Chapter 136 Road

Using the leisure time of the truce, the East African colonies reinforced the roads within their territory.

Being poor and destitute is no joke. If other countries want to industrialize, they must at least have the accumulation of wealth in the agricultural era, or they must have the support of a big country.

Roads, bridges, agricultural irrigation systems, and even canals... these things have been accumulated by other countries and developed colonies for at least a hundred years.

Before the colonists came to East Africa, there really was nothing. Even the dirt roads were developed by the East African colonies themselves.

As you can imagine, the road traffic situation in East Africa becomes muddy after a rain. Fortunately, the terrain of the East African grasslands is flat and open, so road construction is not difficult.

Those who fought on the front line of the road-building army in East Africa were the indigenous captives, and the East African colonial government was responsible for supervising the work.

Hundreds of thousands of people are working on the front line of road construction at the same time. Although the tools are simple, but with the advantage of numbers, the roads in East Africa are still growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The food in the East African colonies was not bad for the natives. It was high in salt and oil, ensuring that they would have full strength every day.

The amount of food is naturally not much, but it is more stable than their livelihood of hunting. In addition, the wild animals in the East African colonies give these natives extra meals from time to time.

The natives who work hard every day not only do not fall down tired, but also appear stronger than before.

In this era, regardless of whether it is a colony or not, using people to do work is destined to death, especially in areas outside Europe.

Things like the development of the Suez Canal and the construction of the American Two-Ocean Railway... were all built on bones. Not only were these projects highly labor-intensive, but in order to save costs, most workers were fed very poor food, with poor taste and spoilage. Often withheld.

As for why East Africa fattened the natives, it was completely different from other places. That was not the conscience of the East African colonial government.

But in order to sell these retired indigenous workers from East Africa at a good price, these slaves will be given to slave traders in Zanzibar after a period of use.

It just so happens that East Africa first harvests the labor value of these indigenous people. For places in East Africa where the terrain is steep, or the engineering is difficult and dangerous, a large number of indigenous people are used to complete the work.

Several people died due to accidents at every construction site in East Africa, and the colonial government of East Africa did not feel sorry at all.

The colonial government in East Africa wanted to ensure that the food of the indigenous people was not too bad. In addition, at night, it was dark and midwinter across East Africa, so it was impossible for these indigenous people to work day and night.

The food they eat is not bad, and they have enough sleep. The life of the natives is even more comfortable than when hunting on the grassland. The only drawback is that they lose their freedom and are inferior to others.

As we all know, strength is gained through training. In the past, these natives had a lot of strength, but their tolerance for heavy work was very poor. Year-round hunting made them more explosive and good at running, but working required strength from their waists and arms. And be patient.

Now, after being cultivated in the East African colonies, struggling on the construction site every day has greatly strengthened the obedience and physical endurance of the natives.

So much so that after the East African colonies sold these retired natives to slave traders in the Zanzibar Sultanate, they received unanimous praise.

The reason is that after using these trained natives, the customers of the Ottoman Empire were pleasantly surprised to find that they were more useful and obedient than the previous slaves, and they were also healthier and had a lower wear rate.

Of course, to ensure the quality of East African roads, at least to ensure that they are not too bad, it is not possible to rely solely on indigenous labor.

As mentioned before, the indigenous people are less patient and cannot do delicate work, so they still have to rely on immigrants on some sections that require some skills.

Especially bridges and other sections that need to be reinforced, durable, and have technical content. Ordinary immigrants are not enough. You must find immigrants with relevant experience.

Through the combination of indigenous people and immigrants, the East African colonies realized that various towns in the colonies were connected by roads.

One of the functions of this kind of mud road is to prevent immigrants from getting lost. It is easy to lose their way in the vast and uninhabited prairie, and immigrants need to be continuously transported inland, so it is necessary to connect the colonial strongholds with roads. If you get lost in the wild, you can always find a settlement and be rescued if you keep following the road.

If the current roads in East Africa are used for transportation, there will be advantages and disadvantages.

