Chapter 393 Civil Conflict in East England

The war against the Transvaal Republic in East Africa ended, but the war in South Africa continued. First, the 123rd Cavalry Division and the 514th Infantry Division from Pretoria joined Felix's army eastward to launch an attack on the Zulu Kingdom. war.

In addition to the rich coal resources that can be obtained by conquering the Zulu Kingdom, the most important thing is to obtain its eastern seaport, where Richards Bay Port, the main coal export port in South Africa in the past, was abandoned.

Capturing this port is of great significance to East Africa in ensuring the security of the southern homeland. After acquiring the Transvaal, the East African Kingdom directly became a narrow north-south distribution. The distance from the core area of ​​East Africa (the former East African Federation) to South Africa was too long, and after the Zulu Kingdom was captured , East Africa can use the Port of Richards Bay to complete the dispatch of personnel and materials by sea.

In the territory actually controlled by East Africa in South Africa, Ernst did not intend to develop large-scale planting industry, but to develop large-scale pasture grazing industry similar to that in northern Kenya.

The difference between here and northern Kenya is that the temperature is lower, it is already in the subtropics, the climate is warmer and cooler, and it is considered to be the best pasture resource in East Africa.

At the same time, Ernst also considered that in the future, industry will be developed here based on the rich mineral resources, and industrial development is inseparable from water resources. However, the annual precipitation in South Africa is worse than that in Zimbabwe, especially in the hinterland, and it fluctuates greatly. , some extreme years may be only more than 400 millimeters.

Water consumption is nothing more than residential water, agricultural water and industrial water. Among them, agricultural water consumption is the largest. If large-scale planting is carried out in South Africa, it is certain that agricultural water alone will not be enough.

Furthermore, East Africa does not need to engage in planting in South Africa at all. First, there is no demand for this, and East Africa’s current grain production capacity is surplus. Second, East Africa’s arable land resources are too abundant. Tanzania alone has 44 million hectares of arable land resources. That is 660 million acres, which is almost 30% of the cultivated land in India, and most of them are plots that mature more than a year, so that Ernst does not intend to develop the cultivated land in Tanzania that is of poor quality or is not conducive to irrigation.

In the future, South Africa's food can be imported from the north, so that the limited water resources in Eastern South Africa can be used for industrial development.

The importance of water resources to industry can be taken as a reference from Shandong Province in previous generations. Shandong is a province of heavy industry, with traditional industries such as chemicals, steel and coal accounting for about 70% of the industry. The overweight industrial structure also makes Shandong's energy consumption level always rank among the top in the country.

However, Shandong's industrial water consumption is only a little more than 10% of that of Jiangsu, which is also a major industrial province. This severely limits Shandong's industrial development. In addition, Shandong is also a major agricultural province, so the competition between agricultural and industrial water use in Shandong is fierce. They compete for water from each other and save the little water from the Yellow River.

Eastern South Africa is also facing this problem. Ernst’s solution is that if South Africa does not develop water-consuming agriculture, then there will be no water crisis in the future, and there will even be a surplus of water resources, because Ernst does not believe in Eastern South Africa in the future. The industrial scale of Shandong can reach the level of Shandong in the 21st century. Not to mention other things, it is Shandong's population of 100 million. It is unlikely that Eastern South Africa will achieve it in the future. It is more realistic for the entire East African Kingdom to have a population of over 100 million.

Instead of developing a large-scale planting industry on site, Eastern South Africa must rely on other regions in East Africa to dispatch food. Sea transportation is the lowest cost, which reflects the importance of Richards Bay Port.

The conditions of Richards Bay Port are not inferior to those of Durban Port in the south. However, due to the Zulu Kingdom, Richards Bay Port has not been developed, so the East African Kingdom needs to build it.

The Port of Durban is now the political and economic center of the British colony of Natal, and East Africa has not yet had the guts to touch the British Empire's beard.

In addition to the war against the Zulu Kingdom that had just begun, it was followed by a war of conquest in East Africa south of the Kalahari Desert and north of the Orange River.

This area is currently unclaimed land and there are not many indigenous people, so Merk's troops advanced very smoothly and basically encountered no difficulties in the early stage.

However, after approaching the Orange River, the East African army still had a slight conflict with the British Cape Colony.

"Stop! Who are you?"

The 7th Regiment, the forward force of the 411th Division of the East African Army, was blocked by a group of militiamen. The leader of the 7th Regiment, Nardovic, had a bad temper and was not used to this group of people.

Nardovich's name carries a Slavic flavor. In fact, he is a Croat from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the Kingdom of East Africa counts the Germanized Slavs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as Germans, so he is accepted based on his military exploits. Erdovich's official career was relatively smooth.

Nardovich sat on his horse and asked: "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"

"This is the land of the Republic of Grigualand. If you go one step further, you will be crossing the border!" said a Boer militiaman.

Damn it, how many republics have these Boers built? Nardovich complained in his heart that in fact Nardovich did not know that the Boers also had a new Grigualand Republic in the east, which meant that the Boers had established two Grigualand republics.

With military orders in hand, Nardovich didn't care what kind of republic he was in. Nardovich dismissed it and asked: "What nonsense is the Republic of Grigualand! I have never heard of it. The entire north of the Orange River is us Germans." land, why do you appear in our German territory?”

When Nardovich said this, he stopped the Boer militia, because it happened that there were many descendants of immigrants from the German region among these Boer militiamen. If Nardovich said it was the land of East Africa, then the Boer people Bing must be firmly opposed.

But Nardovich said that this is the land of the Germans. So, are the Boers from the German region considered Germans?

Here we can also see the national identity that Nardovich created under the assimilation of East African culture. Although he was a serious Croat, his cultural life was not much different from that of the Austrians of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the Austrians of the Austro-Hungarian Empire It is impossible for people to admit that Croats are Germans, but after Nardovic arrived in East Africa, he attached great importance to his "German" identity.

It is understandable that the Boers are entangled in their identity. After all, the concept of Boers did not last long. For example, after the British seized the Cape Town Colony, many Boers of British descent emigrated to the British. This made the Germans, The French became an important part of the Boers.

However, after struggling for a while, the Boer militiamen reacted: "No matter who they are, this is the territory of the Republic of Grigualand."

Nardovich: "Oh, Grigualand, I believe no one in the international community has ever heard of this country. Your behavior is stealing the territory of the Kingdom of East Africa. Now surrender, we in East Africa can forget about it and ensure your safety. "

Nardovich's words made the Grigualand militia hear a new term, the Kingdom of East Africa, but he was not afraid. He had never heard of the East African Kingdom. It was not the same as the Republic of Grigualand! .

It is indeed different. The Republic of Grigualand is not like the Kingdom of East Africa. When it was established, it was specially shouted out in Europe. Maybe they don’t know East Africa, but they know the existence of the Kingdom of East Africa. And the Republic of Grigualand is now in Europe. When asked, most people would probably think it was some kind of chieftain or tribal nation in a remote area.

Of course, the greatest confidence of the Grigualand militia does not lie in whether the East African Kingdom is a self-proclaimed country like Grigualand, but in the fact that the Republic of Grigualand has voted to voluntarily join the British Cape Town Colony since last year. There is a British person behind the scenes. With such a background, who dares to offend me with such a short-sighted attitude?