Chapter 804 The Lion Opens His Mouth
The British prisoners were the basis of the East African negotiations, and when this card of Hermann was played, everyone present, especially colonial powers like Britain and France, felt the most. Of course, Britain's defense was broken, while the French were gloating.
In the colonial wars of the 19th century, colonialists often only needed a small number of troops to achieve considerable gains.
For example, before East Africa, the total number of Portuguese troops in Angola and Mozambique was less than 10,000.
The most exaggerated was the conquest of India by the British East India Company in the 18th century, which achieved the conquest of India with less than a thousand local troops and about two thousand mercenaries. Even in the 19th century, the total number of British troops stationed in India did not exceed 10,000.
The British can be said to have replicated the Tang Dynasty's Wang Xuance's conquest of India. Although the British army was small in number, they formed a large number of puppet troops, most of whom were Indians.
In the more recent war between Britain, France and the Far Eastern Empire in the 1950s, the total force was only more than 5,600.
Of course, the war of the Far Eastern Empire was extremely unexpected. First of all, the Far Eastern Empire had no control over the sea at that time, and its capital was close to the coast.
Before the British invasion, the Far East Empire had only one trading port, Guangzhou, which was also known as "one port for trade". This was significantly different from East Africa. In the early days, East Africa also had only one trading port, Dar es Salaam. However, East Africa itself had poor natural geographical conditions and lacked excellent ports.
The current coastal city pattern was formed after the transformation of many coastal bays in East Africa, typical examples of which include Bagamoyo and Mombasa.
Before East Africa, both places were truly barren lands. Bagamoyo had a population of only a few hundred people (historically, Bagamoyo had a population of only about a thousand in 1880). The situation in Mombasa was slightly better, but it was just a small town under the rule of the Sultanate of Zanzibar because it was far away from the core area of the Sultanate of Zanzibar (Zanzibar Island and the surrounding areas of Dar es Salaam).
European colonists often only needed a few regiments of troops to easily capture a country or a large area, but East Africa clearly broke this "common sense".
In fact, Britain had "overestimated" East Africa as much as possible before the war. First, the naval strength of East Africa was among the best in the world. Secondly, East Africa's weapons and equipment were basically on par with the European level. Therefore, before the war in East Africa, British Prime Minister Cecil treated the war in East Africa almost to the "maximum".
However, it turned out that they had seriously underestimated the war potential in East Africa. The capture of tens of thousands of British troops was almost the greatest humiliation faced by the British army since the 19th century.
Of course, Britain's determination to mobilize so many troops at one time to attack East Africa was closely related to the rapid economic development of East Africa. Although East Africa was "closed", the economic conditions in the coastal areas were visible to the naked eye. Coupled with the prosperous trade, the density of ships on the East African routes, and the control of the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca, Britain itself could obtain a lot of East African import and export data, so the South African War was essentially driven by interests.
Herman continued to speak loudly, "At present, there are more than 270,000 British and Indian prisoners. In addition to the food, drink, defecation and urination of these prisoners in East Africa, as well as compensation for East Africa's economic losses and military expenses, Britain should pay my country 82 million pounds in compensation."
When Hermann said this, the whole audience was in an uproar. Not to mention Britain, even Austria-Hungary, Germany, France and others could no longer hold back.
You have to know that during the entire Franco-Prussian War, France's compensation to Prussia was "only" 5 billion francs, which was about 200 million pounds at the time.
The East African War demanded that Britain pay 82 million pounds in compensation, which was almost half of the war reparations for the Franco-Prussian War and close to the British treasury's annual revenue. In 1888, Britain's annual fiscal revenue was about 90 million pounds.
And this is far from over. When everyone was shocked, East Africa continued to make a huge demand. Herman did not forget Portugal and said, "Portugal should also compensate our country 48 million pounds. This is a special concession made by our country considering the financial difficulties of the Kingdom of Portugal and the combat effectiveness of its soldiers. Otherwise, if the unit price of Portuguese soldiers is calculated according to that of British soldiers, this number will triple."
This sentence not only made the Portuguese representatives' hearts beat faster, but also made them deeply humiliated. East Africa pointed out the low combat effectiveness of Portugal.
"Count Hermann, you East Africans are going too far. Even if you sell the whole of Angola and Mozambique together, they are not worth 40 million reais (Portuguese currency), let alone pounds." The Portuguese representative asked before Salisbury.
Herman smiled harmlessly and said, "Mr. Gers, don't worry. Our calculation is reasonable. The number of Portuguese soldiers we captured in this war is more than 120,000. One Portuguese soldier is worth one-third of the British army, which is 50 pounds. That's 6 million pounds. This is just the ransom for the Portuguese soldiers. We also captured more than 300,000 Portuguese vassal troops. Even if we give a 50% discount on the food, drink, and toilet expenses of the prisoners in the past few months, it is still an astronomical figure.
The damage done by Portuguese soldiers to our three western and central provinces was almost devastating, causing the displacement of millions of residents and the destruction of almost all infrastructure. At the same time, the Hexingen soldiers who died defending their country also had to receive compensation and pensions, so 48 million pounds was too much? Our Hexingen Kingdom actually suffered heavy losses. If it weren't for the fact that Portugal's economic level and the Portuguese soldiers' destructive power were not as good as the British army, you should be the one who received the most compensation."
According to Hermann, Portugal paid too little compensation. Of course, the accounts cannot be calculated in this way. First of all, the so-called population of millions mentioned by Hermann is a number made up out of thin air. If it were black people, it would be reasonable, but black people obviously cannot be counted as part of the East African population.
Secondly, the western part of East Africa has hardly been developed, and the so-called serious damage to infrastructure is also a fabrication. After all, most places in the west don’t even have a hair.
Finally, the calculation of the Portuguese army, would Portugal regard more than 300,000 black vassal soldiers as "people"? Obviously not, let alone pay a ransom for these blacks.
Therefore, what can actually be cashed in are the 120,000 Portuguese native soldiers, and the ransom of 6 million pounds is actually enough for East Africa to recoup its investment. According to Portugal's economic situation, it is probably difficult to come up with 6 million pounds, and the 48 million pounds offered by East Africa is only about three times the amount based on counting blacks as Portuguese.
Although 6 million pounds is a lot, Portugal can still afford it. However, 48 million pounds could directly end the life of the Portuguese government.
There is no doubt that as long as Portugal accepts this number, it will not be able to recover in the next 50 years and will completely become a third-rate country in Europe.
France is a big country with a great economy, while Portugal has always relied on its past achievements. In addition, Portugal has a small land area and a small population. If the compensation is paid in this amount, basically every Portuguese person will have to bear a debt of around 15 pounds. At this time, the monthly salary of most British workers did not exceed 10 pounds. The Portuguese with a worse economic level would need at least two or three months without food or drink to pay off the debt to East Africa. What's more, the salary level of ordinary Portuguese people can only barely support their families, so the Portuguese government will certainly not agree to East Africa's conditions.
(End of this chapter)
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