Chapter 1655 Using a borrowed knife to kill
The fact that the Soviet Union had the audacity to make such concessions to East Africa and promise so many benefits suggests that there must have been some kind of clandestine dealings between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Crown Prince Friedrich speculated: "If I were a Soviet, I would definitely choose to win over the Americans first. Emotionally speaking, East Africa is, after all, a German country, which in itself makes it easy for the Soviet Union to not fully trust us."
"More importantly, no matter how powerful the United States was, it was difficult to fully control the situation in Eurasia due to its geographical location. This geographical disadvantage was an important basis for cooperation between the Soviet Union and the United States."
"East Africa is completely different. The African continent is closer to the Eurasian continent, and they are even connected."
"In this situation, we are more likely to arouse the fear and vigilance of various forces on the Eurasian continent."
The African and Eurasian continents are connected by the Sinai Peninsula. Although this connecting point is relatively small compared to the two continents, it is an absolutely crucial location.
From East Africa to Asia, the only land route is through Egypt. In ancient times, it would have been very difficult to connect Asia and sub-Saharan Africa via Egypt.
However, in the 20th century, it was technically feasible to build a land route through Egypt that connects East Africa and Asia, whether by road or rail.
After all, East Africa was able to successfully build the North African Railway, while the environment and geological conditions along the North African Railway were significantly worse than those in Egypt.
Building a railway or highway, or even multiple land routes, is not a difficult task for East Africa.
Crown Prince Frederick said, "It's only because Egypt is currently in British hands that, otherwise, apart from East Asia, probably no other power in Eurasia can sleep soundly when facing us."
"The importance of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is no different from that of the Ottoman Empire's Black Sea Straits; both are the most important waterways between the three continents."
"The Black Sea Straits have an advantage over the Sinai Peninsula in that the Black Sea coast has better transportation infrastructure and a denser population and economy, just like the Berlin-Baghdad railway built by Germany, which passes through there."
"Egypt lacks the resources to build a railway and highway through the Sinai Peninsula, which prevents the Sinai Peninsula from leveraging its advantages in land transportation."
“We in East Africa don’t have this concern, but that’s exactly what other countries don’t want to see.”
Let alone building railways and highways, even just controlling the Suez Canal would be met with opposition from Germany and the Soviet Union, and controlling the Sinai Peninsula would require first driving the British out of Egypt.
With East Africa controlling Egypt and opening up land routes across Eurasia, coupled with the Suez Canal, the geopolitical landscape of Eurasia, except for East Asia, would undergo significant changes.
East Asia remains unaffected because of the formidable geographical barriers such as the Roof of the World, the Pamir Plateau, and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which have allowed the entire region to form a relatively independent geographical unit.
As for the Soviet Union, a country spanning Eurasia, they were indeed able to connect East Asia by land via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
However, the population along the route was pitifully small, requiring a large amount of resources to maintain the operation and repair of the railway every year. Furthermore, if it weren't for the special political system, according to market rules, the population of the Soviet Far East would only flow out towards Europe.
Crown Prince Frederick said, "Therefore, if we build a major land artery with the Sinai Peninsula as its core, we can greatly enhance the Empire's influence in Eurasia."
"These cross-regional railways and highways are themselves an important means of extending spheres of influence."
Since the development of railways in the 19th century, many colonial empires have enjoyed "helping" their colonies and semi-colonies build railways.
This was certainly not out of kindness, but rather because by building railways, they could control the markets and mineral resources along the route, and strengthen their administrative and military control over these areas.
In this context, railways became a powerful tool for colonial expansion, and the construction and operation of railways themselves could also bring benefits to these colonizers.
The Asunción-Lima railway, which East Africa advocated for in South America, is a prime example. Behind the construction of this railway lies the compromise made by Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru with East Africa.
Through this railway, East Africa not only binds the economies of the three countries to East Africa, but also controls the markets and mineral resource development along the line, while also providing military "protection".
The Eurasian Land Bridge in the previous life was also a typical example, except that the railways on the Eurasian Land Bridge did not have the blatant military attributes of East Africa.
