Kawaguchi City

Built on the delta plains of the lower Zambessi, this city has a strong Chinese Ming and Qing dynasty architectural style, the city's wide roads are paved with asphalt, with perfect sewer facilities, and African-style street trees are lush, just like an ancient city in southern China.

If you look closely, you can see a lot of differences.

The estuary is particularly clean, with public toilets on both sides of the road, built in the shape of original African wooden houses, exuding a strong local color.

The majority of the city's residents are Chinese, but there are also a few whites and blacks, and the smell of food wafts through the streets and alleys at dusk.

Estuary is an agricultural city rich in rice, with some small handicrafts and port trade, a city population of 278,000 people, and roads leading to the countryside in all directions, the most common being rickshaw flatbed carts and mule-horse carts, donkey carts, it is a quiet, peaceful and beautiful city.

In the Mozambique region

Estuary City does not have the political and economic center of Seoul, the thriving industrial economy of Chagqu, nor the vigorous development momentum of Malawi City, and the most important thing here is the military role.

Geographically

The lower Zambezi River Delta is an endless large plain, sometimes with a small hill no more than 100 meters high, and the government has built a dam on the south bank of the Zambezi River, which restricts the flooding of the Zambezi River during the rainy season every year, creating huge social and economic benefits.

After 15 years of construction after defeating the Portuguese colonizers in 1885, the south bank of the Zambezi River has now become a rice granary, criss-crossing water delivery ditches, bridges and culverts, ensuring that this fertile delta plain can be harvested from drought and flood, and the yield is stable and high.

The region is famous throughout southern Africa for its rice, wheat, soybeans, bananas, potatoes, watermelons, grapes and other crops, making it the most important food production base in Mozambique.

There are dozens of rolling hills ranging in height from tens to hundreds of meters near the town of Hekou, from where a railway stretches more than 20 kilometers east to the coast and west to Seoul, more than 260 kilometers away, which is part of the Zambezi Railway, connecting dozens of important towns along the way.

Because Hekou Town guards the estuary of the Zambezi River and shoulders the important responsibility of maintaining the tranquility of the vast inland area, three bank batteries with a circular layout were established on the hills near Hekou Town, called "Hekou Forts", which are equipped with 4 281 mm long-barreled shore guns, 6 203 mm shore guns, 12 152 mm shore guns, a total of 22 medium and large caliber guns, which can completely blockade the river bank area and prohibit any enemy ships from entering in wartime.

Besides

From the east of Hekou Town to the coast in the shape of the "L" shaped railway line, the total length of about 30 kilometers is all military, for the use of the only train artillery battalion in the empire, the battalion has two train guns, each train gun is equipped with two 203 mm naval guns (converted to land use), six 95 mm guns and eight 20 mm Ha Qi Kaisi guns, the firepower is very powerful.

In addition, on the island of Mozambique, not far from the mouth of the Zambezi River, the San Sebastian Citadel is equipped with large-caliber shore guns, which together form a tight coastal defense network, which can tightly seal the entire Zambezi estuary and the surrounding area, making any invading enemy fearful.

In the whole of Mozambique, there are three full-fledged military units.

One is the Mozambican garrison with its headquarters in Seoul, the other is the African Fleet with its headquarters on the island of Mozambique, and the other is the African Mobile Division with its headquarters in the city of Hekou.

Within the scope of Hekou City, the number of garrisons in various departments is as high as more than 4,000 people, and the total number of military families exceeds 14,000, accounting for 1/20 of the city's population, which is already a considerable proportion.

Major General Duan Churui led a high-level military observation group to arrive here, and was welcomed by the local garrison and the chief executive, and a banquet was held that night, so that the officers could enjoy the long-lost Chinese food and wine, which was really a joy for the guests and hosts.

After two days of rest

Accompanied by the commander of the local garrison, Major General Duan Qirui inspected the surrounding defense facilities and troop deployment, and gained an in-depth understanding of the militia training and deployment in Mozambique, the resettlement of retired soldiers, and so on.

The news he got made him quite relieved and felt that the trip was worthwhile.

As of September 1899

The total population of Mozambique has grown rapidly from more than 6.2 million in June 1896 to more than 7.1 million at present, of which the number of whites has increased from 134,000 to 147,000, the number of indigenous blacks has decreased from 300,000 to more than 230,000, and the population of the Tang nationality has increased from 5.77 million to 6.72 million.

