Chapter 1463 Agent
Of course, the final fate of Sikkim still depends on their own choices. East Africa is just giving them an opportunity. If they can't even seize this opportunity, then their country's demise in the end does not deserve sympathy.
Now, Sikkim is still a British protectorate, or a colony. It is possible that they, or Namgyal, will report East Africa.
Therefore, Chalsen's trip to Sikkim this time was very risky. If he was not careful, East Africa's layout in South Asia might disappear.
At this time, Namgyal was struggling with his inner thoughts. As the King of Sikkim, he already believed that Chalsen was the special envoy from East Africa.
But it was a very difficult decision to let them cooperate with East Africa in Sikkim and do things under the noses of the British.
Not to mention cooperating with East Africa, even if they knew about it but did not report it, if the British knew about it, Sikkim would have a good future!
King Namgal gritted his teeth and asked, "Ambassador Charson, this matter is very risky. If they knew..."
To dispel his concerns, Charleson said: "As I mentioned before, we don't actually need you to do much, just cooperate with our operations in East Africa."
"We in East Africa are not reckless. We also know how to avoid the British. For example, our embassy in Sikkim is disguised as an Australian tea company called Bechani, and we all have British identity documents."
"At present, only you know about our existence. We only hope that His Majesty King Namgal can cooperate with our next actions, such as giving us some convenience in land acquisition, worker recruitment, material acquisition, etc."
These are all preparations for building an airport in Sikkim. It is not easy to build an airport in Sikkim.
The first is the site selection issue. Sikkim is a mountainous country, and its capital, Gangtok, is built on a hillside. Therefore, there is very little flat land in Sikkim, and even less flat land suitable for building an airport.
Not only the terrain but also the climate factors must be considered. Sikkim is located on the southern foot of the Himalayas, very close to Cherrapunji, the rainiest place in the world. It is prone to heavy rains and clouds and fog, which is obviously not conducive to the development of aviation.
Therefore, if one wants to build an airport in Sikkim, not only must the terrain be flat, but the climate must also be taken into account to improve the safety of aircraft takeoff and landing and flight.
In addition to natural factors, Sikkim itself is a small country with a small population and underdeveloped transportation, which is not conducive to the construction of large-scale projects.
However, it is not impossible to build an airport using local resources, because many local temples in Sikkim are built in sparsely populated areas with complex terrain.
However, Charleson did not tell the Sikkim royal family about his plan in East Africa.
His explanation to Namgyal and the outside world was "opening up tea gardens". After all, the main business of the Bechani Tea Company under disguise was to grow tea in Sikkim.
Compared with Sikkim, it is actually the British officials in Gangtok who are the key to the realization of this plan in East Africa.
East Africa was not worried about this. After all, there were not many British officials in Sikkim, and it was easy to bribe them by paying some money.
Sikkim was a place of "exile" for British officials. Next to it was the pearl of the British Empire, the wealthy India, but they could only bully others in Sikkim and could not get much profit even if they tried their best.
Not to mention India, even neighboring Nepal and Bhutan are obviously much more promising than Sikkim.
Now there are "Australian companies" coming to Sikkim to invest, which is a good opportunity for British officials in Sikkim to take advantage of the situation.
Of course, East Africa’s money is not so easy to get. At least they have to turn a blind eye to East Africa’s operations in Sikkim.
If anyone is rude, the East African National Security Agency wouldn’t mind giving them a taste of the special methods of the East African intelligence agencies.
This is also the reason why Ambassador Charleson had the confidence to take office in Sikkim. With the support of the powerful empire in East Africa, even if the British government really found out, the British would not dare to do anything to him. At most, they would expel Charleson.
Charleson said: "At this stage, East Africa has no intention of overthrowing British colonial rule in Sikkim, so you don't have to worry too much. We treat you as a sacrificial pawn."
"For the empire, Sikkim can only play a small role in curbing India's future development. However, for us, there are too many options to suppress India's development. Compared with Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and other countries, it is obviously more valuable and can play a greater role."
"The government sent me to Sikkim this time. It is also an opportunity for you Sikkim. If you can grasp it, it will definitely be a good thing for the future destiny of Sikkim."
