After arranging the affairs of East Africa, Ernst was ready to go to Europe, and before that, he also made a special investigation of the unstable factors, and now the internal affairs of East Africa are stable and orderly, and the only thing worth paying attention to is the civil war in the Orange Free State.

Although the civil war in the Orange Free State did not affect East Africa, the Orange Free State is a neighbor of East Africa after all, adhering to the concept of the previous life, the neighborhood relationship is quite a difficult problem, just like a group of countries around the Far Eastern Empire, if they do not open the house for three days, although they will not cause any losses, but the means of disgusting people will emerge in endlessly.

The same goes for Russia, but Russia has never been good at dealing with neighbors, or at dealing with neighbors violently, and the use of force is indeed the simplest and most effective means, but Russia is prone to capsizing in the gutter, but fortunately, the size of the big country makes it not lose too much, if Russia is showing a little weaker, I am afraid that the neighbors would have joined forces to eat it alive.

East Africa deals with neighbourhood relations in two main ways, one is the North and the other is the South.

The neighbors to the north and East Africa got along relatively well, with the three colonial regimes (the Belgian colony of Congo, the Italian colony of East Africa, i.e. Ethiopia and parts of Eritrea, and the Sigmaringen Crown Domain) all having East Africa behind them, and the two traditional regimes (Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire).

Although Egypt is a semi-colony of Britain, it still has some autonomy, at least it does not dare to take advantage of the fire for Britain, because East Africa is really capable of snatching the Sudan region from Egypt.

In the south, that is, the British and Boer forces, except for the Oranges, were basically hostile.

As for the east and west directions, that is, the remnants of the Portuguese colonies that have been cut off by East Africa, which are now completely ignored by East Africa, belong to the part that East Africa will eat at any time.

As for the Portuguese government's large-scale military investment in Mozambique and Angola in recent years, Ernst is not worried, but happy to see it, because the East African Army also needs a whetstone to maintain sharpness, especially after the army has not blindly expanded in order to maintain its combat effectiveness, it needs actual combat to baptize.

"Ernst, this time I went to Europe, I must call back when I arrive, and take care of my granddaughter." Konstantin reluctantly hugged Princess Jena and said.

Little Friedrich stood beside his grandfather, not crying or making trouble, not knowing that his parents were about to leave him and go to a country thousands of miles away.

Austria is really far from East Africa, even in a straight line it is more than 3,000 kilometers, and the closest East African territory to Austria is the province of Novobavaria (eastern part of the Azander Plateau).

If you consider the sea route, the closest European country to East Africa is Greece, and as for Cyprus, it is the territory of the Ottoman Empire, but it has been leased by the Ottoman Empire to Britain as a base, and it is an important node to maintain the main sea route between Britain and India.

"Father, when I arrive in Austria, I can say any questions on the phone, now the transmission of information in Europe is still very developed, and this time Europe is mainly to visit the Empress Dowager Sophie, and by the way, visit friendly countries, we will be back soon."

Ernst didn't plan to stay in Europe for long, after all, he had to deal with such a big mess in East Africa by himself, and it was naturally not good to be away for a long time.

"Okay, let's not say anything superfluous, this time you go to Europe, and by the way, take a look at the situation of Heixingen, after all, that is our foundation."

For the Hexingen Kingdom, Konstantin is still very emotional, after all, he has spent most of his life in Hexingen, and Heixingen is also the dragon of the entire Hohenzollern family, and the Prussian royal family will also fund the renovation of Hohenzollernburg after it is developed, and Heixingen naturally attaches more importance to it.

"Father, then let's go!"

"Go ahead."

Karina took the sleeping Princess Jena from Konstantin's arms, and Ernst crouched down and said to her son: "Friedrich, stay at home obediently, listen to grandpa." ”

I don't know if the silly boy understood, but Ernst enjoyed the communication between father and son, but the thought of leaving his father and son for a while still made his nose sore.

"Go ahead, East Africa and Friedrich and I'll take care of you!" Konstantin said.

"Goodbye, father, take care."

Ernst then boarded the ship with Karina and Jena, this time from the port of the First Town (the port of the Lower Rhine) to the city of Bagamoyo, and then directly transferred to the navy in the city of Bagamoyo to arrange warships to Europe.

There is another detail in this, that is, the Lesser Rhine belongs to the defense area of the Guards Division, and the Guards Division is mainly the army, so after arriving in the city of Bagamoyo, the safety of Ernst and his party will be taken over by the navy, but the naval units under the Guards Division will also send people to board the ship.

The advantage of this arrangement is also obvious, that is, it adds a safety valve to the first town, and there are many examples of mutinies in history, most of them are the army, but after the rise of the sea, the naval strength of some countries has also expanded.

In particular, Britain, Tsarist Russia, and Japan have built their capitals on the coast.

The East African capital is also not far from the sea, and is connected by the Lesser Rhine waterway, so control of the Lesser Rhine belongs to neither the army nor the navy.

Although the Guards Division belongs to the army in terms of establishment, it is actually a self-contained royal army, after all, the navy and army under the Guards Division are fully equipped and have an independent command system and logistics system.

In this way, the defense of the Central Province was protected from interference by the navy and army, and a stable balance was formed between them and the Guards Division.

……

"Your Royal Highness, this time your ship is the 'Friedrich', in addition to the 'Otto', 'Archduke Ferdinand' and other escorts."

"Where's my father-in-law!" Ernst asked, this time Ferdinand and Princess Charlotte were also on a trip back to Europe.

"Archduke Ferdinand and his wife are on the 'Archduke Ferdinand', and Archduke Ferdinand likes to use the 'Archduke Ferdinand' as a command ship, and this time is no exception."

Compared with the last time from Europe to East Africa, this time Ernst's fleet is much smaller, but the quality is not the same, the last time Ernst's fleet still has many armed merchant ships, and this time back to Europe directly with ironclad ships as an escort formation, the safety is greatly improved, but also shows the development of East Africa's national strength.

"Karina, pay more attention to the temperature change, our East African sea is in the tropics, so it will be hot, but the winter in Europe is just about to pass, it must still be very cold, and Europe is also in a state of change of seasons, after we go, the temperature there will change." Ernst reminded his wife.

"Well, I see, this time we brought a lot of clothes, even if it is no problem all year round." Karina said.

This is the difference between East Africa and Eurasia, if the northern hemisphere summer is good, it will be very adaptable to travel from East Africa to the Eurasian continent, on the contrary, if it is winter, it will be a bit of a sin, in the first town and city is still in the twenties, close to thirty degrees, and the temperature in Vienna may only be in the single digits.

(End of chapter)