Chapter 857 Split into Two
Port of Ele Ele.
"Governor, Roger has sent someone to send a message that the Americans will take action today? I guess they have already started the action. Should we take action?" Lieutenant Granston asked.
John Crane nodded and said, "It's already seven o'clock. I will let our people on the island get ready. We will launch the coup at six o'clock in the evening."
Gladstone did not refute John Crane's words. He believed that this operation could not be carried out entirely by his own people, and he also needed to coordinate with other East African forces hiding on the island.
The 2,000 men under Gladstone could not be dispersed all over the island, but had to be used in key places. After all, Kauai was not small in size, and overly dispersed troops would be detrimental to possible conflicts with the Americans in the future.
Gladstone said, "When the time comes, I will take the main force to Lihue. How many people should be left in Ele-Ele?"
John Crane thought for a moment and said, "It should be enough to leave 300 men in Ele Ele. Too few will risk being defeated, and too many will be disadvantageous to controlling Lihue. Once we control Lihue, we may have to divide our troops to other areas in the east and north of the island. So you should leave at least 1,000 troops in Lihue, and you should be in charge of Lihue yourself."
Gladstone said, "Of course. Lihue has the largest population, so I will pay more attention to it. As for the eastern and northern parts of the island, the northern part should be paid more attention to. After all, if we control the eastern part of Lihue, we will be stable. The northern part is mainly concentrated in Princeville, east of Hanalei Bay."
"Princeville is the second most populous town on the island, and it's halfway around the island. If we send people there now, news from there won't get out for a while," John Crane also said.
As for Ele Ele, since it is not far from Lihue, it was developed relatively late. It was only after the arrival of East Africans that Ele Ele became of some scale.
After discussing the arrangements for the coup, Gladstone asked, "Governor, why hasn't the navy arrived at Kauai yet?"
John Crane said: "The news came back the day before. The navy should be on the way now. It may arrive in one or two days."
…
Oahu.
Iolani Palace.
Iolani Palace was built in 1882 in downtown Honolulu and was the "only" royal palace on American soil in the past.
This palace, which was built relatively late, is completely Western-style. It looks relatively smaller than the palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar at that time, but it is also more exquisite.
At this time, the Hawaiian royal family had not yet imagined that the Americans would not "show mercy". After all, the United States had been quite righteous before and helped the Kingdom of Hawaii resist the invasion of Tsarist Russia, Britain and France.
Of course, in recent years the Hawaiian royal family has also realized the dangers of the United States' monopoly in Hawaii, but they can only play ostrich and hope that the United States will still have some shame.
The United States adopted the "boiling frog in warm water" approach to the Kingdom of Hawaii to achieve its annexation of the local area. Originally, there was a native Kapu religion in Hawaii.
Kapuism was eradicated, which provided conditions for the U.S. invasion. Many American missionaries preached the Bible in Hawaii, and American Christianity spread wantonly in the country.
On the surface, American missionaries opened free schools and hospitals in Hawaii and held many charity events. But in fact, this was a means of stealth invasion.
Of course, the Kingdom of Hawaii deserved it. The current King of Hawaii, Kalakaua, is an unrepentant pro-American. After he ascended the throne, Kalakaua also took a series of measures to get closer to the United States. Therefore, the fate of the Hawaiian royal family has been doomed since Kalakaua ascended the throne.
In fact, Hawaii's location makes it difficult to invade. Even the mainland United States is more than 3,700 kilometers away from Hawaii.
If Hawaii could balance the forces on the islands, it would be easy to have the best of both worlds, but the Hawaiian royal family has blocked its own way.
Today, the sea breeze in Hawaii is still very fresh, and Kalakaua stands in front of the window of the palace, enjoying the blessings of the "civilized" world.
Since Kalakaua ascended the throne, he moved the capital from Lahaina to the more economically prosperous city of Honolulu. The American-style palace of Iolani Palace was his work.
The exterior walls of the palace are painted bright white, just like the White House in the United States. Tall tropical trees are planted in front of the palace and the roads are smooth. It is in no way inferior to the royal palaces of some small European countries.
Take Ernst's Hohenzollern Palace for example. The Hohenzollern Palace is more like a military fortress, and the living experience is actually not that good. The Iolani Palace is the opposite. It is located in the city center and has little defensive function at all. There is only a simple wall on the outside. And now outside these walls, the Americans are already carrying weapons and killing them aggressively.
"Your Majesty, it's bad, our palace is surrounded!" Kalakaua's minister reported to Kalakaua nervously.
"What's going on?" Kalakaua asked in horror.
"The Americans, there are Americans outside, they are surrounded by weapons, and I also saw banners protesting against the monarchy."
"Damn it, how could this happen!" Kalakaua said in disbelief. How could his "American dad" turn around and overthrow him?
It has to be said that Kalakaua trusted the Americans too much. If it were Ernst, he would definitely not have placed the royal palace in Honolulu. Although Lahaina was a little remote, it was not easy to be directly surrounded by the Americans. If there was a military royal palace like the Hohenzollern Castle, it would not be a problem to be besieged for several months without using heavy weapons.
Of course, the most striking feature of Hohenzollern Castle is that it is built on a hill, so you can imagine how poor the livability of Hohenzollern Castle is, and Iolani Palace is the complete opposite of Hohenzollern Castle.
Kalakaua built this palace for the purpose of "enjoying life". Pearl Harbor in Honolulu is the best port in the entire archipelago, so the economy is the most developed. In addition, there are a large number of Americans living there, so the living conditions are also the best. But now all these have become Kalakaua's death warrant.
Of course, given the Americans' character, it is unlikely that they would kill Kalakaua. After all, they still have to use the name of the Kingdom of Hawaii to maintain US rule in the area, mainly to prevent gossip from the international community, and this is also the plan for East Africa.
Six o'clock in the evening.
Lihue.
"You are Kumali, the governor of Kauai Island. I heard that you are a descendant of King Gaomualiyi?"
Gladstone easily led his troops into the Governor's Palace in Lihue and captured Kumali, the governor of Kauai appointed by the Kingdom of Hawaii.
"Next, you do what we say..." Gladstone didn't waste time talking to the frightened Kumali. He directly asked him to form a puppet government, declare independence from the Kingdom of Hawaii, and restore the Kauai regime.
At the same time, the turmoil on the island naturally attracted the attention of the Americans, but looking at the murderous soldiers of the East African Defense Force, they dared not say a word.
There was even a sharp-eyed British businessman who was the first to recognize the uniforms of the East African Defense Force and exclaimed: "Oh my God, why are these damn East African barbarians here!"
Fortunately, the East African soldier did not understand English, otherwise he would have hit him with the butt of a rifle.
On the same day, March 13, 1892, a world-famous painting appeared in the Hawaiian Islands. On the same day, East Africans and Americans launched a coup in the Hawaiian Islands one after another.
The unified Hawaiian Kingdom was completely destroyed, and two puppet regimes were established, one was the Republic of Hawaii supported by the United States, and the other was the North Hawaiian Kingdom (Kauai) supported by East Africa.
The changes in the archipelago soon attracted the attention of the forces of Britain, France, Japan and other countries on the islands. These countries could only watch the United States and East Africa "divide the spoils" and were temporarily unable to stop it.
(End of this chapter)
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