"After all, East Africa is already the de facto overlord of the Indian Ocean. Britain will eventually withdraw from South Asia. I believe that King Namgyal has your own judgment on the difference between a ship in the morning and a ship in the evening."
Namgal naturally knew that what East Africa had issued was just a blank check, but this blank check that could not be cashed now also made him somewhat tempted.
As Charleson said, East Africa has become the overlord of the Indian Ocean region, and this status and trend will become more and more stable in the future because Britain is indeed in continuous decline.
From World War I to the present, in the past few years, East Africa has continued to expand its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean, especially in the Middle East, and Britain has been losing ground.
Although Britain's colonial losses were not great, many neutral countries have been shaken, such as the Ottoman Empire, Persia, Oman, Yemen, etc. These countries used to have only Britain as an option, but now they are increasingly moving closer to East Africa.
This also further exacerbated the trend of resistance within Britain's Indian Ocean colonies. Just like a lion, when it is old and weak, if it is in a slightly poor condition, it may be challenged and tempted.
Now, South Asia, as Britain's core interest in the Indian Ocean, has been relatively less affected. However, the princes and nobles as well as local armed forces in India are not without external channels and are completely unaware of Britain's decline.
Some Indians have even established contact with the Soviet Union, which shows that Britain's rule in India is not monolithic.
It is not surprising that local Indian forces have such insights. After all, Britain itself did not have strict restrictions on India, and many Indian businessmen traveled with Britain's overseas expansion, and they had a lot of insights.
For example, in wars such as the Afghanistan War, the South African War, and the First World War, the myth of Britain's "invincibility" had long been shattered among some of India's upper classes.
As long as they knew that Britain would also fail when facing other countries, it would be impossible for them to continue to obediently obey the British arrangements.
Even if they do not dare to directly resist Britain now, they are fully courageous enough to flirt with other countries, especially the Soviet Union and East Africa, two world powers not far from India.
As for the country of Sikkim, due to its remote location and little contact with the outside world, its reactions and actions are much slower. It is for this reason that Chalsen personally went to Sikkim to inform Namgyal of some changes in the external situation.
Namgal finally hardened his heart and said to Charleson: "Since Ambassador Charleson can tell us these things so frankly, then we in Sikkim are willing to make this gamble with East Africa."
"Sikkim is poor and weak, but we still have some capabilities to help your country realize some of its strategies."
Charleson said with satisfaction: "I believe that His Majesty the King of Namgyal will be satisfied with today's decision one day in the future. If you encounter any problems in the future, you can send someone you trust to Bechani Company to contact us. We are willing to provide some help to Sikkim within our capacity."
…
East Africa’s small moves in Sikkim are actually just a tiny part of East Africa’s new round of external expansion.
In fact, since 1925, East African diplomats, intelligence agencies, businesses, and militaries have become increasingly active around the world.
From the tropical rainforests of South America to the deserts of North Africa and then to the islands of the South Pacific, East Africa is connecting a huge network of spheres of influence. By cultivating and supporting pro-East African forces, East Africa's influence is radiating to more regions and countries in the world.
However, many countries in these regions are still colonies of other countries and lack independence.
However, East Africa's support and collusion with local forces also ensure that East Africa does not have no voice in the local area, which further guarantees the stability of East Africa's overseas markets.
Take Yemen, a British colony, for example. If Britain did not allow East African goods to enter this area, East Africa could simply support the resistance forces in the eastern mountainous areas of Yemen and overturn the table. If Britain did not allow East Africa to have a bite of the meal, then no one would have to eat it.
By then, the situation in Yemen will be in chaos, and the British will certainly be more anxious than the East Africans. If they cannot suppress it, there is a high probability that Yemen will directly break away from the British colonial system.
It's not just Yemen. British colonial countries and regions such as South Africa, India, Persia, Oman, Egypt, Nigeria, Western Australia, etc. all have agents trained in East Africa.
Their strength varies, but one thing is certain: even if they cannot overthrow Britain's colonial rule in the local area, they can still cause trouble for the British.
