Chapter 495 Preparing for a Counterattack
With two old foxes, Britain and France, watching over him, Ernst also felt some pressure. However, East Africa is strong because it has the protection of the two big brothers, Germany and Austria. Therefore, Britain and France cannot go too far. Of course, it is better to rely on oneself than on others. Germany and Austria favor East Africa out of favor. If East Africa cannot stand up on its own, everything will be in vain. Therefore, strength is the key.
However, East Africa has actually entered the attention of the international community because of this war. Although East Africa has existed for more than ten years, it has always acted in a low-key manner, so it is like a transparent person.
This time, the targeting by Britain and France, coupled with the challenge to Portugal in East Africa, suddenly shifted the attention of other countries in the world to Africa.
As the popularity of Africa has increased dramatically, people suddenly discovered that there are many countries eyeing Africa. In addition to East Africa, which is gifted with talent, even small countries like Italy and Belgium have their own colonies in Africa.
Poor Italy, it was a great power in its previous life, but in this life it was turned into a small regional country on the Apennine Peninsula by Ernst. However, the relationship between East Africa and Italy is surprisingly good.
This is all thanks to the fact that Italy's colonial undertakings in the Abyssinian Empire could not have been done without the help of East Africa. After all, Italy, like the Hechingen royal family at the time, was also engaged in colonial undertakings for the first time, so it lacked experience.
The Abyssinian Empire was not a small country. Although East Africa looked down on it, the Abyssinian Empire was not small in size in the world, with a population of tens of millions and a long history. It just declined in modern times like the Far East and the Ottoman Empire.
Ernst kept the Abyssinian Empire because the skin color of the Abyssinian Empire was lighter than that of the people south of the Sahara, which was barely acceptable to him. Moreover, it was not easy to annex the Abyssinian Empire. East Africa has a territory of more than 10 million square kilometers, but only has nearly 30 million indigenous people. After more than ten years of half-selling and half-giving away, there are still more than 20 million. The Abyssinian Empire alone has a population of more than 10 million. Moreover, Abyssinia is not a civilized desert. It has its own culture and history, and has frequent foreign exchanges. It is impossible for East Africa to use the same methods against pure black people on the Abyssinian Empire.
The most important point is that after the Abyssinian Empire was defeated by the British last time, it became a British protectorate, and the new emperor was supported by the British. In short, attacking the Abyssinian Empire is a thankless task.
But Italy is different. Italy is actually pro-British. After the Italo-Austrian War, it was sandwiched between Austria and France and lost more than half of its territory, so it had to return to the arms of Britain.
Italy colonized the Abyssinian Empire. Both countries were pro-British countries, and Britain did not interfere. After all, Italy was more important and closer than the Abyssinian Empire.
However, the abandoned Abyssinian Empire also worked hard. It had not had a close relationship with Britain to begin with. The last time it became a British protectorate, it was treated like a son by Britain. Britain fought a war and then left, so it still had autonomy.
Britain chose to stand idly by, and Abyssinia chose to develop relations with East Africa and Egypt in order to gain support. Although Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire were sworn enemies, Egypt did not want to see the Abyssinian Empire being occupied by an outsider, Italy. In the eyes of the Egyptians, the threat from European countries was far greater than that from the Abyssinian Empire.
As for East Africa, it was naturally playing both sides, negotiating arms trade with the Abyssinian Empire on the one hand, and grain trade with Italy on the other. Of course, the weapons sold to the Abyssinian Empire were not advanced.
However, with the support of East Africa and Egypt, the Abyssinian Empire withstood the attack of the industrial country Italy, and the two sides reached a stalemate on the northern Ethiopian plateau.
Italy and Belgium both quietly occupied colonies in Africa, and other countries also had their own ideas. For example, the Kingdom of Naples had its eyes on Libya. Germany also established colonial outposts in Central and West Africa, but with France making trouble, Germany's colonial endeavors were not smooth.
Traditional colonial powers such as the Netherlands and Spain also began to strictly guard their colonies. Through the East-Portuguese War, these old colonial powers quickly realized that a new round of colonial craze had arrived.
The Netherlands' colonies were mainly in East India and South America. It faced competition from Britain, France, Portugal and Spain, while Spain had to deal with competition from the United States and other countries. However, Spain was large in size and could still put on a brave face, making it very valuable to win over. Britain, France, Germany, Austria and other countries all had good relations with Spain. Only the United States still had evil intentions, but it did not dare to act rashly.
Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula is in a miserable situation. Having East Africa as a neighbor is doomed to be a bad thing. Moreover, Portugal's local strength is not good, and its colonies are not taken seriously by East Africa.
It was rare for Constantine to come and see the progress of the war. Constantine had been busy with the construction of water conservancy projects recently, so he didn't know much about the progress of the war. The East-Portuguese War did not affect Constantine's enthusiasm for farming at all, because he knew that the strength of East Africa could not be shaken by a weak country like Portugal.
Constantine: "What is the current war situation? Has the Portuguese decided on the direction of their attack?"
Ernst: "Father, you are here. I have been following the war situation. We have figured out the focus of the Portuguese attack. Their forces are mainly concentrated in the Malawi Lake and Zambezi River Basin. It seems that they want to cut off our connection with the inland."
Constantine stared at the map, frowned and said, "The area between Lake Malawi and Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) is indeed a weak point. Are you sure you can hold it?"
Ernst: "Don't worry, father. The troops we have deployed here are the elite of the kingdom. Lake Malawi is also under our control. If the Portuguese want to get here, they must advance from the west bank of Lake Malawi. We have deployed heavy troops there, and with the terrain advantage, we guarantee that even flies will fly over here."
"Well, but we can't be careless. By the way, you just said that the Portuguese are heading all the way to the Zambezi River. They are not careless there, right?" Constantine reminded.
"As early as when the Portuguese arrived in Tete, we obtained intelligence. With the help of the Central Railway, our troops have reached the front line of the Songo stronghold. They are now resting there. The outcome of the subsequent war will depend on the feedback from the front line."
"Will there be any impact if we fail?" Constantine asked.
"It's okay. Our first wave of troops mainly rely on blacks. Even if they don't fight well, our regular troops can make up for it in time. The 512th Division is already on standby in the rear and can take over the battlefield at any time."
Constantine: "You really want to use the black army as cannon fodder?"
Ernst said calmly: "As long as they can consume the Portuguese, I don't have high expectations or requirements for them. Now that the various troops have arrived at the front line, they can start to promote the development of the war at our pace at any time."
Once the Portuguese attack direction and ideas are determined, East Africa can also counterattack against the Portuguese.
"It is now certain that the Portuguese are lax in their preparations south of the Ruvuma River. We are using blacks to hold back the main Portuguese force in the northwest. The troops along the Ruvuma River can now move south."
Ernst had long wanted to stop wanting to keep the temporary border of the Ruvuma River. It seemed that the Portuguese were also planning to give up this place, so with the help of this war, Ernst planned to completely take over northern Mozambique, including the shores of Lake Malawi, so that East Africa could have three large lakes to itself.
(End of this chapter)
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