Chapter 803 Threat
Salisbury was unable to refute what Hermann said. The war was indeed first provoked by Britain, which basically determined that Britain was the main party responsible for the war. However, this did not affect Salisbury's blaming East Africa.
"The original intention of our Britain in launching this war was entirely to maintain regional peace and stability. East Africa itself is the most unstable factor in Africa. From the time the Black Hingen Kingdom opened up its first colony to the present, East Africa's land area has directly expanded to tens of thousands of square kilometers. Therefore, your East African Kingdom is the most evil country in African history. These lands were snatched from the indigenous people. This is more like the Russians..." Salisbury said bluntly.
"Ahem..." Chervynsky, the representative of Tsarist Russia, expressed his dissatisfaction with an ugly face. It turned out that the British were unable to produce ivory.
Salisbury also realized his own gaffe and quickly changed the subject: "Of course, although Russia has vast territories, Russia itself has a 'long' history, while it took East Africa only a few decades to acquire these territories. It can be said that it is the most aggressive country in the world."
Judging from the results alone, what Salisbury said was absolutely right. East Africa is indeed a relatively greedy country. Of course, in other words, there is nothing wrong with Ernst being greedy.
However, there are very few countries or politicians in this world that are not greedy. Ernst seized the opportunity of the times. Since he had the ability to annex so much land but let it go, it would be a shame to Ernst's ambition. If he did not take what God gave him, he would suffer the consequences.
Just like Angola and Mozambique now, if East Africa is not acquired, it will create obstacles for East Africa in all aspects.
Herman: "Mr. Salisbury, this is a complete slander against our Kingdom of Hechingen. All countries have expansionist activities in Africa, especially Britain. There is Egypt in the north, British Somaliland in the east, Cape Town in the south, and the Gold Coast in the west. Moreover, Britain has the most colonies in the world, especially India, Australia, Canada, etc. Whether in terms of population, economy, politics, or military, Britain's expansion is the most exaggerated in the world. Is the same principle true for East Africa, which is greedy and aggressive? Is Britain the seed of civilization?"
"Well said." Representatives from other countries thought so in their hearts.
As the world hegemon, there are many countries that are hostile to Britain. In particular, except for Portugal and the Boers, the countries present here can be said to be chess players in world politics. They have long coveted the assets of the British Empire. There are also some countries that simply have a grudge against the British, such as the Russians.
Cherchyevsky completely agreed with Hermann's words. These British guys were just a bunch of pirates, and they still had the nerve to accuse the great Russia.
Of course, Cherchyslavsky was also quite jealous of East Africa. Russia had been expanding desperately to gain access to the sea, while the small Hechingen royal family had expanded so much land in such a short time. It was really frustrating.
There are many people who share the same idea as Cherlevsky, but the overall feeling of everyone towards East Africa is not jealousy, but regret. They hate that they acted too late. If even one country here competes with East Africa at the same time, wouldn't it have a greater advantage than the small Hechingen royal family?
Unfortunately, it was too late. By the time of the Berlin Conference, the outcomes in East and South Africa had basically been decided, while there were too many competitors in West and North Africa. This shows the importance of seizing the opportunity.
Of course, it is not too late to make an effort now. West Africa and North Africa are not small in area, and are much richer than East Africa and South Africa. This is what representatives of various countries think.
Of course, Russia and Austria-Hungary are exceptions. Their geographical locations doomed them to have no chance of entering Africa, especially West Africa. Now Tsarist Russia is still trapped in the small Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. Its top priority is to expand in Eurasia, rather than going far away to West Africa to show off its strength. The reason for the expansion of Austria-Hungary was mainly due to domestic political reasons, and its central location made it easy to be restrained.
Hermann's words greatly stimulated Salisbury, who said to Hermann: "You East African pigs, we British are the messengers of civilization, and we are here to change those uncivilized and barbaric lands. You barbarians cannot understand."
"Ahem..." Count Allenthal said, "Mr. Salisbury, please do not make personal attacks casually. Everyone present here is a respectable person. If you want to vent your emotions, you can return to your hotel after the meeting. Do not do so in a public area. It will appear to be very unethical."
Count Alenthal's words simply added fuel to the fire, but bitter medicine tastes good but helps cure the disease, so Salisbury had to behave a little more "gentlemanly" and sit upright in the armchair again.
However, everyone could tell from his red face that he was very uncomfortable and must have been very angry.
As the host of the meeting, Aenthal brought the topic back on track: "Personal grudges and negative emotions will affect your judgment. We are here to solve the problem, not to argue for the sake of arguing. Therefore, the representatives of the two countries should quickly reach a consensus on how to resolve the war."
Salisbury, who had calmed down, said firmly: "Our British attitude is very clear. East Africa will withdraw its troops and restore the pre-war border between the two sides. At the same time, East Africa will compensate us for our losses in the war."
Von der Leyen spoke up at this time. He said: "Haha, Earl Salisbury, Britain is bound to pay a price for starting a war, and your demands are just like the winner of the war. I don't think Britain is in an advantageous position in the war. After all, the National Defense Force is less than 400 kilometers away from Cape Town."
Salisbury retorted: "Don't think that East Africa can defeat us. We in Britain just haven't put in enough effort. Defeating East Africa is as easy as drinking water for the imperial army. However, for a poor country like East Africa, even if we defeat it with great effort, it may not make up for our loss of military expenditure."
"You were able to escape because of your remote geographical location. However, this shortcoming is not important in the eyes of the Royal Navy. With just a little effort, the situation can be reversed."
In response to Salisbury's tough attitude, Hermann directly threatened: "We, the Kingdom of Hechingen, do not fight with excuses, but with real ability. We now have more than 60,000 British prisoners, who can fully illustrate the status of both sides in the war. At the same time, Angola, Mozambique, Orange, North Cape Town, and East Cape Town all show that we in East Africa are not afraid of war and have the ability to win this war."
Count Hermann's words could be said to have revealed a huge piece of information. In fact, only East Africa knew the number of British prisoners, but everyone thought that tens of thousands of British people were captured by East Africa.
Some people even suspected that Indians were also counted. After all, it was almost "impossible" to capture tens of thousands of British troops.
Even Salisbury didn't dare to believe it when he first heard the news, but he didn't dare to deny it directly. If it was true, it would be troublesome for Britain.
(End of this chapter)
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