereich rifle on his back.
The soldier on the camel following in the second position was carrying a lion flag of the Black Hinggan royal family. These features indicated that this was a regular armed force of the East African colony.
The militia could not get the most advanced Draysey rifles, and they still used muzzle-loading flintlock rifles that had to be loaded with gunpowder from the front.
Light yellow military uniforms are also rare in Africa. This was specially tendered by Ernst's factory in Germany. The Prussian army has always been active in Europe and is not equipped with this kind of clothing to cope with the tropical desert environment.
Africa is hot to begin with, and because of the plateau terrain, most areas are very sunny, especially in the desert areas in northern Kenya.
Therefore, straw hats are being purchased more and more in East Africa. This can also be regarded as a characteristic of East Africa. There are many people wearing straw hats in the fields, villages, cities, military and government agencies.
Currently, East Africa's straw hats are mainly ordered from the Far East. Straw hats are difficult to produce mechanically, and manual production is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Therefore, the straw hats in East Africa are mainly imported. Originally, Mexico could also be used as the human resources there are also abundant, but it cannot be compared with the Far East, so the price of Far East straw hats is cheaper.
However, the style of the Far Eastern straw hat was too monotonous, and Ernst personally did not like this style, so Ernst asked someone to provide the style of the Mexican straw hat to Far Eastern merchants and asked them to purchase it according to the style.
Of course, there are also some immigrants from East Africa and the Far East who can weave straw hats, but at most they weave them for themselves during the slack season. This thing is very demanding of patience and is not cost-effective for immigrants who are already well fed and well-dressed. Some immigrants don't even care about the scorching sun in Africa. After all, they used to face the loess and back to the sky, and were used to the feeling of the scorching sun.
It is the color of the clothes and the straw hats that make this East African camel caravan look quite like the American West when viewed from a distance. The difference is that the cowboys in the American West ride horses, while this team rides camels.
There are Germans, Austro-Hungarians (with some overlap with Germans) and Chinese in the camel caravan, which is very consistent with the population composition of the current East African colonies.
They are roaming around the border between Somalia and Kenya, which is the border guards.
Of course, there is no obvious border between Somalia and Kenya now, because the area where the East African colonies patrol is mainly desert and grassland, with basically no people living there, let alone national power.
Currently, Somalia is a hodgepodge, with a large number of indigenous tribes and Arab forces. In the past, the main colonizing players in Somalia were Britain, France and Italy.
The only people who are really active in Somalia are the British, and they are mainly active in the Somaliland region in northwestern Somalia (on the coast of the Gulf of Aden).
The French occupied only a small area, and were next to the British. (Mainly Djibouti in 1859)
The Italians had not yet arrived (1889), so large areas of central and southern Somalia were actually no man's land in the eyes of Europeans (ignoring the local indigenous people).
If East Africa's focus was not on northern Kenya and northwestern East Africa, Ernst would not mind taking over a large piece of Somalia.
However, Somalia cannot be taken lightly, especially Mogadishu, which is an important port city on the coast of the Indian Ocean and has a long history. Zheng He once visited there (called Mugudushu).
Therefore, unlike those unworldly natives in inland Africa, Somalia is deeply influenced by Arab civilization, and its strength is at least on the same level as Zanzibar.
The last time, the battle in Zanzibar was dramatic, and the coastal area was not far from Dar es Salaam, so it could support the battle at any time, which also gave the army confidence.
As for the East African colonies in northern Kenya, which borders Somalia, they have not yet been developed and there are not many people. Ernst naturally would not take the risk of attacking Somalia.
Don't end up losing the rice instead of the chicken, and end up in a embarrassing situation like the Italians did to Ethiopia, which would be embarrassing.
Moreover, unlike the Italians who simply wanted to colonize East Africa, the Italians needed local indigenous people as labor to create value for Italy.
In order to ensure the stability of future rule in East Africa, the local population must be cleared out, so the resistance in the Somali region will be even stronger.
Mogadishu was a place where Americans had suffered defeat in the past. Ernst did not intend to take action against Somalia without gathering a force of several thousand men.
So what was the point of the East African colonies patrolling the border between Somalia and Kenya?
This has to do with the policy of the East African colonies. To put it bluntly, it is the same tactic as closing the door and beating the dog. Since they are going to take action against the indigenous people in northern Kenya, they naturally have to cut off their contact with the outside world.
At the same time, it is necessary to prevent foreign indigenous people from infiltrating into the East African colonies.
