Chapter 898 Tete City
The Far East War had a huge impact on the region's pattern, but the overall impact was much smaller than in the previous life, and Ernst was not optimistic about the Far Eastern Empire's short-term situation.
Take its Northern Navy as an example. Although it was not completely wiped out this time, the losses were not small. After all, its naval strength was much stronger than the same period in history. On this basis, its naval losses were not much different from those in the previous life. After all, its size was large. All in all, the specific losses of the Northern Navy this time were 70% of those in the previous life.
As a country, Japan's naval strength is actually a little stronger than in the past. After all, its reference is the Far Eastern Empire Navy. If the Far Eastern Empire Navy increases the number of warships, the Japanese government will follow suit. However, due to financial pressure, it has only introduced three more main combat ships retired by its navy from the UK through loans than in the past.
After the war, Japan could only get back the loan from Korea. After all, the compensation paid by the Far Eastern Empire this time was only one-tenth of what it had been in history. However, Ernst was happy to see this happen.
Ernst had no grudge against North Korea, but he definitely had no good feelings towards it. Moreover, if Japan increased its exploitation and oppression of North Korea, it would inevitably cause fierce resistance from the North Korean people, which would further increase Japan's colonial costs.
Although North Korea's combat capability is worrying, it is not comparable to the natives of Africa. The natives of Africa have 40% of the strength of North Korea. Ernst's East African colonization strategy was difficult to implement at the time. Moreover, during this period, North Korea was actually a populous country. In the late 19th century, the population of the Korean Peninsula had exceeded 17 million, which was more than the population of the Abyssinian Empire, but its land area was nearly 100,000 square kilometers less than that of the Abyssinian Empire.
Of course, it is unlikely that North Korea will overthrow Japan's colonial rule. This is not Ernst's nonsense. In the past, North Korea overthrew Japanese rule mainly by relying on external forces. If it relied on its own strength, it would probably be difficult for North Korea to become independent by the middle of the next century. Secondly, North Korea is too close to Japan and the gap in strength between the two is significant. This is also the reason why it is difficult for North Korea to overthrow Japanese rule.
Therefore, Ernst was generally satisfied with the situation formed by the Far East War. Even if Japan developed, it would not be as rapid as in the past. However, Ernst also did not want Japan to be too weak.
If Japan is too weak, East Africa will have to worry about the problem of Tsarist Russia's dominance just like Britain. At the same time, Japan will still be a pawn to influence the situation in the South China Sea and the Pacific in the future.
East Africa is quite dissatisfied with the international situation in the South Seas. Except for the Lan Fang overseas province and the completely non-existent Balabac Island, East Africa's influence in the local area is very weak, even less than that of the Netherlands and Spain.
If we ignore the area of colonies, East Africa's influence in the region is not even as great as that of Portugal. Although Portugal only has East Timor, a major colony in Southeast Asia, Portugal has been rooted in the region for hundreds of years and the influence it has left is still considerable.
In addition to these countries, Britain and France have overwhelming advantages in the Nanyang region. In particular, Britain, relying on India as its base, controls major areas of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea except the coast of East Africa.
Therefore, Japan is a very good fighter, and the United States also noticed this in the past. However, the United States did not expect that Japan's combat power was so incredible that it could actually push back the American territory.
…
Tete city.
Tete is one of the important cities in East Africa in Mozambique. Its economy and population even rank above Maputo and Beira, making it the fourth largest city in the entire region.
The top three are all port cities, including Pemba, Nacala and Quelimane.
The common point of these four cities, including Tete, is that after the First East-Portuguese War, they, along with the entire Mozambique north of the Zambezi River, were incorporated into the territory of East Africa, among which Tete was the main battlefield between East and Portugal.
After being incorporated into East Africa, Tete has achieved considerable development, evolving from a desolate commercial base into an emerging city in the region.
