Chapter 473 The New Governor’s Troubles

Everywhere in the world is filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke, and the atmosphere of war is getting stronger and stronger. The various powers will not go to war, but those countries or colonies in backward areas will be unlucky.

East Africa is also preparing to respond in this atmosphere. The intensity of naval and army exercises has been greatly intensified, and national military training has also been resumed. Especially the navy has received a group of high-quality sailors from East African secondary schools and officers trained by the Ferdinand Naval Academy. Also began boarding the ship for training.

December 1877.

The East African Navy launched a large-scale military exercise in the waters of Mozambique and the waters near the Port of New Hamburg. A total of 25 combat ships participated, including five main ironclads, 18 gunboats and two wooden sail warships. It is worth mentioning What is interesting is that there are five gunboats, all masterpieces of Bagamoyo Shipyard, and they are domestically produced ships in East Africa.

The number of East African ironclad ships has increased to five, and a new ship will be taken over from Austria early next year. In order to better arrange this exercise, the East African Navy has assembled most of its forces in the waters near the New Hamburg Port.

This location is both close to the British colony of Natal and not far from Maputo, the Portuguese capital of Mozambique, and can effectively demonstrate the strength of the East African navy.

As the East African fleet carried out exercises in the colonial waters of the two countries, the strength of the East African navy basically surfaced. In the Mozambique Channel, the East African navy launched a series of military operations against the imaginary enemy.

The East African naval exercise has become one of the attractions in the western Indian Ocean. Passing ships were quickly attracted. Leford, the new Portuguese Governor of Mozambique, was one of the spectators. He came to East Africa with a local mission, but he did not expect that he would not be able to do so for the first time. Africa has encountered a disastrous situation.

Lyford stood on the ship, looking at the East African Navy exercise area with his binoculars and said: "The East African Navy has become one of the major powers in the Indian Ocean region. When did they develop such a navy?" Lyford asked .

"The East African Navy did not appear suddenly, but it has indeed developed at a rapid rate in recent years. A few years ago, they were still equipping antique ships of the Zanzibar Sultanate, which is now Zanzibar Province, but these days In the year they were like a firecracker, and they served several ironclad ships one after another."

Lyford said with some jealousy and pessimism: "I'm afraid our local navy won't be able to defeat the East African navy even if it comes here!"

The Portuguese Navy had been extremely miserable in these years. In 1875, the Portuguese Navy ordered an ironclad ship from Thames Dockyard in the United Kingdom, named Vasco da Gama. This was also the only ironclad ship in Portugal.

The total displacement of the Vasco da Gama ironclad is 2,384 tons, which is almost the same level as the first domestically produced ironclad under construction in East Africa. Moreover, this ironclad has just been launched and may not officially enter service until next year.

Lyford: "This East African Navy is the naval power of the so-called Kingdom of Hechingen. Then why is it that East Africa has the ability to build a navy of this size, but we are also colonial but we cannot!"

"Your Majesty the Governor, you are new here. I'm afraid you don't understand that behind East Africa is the Hechingen Consortium in the German region. The boss of the Hechingen Consortium is the Hechingen royal family, so a large amount of their funds are provided by the Hechingen royal family. Yes, if they relied solely on colonial gains, I am afraid they would have gone bankrupt long ago, and they would not be able to develop to the scale they are today anyway, unless they control gold mines, but so far we have not heard of any gold mines in East Africa."

Lyford: "Let's not talk about the naval issue. Why is the pace of colonial expansion not good in recent years? You must know that we have been in Mozambique for hundreds of years, but we have allowed the Germans to catch up."

"Your Majesty the Governor, you can't blame us for this. Colonial development requires capital injection in order to develop. Of course, it is also possible to rely on the human sea tactics like East Africa. The problem is that we don't occupy any of them. Naturally, there is no way to be as aggressive as the Germans. African interior expansion.”

Lyford: "As far as I know, the income of the Mozambique colony is not bad, right? How come there is no money for development?"

The subordinate looked at the second-generation ancestor with resentment and said: "The benefits of the Mozambique colony are indeed good. The problem is that the kingdom took most of it, so it is naturally unable to develop itself. Moreover, after hundreds of years of rule, we can't squeeze much out of these indigenous people." Oil and water, and these indigenous people are not easy to mess with. They have now learned to resist. Suppressing indigenous rebellions also requires funds, and it will also disrupt production order and reduce profits."

The indigenous people of Mozambique are very different from the indigenous people of East Africa. Because they have experienced hundreds of years of colonial history, their sense of resistance is much stronger than that of the indigenous people of East Africa. Moreover, the living standards of the indigenous people of East Africa are also higher than those of the indigenous people of Mozambique, so they will not Even if we risk our lives against East Africa, we are unable to fight against the state machinery of East Africa. The immigrant population of East Africa (excluding the birth population) exceeds one-half of the number of indigenous people, so the indigenous people do not have a numerical advantage over East Africa.

Lyford: "You just said that East Africa relied on the human wave strategy to expand in Africa. What about the population of East Africa?"

"It's not clear, but a rough estimate is that the immigrant population in East Africa may be over one million."

Only then did Lyford realize that he was in the beginning of hell! Unlike the rumors, Africa is an undeveloped continent. As long as he incorporates the unclaimed land into the kingdom's territory in a step-by-step manner, he can gain political achievements.

Lyford: "They have such a large population?"

"Of course they are Germans, and of course there are people from the Far East. According to our experience in Dar es Salaam, the Germans should be similar to the people from the Far East, and maybe there are a small amount of other races. I know a waiter in a hotel, she It’s Italian.”

"Aren't they afraid of malaria when they import people from Africa like this?"

"Your Majesty the Governor, it has been proven that the emergence of quinine has been able to solve the malaria problem very well. However, there should be other methods to reduce the probability of malaria outbreaks in East Africa, because we have not heard of large-scale malaria outbreaks in East Africa. On the contrary, it is here. Happens all the time.”

This news makes Lyford even more depressed, good guy! Not only will there be no political achievements, but I may also be threatened by malaria. Is it okay if I want to go home now?

As if reading Lyford's thoughts, the subordinate said: "Your Excellency, Governor, don't worry too much. In fact, malaria can only be considered a minor problem. Since the introduction of quinine, most patients can basically recover on their own. And the price of quinine is not high now, and East Africa next door is one of the major quinine-producing countries."

Lyford: "East Africa has advantages everywhere. No wonder the previous governor did nothing. In this environment, I am afraid that even His Majesty the King who personally governs Mozambique will not be able to do anything. So, the local old men still want us to exert our efforts in Africa?"

Lyford took over as the new governor this time because the Kingdom of Portugal was dissatisfied with the inaction of the previous governor. Especially after the outbreak of the economic crisis, Portugal's economic situation could be said to be in ruins. Therefore, it became increasingly difficult to obtain fresh blood from the colonies. It is particularly important, and the Portuguese government looks left and right. Only Africa has a lot to do, especially the two colonies of Angola and Mozambique, which can be said to be Portugal's most important colonies and the strongest.

Nowadays, all European countries are stepping up their colonial expansion, and Portugal is not willing to be left behind. After all, it can have some say in Europe because of its colonization.

As for the existence of the East African Kingdom, Portugal chose to turn a blind eye. They still looked at Africa with inertial thinking. Portugal had never been afraid of anyone on the road to colonization. Even the British dared to touch it, so they did not pay attention to the African emirate of East Africa. In eyes.

But only people like Lyford who have actually come to Mozambique can intuitively feel the gap. The East African Navy alone can sink the current Kingdom's local navy. As for the army, who dares to doubt the combat effectiveness of the Germans?