You know, there are many tribes in Africa, and they have no concept of territory. They hunt and graze wherever there is water and grass.
If East Africa clears out its own indigenous people and then lets indigenous tribes from outside the country sneak in, all its work will be in vain!
Especially in northern Kenya and Somalia, the climate is drier and many tribes make a living by nomadism.
So the mission of the East African Border Patrol is to forcibly separate the Somali tribes from Kenya and to expel the Somalis from the border areas.
The temporary border between Kenya and Somalia is mainly desert and grassland, and the best means of transportation in the desert is camel.
The East African colonies came into contact with camels very early, because there were many in Zanzibar. Every batch of East African immigrants who came ashore could see camels in coastal cities such as Dar es Salaam.
Therefore, the history of the East African colonial government using camels to form cavalry is not too late. After receiving a part of the camels from Zanzibar, it established a camel cavalry of more than 200 people.
Now this cavalry unit is all active in northern Kenya. Kenya was also a major camel country in its past life, with a camel population of about three million, second only to Sudan and Somalia.
Of course, it is impossible for the East African colonies to raise so many camels in Kenya. Camels are most suitable for the desert and are not very flexible in other areas (mainly because other livestock have more advantages).
Currently, only northern Kenya in the East African colonies is suitable for large-scale camel breeding. However, there are many grasslands in northern Kenya, and the area is far beyond the desert, so it can be used for large-scale cattle and horse breeding.
…
Hans Buck was the leader of this camel caravan, a native German born and raised in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and a true Austrian-German.
So it goes without saying why Hans Buck could become the captain of the patrol.
In East Africa, the people who are most guarded against are not the Chinese, but immigrants from Serbia and other countries who believe in Orthodox Christianity.
Europeans in this era believe very much that civilizations are divided into different levels, and the only country in the world that can compete with traditional Europe is Tsarist Russia.
Heretics are often more hateful than pagans. The problem with the Orthodox Church lies in its competition with traditional European churches (even Protestant churches) over orthodoxy.
The Chinese, who had no faith (except for ancestor worship), were not the main target of the East African Germans, but the main target of their missionary work.
Although there are no churches in East Africa, many believers (especially Austrian Catholics) are keen to introduce their religion to the Chinese.
It's different for Orthodox churches such as Serbia. If they weren't relatively honest (after all, they are all peasants, they were all once the subjects of rule, and they also had the lowest status in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so they were used to it), they would probably fight with Catholics, Protestants, etc.
The Germans and other Europeans also have complaints about the Chinese. For example, those double-faced people (pragmatists) who talk about God when they open their mouths and God when they close their mouths make Europeans feel that the Chinese are not very pious.
As for those who share the same faith as the Arab region, there are some, as there are all kinds of people in the world. In particular, many immigrants who fled from the Ottoman Empire to the Austro-Hungarian Empire were recruited into East Africa by the East African colonies. However, their numbers are small, and so far no one has come forward to say that they are from the Arab Church.
Of course, these are just details. After all, life and work are very busy, and everyone is uneducated and not good at speaking, so they don’t have time to target each other.
Hans Buck found a shady spot behind the camel, put down a mat, took out his kettle and took a sip.
The other team members also got off their camels and took a break for a while.
"Heinz, how far do we have to go before we get to Divo (place name)?" Hans Buck asked.
"Almost there, about thirteen miles to go. We just passed the dry riverbed marked on the map an hour ago." Heinz replied.
"That's good, we'll rest for ten minutes and then set off again!" Hans Buck took out a box of Blue Cornflower cigarettes from his pocket.
He took out a cigarette, lit it, and started smoking with a relaxed look on his face.
The blue cornflower was the national flower of Germany in the past. The hometown of the cornflower, which symbolizes happiness, is in Europe.
So Hechingen Tobacco launched this cigarette for sale in Germany, irises in France, sunflowers in Russia, and edelweiss in Austria...
This series of cigarettes, which uses famous flowers from various countries as product logos, is also called the National Flower Series.
As for East Africa, cigarettes were naturally supplied by tobacco factories in the German region, mainly to the military and the government. Of course, ordinary people could also buy them. Local people in East Africa had wages, which were relatively meager, but the entertainment industry in East Africa happened to be a desert, so many people spent their wages on tobacco. At first, only immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire smoked, and later some Chinese also learned it.
Having a cigarette in your spare time between work and fighting can really help relieve your mood.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