Although Tete is located inland, it has excellent regional conditions. First of all, it is located on the banks of the Zambezi River and is the shipping dividing point of the Zambezi River. Tete can go directly to the Indian Ocean.
Secondly, Tete is sandwiched between the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone and the Central Industrial Zone in East Africa, so the economies of Mbeya and Harare can radiate to Tete.
Finally, the most important point is that the natural resources around Tete are very rich, including coal, bauxite, rare metals and iron ore.
To sum up, Tete is not only a regional center, but also an important transportation hub and a relatively important industrial and mining city in East Africa. The only thing Tete lacks at present is railways, but once the construction of the Quelimane-New Frankfurt railway is completed, it will not be a problem.
This is the trunk railway. On the branch railway, the two major industrial zones headed by Harare and Mbeya intend to build a railway through Tete, so as to realize the linkage between the two major industrial zones in East Africa. Of course, there is also the idea of using the resources of Tete to promote the development of this region.
After all, the coal and iron ore resources around Tete are very rich, which may not be valued by Matabele Province, but is very important to South Salzburg Province.
Of course, as a city with excellent conditions, the Tete Municipal Government naturally has its own ideas. Since its natural endowments are superior in the whole of East Africa, why not replace them? Its goal is to become an important national city like Mbeya and Harare.
With such ambitions in mind, in early 1895, the Tete Municipal Government once again sent teams to cities such as Mbeya and Harare.
This time, the Tete Municipal Government intends to build the largest aluminum processing and manufacturing center in East Africa based on the newly discovered bauxite resources in the region. As for its plan to build an aluminum smelter locally, it was rejected by Ernst.
As for the reason why he died before he could accomplish his mission, it was because aluminum smelting is an extremely polluting industry and is generally carried out downstream of rivers and far away from residential areas.
The city of Tete is located on the north bank of the Zambezi River. Although it is also located in the lower reaches of the river, the Zambezi River is one of the four major rivers in East Africa, and its lower reaches are quite long. Moreover, the lower reaches are the key agricultural development zone reserved in East Africa. If the city of Tete builds an aluminum smelter locally, the banks of the river more than 400 kilometers downstream of Tete will be in trouble.
Therefore, the aluminum smelter was finally located in the town of Shinde at the mouth of the Zambezi River. After the aluminum smelting is completed, it will be transported by water back to Tete for secondary processing. The wastewater will be directly discharged into the Indian Ocean, causing pollution to rivers and coastal soil in East Africa.
Another advantage of deploying industries along the coast is that it will save the cost of importing bauxite in the future.
Of course, aluminum smelting, like steel, relies on local resources, but when the future economic development and the world market or the era of globalization arrive, it will definitely rely mainly on imported raw materials.
After all, although East Africa's bauxite resources are rich, they are still inferior to those of the world's superior production areas. The reserves alone are not on the same level.
At the same time, building an aluminum smelter in Xinde can also drive the development of the Zambezi River estuary. Although the port conditions in Xinde at the Zambezi River estuary are much worse than those in Beira, as the intersection of the Zambezi River and the Indian Ocean, it has unique economic value.
Among the four major rivers in East Africa (Nile River, Congo River, Orange River and Zambezi River), it is the only estuary port with certain shipping value.
The Nile River empties into the sea in Egypt, and the Orange River is a boundary river. The lower reaches are mainly desert and sparsely populated, while the lower reaches of the Congo River are also not navigable.
This highlights the importance of the town of Hinde. There is basically no obstruction to shipping from Hinde to Tete. It flows through the coastal plains of East Africa and is one of the few river sections in East Africa with high shipping value.
Of course, although the East African Central Government rejected Tete's proposal to build an aluminum smelter in the city, Tete naturally cannot give up completely.
Therefore, the Tete Municipal Government plans to rely on the Zambezi River shipping to bring aluminum from Xindai back to the city for secondary processing. This is highly feasible and can drive the development of many industries.
(End of this chapter)
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