The Kingdom of Italy was in turmoil with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and France was not far behind, but the approach of the newly formed French Third Republic was shameful compared to that of the Italian government.

The French Defence Government was trying to collude with Prussia to prevent the revolutionary movement from continuing and had begun secret negotiations with Bismarck.

……

South-eastern Botswana.

"On the other side of the river is the territory of the Boers!" Jacob said as he looked at the gently flowing Limpopo River.

The Limpopo River was the destination of this expedition, originating near Johannesburg in South Africa, then making a large circle around Botswana in the northwest before bending east into the Indian Ocean.

The whole river is divided into three sections, the upstream tributaries have a small amount of water, mostly intermittent rivers, and the middle reaches cut through the mountains on the edge of the South African plateau, with many waterfalls, rapids and shoals; The lower reaches are rivers in the plains.

Lower Mozambique was not the target of the Kingdom of East Africa, and the Limpopo River could serve as a natural geographical dividing line between the Middle and Upper reaches of the East African Expeditionary Force.

In fact, it was the Kingdom of East Africa that separated the former Botswana and Zimbabwe from the Boer forces along the Limpopo River.

"Yes, the Boer farms, though mostly wasteland, are very large, and if it weren't for the Limpopo River blocking their way of expansion, it wouldn't have been our turn to occupy it." Staff Officer Pol replied.

"It's not that they can't cross the river, it's that it's not necessary, these Boers are too small, and the more arid and barren they go west, and the threat of the British, they are not very easy to disperse, so the population is mainly concentrated in the east."

"The state on the opposite side of the Boer was called the Transvaal Republic, which was formed only in 1849 by the merger of several small states founded by the Boers. To the south is also the Republic of the Orange Free State, also a Boer state, and the two countries are bounded by the Waal River, the largest tributary of the Orange River to the north. ”

"Although the Boers are mainly Dutch, there are also many German immigrants, but most of them are old Germans."

The term "Old Germans" refers specifically to Germans who emigrated from Germany to the rest of the world before 1865, because the East African colonial team landed in Dar es Salaam in exactly 1865.

Beginning in 1865, German immigrants slowly shifted to East Africa, so much so that by now, more than eighty percent of German immigrants each year have become East Africans.

The main reason for this distinction is that East Africa is a country where German culture is the mainstay, and the Germans who immigrated before 1865 were non-German countries in the overseas countries they went to, excluding the colonies.

This was the case with the Germans in the Transvaal, but it also made it easier for the East African Kingdom to obtain the information it needed in the two Boer republics.

Although Dutch is relatively close to German, similar to local dialects, it is still very difficult to understand Dutch unless it is an immigrant from the North German region in East Africa, because the official language of East Africa is the South German dialect, which itself is somewhat different from the North German dialect, in general, the East African language is the closest to Bavarian, and the same is true of Austria.

So East African intelligence officers in the Transvaal and Orange Free States mainly get their intelligence from fellow Germans.

The Boers were not aware of this, and if the Boers were to do the opposite, it would not be impossible to get intelligence on East Africa, but they could only get limited information in the two free ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, and worst of all, the two Boer republics had no access to the sea.

Just as Jacob and Pol were talking, a group of men suddenly appeared across the river.

"On the other side are the Germans, are you sure?" Vincent asked his men.

"Yes, their attire is very similar to that of the Prussian Army, but the hats are not the same, but I served in the Prussian Army back then, so I can see it at a glance." Buckhausen replied.

"It's unlikely! You can't always say that the Prussian Army appeared in Africa in formation, or in our western interior, and they flew over? ”

Vincent, a native Boer, grew up in South Africa, and most of his knowledge of Europe came from the stories of his fathers or the news brought by the newcomers.

Buckhausen, on the other hand, was a Prussian immigrant from Germany who lived on the farm of Vincent's father, Vincent the Elder.

So Buckhausen is the old German whom the East Africans identify, he went to South Africa ten years ago, not to mention the Kingdom of East Africa, and even the great achievements of the current Prussian invasion of France are not very clear.

"Although this is true, but that dress can't deceive people, it can't be an Englishman wearing this body." Buckhausen said.

