Chapter 1455 Japanese Ambition
The Port of Banjarmasin is located on the bank of the Barito River, about 20 kilometers away from the estuary. This is somewhat similar to Pontianak, the overseas capital of Lan Fang. Both are close to the estuary, but they are actually river port cities. However, because they are close to the estuary, they do not hinder the entry of ships.
The Barito River is one of the main rivers in Kalimantan Island. It is more than 800 kilometers long and its drainage area is as high as 100,000 square kilometers. It should be noted that the entire Kalimantan Island is only more than 700,000 square miles, which means that the Barito River basin accounts for one-seventh of the entire island.
In addition, two-thirds of the Barito River is navigable, which further enhances the status of Banjarmasin City, which is close to the seaport.
This is also the main reason why East Africa wants to manage this city. If they control Banjarmasin, they can use it as a base, which is equivalent to controlling nearly 100,000 square kilometers of land in southern Kalimantan.
This time, Lin Yaozu's troops were actually going upstream along the Barito River to clear out the indigenous people and go deep into the heart of the rainforest.
The Barito River plays an even more prominent role in the local economy. East Africans obtain agricultural products such as timber, pepper, rice, rubber, and abundant mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along the river. With the help of the Barito River's developed shipping, these products can be concentrated in the city of Banjarmasin. After simple processing and screening, they are transported to East Africa or directly exported to Europe, Asia and other regions.
As a colony, East Kalimantan's economy and industry are naturally dependent on East Africa. Although East Kalimantan's market has not significantly benefited East Africa today, it is relatively mature as a supplier of raw materials.
Its export of local resources in East Africa has played a huge role in the industrial and economic development of East Africa. For example, important resources such as timber, coal, iron, and oil, although also distributed in East Africa, are still inferior to other major countries, mainly the United States and the Soviet Union.
Take timber for example. Although East Africa has the Congo rainforest in the west, the main climate is still tropical savanna, and there are also many desert areas.
Although there are many rainforests in the country, they are unevenly distributed. The cost of land transportation is not low and it causes considerable damage to the ecology. On the other hand, as East Kalimantan is a colony, the East African government has fewer concerns. Moreover, the cost of sending these timbers to the east coast of East Africa by sea is not high. What's more, East Kalimantan has far more resources than just this one.
Of course, in addition to East Africa, East Kalimantan is also an important trade node between East Africa and Asian countries, especially for Japan, which is relatively short of iron ore, coal and oil. Japanese ships can occasionally be seen in the Port of Banjarmasin.
A ship called the Inotomi Maru from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, is currently anchored at the Port of Banjarmasin to load cargo. This Japanese cargo ship mainly transports two types of cargo, namely iron and copper.
At this time, on the Yitomi Maru, Japanese shipworkers were working hard to transport iron ore.
The captain of the Yitomi Maru, Nguyen Heitaro, and the vice president of the shipping company, Sayo Mitsuko, stood on the deck to supervise the work of the sailors.
Xiao Ye San said to Ruan Ping Tai Lang with an envious look, "The countries in Southeast Asia are so rich in various resources. Just on the island of Kalimantan, oil, iron ore, coal, copper and other resources are all gathered and the reserves are abundant."
"In comparison, Japan seems like a forgotten land, with a lack of all kinds of minerals. I can't even imagine what the scenery would be like if this island belonged to the empire."
"If we occupy Kalimantan, we can make up for the lack of various major minerals in the empire's industrial development. In addition, the local water and heat conditions are quite favorable. Rice, pepper, and rubber are all agricultural resources needed by the empire."
Ruan Pingtaro also agreed with this statement. He said, "What Xiaoye Sanxia said is right. Just based on the conditions of Kalimantan Island, if it were in the hands of the empire, it could fully support hundreds of millions of people. At the same time, the local minerals can also enable the empire's industrial level to develop by leaps and bounds. It's a pity that such a good land is now occupied by Western countries."
In the eyes of the Japanese, East Africa also belongs to the Western countries. After all, judging from the map alone, Africa, where East Africa is located, is just below Europe, so East Africa and Europe are both to the west of Japan.
Ruan Pingtaro continued, "According to what I know, the area of Kalimantan alone is nearly twice the size of the empire's mainland, and is larger than the area of Germany. The total population of this island may not even be five million, and only a few cities are relatively prosperous."
