Chapter 1059 War Profiter

Suppressing Arab religious countries can be said to be Britain's unchanging national policy, especially their leading brother, the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire's deterrent power is quite large. Although it has become the "sick man of West Asia", its ancestors have made great achievements in killing, burning and looting in Europe. Its reputation has always made European countries worried about its comeback.

"The Ottoman Empire and Persia should be the focus of the East African strategy, so we will start with these two countries and always monitor East Africa and the cooperation between the two governments."

As for Oman, although it is also a key country for East African visits, the British government is not worried because the UK has a huge advantage in Oman, and with the British deployment, Oman's national power has been declining. For example, the United Arab Emirates in its previous life, and now the pirate coast is The political force that separated Britain from Oman.

As the only maritime power in the Arab Christian region, the United Kingdom naturally does not trust Oman, so the United Kingdom has always implemented a suppressive policy against Oman. This is also the reason why a relatively strong anti-British group has formed in Oman.

…

Hudaydah.

In its previous life, it was the second largest port city in Yemen. Of course, Hodeidah now belongs to the Ottoman Empire.

A group of businessmen in robes were counting goods in an inn.

"A total of more than fifty firearms and three boxes of ammunition were brought here this time, all of which are British-made rifles. The British power is relatively strong in other areas along the Gulf of Aden, so it is very difficult for us to find a way to transport these weapons to Aden by sea. It can only be transited through Ottoman ports.”

"We bribed Ottoman officials at the port to bring this batch of weapons over smoothly, but we still have to take a long land route and then cross the border to deliver this batch of weapons to customers in Aden."

Aden, the British Protectorate of Aden, includes Yemen, Oman, and some parts of Saudi Arabia in its previous life. There are many small countries in the area. In fact, it is an Arab nomadic tribe-like country similar to the Pirate Coast.

This has also provided opportunities for East Africa. With more countries, there are naturally more conflicts, especially in areas with relatively scarce water resources. It is possible to fight for water sources.

Of course, no matter what country or force, they will try their best to enhance their military strength. This is especially true for the tribes in the Aden Protectorate. Whoever has more guns and the more advanced their guns will gain an advantage.

Although there is a British pressure on everyone, it does not mean that there are no conflicts. At this time, if someone is sending weapons to everyone from the outside, they will naturally accept it happily.

Not only the port of Hudaydah, but most of the other southern ports of the Ottoman Empire became transit points for arms smuggling from East Africa to the Persian Gulf coast and the Arabian Peninsula, mainly because other areas were easily detected by the British.

It is said that it is an arms trade, but in fact East Africa has spent a lot of money, similar to the military gift packages that the United States and the Soviet Union issued to their respective brothers for the Cold War in the past, that is, free military assistance.

After all, if there is no profit, the Zanzibar people will not take a lot of risks. Helping East Africa smuggle arms to various parts of the Middle East and earning intermediate profits has always been the basis of cooperation between East Africa and the Zanzibar people.

The Zanzibar people did not disappoint East Africa. With their strong personal and business networks in the Arab region, the Zanzibar people were able to accurately find buyers.

“In June this year, we have already delivered more than 2,000 rifles and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition to the Middle East and Central Asia. If nothing else happens, tribal conflicts in the Middle East and Central Asia may intensify and eventually expand, triggering local tensions. Unrest,” the DSA agent reported to his superiors.

"The credibility of these Zanzibaris is relatively reliable. They have been doing business in the Arab region all year round, and their influence covers almost the entire coast of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, most of these weapons entered the Middle East and Central Asia without anyone noticing."

"It's just that they are just selling weapons to some small customers now, and they are not enough to trigger the situation in the entire Middle East and Central Asia. When time accumulates, the stronger the power in their hands, the more their ambitions will expand. By then, the British will have a headache. of."

In fact, starting from the second half of 1908, the British noticed that something was wrong. Minor conflicts and conflicts in its colonies increased significantly, but they were all minor troubles. This also explains why before the arrival of the British, these Arabs often Fights, so "occasional" violence, are completely unnecessary for the UK to pay attention to.

After all, inter-tribal conflicts, as long as they do not involve Britain's own interests, are completely within acceptable limits.

Therefore, under the British's laissez-faire, East Africa increased its shipments of local arms, and small-scale low-intensity wars have begun to develop in the direction of "normalization." This is the case in all nearby British colonies.

The frequent outbreaks of small-scale wars finally attracted the attention of Britain. It would be impossible not to pay attention. The situation developing out of control will only damage Britain's own prestige.

In the past, these tribes or countries, under the rule of the British, basically did not harm the interests of the British. But when the situation really got out of control, everyone became anxious, and it turned into a free-for-all.

In this case, some local political forces that the UK originally supported locally are vulnerable to challenges, so they urgently need the UK to bring order to the chaos and maintain their own interests.

Therefore, under the instigation of some pro-British forces, the British Aden Protectorate government had to launch an investigation. Without investigation, it was unknown that through rough data, tens of thousands of firearms had flowed into the Aden Protectorate.

It is obvious that there are foreign forces intending to undermine Britain's rule in the area, and with the response from the Aden Protectorate, other British colonial governments near the Persian Gulf have also described this situation.

This coincides with the prediction of former British Prime Minister Bannerman that East Africa will make big moves in the Middle East and Central Asia, but no one would have thought that East Africa was just making trouble. After all, East Africa has hardly gained any actual benefits, but has to pay part of it because of the arms business subsidies.

As for why it was the former prime minister, it was because Bannerman died of a heart attack in April this year, which also caused the British government to be in a hurry, thus temporarily relaxing its vigilance against East Africa in the Middle East and Central Asia.

It was not until the feedback from the Aden Protectorate and other colonies along the Persian Gulf that the new government refocused on this place.

For this kind of small move by East Africa, the new Prime Minister Asquith was quite disgusted. In order to solve this trouble, Asquith finally decided to have preliminary negotiations with East Africa.

What East Africa wanted was very simple, that is, "free trade" in the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Britain did not agree to this "simple" request. After all, Britain had just divided the spoils with Russia and had already regarded the region as its own interest. It was naturally impossible to give East Africa a piece of meat.

Moreover, if East Africans were allowed in, East Africa would definitely become more aggressive in the future. The British government would naturally not be so short-sighted, so the negotiations between the two sides remained deadlocked.

East Africa began to increase its military aid to the Middle East. As a result, Britain was really exhausted. Of course, Britain also had many means to hit East Africa, so the whole of 1908 was spent in mutual harm between Britain and East Africa.

Of course, both countries knew their limits. After all, there were many countries in the world besides East Africa and Britain. The unpleasantness between Britain and East Africa did not affect Germany. France was a greater threat to Britain, and it was impossible for East Africa to have a fierce conflict with Britain in a short period of time. So time passed in the stalemate between Britain and East Africa. 1909 came quietly. In the past 1908, East Africa had almost been playing the role of a warmonger, making the entire Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden region hot.