Chapter 1610 Eastern European Express
In order to further investigate the intelligence of the Habsburg Monarchy, Rubirola took to the streets of Natitingou again the next day.
Rubirola had already had a preliminary understanding of Natitingu yesterday, but they rushed into the city before it got completely dark, so they overlooked many details.
However, now wandering the streets in broad daylight, Rubirola found that he was somewhat conspicuous. The current permanent population of Natitingou was over 3,000. In addition to the original residents, the Habsburg family and their dependents, as well as some East African technicians had also moved in.
However, overall, the majority of people in Natitingou are still yellow-skinned, followed by mixed-race people, while pure white people are quite rare, not to mention Rubirola, a pure Frenchman.
At the same time, Rubirola also discovered that the German used by people on the street when communicating was very awkward, mixed with some strange accents and vocabulary, and some people's German was not as good as Rubirola, a Frenchman.
In this way, Rubirola staggered to a tavern in Natitingu, which was the place recommended by Sakuma and him, and it was also the easiest place to find out various information.
The boss saw a strange face and asked familiarly, "Sir, you just came to Natitingou recently, right? Are you from here, or are you from Habsburg?"
Rubirola was a little embarrassed by his boss's question, but he didn't hide it. He said, "I'm not from East Africa, nor am I from the Habsburg royal family. I'm a European tourist. I've been traveling around Togoland and other places in West Africa, and I recently came here with a caravan."
It's no wonder the tavern owner asked this question. After all, there are very few foreign white people coming to Natitingou. This is a very small probability. For example, the French white people in Dahomey, Upper Volta and Niger only have a total of several thousand people. They have to take care of so much territory and population. Only a handful of them have the time to run to Togoland.
Not to mention that most white people who come to Togoland choose to go to the "big cities" in the south of Togoland, while Natitingou was just a remote and backward town in Togoland!
In addition, the white people who recently arrived in Natitingou could easily be associated with local people or members of the Habsburg royal family and some of the white workers they employed, which led to the tavern owner's misjudgment.
This put the tavern owner at a loss, and he quickly said, "I'm so sorry, Natitingou has changed a lot recently, and we rarely see genuine European tourists here before, so the misunderstanding occurred."
Rubirola waved her hand and said, "Don't be sorry, it's just a small matter. But boss, you just said this is Togoland, but I heard that it has now become the Habsburg Monarchy. What's going on?"
In response to his doubts, the tavern owner said indifferently, "It's just a habit. After all, this place was indeed Togoland's territory before. It only became the Habsburg Monarchy three months ago."
"It's still hard for us old residents to adapt to this change, so we didn't change our words for a while. By the way, sir, you're here to drink, right? Would you like to try our sorghum wine? I assume you're European and have never tasted this kind of sorghum wine."
Rubirola had indeed never tasted sorghum wine. In France, he preferred white wine. However, in order to gather intelligence, he still planned to try it.
The boss quickly brought him a bottle of sorghum wine, which is a specialty of Natitingu. To be more precise, it is brewed with local sorghum. As for the glass bottles used for packaging, they are imported from the local area. After all, Natitingu is a backward area and does not have a complete set of processing equipment.
"This sorghum liquor is a specialty of our Natitingu. Many West African caravans love this strong liquor. I wonder if it suits your taste," the tavern owner said as he filled his glass. "I heard that sorghum liquor isn't very popular among locals. We in Togoland are a little different in this respect."
The popularity of sorghum wine in Natitingu and throughout Togoland is mainly due to two reasons: one is habit and the other is the local climate.
West Africa is very suitable for the cultivation of sorghum, a crop that loves warmth, is drought-resistant and can withstand barrenness. In the past, sorghum wine from West Africa had a certain market. Of course, sorghum in West Africa was mainly used to brew a local traditional beer.
Togoland's immigrants, most of whom come from the Far East, prefer white wine made from sorghum.
As a colony in East Africa, beer is also popular in Togoland, but it mainly relies on imports from the local area.