"Whether it is controlled by the natives or the Western countries, it is a huge waste. If it can be fully developed, the conditions in Kalimantan will not be much different from those of the European powers."
The land area of Japan is only over 300,000 square kilometers, while that of Germany is close to 600,000 square kilometers. However, the area of the island of Kalimantan alone reaches 700,000 square kilometers, and there is no shortage of major industrial resources. It is hard not to make the Japanese envious. Not to mention Japan, even Germany has to consider the value of this island.
After all, there is rubber and oil on the island of Kalimantan, which is very attractive to most countries.
Unfortunately, the island is now divided into two parts by East Africa and the United Kingdom, and it is clear that neither the United Kingdom nor East Africa is a world power that can easily take advantage of it.
Xiaoye said immediately: "Although Britain and East Africa have limited power in Kalimantan, their homelands are not something the Empire can challenge. If the southern part was still in the hands of the Dutch, the Empire might have found a way to pry the land that now belongs to East Africa. Unfortunately, the Dutch were blind and wasted this precious land."
When the Netherlands sold East Kalimantan to East Africa, it did not pay much attention to it. But now, with East Africa's development of local minerals and land, the huge profits it has made, it is hard not to make the Dutch jealous.
However, it is too late to say anything. The Dutch arrived in Kalimantan earlier than Britain and East Africa, but during the Dutch rule, they were unable to carry out large-scale development of the area.
Not to mention, the original transaction between the Netherlands and East Africa for the South Pacific territory was actually under the coercion and inducement of East Africa.
Therefore, what Xiaoye Sanxia said was not entirely correct. Even if the Netherlands really discovered the resources on the island, it would be impossible for the Netherlands to keep them. Instead, it would be a disaster. Selling them to East Africa is much better than being robbed by East Africa.
After all, everyone has seen what happened to Spain. If big countries like East Africa and the United States use force, a declining old colonial country like them will only be beaten up.
After all, Britain and France are not easy to provoke, so the emerging powers are more willing to bully small and weak countries like them. To put it bluntly, in the eyes of East Africa and the United States, they are no different from children who die with gold.
Ruan Pingtaro said: "In fact, the Empire is not without opportunities. Although the Western countries are powerful, they are out of reach. In the future, if the Empire's navy develops, as long as we can seize Malacca, we can isolate the European countries and occupy most of the South Seas."
"Such as Vietnam, Siam, northern Kalimantan, Java, etc., entered the empire's territory."
Here, Nguyen Pingtaro tacitly did not mention East Africa, because European countries are really far away from the South Pacific, while East Africa is only separated by the Indian Ocean, and is very familiar with the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. To put it bluntly, even if the Japanese occupied strategic locations such as Malacca, they had no confidence in defending East Africa.
At the extreme end, if Japan really occupied the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, etc., the East African Navy could also conduct roundabout operations via Australia.
But it is different for European countries. Their navies cannot travel too far. Tsarist Russia is a lesson for us. If they cut off the Strait of Malacca, the colonies of European countries in Southeast Asia would be no different from lambs to be slaughtered.
Xiaoye Sanxia said confidently: "I believe that day will not be too far away. The Imperial Navy is developing rapidly now. It is only a matter of time before we dominate the Eastern Pacific."
As for the Western Pacific, there is no doubt that the Japanese are still rational, or lack confidence, when facing the Americans. The size gap between the two sides is too huge. If Japan had half the strength of the United States or East Africa, their ambition might be the entire Pacific region.
However, facing the lack of confidence in East Africa and the United States, Japan still has confidence in other countries, including the Soviet Union which is close to Japan. Although the Soviet Union is also a giant in front of Japan, the Siberian Railway alone cannot pose a threat to Japan.
As for the Soviet Navy, Japan did not take it seriously. After all, the Soviet Navy, or the former Tsarist Russian Navy, was defeated by Japan.
Apart from the three major powers of East Africa, the United States and the Soviet Union, although most of the other European powers are stronger than Japan, it is difficult for them to reach out. In recent years, Britain and France can only ensure that their sphere of influence in the Far East does not shrink.
Therefore, Nguyen Ping Taro said: "Countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands are not actually a threat to the empire. As long as we give them another ten years, we may be able to defeat them. The real threats to the empire are the United States, East Africa and the Soviet Union, especially the United States, followed by East Africa and finally the Soviet Union."