The weather is fine, and the road is indeed more comfortable than the grass. But when it rains, it is naturally easier to walk on the road with turf on both sides. Even so, there are not many people rushing on rainy days, so this road still needs to be repaired. .

And if the conditions of these roads are poor now, can they be upgraded in the future? Not to mention the road from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam is already undergoing gravel transformation.

Mbeya's coal mines need to be transported by vehicles to provide energy for the few factories in East Africa, so the roadbed must be stronger than ordinary roads.

In addition, the Upper Binhai District and the Central District, areas that were developed earlier, are also upgrading roads. As for other areas, the issue of availability still needs to be resolved first.

During the truce, the main roads to be reinforced in the East African colonies were the road from the coast to Mwanza, and a simple dirt road from the Great Lakes region to the newly occupied area was repaired.

During the war, long supply lines and poor road conditions caused the East African colonies to suffer a lot.

The war is only halfway through, and there are still four more powerful northern countries behind it, so we must be fully prepared to avoid overturning.

Although Ernst looked down upon the natives, they could still exert considerable power at times. There were many cases in history where backward forces defeated advanced forces.

Therefore, every battle should be carefully prepared. If the British and Portuguese were to fight this war, they would never be as safe as Ernst.

More than 10,000 East African colonial troops (including militias) armed with modern military weapons were enough to fight a small-scale war on the European battlefield.

And it is enough to pose a serious threat to some small countries, such as Greece and other Balkan countries, which have a population of only one million and some armies of tens of thousands, not to mention some even weaker countries, such as many small countries in Germany. State.

Therefore, East Africa has definitely treated these indigenous countries with all its heart. The Sultanate of Zanzibar did not enjoy this treatment at the beginning.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar has only a few hundred thousand people. Once East Africa releases its invading northwest troops in front of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, it will be a strong deterrent.

In a short period of time, the East African colonies can raise a team of 70,000 to 80,000 people who are temporarily out of work in the entire East Africa. Currently, only Egypt can do this in the entire Africa.

That's why Ernst dared to say something based on Africa. As for why it didn't attract the attention of other forces.

That's because colonists from other countries didn't go deep into the interior, so they didn't know the details of East Africa. In addition, East Africa was originally the only way for Europe to go to India and the Far East. Dar es Salaam and Mombasa have a large number of merchant ships every day. dock.

It is normal for people to come and go, and it is natural for immigrants to land in East Africa. Besides, except for the East African colonies themselves, no one has time to count the number of immigrants from East Africa.

After all, everyone is recruiting people to their own colonies, but the East African colonies only recruit a little more. Moreover, the East African colonies are fully closed management. Zanzibar merchants can only do business in the market of Dar es Salaam. Currently, there is no Any other force that has gone deep into the interior of East Africa to explore the situation can only make a simple judgment through a few ports in East Africa.

But from the coast, East Africa and the Portuguese colony of Mozambique look similar, so there is nothing to worry about.

The Portuguese, who actually bordered East Africa, had only seen a few villages in East Africa. The West and East Africa were bordered by their indigenous forces, and most of the two colonies were separated by the Rufuma River. Therefore, the Portuguese had no idea about the strength of the East African colonies. Can't figure it out either.

As for the Arabs, the one they are more familiar with in East Africa is the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which is now trapped on the island.

Egypt's Sudan (South Sudan) is very close to Omorat in East Africa, but there are many indigenous nomadic forces separating it, and Egypt's control over South Sudan is too weak (South Sudan is all black).

Of course, the geographical location of East Africa is pretty good, especially Dar es Salaam, which is an important port of call on the Indian Ocean coast.

But Britain and France knew that the Suez Canal was almost completed, and Britain had Cape Town and France had Madagascar. Both countries had their own footholds in the Indian Ocean, so Dar es Salaam was not that important. .

What's more, ports such as Dar es Salaam are now armed with artillery and become iron bastards. Therefore, East Africa can only be immune by combining various factors.

If East Africa really wants to be targeted by other countries, of course there is a way, that is, to develop East Africa's mineral resources on a large scale and monetize them. This is obviously impossible, and Ernst can naturally cover it up as long as he can.