Chapter 274 First contact
The Kingdom of Italy was troubled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and France did not give up much. However, compared with the Italian government, the newly established French Third Republic is shameless.
The French defense government attempted to collude with Prussia to prevent the further development of the revolutionary movement, and had begun secret negotiations with Bismarck. At this time, deterred by the pressure of the French people, although it took a long time, they were forced to take measures to strengthen the defense of Paris. Paris advanced as if it were no man's land.
…
Southeastern Botswana.
"The other side of the river is the territory of the Boers!" Jacob said, looking at the gently flowing Limpopo River.
The Limpopo River is the destination of this southern expedition. It originated near Johannesburg, South Africa, then circled a large circle in the Botswana region to the northwest, and then turned eastward to flow into the Indian Ocean.
The whole river is divided into three sections. The upstream tributary has a small amount of water and is mostly intermittent.
Mozambique in the lower reaches is not the goal of the East African Kingdom. The East African Expeditionary Force drinks horses in the middle and upper reaches of the river, and the Limpopo River can be used as a natural geographical boundary.
In fact, the Kingdom of East Africa separated Botswana and Zimbabwe from the Boer forces along the Limpopo River.
"Yes, although most of the Boer's farms are wasteland, they have a large area. If the Limpopo River did not block their expansion path, it would not be our turn to occupy this place." Staff Boer replied .
"It's not that they can't cross the river, but it's unnecessary. These Boers have a small population, and the more dry and barren they go to the west. Coupled with the threat of the British, they are not easy to disperse their forces, so the population is mainly concentrated. In the East."
"The country established by the Boers on the opposite side is called the Transvaal Republic. It was only in 1849 that it was merged by several small countries established by the Boers. There is also a Republic of the Orange Free State in the south, which is also a Boers country. River (largest tributary north of the Orange River) as the boundary."
“Although the Boers are mainly Dutch Houyi, there are also many German immigrants, but most of them are old Germans.”
The so-called old Germans refer specifically to the Germans who immigrated from the German region to all over the world before 1865, because the East African colonial team landed in Dar es Salaam exactly in 1865.
Since 1865, immigrants from the German region have gradually shifted to East Africa, so that now, more than 80% of German immigrants every year become East Africans.
The main reason why this distinction is made is that East Africa is a country where German culture is the mainstream, and the Germans who immigrated overseas before 1865, the overseas countries they went to, excluding colonies, were all non-German countries.
This is the case for the Germans in the Transvaal Republic, but this also facilitates the East African Kingdom to obtain the information it wants in the two Boer republics.
The language of the Boers is mainly Dutch, which is also their only written language. Although Dutch is similar to German and similar to local dialects, it is still very difficult to understand Dutch in East Africa unless they are immigrants from the North German region. The official language of East Africa is the South German dialect, which is somewhat different from the North German dialect. Generally speaking, East African languages are most similar to Bavarian, and so is Austria.
So East African intelligence personnel in the Republic of Transvaal and the Republic of the Orange Free State mainly obtain information from fellow Germans.
The Boers did not realize this. If the Boers operate in reverse, it is not impossible to inquire about intelligence in East Africa, but they can only obtain limited information in the two free ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, and the worst thing is, Neither of the Boer republics had access to the sea.
Just as Jacob and Bohr were talking, a group of people suddenly appeared across the river.
"The opposite is a German, are you sure?" Vincent asked his subordinates.
"Yes, their attire is very similar to that of the Prussian Army, except that the hats are different. I served in the Prussian Army back then, so I can tell it at a glance." Buckhausen replied.
"This is unlikely! You can't say that the Prussian army appeared in Africa or our western inland area. Did they fly over?"
As an authentic Boer, Vincent has lived in South Africa since he was a child. Most of his knowledge of Europe comes from the stories of his parents or the news brought by new immigrants.
Backhausen is a Prussian immigrant who came from the German region to live on Vincent's father's old Vincent farm.
So Bakhausen is an old German identified by East Africans. He came to South Africa ten years ago. Not to mention the Kingdom of East Africa, even the great achievements of Prussia invading France are not very clear.
"Although this is true, the clothes can't deceive people. It is impossible for the British to appear here in this clothes." Buckhausen said.