It is not surprising that Nguyen Heitaro has this understanding. Japan and the United States are across the sea from each other, so the United States can really threaten Japan's mainland. Although East Africa's strength in the Pacific cannot be underestimated, East Africa's home ground is ultimately the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic.
At the same time, there is the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean between East Africa and Japan, with many islands and regions in between, which also serve as a buffer zone. There are not many barriers between the United States and Japan, so overall, the United States poses a greater potential danger to Japan.
Xiaoye Sanxia also became a little serious because of Ruan Pingtaro's words. He said: "Now, the United States is obviously not an existence we can challenge. If the two countries really go to war one day, Japan must first become the hegemon of Northeast Asia and be able to mobilize the manpower and resources of the entire region."
"We must first ensure that the empire has sufficient resources. It is obviously not enough to rely on the Far East Empire alone. For example, rubber and oil are strategic resources, so we must also include the Southeast Asian countries."
"That is to say, after we occupy the Far East Empire and Southeast Asia, and even Australia, Japan can become a world empire in the true sense."
From Xiaoye Sanxia's words, we can see the ambition and arrogance of many ordinary Japanese. However, although the Japanese national self-confidence is swelling, they can still remain rational. The two of them are just fantasizing, and military and national affairs are issues that can only be decided by Japanese bigwigs.
It is natural that East Africa could not be completely ignorant of Japan's ambitions. At least Ernst was very clear about this, and as for Japan, Ernst had already laid the groundwork.
To put it simply, Ernst has always wanted to use Japan's expansionist ambitions to help East Africa reshape the world order.
The importance of Japan lies in the fact that they are most likely to break the original geopolitical pattern of South Pacific, the Far East and Oceania.
It was not just Japan that felt dissatisfied with the distribution of interests in the Pacific. In fact, all other countries felt the same way. For example, the United States did not want Japan to be strong, nor did it want the Far East Empire to be strong. It also wanted to drive Britain, France, East Africa and other forces out of East Asia, and even Southeast Asia, so as to monopolize the entire Pacific coastal market and dominate the Pacific.
The Soviet Union hopes to support pro-Soviet forces in the Far East to break the current predicament of being encircled and blocked by imperialist countries. However, this is obviously a problem left over from the Tsarist era, and as long as Russia exists, it will generally not change.
The difference between the problems faced by the Soviet Union and Tsarist Russia may simply be that imperialism was more hostile to the Soviet Union, so it not only wanted to encircle the Soviet Union, but also wanted to counterattack and enter the Soviet Union and dismember it, while for Tsarist Russia, it was more about blocking its path to expansion.
Countries such as Britain and France also want to further expand their territory in the Far East.
As for East Africa’s ideas, they are also not simple. First of all, it is to break the current pattern in Southeast Asia and kick out Britain, France, Japan and the United States. Secondly, East Africa also has ideas about Oceania. Even Ernst has never given up coveting Australia’s mineral resources from beginning to end.
However, the East African government does not want to be the first to take action. At this time, a country must stand in front of East Africa and disrupt the situation in Southeast Asia.
There is no doubt that Japan is the best choice. On the one hand, Japan can pose a threat to European countries such as Britain and France. On the other hand, Japan’s own strength is not too strong, at least this is the case for East Africa.
Therefore, as long as Japan takes action, East Africa will inevitably find an excuse to come in and reap the fruits of Japan's hard work. It would be best if Japan could also defeat Australia as well.
Of course, East Africa is not without concerns about this plan, the most important of which is the Americans. The strength of the United States in the Pacific region is unquestionable, and it is the strongest country in the Pacific region.
This makes the United States a potential rival in East Africa. The United States also has many colonies in the Far East, Southeast Asia and other regions, such as the Philippines. This also means that the United States can use this as a springboard to enter Southeast Asia and compete with East Africa for food.
The above are the various ideas of the world's major powers on the Pacific region. This is only part of the regional disputes. After all, local forces, colonies, and declining powers also have various ideas.
Take the Far Eastern Empire for example. How could they tolerate other imperialists making trouble in their own land and traditional sphere of influence? As long as there is a chance for revival, it will inevitably reshape the pattern of the Pacific in the future. However, it is obvious that the Far Eastern Empire is powerless in the short term.
Apart from the Far Eastern Empire, there are basically only colonies of various countries that want independence. Although their strength is not impressive, if they are added together, they can cause quite a stir.
(End of this chapter)
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