Chapter 898 Tete City

The Far Eastern War had a huge impact on the regional structure, but the overall impact was much smaller than in previous generations, and Ernst was not optimistic about the short-term situation of the Far Eastern Empire.

Take the Northern Navy as an example. Although the entire army was not wiped out this time, the losses were not small. After all, its naval strength was much stronger than that of the same period in history. On this basis, its naval losses were not much different from those in the previous life. After all, its size was Overall, the specific losses of the Northern Navy this time were 70% of those in the previous life.

As a country, Japan's naval strength is actually a little stronger than in previous generations. After all, its reference is the Far Eastern Imperial Navy. When the Far Eastern Imperial Navy increases the number of warships, the Japanese government will follow suit. However, due to financial pressure, it can only It has introduced three more decommissioned main battleships from its navy on loan from the UK than in its previous life.

As for this loan, Japan could only get it back from North Korea after the war. After all, the Far Eastern Empire's compensation this time was only one-tenth of its historical value, but Ernst was happy to see this happen.

Ernst had no grudge against North Korea, but he definitely had no good feelings. Moreover, if Japan increased its exploitation and oppression of North Korea, it would inevitably arouse fierce resistance from the North Korean people, which would further increase Japan's colonial costs.

Although North Korea's combat power is worrying, it is not comparable to the indigenous people of Africa. The indigenous Africans have 40% of the strength of North Korea. Ernst's East African colonial strategy was difficult to implement at the time. Moreover, at this time, North Korea actually had a population of A large country. In the late 19th century, the population of the Korean Peninsula exceeded 17 million, which was more than the population of the Abyssinian Empire, but its land area was nearly 100,000 square kilometers less than the Abyssinian Empire.

Of course, it is unlikely that North Korea will overthrow Japan’s colonial rule. This is not Ernst’s nonsense. In previous generations, North Korea relied mainly on external forces to overthrow Japanese rule. If North Korea relies on its own strength, it may be difficult for North Korea to become independent by the middle of the next century. Secondly, North Korea is too close to Japan, and the strength gap between the two is significant. This is also the reason why it is difficult for North Korea to overthrow Japanese rule.

Therefore, Ernst was generally satisfied with the pattern formed by the Far East War. Even if Japan developed, it was unlikely to be as rapid as in its previous life. However, Ernst also did not want Japan to be too weak.

If Japan is too weak, then East Africa will be as worried about the dominance of Tsarist Russia as Britain. At the same time, Japan will still be a chess piece to leverage the situation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the future.

East Africa is quite dissatisfied with the international structure of the Southeast Asia region. Except for Lanfang Overseas Province and Balabac Island, which has no sense of existence at all, East Africa's local influence is very weak, not even as good as the Netherlands and Spain.

If you don’t look at the area of ​​colonies, East Africa’s influence in the region is not even as much as Portugal’s. Although Portugal only has one major colony in Southeast Asia, East Timor, Portugal has been rooted in the region for hundreds of years, and its influence is still considerable.

In addition to these countries, the United Kingdom and France have overwhelming advantages in the Nanyang area. In particular, the United Kingdom, with its base camp in India, controls the main areas of the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Asia except the coast of East Africa.

Therefore, Japan is a very good fighter. The United States also took a fancy to this in its previous life. However, the United States did not expect that Japan's combat power was so incredible that it could push back the United States.

…

City of Tete.

Tete is one of the most important cities in East Africa in Mozambique. Its economy and population rank even above Maputo and Beira, making it the fourth largest city in the entire region.

The top three are all port cities, including Pemba, Nacala and Quelimane.

What these four cities, including Tete, have in common is that after the first East-Portuguese War, they were merged into the East African territory along with the entire Mozambique north of the Zambezi River. Tete was also the main battlefield between East and Portugal.

After being incorporated into East Africa, Tete City has made great progress, evolving from a lonely commercial stronghold into a emerging city in the region.

