Chapter 306 Handover of Mayotte
On the Indian Ocean, a fleet was sailing southward along the east coast of Africa. A German eagle-head flag was fluttering in the sea breeze. This flag was the famous Prussian Black Eagle. Of course, its origins can be traced back to the Frankish Kingdom and ancient Rome.
As Germany became stronger, the black eagle flag became very popular and almost became one of the representative symbols of the German Empire.
However, the Black Eagle Flag is not unique to Prussia. For example, the national flag of the Principality of Hechingen is also the Black Eagle Flag. The fleet flying the flag of the Principality of Hechingen is the East African Navy under the leadership of Archduke Ferdinand.
The East African Navy flies the East African flag during daily training and outings, but today is a special day, so the East African royal family turned out the flag of the Principality of Hechingen and hung it on the East African Navy, mainly because they were afraid that a certain world power would breach its defenses.
On the deck, Archduke Ferdinand was talking with a young man, the young man was Prussian Navy Captain Bromell, who was commissioned by the Prussian government to go to East Africa to help East Africa take over the French Mayotte colony.
Archduke Ferdinand: "Bromel, Prussia's unification with Germany is now a foregone conclusion. I think your Prussian navy will definitely have a big development in the future. Your navy department probably plans to build a few warships."
Bromell: "Your Excellency, please stop teasing me. Our navy has never been valued in the kingdom. Even if we are unified, we will probably be suppressed by the army in the future. In comparison, I still envy the East African Navy you lead. Although the hardware is not very good, its status is much higher than ours."
Up to now, the Federal Navy (Prussian Navy) is still a subordinate of the Federal Army (Prussian Army) and has not been independent from the Army. The East African Navy has been a military branch with equal status as the East African Army since its inception, although the East African Navy led by Archduke Ferdinand is not even a fraction of the Army.
Archduke Ferdinand of Versailles said: "It is just a name, but it does not make His Majesty the King allocate more funds and ships for us."
Bromell: "At least the starting point of the East African Navy is much higher than that of the Prussian Navy, and its future potential is also good."
The Prussian Navy originated in 1815. After the victory of the anti-French alliance, Sweden ceded Western Pomerania to Prussia. After that, Prussia took over Western Pomerania and also took over the Pomeranian Navy left by Sweden. This was a naval force composed of militias. They had 6 unusable 65-ton sloops and 2 naval officers. Prussia selected a lieutenant named Dietrich Johann Lange from the two remaining naval officers and made him the first naval officer of Prussia.
Archduke Ferdinand: "Hahaha, that's all in the past. The development of any great power cannot avoid the navy. A newcomer like Prussia cannot avoid the problem of the navy. At least you have more potential than the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
Bromell shook his head and said, "That may not be the case! The Austro-Hungarian Empire has regained Venice, and its naval power will surely reach a new level."
Archduke Ferdinand: "Although Venice is important, the Austro-Hungarian navy is still trapped in the Adriatic Sea. Whether it can expand further in the Mediterranean is still an unknown. The unified Germany can still work hard in the Atlantic."
Bromell nodded and said, "Prussia does have an advantage in this regard, but only compared to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The navies of both countries are restricted by the terrain. On the contrary, East Africa has no disadvantages in this regard."
Archduke Ferdinand shook his head and said, "Although the coastline of East Africa has some advantages over Germany and Austria-Hungary, our naval power is limited by our national strength. This is much worse than yours. Having the sea but no defense is the worst."
Bromell: "But no country would come all the way to the Indian Ocean to attack East Africa! There are no naval powers around the Indian Ocean, so your ability to protect yourself is still sufficient, especially when the East African navy gradually develops in the future."
Ferdinand: "Although there are no powerful countries around us, we do have colonies of powerful countries, and even the Egyptian navy is much stronger than ours."
Having said that, Ferdinand was still very comfortable as the commander-in-chief of the navy. Although Constantine and Ernst had just made big promises at the beginning, these promises were not empty. Just half a month ago, Ernst had promised that after the Bagamoyo Shipyard was completed, the Venice Shipyard would give priority to building two new steam battleships for the navy. It was not that he did not trust the Bagamoyo Shipyard, but that the Venice Shipyard had more advantages in this regard.
Although the Bagamoyo Shipyard was built by copying the Venice Shipyard, it cannot copy the complete industrial chain of the Venice area. The Venice Shipyard cannot break away from its counterparts in Venice and work alone, so it is even more impossible for the Bagamoyo Shipyard. Many parts and core technologies need to be introduced from Europe. Therefore, it is better for the East African Navy warships to be built in Venice, and the cost is lower. As for the Bagamoyo Shipyard, it should first accumulate experience in the field of civilian ships.
…
"Commander-in-chief! Mayotte Island is ahead. We have reached our destination." The guard reported to Archduke Ferdinand.
"Enter the port!" Ferdinand ordered.
At this time, people in the French colony of Mayotte also saw the flag of the East African Naval Fleet.
"The Prussian Navy."
The black eagle flag came into play at this time. The French were not familiar with the Principality of Hechingen, so they determined that the fleet in front of them was the Prussian navy coming to take over.
Soon, Archduke Ferdinand and Colonel Bromell landed on Mayotte Island, where the Mayotte government of France had been waiting for a long time.
Two months ago, they received an order from the Republican government. Mayotte was ceded to Prussia because of France's defeat. Although they were very reluctant, there was nothing they could do. Mayotte was not of much value to France. Even when Prussia mentioned Mayotte, most of the officials of the Republican government had never heard of the name of this colony. Finally, after finding out that it was just a small island near Madagascar, the French government simply ceded the ownership of the island to Prussia.
The main reason is that Mayotte is too remote, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal, its value is basically zero. Madagascar is next to it, so it doesn't matter if Prussia takes it away.
"I am Arthur, the head of Mayotte."
"Prussian Navy Captain, Bromell." Bromell stepped forward and said.
Arthur: "Colonel Brommel, all the officials of Mayotte are here. According to the request of the French central government, we will hand over Mayotte to your country. However, according to the agreement between the two countries, your country must guarantee the safety of our personnel and property, and must not prevent the transfer of personnel and assets during the evacuation."
Bromell: “Of course!”
After a simple handover ceremony, Mayotte Island fell completely into the hands of the Navy of the East African Kingdom. Ferdinand found that the French evacuated very cleanly. Except for the houses that had not been destroyed in time, they left nothing behind for East Africa, including the blacks on the island who were all taken away by the French.
In order to develop Mayotte, France specially introduced a large number of blacks from Reunion. Therefore, the blacks on Mayotte are important labor and assets of the French, and the French do not want to let the Prussians take advantage of them. But this is also a good thing, saving East Africa a lot of trouble.
The handover ceremony was held between France and Prussia, so Colonel Bromell traveled across the ocean to come here for the formality. Then, according to the agreement between the Prussian royal family and the Hechingen royal family, the ownership of the island fell into the hands of East Africa again.
The purpose of Colonel Bromell's existence is to let the French know that the island has been taken away by Prussia. As for the subsequent handling of Mayotte Island, that is Prussia's own business. Even if it is bombed, it has nothing to do with France itself.
The East African Kingdom did not personally hand it over because it took into account France's face. After all, France could still consider itself unlucky and inferior to Prussia after losing to Prussia! However, if East Africa directly took Mayotte, the nature of the matter would be different. How dare you, a "colony", come to humiliate France.
Mayotte Island was a trophy, so it could not be handed over directly to East Africa, but had to be handed over to Prussia as a formality.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
