Chapter 1144: Enjoy the coolness of East Africa

Cabinda in East Africa is only a hundred kilometers away from Pointe-Noire, so the Belgians in Pointe-Noire are no strangers to Cabinda, the "international metropolis". Cabinda can be reached with just a ferry ticket. Of course, the two places are also connected. highway.

For the citizens of Pointe-Noire, Cabinda is no less prosperous than Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Many Belgian dignitaries in Pointe-Noire even live directly in Cabinda.

Hughes hailed a taxi and then called his brother's family to his residence.

Herman was a little surprised and said: "Isn't this too expensive?"

For Herman, cars are rare. The automobile industry in Europe is far behind that of the United States, not to mention East Africa. Therefore, only the rich can afford cars in Europe, and Herman The family is not considered wealthy, and they can only envy the rich and aristocratic people who drive cars on the streets of Belgium.

Hughes said nonchalantly: "If you pay attention to the number of cars in Pointe-Noire, you should be able to see that there are quite a lot of cars here. I don't know how the local development has been in recent years, but when I came to Pointe-Noire City, I Shocked."

"Our hometown Antwerp is also a big city in Belgium, but when I left Antwerp, I usually saw few cars. But when I arrived in Pointe-Noire, I found that there were quite a lot of cars here."

"Especially in recent years, the number of cars in Pointe-Noire has increased rapidly. Almost anyone with a little money will buy one. There are still many rich people in Pointe-Noire. I estimate that the number of cars in Pointe-Noire is small. Tens of thousands of vehicles.”

You must know that the total population of Pointe-Noire City is only a few hundred thousand, so the car penetration rate in Pointe-Noire City is quite high, even worse than some cities in East Africa.

Hermann sighed: "Antwerp has not changed much since you left it, but until I got to Point Noire, I would never have imagined that this place would be a Belgian colony."

Hughes said: "The main reason is that Pointe Noire's location is better. East Africa has developed rapidly in the past ten years. Backed by the big tree of East Africa, Pointe Noire has also enjoyed the dividends of development. A large number of mineral exports have made Pointe Noire rich. Oil, you must know that the area of ​​the entire Belgian Congo is six or seven times that of the mainland, but the population is only a fraction of the mainland, so the mining here is quite developed and can create huge social benefits. Just a little leakage is enough to feed many people. My mouth is full of oil."

"This is also the main reason why I contacted you to come here to take refuge. What the Belgian Congo lacks most now is population, especially technical talents. You are just a small laborer working hard in Antwerp, but how can you do it here? As a small manager, the salary is not lower than in the local area.”

"And there is almost no shortage of anything here. Even medical care, consumption, and education can be solved in the two big cities in East Africa, Cabinda and Kinshasa."

"Our boss lives in Cabinda, which is a good place with a lot of land. Kinshasa is also good, but it is a bit far from Pointe-Noire. You have to transfer to Cabinda first, and then reach Kinshasa by rail or bus."

Cabinda and Kinshasa are the two most influential and well-known East African cities in the Belgian Congo. Basically, Belgians in the Belgian Congo will go to the two East African cities based on the principle of proximity.

Those on the coast will choose Cabinda, which is very convenient both by sea and land. As for the inland areas, most will choose Kinshasa. They usually reach Kinshasa through the weak inland transportation in the Belgian Congo.

After all, transportation in East Africa is a world away from that of the Belgian Congo. Except for its capital, Pointe-Noire, infrastructure construction in other areas is extremely poor and investment is not high.

Of course, in recent years, due to the export of minerals and agricultural products, the Belgian government has increased investment in transportation in the Belgian Congo, so the traffic situation in the Belgian Congo is improving.

"Listening to what you said, it seems that East Africa played a big role in the development of the Belgian Congo?" Herman asked his brother curiously.

In fact, Herman has been curious about the country of East Africa for a long time. In the past correspondence between the two, Hughes often mentioned East Africa. However, due to the relatively high cost of communication, the frequency of contact between the two was not too high. High, maybe once or twice a year, and mainly to report safety.

Hughes replied: "That's natural. It can be said that everything in the Belgian Congo is closely related to East Africa. Many industries in the Belgian Congo today are invested by East Africans, and East Africa is basically the only civilized country near the Belgian Congo, so Apart from dealing with the local area, East Africa has the closest relationship with us.”

"Some time ago, East Africa also planned to unite four central African countries to carry out transportation planning and build railways and highways in areas including our territory in Belgium. Unfortunately, it was temporarily interrupted due to the war."

"If it weren't for the European war, when Germany and Belgium became hostile countries, work would probably have started by now."

It can be said that the relationship between Belgium and Germany is very awkward. After all, they cooperated relatively harmoniously in Africa at the beginning, but now they have become enemies.

Of course, this is also a helpless move. Germany's invasion of Belgium is definitely morally untenable, but France may not be a good thing.

The reason why Germany chose Belgium as the entry point for the Schlieffen Plan can be said to be related to France's evil military deployment.

France's military deployment can also be related to the famous Maginot Line of Defense in its previous life. In fact, before World War I, France deployed a weakened prototype of the Maginot Line of Defense.

After all, the feud between France and Germany is no longer a matter of days. Since the Franco-Prussian War, most of France's military operations can be related to Germany.

Therefore, the French government began to deploy defense projects from the border between the two countries to the Alps. Although the defense system formed by these projects was not as tight and systematic as the Maginot Line, it also greatly increased the pressure on Germany.

In fact, before World War I, the French government successfully predicted some of the future plans of the German army, so the French government formulated the so-called Operation Plan No. 17 based on these predictions.

Operation Plan No. 17 was based on the French General Staff's assumptions about the German offensive plan. In view of the fact that the French army had built a strict defense system in the border area, the French army correctly estimated that the German army would not launch a direct attack on the front. Instead, it bypassed the French army's border fortress system and attacked the French army's flanks through Belgium and Luxembourg.

In other words, the French government expected from the beginning that Germany might bypass France's eastern defense line, borrow a passage from Belgium or Luxembourg, and then attack France.

This plays into the French's hands. The French adhere to the beggar-thy-neighbor mentality and have planned to use Belgium as a battlefield between the two countries from the beginning.

Like the German army, the "quick war and quick decision idea" also occupies a dominant position in the French army, and the Eastern Defense Line will obviously focus on defense, so Belgium will also become the main breakthrough point for France's mobile war against Germany.

As long as the war is not fought in France, the French government will not feel bad at all. This is also a lesson learned from the Franco-Prussian War.

Therefore, the invasion of Belgium by Germany is inseparable from France. France may have had similar thinking during World War II and did not extend the Maginot Line. However, they did not expect that the German tactics in World War II were no longer the same dimension as theirs. .

Hermann: "When we came, the Germans had occupied Brussels and were very close to Antwerp. This was the main reason why I made up my mind to bring my family to you. Now the two countries have become enemies. The previous cooperation agreement Naturally, it has become a piece of waste paper. I just hope that East Africa will not take advantage of it like Germany did.”

Hermann is a little afraid of East Africa in his heart. After all, East Africa is a German country like Germany. At this time, Belgium itself has been invaded by Germany. The Belgian Congo in Africa may be taken advantage of by East Africa. enter.