While listening to his explanation, Rubirola picked up the cup, sniffed the wall of the cup, and then took a small sip, "Hiss, a little spicy!"
The tavern owner said with a smile: "That's true, but if you drink too much, you will get used to it and like the taste. Many black people in West African caravans like this taste."
Rubirola had already labeled this kind of wine as low-end and felt a little disgusted. This was mainly because he was not used to the taste for the time being, and the colonial label of Natitingu sorghum wine was a bit heavy.
After calming down, Rubirola asked, "Boss, is this so-called Habsburg Monarchy ruled by the East African government, or is it a fiefdom of the Habsburg royal family?"
Rubirola didn't quite believe that East Africa would be so generous as to give its colonies to the Habsburg royal family.
The tavern owner said, "From what I understand, it should have completely become the Habsburg Monarchy! And our Natitingou is the capital of this new country."
"In the past, this place was indeed under the management of the Togoland Territory Government of the Rhine Empire. However, many people from the original Natitingu government have left, and there are many new faces in the government. There have also been major changes in positions. For example, the mayor has been replaced by a new mayor to manage Natitingu."
"But if you ask me, it's just nonsense. Our Natitingou is just a small town of some size, and suddenly it became the capital of a country..."
It was difficult for the tavern owner to understand, but Rubirola was not surprised. After all, there were many small countries in Europe, especially in the Holy Roman Empire, and many of them were probably not as big as the current Habsburg Monarchy.
Rubirola said, "Are you confident in the rule of the Habsburgs?"
The tavern owner replied, "I was a little worried at first. After all, we've gotten used to our old life in East Africa. As for the new ruler, he seems quite good so far and has brought significant changes to Natitingu."
"For example, Natitingou is expanding, and the population has increased significantly. Recently, new immigrants have been arriving, and our business has improved."
"There's also a lot of activity going on in the neighborhood development. Besides building more housing, I heard they're also going to build new roads, water and electricity, new schools, hospitals, and so on."
"However, in my personal opinion, it is not easy to fully implement these measures because there are too few people in Natitingou. Just like building new schools, the recruitment of students is a big problem."
"Originally, our town only had one small primary school, which was responsible for the education of the entire area. Now, in addition to expanding the primary school, we also need to build a middle school. Whether we can recruit enough students is a certain challenge."
"However, whether these changes will ultimately be implemented remains to be seen. If they are, it will definitely be a good thing for us locals. In the past, after graduating from primary school, if outstanding talents here wanted to continue their studies, they had to go to secondary schools in the south. However, those schools were too far away, so they could only board, which was very inconvenient..."
As the tavern owner narrated, Rubirola finally confirmed the various situations of the Habsburg Monarchy. It was just a vassal state supported by East Africa, at least for now.
After staying in Natitingu for two days, Rubirola started his return journey with a few bodyguards left by Sakuma. As for Sakuma himself, he continued to go north to do business.
In early 1936, France finally figured out East Africa's actions in Togoland. Not only did they know about the existence of the Habsburg Monarchy, but the Upper Volta colony in the north also reported the situation of the new Austrian Kingdom to the mainland.
These two new West African countries were both funded and built by the Habsburg royal family in exile in East Africa. The combined area of the two countries is almost 10,000 square kilometers, which is definitely not small. After all, the French mainland is only about 500,000 square kilometers. In other words, the combined area of more than 50 Habsburg monarchies and the new Austrian Kingdom is the size of France.
Therefore, the emergence of these two countries still attracted the attention of the French government, and the French government ordered the French colonial governments of Dahomey and Upper Volta to strengthen surveillance of the two countries.
At the same time, he also began to plan how to integrate France's three colonies in West Africa, namely Dahomey, Upper Volta and Niger.
This would strengthen France's ruling power and administrative resources in the region to deal with threats posed by East African powers including East Africa, the Kingdom of South Germany, the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom.
However, although the French government was wary of the two newly established Habsburg states, there was not much it could do.
