Franz: "So you East Africans think you can deal with Portugal on your own, or even Britain and France behind him?" ”

The number of troops does not represent combat effectiveness, especially in this era, the achievements of the Ottomans, the Far East, and India, which are populous countries, show that the tactics of the sea of people may not be useful, of course, Prussia also proved that the number of troops still has some effect, but the premise is a modern army.

"Your Majesty, in short, Portugal is certainly not an opponent in East Africa, and of course, we also hope that Austria-Hungary will give us some diplomatic support." said the East African ambassador.

"And how do you want us to support you diplomatically?"

"We hope that your country will put some pressure on Britain and France diplomatically, and the war can be fought, but the other side cannot send its navy to support the Portuguese, and if Britain and France do this, we will also make countermeasures."

This made Franz interested: "If you counter two world-class powers, what leverage do you have in hand?" ”

East African Ambassador: "The British and French colonies in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the British colony of Cape Town, and the French colony in Madagascar, all three of which are next to the Kingdom of East Africa, we have the ability to enter the above three areas at any time, and the British and French will suffer great losses. ”

Franz's eyelids jumped, and he said with some excitement: "If you do this, I believe that the British and French will go crazy, and they may fight with you." ”

If the East Africa plan is successful, it will cut off the connection between Europe and Asia in an instant, unless Britain and France take a long detour from North America, or take the traditional trade routes of Eurasia, which will only cheapen the United States and the Russians.

Of course, if East Africa can really do it, the other big countries in the world will certainly not be idle, Germany, Tsarist Russia, and the United States are not cautious about Britain and France, and Austria-Hungary is now more embarrassed, the geopolitical conditions are not good, the national cohesion is also poor, and the national strength cannot be fully developed.

Franz: "If you really succeed, the world situation may be unpredictable, so we will complete the exchange with Britain and France, and everyone will have a bottom line, and we will not lose our face." ”

Franz is more worried about the turbulence of the international situation, especially in the case that Austria-Hungary is not fully prepared, the plan of East Africa is indeed too bold, but it is better not to do it now, so it is not possible to really let Britain and France fight with East Africa, to control the intensity of the war, and Franz does not think that the plan of East Africa is whimsical, and it may be of great use in the future, so it is better not to use it directly, maybe next time Austria-Hungary itself can use it.

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that you alone will not be able to attract the attention of Britain and France, so it is better to pull Germany and Russia into the water." The Ambassador of East Africa proposed.

"Of course we will consider Germany, but Russia! Russia is still at war, and their biggest fear now is that Austria-Hungary has plans for the Balkans, so our relationship with the Russians is complicated. ”

"If only Austria-Hungary and Germany are enough, then two against two, we can balance the forces of Britain and France, and the rest is up to you East Africa and Portugal yourself!" Franz said.

Whether East Africa is worth supporting or not depends on whether the country has united front value, and everything depends on its military strength.

If Portugal can be defeated this time, then even if East Africa has some status in the international community, at least its popularity can reach the level of countries like Mexico and Brazil, and even Portugal cannot defeat it, then a colony is a colony, and it will not have the face to show its head in the international community.

……

In May 1878, Austria-Hungary and Germany, France and Great Britain exchanged views in Paris on the question of East Africa and Portugal, that is, the scale of the war should be controlled, and the third country should not be allowed to take it personally.

East Africa still did not participate in this meeting, or it was a closed-door meeting of the four major powers, but the most nervous was Tsarist Russia, and thought that the other four countries wanted to join forces to pit themselves, after all, Tsarist Russia had achieved good results in the Russian-Turkish war.

Tsarist Russia is right, in fact, the attitude of the four countries towards the Russian-Turkish war can also be ended, the Balkan Peninsula has become independent, and Tsarist Russia has also occupied part of the territory of the Ottoman Caucasus, so the other four hooligans think that now the Russians can stop in moderation.

No one wanted Tsarist Russia to strike too hard at the Ottomans, which would be detrimental to regional stability, and the Ottoman Empire maintaining a certain strength would help Britain and France balance Germany, Austria and Russia.

……

The meeting was held, but the British and French did not give a letter of approval as to when the war would start, and it was impossible for them to let Portugal declare war on East Africa first.

Portugal's strength is already weaker than that of East Africa, and it would be foolish to fight East Africa in a real and honest manner, so Portugal can gain the initiative in the war without declaring war.

Soon, as planned, Portuguese troops from Angola and Mozambique were mobilized, and East African intelligence agents intensified their efforts to find possible points of breakthrough for Portugal.

Soon, through the analysis of the anomalies in the data of Portuguese coastal ships, East Africa found that the most likely military front line for the Portuguese was the Zambezi River, especially the city of Tete on the right bank of the Zambezi River, where a lot of troops and supplies were gathered.

Tete City is an important Portuguese city in Mozambique, the capital of Tete Province of Mozambique in the past life, Tete was built in 1531, was the Portuguese colonizers to the African inland expansion of the stronghold, industrial and mining, transportation center, before the Portuguese colonial era, Tete is the center of commercial activities of the Swahilians.

Located along the Zambezi River, Tete City was formerly the center of Mozambique's gold and ivory trade, but the center declined as the inland trade routes were cut off after the rise of East Africa.

The rise of Tete is mainly shipping, which is the starting point of the route of the lower Zambezi River, the lower section of the Zambezi River has sailed since then, and after more than 200 kilometers it reaches the Indian Ocean, and the convenience of water and land transportation makes it naturally conducive to commercial development.

The convenience of transportation has also strengthened Mozambique's attention to Tete, especially after Clement's plan was proposed, Tete has become the strategic fulcrum of Mozambique.

"If we defeat East Africa from the center, the Zambezi River cannot be let go, if we control the southern line of the Zambian River, we can separate the north and south of East Africa, and the next step is to cut off the land passage north of Lake Malawi, and we can divide East Africa into three parts."

"Tet is the front station of our army's garrison, ready to move west along here, but are you sure your map is fine?" Clement asked.

The Portuguese's map of the interior of Africa was actually a map of inland merchants developed by some caravans in the past, and the various tribes along the route were also marked, which were the customers of the former Portuguese merchants.

However, the quality of these maps is very poor, and the cartography is very unprofessional, after all, since the rise of East Africa, the Portuguese commercial activities in the interior have been banned, and the survey of the local area has been forced to stop, many of these maps are old goods from more than ten years ago, if nothing else, many may be invalid, because East Africa is too ruthless to the inland, especially the indigenous Hoho in Zimbabwe.

The trade routes in East Africa were closed, and Portuguese merchants turned to trade at the trade ports designated by the Kingdom of East Africa, but the trading place was at the mouth of the Rufuma River, so Portugal now did not know anything about the situation in the interior of Africa.

(End of chapter)