And this only applies to British colonies. Other countries, such as France, the United States, the Netherlands, etc., obviously also have this treatment.
This shows that the purpose of East Africa's current search for and support of "agents" around the world is essentially part of East Africa's neo-colonialism policy.
In addition to neo-colonialism, East Africa has not given up the traditional colonial model, and the expansion of East Africa's overseas colonies has become active again, but it is all controlled within a reasonable range to avoid the escalation of conflicts.
This is also related to the characteristics of the current East African colonies, that is, many of East Africa’s overseas colonies are actually mainly islands, which in itself limits their outward extension.
The traditional colonial model and neo-colonialism are essentially aimed at maintaining and expanding East Africa's overseas markets, thereby ensuring the development of East Africa's industry and commerce.
This time, East Africa is using a combination of measures, not just military aid, but also many other means in the economic, diplomatic, political, cultural and propaganda fields.
Faced with East Africa's non-positive "attack", other countries have no good countermeasures at all. In terms of industry, East Africa is the world's largest industrial power and the world's factory at this stage. In terms of economy, East Africa is a new country as powerful as the United States. In terms of military, East Africa has both land and sea, and both are very powerful, not to mention other aspects such as territory, population, and resources.
East Africa has become a "hexagonal warrior". Apart from the Soviet Union's ideological weapons, it is almost difficult to find a way to restrain East Africa in the world.
But the Soviet Union’s ideological weapons are not omnipotent, in three aspects.
First of all, there is East Africa itself. Past history has proved that the Soviet Union’s ideological weapons are more likely to succeed in underdeveloped regions and colonies. Capitalist countries have complete ways to cut off their tails and limit the Soviet Union’s performance, but the cost is relatively high. This just shows that this point can be achieved.
By taking the Soviet system and copying it, it became the system of Roosevelt and Keynes and was used by capitalist countries.
Then there are the other imperialist powers. They obviously do not dare to let East Africa become a country like the Soviet Union. Otherwise, it would be quite terrible. After all, if East Africa became a Soviet system, who could curb the global expansion of the Labour Party?
The Soviet Union alone is troublesome enough. If countries the size of East Africa and the United States were to become Labour regimes, the capitalist world could simply raise the white flag and surrender.
Finally, there is the Soviet Union. Although the Soviet Union called itself a labor party regime, it actually had a large group of extreme nationalists and imperialists. These people were just suppressed, but it does not mean that they had no influence in the Soviet Union.
After all, no matter how much propaganda and education the Soviet Union used, it could not change the nature of the Russians. Being reborn from the corpse of the Tsarist Russia, it was bound to inherit some of the characteristics and nature of the Tsarist Russia.
For example, some members of the Soviet Labor Party naturally believed that the Soviet Union should become the leader of the labor parties around the world. This is actually a kind of great power chauvinism.
That is, they put their own interests above everything else, show a sense of national superiority in relations with small and weak countries, impose their will on others, and even violently interfere in other countries' internal affairs, disrespecting and even violating other countries' sovereignty and independence. The typical representative of this is Tsarist Russia.
However, in the Hungarian Incident in 1927 and the Far Eastern Empire Incident, the Soviet Union showed a diplomatic strategy that was almost identical to that of Tsarist Russia.
To use a common saying in the Far Eastern Empire, "A dog can never change his eating habits..."
This also means that some people in the Soviet Union may not necessarily want a labor party regime more powerful than the Soviet Union to emerge in the world, because once such a country emerges, it will inevitably threaten the Soviet Union's position in the labor party world.
Take the United States as an example. If the United States becomes a labor party country, then at that time, will the labor parties in other countries in the world listen to the United States or the Soviet Union? Obviously, the United States is more attractive than the Soviet Union.
The same applies to East Africa, so for Soviet nationalists and great power chauvinists, it would be best if there were no labor party regime more powerful than the Soviet Union.
Therefore, the Soviet Union itself was divided. With speculators and parasites dragging their feet within the country, the ideals of the Soviet Union's own world-class idealists could never be realized.
(End of this chapter)
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