Chapter 502 Lan Fang Overseas Province
In addition to northern Mozambique, East Africa also obtained one-third of the land in southern Angola. Ernst has no intention of developing this area now.
Angola is on the Atlantic coast, which means it is not as easy to intervene as the Indian Ocean. East Africa can exert its naval strength in the Indian Ocean, but the Atlantic Ocean is a little worse, and it is impossible to disperse the naval force. What if it is attacked by the British?
Ernst's worries are definitely not without reason. Although Ernst hates Britain, it has to be said that Britain is a very pragmatic country. Of course, it can also be said that it will do whatever it takes to achieve its goals. Otherwise, it would not be possible to become the world hegemon. After all, Britain is a small place. If it doesn't have some ruthlessness, it would not be able to hold Germany, France, Austria, Russia, the United States and other countries in its hands.
In the past, Ernst certainly had no right to say that Britain was a tiny place, but now the size of East Africa is indeed enough to make such a statement.
Cape Town is still in the hands of the British. The British are very powerful in the Atlantic. St. Helena Island, where Napoleon was once imprisoned, is not far from Angola, and the British navy can also go south without obstacles. Therefore, if the East African Navy disperses its forces to the Atlantic, Britain has the strength to blacklist the East African Atlantic Navy.
Moreover, Britain has the motive to do so. East Africa has at least had a feud with Britain, so East Africa has actually become one of Britain's enemies.
Therefore, Ernst is not at ease with dispersing limited naval forces to the Atlantic Ocean. However, it is different in the Indian Ocean. The overall strength of the East African Navy is not too bad, but it can only be fully exerted in one sea area.
The configuration of the East African Navy is similar to that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, and the activity areas of the two countries' navies are very narrow, even pitiful, so the naval power seems to be surplus. East Africa is different. The Indian Ocean is too vast, and it is difficult to protect the eastern coast. If the Atlantic Ocean is added, East Africa's navy is simply not enough.
Of course, there is another reason why Ernst did not develop Angola. That is, the conditions of the land that Portugal ceded to East Africa were not very good. After all, it is in the southern part of Angola, and the natural conditions are similar to those of Namibia. It is not a good place for development.
…
Kalimantan Island, Lan Fang Republic.
Pontianak Port is the largest port of the Lan Fang Republic. East Africa already had military forces in Pontianak, but today two East African merchant ships with a battalion of troops landed here, officially declaring that the Lan Fang Republic had become a colony of East Africa.
After the truce with Portugal, East Africa now has time to digest the Lan Fang Republic. Of course, the main reason is that after communicating with the Netherlands, the Dutch have given up the Lan Fang Republic in exchange for East Africa's recognition of the surrounding Dutch colonies. In other words, the Netherlands and East Africa have divided their respective spheres of influence on the island of Kalimantan. Ernst is also very tactful and respects the current interests of the Netherlands in the Lan Fang Republic.
In Pontianak, Wilt, the first governor of the Lan Fang Overseas Province of the Black Hingen Kingdom, was officially sworn in. The Lan Fang Overseas Province was not the first colony of the Black Hingen royal family, Alaska was, but Alaska belonged to the royal territory and was not under the jurisdiction of the Black Hingen (East Africa) Kingdom. After all, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and the Black Hingen royal family also needed a way out.
Looking at the flag of the former Lan Fang Republic and the East African flag rising slowly next to the "Hakka" flag, Wilt felt very happy. From today on, he was also the head of a province.
Because of its special geographical location, the Lan Fang Overseas Province did not have a high-ranking official position. Instead, a governor was appointed. The governor had more power than the high-ranking official. For example, the Governor of Lan Fang had half of the military command power.
After all, Ernst still liked centralization and was not confident in giving the Lan Fang Republic too much autonomy, so the Lan Fang Republic directly became an overseas province in East Africa rather than an ordinary colony. Once it became a province, it would be like other provinces in East Africa and would become one of its own.
Of course, the main reason is that the Lan Fang Overseas Province is not large in area and has a small population, so there is not much resistance to joining East Africa. During its heyday, the Lan Fang Republic, the former province of the Lan Fang Overseas Province, only covered the northwest of Kalimantan Island. After being weakened several times by the Netherlands, the Lan Fang Republic can only be regarded as an insignificant small country on Kalimantan Island.
If the Lan Fang Republic really dominated the entire island of Kalimantan, Ernst would definitely not give Lan Fang the qualification of an overseas province.
Speaking of the Lan Fang Republic, there is another interesting feature, that is, it has its own colony - Dai Yan.
Dai Yan is a country established by the indigenous people of Kalimantan Island, located in the eastern inland of the Lan Fang Republic. According to the original Lan Fang Republic, it was a vassal state, but according to East African standards, it was a colony. Dai Yan was also incorporated into the newly established Lan Fang Overseas Province.
As for whether these natives are willing or not, that is not up to them. East Africa is not as easy to deal with as the Lan Fang Republic.
In the past, Dai Yan could still move between the Lan Fang Republic and the Dutch, but now that East Africa has reached a deal with the Dutch, there is no need for Dai Yan to exist.
The countries on the island of Kalimantan can be divided into three categories according to their beliefs. The first is Hakka, which is the original Han Chinese belief, mainly the Chinese community on the island of Kalimantan. Ernst knows that this is definitely not a religion or belief, but it is only special in the East in the world. The second is Christians, mainly the Dutch, and finally Arabs. Most of the countries on the island of Kalimantan are Arabs.
Dai Yan also belongs to the Arab religion. For East Africa, where Catholicism is the mainstream religion, there is no psychological burden in eliminating this pagan country.
It even fits the European way of thinking. The Dutch are committed to preaching on the island of Kalimantan. After all, the mainstream religion in the Netherlands is similar to that in East Africa, especially in the Dutch colonies. Catholicism ranks first and Protestantism ranks second. The same is true in East Africa, and then other religions. Because of Zanzibar Island, there are also a group of Arab believers in East Africa.
However, Arabs in East Africa are special. East Africa allows them to exist because it covets commercial trade with Arab countries. In fact, the nationality of these Arabs is very flexible.
Because Zanzibar Island used to be a territory of the Omani Empire, the Arabs on Zanzibar Island can also be citizens of the Omani Empire or other Arab countries.
This is actually true. After East Africa designated Zanzibar Island as a province, many Arabs from the former Sultanate of Zanzibar returned to Oman. After all, Arab religion had no status in East Africa. However, because of their trade, most of them still stayed on Zanzibar Island.
However, there is a tacit understanding between East Africa and the Arab groups, that is, East Africa currently has no intention of expelling them. As for when to expel them, it depends on East Africa's ideas. The initiative lies with East Africa, because the taxation, finance, military and other rights of Zanzibar Island have been recovered by East Africa. If East Africa wants to drive the Arabs away, it only needs to make changes in policies. Then these people can only return to the Arab world. After all, they have some wealth. It is better to return to Oman and be a superior person than to be a second-class person in East Africa. As for refusing to leave, there is still the East African army to negotiate with them, so there is no possibility.
As for Dai Yan, which is also an Arab country, East Africa plans to relocate its residents to East Africa for assimilation. As a vassal state of the Lan Fang Republic, Dai Yan cannot negotiate conditions with East Africa. Moreover, the residents of Dai Yan are mainly Malays. As long as they are not black, Ernst can still accept them.
(End of this chapter)
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