"From now on, we have to start preparing, some advance troops should start to move to Africa, and the material reserves must be on track immediately from now on. The Portuguese are not our opponents, and that is what we must guard against possible actions by the British and French, who are not very likely to be directly hostile to us, at best, not to cooperate. And once the war starts, it will obviously be more expensive to transport supplies. ”

"Secondly, we must also prepare the indigenous troops in Namibia and German East Africa, although their combat effectiveness is very poor, but they have special advantages in familiarity with the terrain, reconnaissance and relations with other natives around us, and with their cooperation, we will save a lot of trouble."

"In particular, the shadows we had planted in the two Portuguese colonies could also be used. These people have infiltrated every aspect of the indigenous social system of the colony. With their help, we can easily take over and stabilize the colony. ”

"It doesn't seem to me to be accurate to define this operation as a war, we need to face a very weak enemy, and in a way it is more like an anti-access operation. It is not so much the strength of the Portuguese that I am worried about, their resistance is destined to be weak and easily crushed. Even I am not very worried about the intervention of Britain and France, after all, the British themselves are now preparing for war, and it is impossible to go to war with Germany. France are an absolute disadvantage when they play us alone, so don't worry. ’

"What my real concern is if, at the time of our attack on the Portuguese, England and France suddenly intervene and want to get a piece of the pie from us? Don't forget that Angola, Portugal's colony on the west coast of Africa, is not far from French Equatorial Africa, and French Madagascar is also not far from Mozambique. And British Rhodenia is next to Mozambique! They want to act, what do we do? ”

"Just like Japan did with the Philippines a few months ago?" Wilhelm II raised an eyebrow and said.

"True, France was more likely to act than the British, who were largely influenced by the impending outbreak of the Boer War. And the French don't have any foreign wars, they have strength and more interests, why don't the French do it? The prince asked rhetorically.

In fact, the world colonial system that took shape around 1885 was not stable. Historically, this colonial system has suffered several blows, the first of which was the war between the United States and Spain, in which Spain was in a weak position. And the British are also inclined towards the United States. The Americans successfully acquired the Philippines and Cuba from Spain.

Then came the first and second Moroccan crises, this time in which Germany took the initiative to challenge the French colonial system. The two sides were originally feuding, and the direct result was the recognition of French interests in Morocco by Britain and Spain. This made Wilhelm II very dissatisfied. In the first Moroccan crisis, Germany did not gain anything. A few years later, the Germans reaped some benefits in the Central African region during the second Moroccan crisis.

At the same time, Italy also attacked the Turkish colonies in Africa in 1910, and more than 100,000 Italian troops included Libya in a very short period of time. As for the famous Boer War, not to mention it. In fact, in addition to these events and disputes, before World War I, Britain also had plans to carve up the Portuguese colonies with Germany.

So on the whole, if there is no war, then except for Spain, which occupies a corner, and Belgium, which has the support of Britain and France, can keep the Congo, other colonies such as Turkey and Portugal will eventually be annexed by other powers.

And this plane, because of Japan's entry into the Spanish-American War and the annexation of the Philippines, made the old colonial system collapse faster! The British can connive at other countries to acquire the colonies of small European countries, and then other great powers can naturally take away the colonies of those weak and small countries. Even falling into the well and getting a piece of the pie is the best choice for a big country.

What the prince can be sure of is that if there had been no Boer War, the British would have had a piece of the pie once Germany had made a move against Portugal, and the British realized that they could not stop it! The French will also take advantage of the situation! And now, thanks to the Boer War, the British will adopt some policy of contraction.

Historically, after the outbreak of the Boer War in 1898, Britain gave up its bid for Samoa. In the case of the overstretched army, it is also unlikely that Britain will directly send troops to carve up the Portuguese colonies. So now, the biggest problem is the French, and how to prevent the French from getting a piece of the pie has become a big problem!

"Although there are two main directions, on the whole, it is not very likely that the French will attack in the direction of Mozambique, and the French are very weak in Madagascar, and even less in the navy. There is also a wider channel in between, and as long as our fleet can quickly occupy several important ports in Mozambique, it can easily cut off the French access to Mozambique. ”

"The biggest problem is the French coming from French Equatorial Africa, if nothing else, the Belgians will agree to the French transit, and if we advance from Namibia from south to north, then the French will certainly have time to occupy the northern region, which will not be easy."

"What you say makes a lot of sense, so do you have any good ideas?" Wilhelm II said.

"Our navy is actually ready to deal with the French! At the beginning of the campaign, even before the offensive on the southern front, we had to choose a landing in the northern ports of Angola and then quickly block the border areas between the Congo and Angola. The prince said earnestly.

"We could have done a better job by seizing the Portuguese ports by sea with at least half of our troops, which would ensure that we could control the two colonies as soon as possible, and at the same time prevent other countries from intervening. If nothing else, it may take a few weeks to decide the winner. Wilhelm II thought for a moment and added that the advantages of maritime transport are indeed obvious, especially for the African region, which does not have many railways.

"But the concentration of a large number of ships will itself arouse the vigilance of some countries, especially if these ships are all German ships, and it will let the adversary know our intentions in advance." The prince had not thought about this problem, but it would be too glaring to transfer a large number of ships to southern Africa at this time. Although Germany is strong this time, it will not be like Japan to declare war without declaring war, and there is no need to worry about making excuses, but it is difficult to say how long the period between the incident and the declaration of war will be. And this time was enough for the French to concentrate one force on action.

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