Except for the government-subsidized immigrants of 8~90,000 per year and the average of more than 30,000 people per year, most of the other populations come from natural growth and the inflow of Madagascar islands.

The island of Madagascar has a long history of population inflow, in 1885, after the death of the powerful queen of the Kingdom of Madagascar, this indigenous kingdom fell into a long period of civil strife and tribal wars, a large number of young women continue to outflow, an average of 3~40,000 people per year.

On the one hand, this is due to the temptation of profit, the kingdom is entrenched in various powerful people, and the tribal leaders have sold the captured enemy women to obtain money to buy weapons and ammunition, or directly exchange weapons and equipment, and continue to invest in the tribal war to expand their power.

On the other hand, it is due to the provocation of the colonizers, the instigation of ill intentions, the connivance, and the continuous export of young women, which caused this originally powerful indigenous kingdom to lose a lot of blood, and the population growth has come to a halt or even regression.

The real change came in 1895, when the French colonizers, seeing the rapid decline of the kingdom of Madagascar, sent troops to colonize the island.

At this time, the governor of Africa, who was on the other side of the Mozambique Channel, saw an opportunity and quickly sent troops to occupy the northern part of the island of Madagascar, forming a situation in which he drew a line with the French.

Since then

The exodus from Madagascar grew dramatically, spreading from the north to the French-controlled south, creating a lucrative underground wave of human trafficking that involved many French colonists and made a fortune.

No one has counted the exact figure, but according to estimates, more than one million women have left the country over the past four years.

The exodus of women of childbearing age from Mozambique has resolved the acute tensions between men and women in Mozambique, with more than 1.5 million male immigrants resolving marital issues during this period, achieving a roughly balanced population.

Some wealthy Chinese businessmen even married concubines in the second room.

However, the exodus of young women of this magnitude has caused irreparable damage to the Madagascar region.

In this indigenous island country with a total population of more than 8 million more than 20 years ago, the population has shrunk sharply to more than 4.7 million, and young women of childbearing age are rarely seen.

In Madagascar, where the average life expectancy is only 35~40 years old, the lack of women has plunged the island into greater chaos, production and life have lost their original order, and tribal wars have become more bloody and cruel, often killing a large number of prisoners of war.

France and the Ocean Empire all but lost control of the islands and had to stop colonizing the region, retreating into traditional spheres of influence, and leaving the rest of the world to be left to chaos.

The dismantling of one of the most important pillars of social development has had a devastating impact.

The destruction of the island of Madagascar has led to the prosperity of Mozambique, with railways and roads between the city and the countryside, vast tracts of cultivated land, factories standing tall and high, and towns growing rapidly.

The baby boom continued to break out in the region, and the number of newborns in 1898 was as high as 383,000, and it was still rising in a steep curve to become the absolute main force of population growth.

The region's strong population base has created abundant human resources, training more than 60,000 key militias every year, and the number of retired soldiers over the years has accumulated a staggering number of key militias.

Overall

In Mozambique, where law and order are mostly maintained by the militia, the Royal Police is only a useful supplement, and the total number of troops in this vast African land is only more than 15,000 (including more than 2,360 members of the African fleet).

Excluding the more than 4,800 officers and soldiers under the Mozambican Garrison Command, the only force that can be used for mobile operations is the African Mobile Division, with a total of less than 8,000 troops.

Among them, a closer look at the deployment of the African Mobile Division shows that there are really not many troops that can be withdrawn.

The African Mobile Division has a reinforced cavalry battalion of more than 800 people stationed on the island of Madagascar and a reinforced regiment of more than 2,000 people stationed on the southwestern border, which is mainly responsible for defending against cross-border intrusion and raiding by the border people of the indigenous Kingdom of Eswatini and the Boer Transvaal Republic, and maintaining the security of the southwestern border.

More than 650 people from an infantry battalion stationed at Fort Wiyon in the northern part of the Lake Malawi Region is used to maintain security in the northern border with German Africa and prevent black indigenous people from crossing the border into the prosperous Lake Malawi region.