Even so, the Far Eastern empire extended its influence into Central Asia through the Eurasian Railway, which actually greatly damaged Russia's interests and influence.
Furthermore, although the Far Eastern Empire did not openly deploy military forces in Central Asia, this did not mean that it could not indirectly influence Central Asian countries to militarily align with the Far Eastern Empire.
After all, once the roads are repaired, weapons and equipment can be sold, allowing them to support pro-China advocates.
If a "Eurasian-African" railway is built with the Sinai Peninsula as its center, East Africa's military, economy, and influence will inevitably spread outward to the areas through which the railway passes.
Egypt goes without saying, because almost all of Egypt's population is concentrated along the Nile River. With just one railway, East Africa can practically control Egypt's economic and security lifeline.
Beyond Sinai, East Africa's economy, military, and influence could extend south to strengthen control over the eastern coast of the Red Sea, east through the Ottoman Empire and Persia, and even as far as Central and South Asia, north to the Anatolian Peninsula, and finally reach Europe via the Black Sea straits.
Once East Africa establishes this advantage, it will be difficult for the aforementioned regions to break free from East Africa's control and influence, which is what Eurasian countries least want to see.
Controlling the Middle East would mean East Africa could exert influence over the three continents of Eurasia and Africa. In theory, the Soviet Union and Germany achieved this as well.
The reality is that all three countries have their own spheres of influence in the Middle East, in addition to countries such as Britain and France, which also have a certain degree of influence.
However, British and French control of the Middle East is not unacceptable to other countries, as their homelands are too far away.
This is especially true for the United States, an American country. Therefore, in the previous life, the United States had to pay a high price to maintain its influence in the Middle East, and a large portion of its military spending had to be invested there every year.
However, the United States could also make a mistake if it is not careful, just like regional powers such as Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, as well as Iraq, Syria... There are few easy targets in the entire Middle East.
In addition, the United States must constantly guard against the growing influence of external forces such as Russia in the Middle East, as various wars in the Middle East have never ceased in the past.
Conversely, if East Africa, the Soviet Union, and Germany had completely controlled the Middle East, the situation might have been very different, because all three countries now border the Middle East, and it would be extremely dangerous for any one of them to establish complete dominance there.
Crown Prince Friedrich said, "The Soviet Union does not want East Africa to continue to grow in Eurasia, especially to control the Middle East. They can use this as a pretext to reach a consensus with the United States."
"In addition, the United States and the Soviet Union also had great potential for cooperation in Europe and East Asia."
"Given that the Soviet Union is now in need of others, I think it is even possible that the Soviet Union might directly abandon East Asia and Western Europe and seek deep cooperation with the United States."
"Furthermore, the Soviet Union could also consider supporting the United States in places like South America where we have an advantage, thereby winning over the Americans to their side."
"For the Soviet Union and the United States at present, East Africa is definitely a potential enemy that must be guarded against at all times in the future."
Ernst fully understood what Crown Prince Friedrich meant: East Africa was a country that both countries needed to take special care of, both in terms of strength and conflicting interests.
In terms of strength, East Africa is virtually unmatched in terms of population, economy, military, and industry. From a military perspective, it is difficult to determine which country is currently the most powerful in the world. However, in terms of comprehensive national strength, East Africa has undoubtedly become the "world's number one power."
The status and position of the world's leading superpower will inevitably put pressure on East Africa, especially since other countries may unite to target it.
If it weren't for the existence of Germany, an extreme militarist state, the world would probably be witnessing a chaotic three-way conflict between East Africa, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
Furthermore, as the "weaker" party, the United States and the Soviet Union would inevitably be more inclined to join forces to weaken East Africa.
In terms of interests, East Africa was in fierce competition with both the United States and the Soviet Union. In South America and Western Europe, the Far East and East Africa, the United States was a competitor, while in the Middle East, Central Asia and East Africa, the Soviet Union was a competitor.
Therefore, various disputes are bound to occur between East Africa, the Soviet Union, and the United States in the future.
Ernst said, "From a practical point of view, the Soviet Union would certainly prefer to cooperate with the Americans, which is a reality we cannot change."