"It's better to go over and ask, since it's possible to be German, I'll leave it to you." Vincent said to Buckhausen.

"No problem." Buckhausen replied.

Soon.

Buckhausen drove his horses to the river, and began to cross the river under the watchful eye of the East African soldiers, because Vincent and his gang were a few men, and Buckhausen was unarmed, so he was let go.

Botswana is not blessed with abundant rainfall, and it is the dry season, so the upper reaches of the Limpopo River are very shallow, so it is easy for Buckhausen to cross the river by himself and his horse.

"Where are you from?" Buckhausen asked in German.

"Royal East African Army, 15th Division, 23rd Regiment, 3rd Cavalry Company, I am Staff Officer."

"I haven't heard of the Kingdom of East Africa, but judging by your attire and your accent, I guess it's from Germany! Do you have anything to do with Prussia? Buckhausen asked,

"The Kingdom of East Africa, like Prussia, is an independent state, we are not Prussians, but we are all German states."

Buckhausen was relieved to hear Germany, he dismounted and walked forward, and said: "Hello, I am also German, from Prussia, but I came to South Africa in 1851, so I don't know much about the current situation in Europe, can you tell me more about the situation in the Kingdom of East Africa?" ”

Buckhausen really can't think of anything to do with the Kingdom of East Africa and Germany, but it is not impossible for a new country to emerge in the situation of Germany being divided, but I don't know why they appeared in South Africa since it is a German country, and the name of East Africa is obviously East Africa, and it has nothing to do with Germany, Buckhausen is full of question marks in his heart.

"Are you Prussian? Very well, I used to be from the kingdom of Württemberg, my name is Jacob, and I am the company commander of this team. ”

"That's great, Lord Jacob, I wonder how you came here?"

At this time, Pol asked: "You should be from the Transvaal Republic on the other side!" ”

"Yes, if you count it by place, on the other side of the river is our boss's ranch, and today we were hunting here, and I saw you, so he asked me to come and ask."

"Well, that's easy, you can tell your boss when you go back, this side of the river will belong to the territory of the East African Kingdom in the future, you'd better spread it to those acquaintances on the other side, and it's better not to have any misunderstandings in the future."

"Ahh Buckhausen was confused, wasn't this a borderland? When you cross the river, you will become the land of the so-called kingdom of East Africa!

"The Kingdom of East Africa, that is, the literal meaning you understand, just because of geography, our country uses this name, and after you go back, tell the people of the Transvaal Republic, don't be clever, we have deployed tens of thousands of troops on the front line of the Limpopo River, of course, the East African Kingdom does not mean to offend the Transvaal Republic, you can treat us as a border guard force." Jacob explained.

"But this is South Africa!" Buckhausen had understood that this was a new country and most likely a colony founded by the Germans, but how East Africa could be connected to it.

"Hehe, when you hear about the Kingdom of East Africa, you should know that we expanded here from East Africa, which is thousands of miles away, and as for South Africa, it will naturally belong to East Africa if it is incorporated into the territory of East Africa." Jacob said.

"I see!" Buckhausen said, in fact, he was even more confused, because he didn't know exactly where East Africa was, and although he had received compulsory education and had seen the world map as a child, there was no East Africa on the world map at that time, and of course, there was no Transvaal Republic.

……

Buckhausen returned to the other side of the river with a bewildered expression, and Vincent hurriedly asked, "Have you figured it out?" ”

"Yes, boss, but I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"It's true that the people on the other side are Germans, but they say they're the Royal Army of East Africa."

"The Kingdom of East Africa?"

"Yes, I don't know how to explain it to you, this is supposed to be a new country, just now they told me that the other side of the river is already their country's territory!"

"Hmmm! Why? Vincent asked, saying that he did not develop to the west because of his small number of people, and in fact assumed that the west side of the Limpopo River was also his own land.

"They say that the Kingdom of East Africa has tens of thousands of people along the river, the so-called East African Army." Buckhausen said.

"Tens of thousands? Unlikely! ”

"It's impossible not to know, but boss, the cavalry of the hundreds on the other side of the river is not fake, so it's better not to be impulsive!"

(End of chapter)