Because France is now in a difficult situation and can hardly protect itself. Faced with the increasingly severe situation in Europe, especially Germany, which has once again embarked on the path of military expansion and armament, it is difficult to take into account the security of its colonies at the same time when its homeland is threatened by serious external crises.
In 1936, another major event attracted the attention of the French. That was the increasingly turbulent situation in Spain, which was close to France, and even a civil war was possible.
As the situation in Spain changes, France cannot completely ignore it to prevent Spain from completely turning to Germany and stabbing France in the back.
…
Darfur.
Nyala is the administrative and economic center of Darfur and the seat of the government of the Darfur colony in East Africa. When East Africa was choosing the capital of the Darfur colony, there were two main competing cities, namely Nyala and El Fasher.
Nyala ultimately won due to its advantages in transportation and water resources.
In terms of transportation, Nyala has always been the most important commercial center in Darfur, connecting trade between the Egyptian Sudan region, the South German Kingdom and East Africa, and radiating to the main population distribution areas in Darfur.
El Fasher is closer to the center of Darfur than Nyala, but northern Darfur is mostly desert, with the population concentrated in the south and west.
As for water resources, although the rainfall in Nyala is relatively scarce, it can at least reach more than 400 mm, which is two to three times that of El Fasher. In addition, through the dam built in East Africa, a reservoir sufficient to supply urban development has been formed in its south.
Therefore, from the perspective of modern urban development, Nyala is more suitable to develop as the economic center of Darfur, and it also facilitates East Africa's control over the Darfur region.
Unfortunately, because the Darfur region is too poor, it is not even taken seriously among the colonies in East Africa.
However, Darfur now has a chance to turn things around, that is, the North African Railway has been officially opened to traffic, and Darfur has become a key link in East Africa's trade with the Mediterranean.
On the Nyala side, the first freight train from the Port of Benghazi to the mainland of East Africa, also known as the East European Express, was docked at the Nyala Railway Station to replenish drinking water and undergo maintenance, which also attracted a large number of onlookers from Nyala citizens.
"Great! This train is a symbol of our Nyala's economic boom. From now on, Nyala will no longer be a remote place ignored by the Empire, but a key node for trade between the Empire, Europe, and North Africa!"
"The opening of the North African Railway is of great significance to Nyala and Darfur. Without this railway, Darfur would always be the most insignificant territory of the empire. With this railway, our status will be greatly enhanced and Darfur's economic development will be given wings."
All Darfurians are looking forward to the opening of this railway because opportunities in Darfur are so scarce.
For a long time, if we talk about the poorest and most backward countries or regions in East Africa, Darfur will definitely be at the top of the list, and its position is unshakable.
Even Egypt and Abyssinia, although both are low-income and backward countries, have large populations and economies!
Darfur also has the worst climate in East Africa. Egypt and southern eastern Germany also have large amounts of desert, but Egypt has the Nile River as a stable water source, and southern eastern Germany has the Shari River and Lake Chad Basin. Only Darfur does not even have a river with water all year round.
Therefore, for the residents of Darfur, the lack of water resources naturally restricts the development of local industry and agriculture. Therefore, if Darfur wants to break the deadlock, the most reliable way is to break the transportation shackles of Darfur as an inland area.
In the past, although Darfur was also a meeting point of many countries and regions, and its ancient commerce was relatively good, its transportation basically relied on livestock and manpower, and its scale was difficult to expand. To put it bluntly, Darfur was completely a remote corner where almost no one came.
Now, after the opening of the North African Railway, Darfur's situation has completely changed. In terms of railways, the North African Railway is the main artery of trade between East Africa and the Mediterranean. As long as it can be maintained, it will bring benefits to Darfur.
At the same time, with the development of South Germany, Darfur can now play an important role in the East-West trade. The Shari River and Lake Chad basins have markets with a population of one million, not to mention the economic scale of Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire, which are both large markets with a population of tens of millions. In theory, their trade with the Kingdom of South Germany is most convenient and fastest through Darfur.
(End of this chapter)
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