"However, there is no need to worry too much. The Soviet Union and the United States had more cooperation only because our East Africa exceeded the standards in various aspects compared to them."
"However, it is impossible for the Soviet Union and the United States to truly unite without any reservations. Their ideological differences and conflicts of interest are no less than those between them and us."
"Therefore, we don't need to worry too much about these two countries joining forces against us in the future. We can also use diplomatic means to sow discord between them and provoke conflicts between the two countries."
"Especially Europe and the Far East, these two regions will inevitably become the focal points of the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. We can reserve these two regions as arenas for their struggle."
Europe is a core interest that neither the Soviet Union nor the United States can give up. Today, Western Europe is second only to the Americas in the United States' trade, and the Soviet Union itself was a European country.
As for the Far East, Ernst intends to completely abandon it in the future. The core of the Far East is the Far Eastern Empire, while other countries are just minor details.
Ernst clearly did not intend to involve East Africa in the affairs of the Far Eastern Empire after World War II. Such a large "cake" as the Far Eastern Empire would, without exaggeration, be something that both the Soviet Union and the United States would be extremely greedy for.
Ernst said, "In the future, our goal for Europe will be the countries and regions along the Mediterranean coast, so the United States and the Soviet Union will expand their contact in Western and Central and Eastern Europe."
"The Far East is not of great significance to us. Our core interests in the Pacific region, apart from our current colonies, are Southeast Asia and Australia."
"It's not realistic for us to compete with the Soviet Union or the United States in the North Pacific."
"In fact, East Africa's global interests have been largely established. Our strategy going forward is simply to fill in that gap."
"Within this framework, there is not much to do with the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, the regions and markets occupied by European countries such as Britain and France are more worthy of our attention."
"Our core is the five major regions of South America, West Africa, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean coast, and Southeast Asia."
The strategic framework established in East Africa is already taking shape, with these five regions themselves revolving around the East African continent.
In South America, the United States is indeed the main competitor of East Africa. However, the interests of Britain, France, and Germany in South America are no less than those of the United States. Therefore, before dealing with these three countries, East Africa does not need to engage in too intense a confrontation with the United States in South America for the time being.
In West Africa, Britain and France held absolute power, so East Africa would seize the opportunity presented by World War II to drive these two countries out of the region.
In the Mediterranean region, which comprises Europe, North Africa, and West Asia, Britain and France generally hold more interests.
Along the Indian Ocean coast, the country that holds the vast majority of interests is basically Britain. India alone is enough to arouse the covetousness of any country, not to mention that Britain also controls a large number of spheres of influence such as Somaliland, Aden, and Persia.
Finally, there's Southeast Asia, mainly controlled by Britain, France, and the Netherlands, all of whom had considerable colonies.
Ernst bluntly stated, "Don't be fooled by the fact that we've set such a big trap for Japan and even intentionally allowed Germany to expand. In reality, what we really want to deal with are Britain and France, two countries that are not worthy of their positions."
"Germany possesses great power, but it has few overseas interests, and we are not particularly interested in Japan's overseas colonies."
"On the contrary, Britain and France have taken up too much of the pie in our global strategic framework. Since Britain and France have declined, their overseas colonies and interests are essential for the future development of East Africa."
"We just don't want to have a direct conflict with the two countries. Instead, we want to use Germany and Japan as pawns in our hands, so that they can fight Britain and France head-on."
"We will start reaping the rewards after they have launched a full-scale war, so that we don't need to invest too much effort and can get the fruits we want more easily."
Ultimately, all East Africa needs to do is honestly play the game of using others to do its dirty work. When the world is divided up, East Africa will definitely get its share.
Germany and Japan are merely pawns in East Africa's game. Even if Germany were as powerful as it is, and even if it conquered the whole of Europe, it would most likely be exhausted by then.
Moreover, while Germany was fighting tooth and nail in Europe, the overseas interests of other European countries had probably already been divided up by countries like East Africa and the United States.
While Germany might have a very slim chance, Japan is already doomed and has no chance of escaping the clutches of East Africa.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
