July 22, 1872.

London.

British Prime Minister Gladstone has been quite comfortable lately, and all things are going well, and last year he presided over the implementation of the national education reform in Britain, the establishment of government-funded non-religious primary schools, and the raising of the literacy level of workers in order to support the competition of industrialists in the international market.

In the same year, a reform of the civil service was introduced, and a low-cost government was established that could improve administrative efficiency and save costs, so as to facilitate the use of more funds for economic development. This year, the reform of the British Army was completed to adapt to the short-term military service system.

Coupled with the improvement of the international situation and the fact that France, the sworn enemy, was dragged into the water by Prussia, the current British Empire is not a small good, but a great situation.

Just then the secretary came in and spoiled Gladstone's good mood: "Mr. Prime Minister, this is an urgent letter from the Cape Town colony!" ”

"Cape Town! What urgent business can they have? Gladstone wondered.

"Well, Mr. Prime Minister, you should read the contents of the letter before you make up your mind." The secretary responded.

As an important part of the colonies of the British Empire, Cape Town should not dare to provoke Cape Town now, after all, France is no longer qualified to compete with Britain for hegemony, although Germany has become the hegemon of the European continent, but the German navy belongs to the bathtub navy that is sad and tearful among the great powers, and there is no threat to Britain, and finally there are two giants with feet of clay in Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia, more than to mention.

After excluding the big powers, the only country that dares to challenge the British Empire should be the rebel America, but the British know that the United States is only very hard-mouthed, and can only call out to Britain across the Atlantic.

"Where is the Kingdom of East Africa?" Gladstone asked puzzled after reading the letter.

The secretary responded: "Prime Minister, have you forgotten that Prince Konstantin of Prussia went to Africa to become king in the middle of the previous year? At that time, it was a joke in the newspapers for a while! ”

Gladstone: "When you say that, I remember that I also joked that the Hohenzollerns were not self-motivated and went to Africa to claim the kingship. ”

Although Ernst bought the headlines and made the East African kingdom famous at that time, the reputation was really not very good, Africa, everyone understands it, if it wasn't for the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War next, this kind of thing would definitely become a laughing stock for most people for a while.

"Well, but is the East African Kingdom so domineering now? Can be bullied to Cape Town's head! 50,000 troops, not much? Why is Cape Town so nervous! Gladstone wondered.

Here Gladstone did not feel that the 50,000 troops in East Africa had any effect on Cape Town, because he thought by habit that East Africa was made up of black people.

This kind of thing is too common in the colonies, if it can, Britain can easily organize millions of troops in India with locals, Cape Town is not many whites, but there are not a few blacks, how can it also raise an army of more than 100,000 people.

As soon as he thought of this, Gladstone got angry: "It's too embarrassing to let Cape Town solve this matter by itself, a small African country is afraid, so wouldn't so many blacks in the United States have already turned the sky upside down, do you want us to go and tell Prussia that your colony is too powerful and threatens the security of our Cape Town?" If even blacks don't have the confidence to fight, is this still like words? ”

Gladstone continued: "Reply to Sir Henry Barkley, don't send such a thing to London in the future, unless the Germans themselves go to Cape Town, I don't believe they have degenerated enough to be bullied even by the natives, and if I am to be begged by Bismarck because of this, don't even think about it." ”

Gladstone also made sense to say this, with the level of the German navy, I am afraid that it is on par with the Royal Navy stationed in the colony of Cape Town, not to mention the fact that the Germans could not cross the Atlantic to Africa to die.

Of course, the main reason why Gladstone is so angry is that the face of the British Empire cannot be lost, and he cannot lose face as the Prime Minister of the Empire, for the benefit of Cape Town, let himself beg Bismarck, and the people of Cape Town think of it, and the world hegemon begs for the younger brother of the past?

"Yes, Prime Minister!"

The secretary also thinks so, the Kingdom of East Africa is just an indigenous country that was listed on the backdoor market last year, while the British colony of Cape Town has undergone hundreds of years of development (plus the Netherlands), and the region with the largest white population in Africa (Europe), if a century-old colony is not as strong as a newly born indigenous country, it is too much of a thing.

Gladstone rejected the Cape Town colony's request for help, not that Gladstone thought Cape Town was unimportant, but that he didn't think that Cape Town would be dangerous, and he really had the strength to dare to eat the Cape Town colony under the nose of Britain, that is, several other powers, the problem was that now the British Royal Navy was dominant, and no one dared to trouble the British overseas.

……

South Africa.

Ernst: "Now that we are neighbors with the Portuguese in the south, it would be too much to talk about not visiting, otherwise it would be bad to really scare the Mozambican colony." ”

Regardless of the small size of the Orange Free State, which now has nearly half of South Africa's white population (excluding the East African Army), especially the enhanced version of the Orange Free State, Ernst believes that it is possible to say no to East Africa and Cape Town.

And the Cape Town colony didn't know what it was doing now, and there was no reaction at all, so Ernst planned to let Felix, who had pacified the Zulu kingdom, lead a team to Portugal for exchange (demonstration).

Although there are more colonies in Mozambique and the northern border of East Africa, Mozambique's center of gravity is in the Gulf of Maputo, and the effect of the force is mutual, Mozambique is worried that the Kingdom of East Africa will threaten its capital, and the Kingdom of East Africa is also worried about the Portuguese sneaking attack on South Africa!

Ernst: "We don't need to bring too many people, a dozen are enough, the Portuguese are now frightened birds, as long as we use a little force, maybe they will blow up." ”

Ernst was telling the truth, now on the land of South Africa, because of the arrival of the East African Kingdom, people were panicked, especially the large-scale military mobilization of the East African Kingdom, and a series of dazzling wars, all of which made the local forces tremble, for fear that one day the East African Kingdom would suddenly do something to themselves.

And even if the East African Kingdom is militarily strong, it doesn't talk about martial arts, looking at the several countries that have been eliminated in East Africa, they are all undeclared wars, and this kind of neighbor is not reassuring wherever it is placed.

Among them, Tsarist Russia is the representative, but Tsarist Russia and Europe also have to talk about European rules when they fight, and the East African Kingdom is completely hooligan, which is also related to the ecological environment of the colonies, in all colonies in the world, especially in Africa, what is particular is not to emphasize martial virtues, cheating, abduction, murder and arson, and all colonial groups can play dog brains, and all crooked tricks are used. A country like the Kingdom of East Africa, which relies solely on force to solve problems, is a breath of fresh air in Africa.

(End of chapter)