"It's better to ask in the past. Since it may be a German, I will leave it to you." Vincent said to Barkhausen.
soon.
Backhausen drove the horses to the river, and began to cross the river under the watchful eyes of the East African soldiers. Because there were only a few people in Vincent's group, and Buckhausen had no weapons, he was let over.
Botswana does not have abundant precipitation, and it is the dry season, and the upper reaches of the Limpopo River are very shallow, so it is easy for Barkhausen to cross the river alone.
"Where are you from?" Buckhausen asked in German.
"The Army of the Kingdom of East Africa, the 15th Division, the 23rd Regiment, the 3rd Cavalry Company, I am Staff Officer Bohr."
"I haven't heard of the East African Kingdom, but judging by your attire and your accent, you should be from the German region! Do you have anything to do with Prussia?" Barkhausen asked,
"The Kingdom of East Africa, like Prussia, is an independent country. We are not Prussians, but we all belong to the German country."
Buckhausen was relieved when he heard Deutschland, he got off his horse and walked forward, and said, "Hello, I am also German, from Prussia, but I came to South Africa in 1851, so I am very concerned about the current situation in Europe. I don’t know the situation very well, can you tell me about the situation in the East African Kingdom?”
Buckhausen really couldn't think of anything that the Kingdom of East Africa could have anything to do with Germany. However, it is not impossible for a new country to appear in the state of Germany's fragmentation. I just don't know why they appeared in South Africa since it is a German country, and East Africa This name is obviously East Africa, and it has nothing to do with Germany. Bakhausen is full of question marks.
"Are you a Prussian? Very good, I used to be from the Kingdom of Württemberg, my name is Jacob, and I am the company commander of this team."
"It turns out that you are really folks, that's great, Chief Jacob, I don't know how you came here?"
Bohr asked at this time: "You should be from the Transvaal Republic!"
"Yes, if you count according to the location, our boss's ranch is on the other side of the river. We were hunting here today, and we saw you, so he asked me to come and ask."
"Well, that's easy to handle. You can tell your boss after you go back. This side of the river will belong to the land of the East African Kingdom in the future. You'd better spread the word to those acquaintances on the other side, so that there will be no misunderstandings in the future. good."
"Ah!" Barkhausen was in a daze. Isn't this the land of no man? Once I crossed the river, I became the land of the so-called East African Kingdom!
"The Kingdom of East Africa is the literal meaning you understand. It is only because of geography that our country uses this name, and you tell the people in the Transvaal Republic after you go back, don't be smart, we have arranged on the line of the Limpopo River. With an army of tens of thousands of people, of course, the Kingdom of East Africa has no intention of offending the Republic of Transvaal, just treat us as a border guard." Jacob explained.
"But, this is South Africa!" Buckhausen already understood that this is a new country and it is likely to be a colony established by the Germans, but how did East Africa get in touch with here.
"Hehe, when you hear the East African Kingdom, you should know that we expanded here from East Africa thousands of miles away. As for South Africa, it is incorporated into the territory of East Africa and naturally belongs to East Africa." Jacob said.
"So that's it!" Buckhausen said, in fact, he was even more confused, because he didn't know where East Africa was. Although he had received compulsory education and had seen a world map when he was a child, East Africa was not on the world map at that time. This country, of course, does not have the Transvaal Republic either.
…
Backhausen returned to the other side of the river in a daze, and Vincent hurriedly asked, "Have you figured it out?"
"Yes, boss, but it's not very clear."
"What's the meaning?"
"The opposite is indeed German, but they say they are the Army of the Kingdom of East Africa."
"Kingdom of East Africa?"
"Yes, I don't know how to explain it to you. This should be a new country. Just now they told me that the other side of the river is already their country's land!"
"Well! Why?" Vincent asked, because he had a small manpower, so he didn't develop westward. In fact, he defaulted that the west side of the Limpopo River also belonged to his own land.
"They said that the East African Kingdom deployed a so-called East African Army with tens of thousands of people along the river." Buckhausen said.
"Tens of thousands? Impossible!"
"It's impossible to be unclear, but boss, the hundreds of cavalry on the other side of the river are not fake, so it's better not to be impulsive!"
(end of this chapter)