Although the city of Tete is located inland, it has excellent regional conditions. First of all, it is located on the Zambezi River and is the shipping boundary of the Zambezi River. Tete has direct access to the Indian Ocean.

Secondly, Tete City is sandwiched between the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone and the Central Industrial Zone in East Africa, so the economies of Mbeya and Harare can radiate to Tete City.

Finally, the most important point is that the natural resources surrounding Tete City are very rich, including coal, bauxite, rare metals, iron ore and other resources.

To sum up, Tete City is not only a regional center, but also an important transportation hub and a relatively important industrial and mining city in East Africa. The only thing Tete City currently lacks is railways, but after the construction of the Quelimane City-New Frankfurt City Railway is completed , is not a problem either.

This is a main line railway, and on the branch line, the two major industrial zones headed by Harare and Mbeya intend to build a railway through Tete City to achieve linkage between the two major industrial zones in East Africa. Of course, there are also The idea of ​​using special city resources to promote the development of this region.

After all, the coal and iron ore resources around Tete City are very rich, which Matabele Province may not be interested in, but it is very important for South Salzburg Province.

Of course, as a city with excellent conditions, the Tete Municipal Government naturally has its own ideas. Since the natural endowment is superior in the whole of East Africa, why not replace it? Its goal is to become like Mbeya and Harare. Important cities across the country.

With such ambitions in mind, in early 1895, the Tete Municipal Government once again sent teams to cities such as Mbeya and Harare.

This time, the Tete Municipal Government planned to build the largest aluminum processing and manufacturing center in East Africa in response to the newly discovered bauxite resources in the region. As for its plan to build an aluminum ore smelter locally, Ernst rejected it.

As for the reason why he died before he left the army, it was also that aluminum smelting was extremely polluting and industrial, and was generally located downstream of rivers and away from residential areas.

Tete City is located on the north bank of the Zambezi River. Although it also belongs to the lower reaches of the river, the Zambezi River is one of the four major rivers in East Africa, and its downstream length is not small, and its downstream is a key agricultural development zone reserved in East Africa. If Tete City If an aluminum ore smelting plant is built locally, the two sides of the river going down to Tete City for more than 400 kilometers will be miserable.

Therefore, the aluminum ore smelting plant was finally located in the town of Hindai at the mouth of the Zambezi River. After the aluminum ore is smelted, it will be transported by water and returned to Tete City for secondary processing. The sewage will be discharged directly into the Indian Ocean. The construction of rivers and rivers in East Africa will Contamination of coastal soils.

Moreover, there is another advantage of deploying the industry along the coast, which is to save the cost of imported bauxite in the future.

Of course, aluminum smelting, like steel, relies on local resources, but when future economic development and the world market, or the era of globalization, arrive, imported raw materials will definitely be the mainstay.

After all, although East Africa is rich in bauxite resources, it is still inferior compared to the world's leading production areas. The reserves alone are not at the same level.

At the same time, building the aluminum smelting plant in Hinde will also promote the development of the Zambezi estuary. Although the port conditions of Hinde at the Zambezi estuary are much worse than those of Beira, it is the intersection of the Zambezi River and the Indian Ocean. Zone has its unique economic value.

Among the four major rivers in East Africa (Nile, Congo, Orange, Zambezi), it is the only estuary port with certain shipping value.

The outlet of the Nile River is in Egypt, and the Orange River is a boundary river. The lower reaches are mainly deserts and sparsely populated, and the lower reaches of the Congo River are not navigable.

This highlights the importance of the town of Hindé. There are basically no obstacles to shipping from Hindé to Tete. It flows through the coastal plain of East Africa and is one of the few river sections in East Africa with high shipping value.

Of course, although the East African central government vetoed Tete City's proposal to build an aluminum smelter in the city, Tete City cannot completely give up.

Therefore, the Tete Municipal Government plans to rely on the Zambezi River shipping to bring Hindai's aluminum back to the city for secondary processing. It is highly operable and can drive the development of many industries.