At the division headquarters in Hekou Town, a reinforced regiment with an artillery battalion with a total strength of more than 2,640 troops (the rest of the troops belonged to the African Garrison Command and the African Fleet), a regimental headquarters of more than 1,000 people was stationed in Seoul, and a small number of troops were stationed in important towns such as Lorenço-Marques and Sofala in the western plateau, which were basically battalions and companies.

On the whole, there are basically no troops that can be mobilized in Mozambique, and even if they can be withdrawn, they will be three or four thousand people who will die.

But the advantage of Mozambique is also obvious, that is, the large number of basic militias, including more than 200,000 retired soldiers within three years, is a powerful force.

Knowing the above situation, Major General Duan Qirui finally put a heart in his stomach.

He, the head of the military observation group, has a dual mission, and if he doesn't have some confidence, he really doesn't dare to set foot on a cruise to Cape Town.

According to the local garrison;

Mozambique is home to an abundance of wild animals, and in order to ensure the smooth development of the breeding work, protect the pasture livestock and the cultivated land, the local militia has a daily routine of hunting and removing dangerous wild animals from the surrounding area.

The most striking example of this is the north bank of the Zambezi River, a vast, desolate and completely undeveloped land with a total area of 230,000 square kilometres.

Due to the strong embankments built on the south bank, the Zambezi River floods during the rainy season in Mozambique from November to April, and the north bank is covered with oceans and swamps, making it impossible to reclaim.

On the north bank of the Zambezi River, there is a very large horse farm.

More than 1,300 horses were put on the market more than a decade ago, and now they have developed into a staggering number of wild horses, totaling 780,000 horses.

Every year, we can organize manpower to take tens of thousands of 3~4-year-old strong horses from them, and use them for riding after taming, bringing huge benefits of millions of gold oceans every year.

The greatest credit for this goes to the North Shore militia battalion.

The North Bank Militia Battalion consists of seven companies, each stationed on the North Bank, near the Zambezi River, and their mission is to patrol regularly on horseback in squads and shoot all animals that endanger the wild horse herd.

For example, lions, African hyenas, wolves, wild dogs, crocodiles, zebras, African wildebeest and other animals are shot once they are seen, so as to give the horses in the horse farm a good growth environment.

Not to mention the ferocious predators, the main reason for shooting zebras is to prevent the horses from mating indiscriminately, which damages the bloodline of the Arabian horse, and the main reason for shooting herbivores such as African wildebeest is to prevent them from eating tender weeds and competing with herds for pasture resources.

After more than ten years of repeated combing, the variety of wild animals in the basin on the north bank of the Zambezi River has greatly decreased, and the number of horses has grown wildly, which is inseparable from the hard work of the militia battalion on the north bank.

Correspondingly, the marksmanship of the basic militia of the North Shore militia battalion is good.

The militia is on duty for a period of three months, during which the government will give a certain amount of duty allowance.

Due to the large population base, the basic militia rotates frequently every year, and is generally no longer called up after three years, so as to avoid disrupting the normal social life of the militia.

The North Shore Militia Battalion is a common occurrence in the Lake Malawi region and the western highlands, which has also contributed to the strength of the Mozambican militia, which is very good at riding and marksmanship.

The motivation of the militia to participate in the patrol is very high, after all, the mission is only three months, and it is to protect their homes and pastures, which is an unforgettable experience and worth remembering.

After returning to normal social life, no one will go hunting in the wild with a gun, and they will go for a few months, and their wives and children will not be taken care of? Do you still want a job?

In the vast land of Africa, wild animals can never be killed.

After spending more than 10 days in the estuary area and thoroughly understanding the local situation, Major General Duan Qirui confidently led the officer corps on a journey to Cape Town.

After two days and two nights of sailing, they arrived in Cape Town without incident.

At this time, the port of Cape Town was moored with dozens of ships waiting to be unloaded, and the black pressure was all over the bay anchorage, and some ships had been waiting for nearly 20 days without unloading.

Major General Duan Qirui and his entourage were warmly welcomed by the local Cape government, and Sir Alfred Milner, the Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony, sent a commissioner to greet them at the pier, and there was even a small band of more than 20 people, playing beautiful music echoing on the pier, full of the sense of ritual that the British pay attention to.

The commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Admiral Buller, was also greeted by a representative, Major General Smith, commander of the British 5th Brigade, who had been in Cape Town for more than three months and had been in the city of Cape Town for more than three months.