Chapter 211: The "Pocket" Plan
In mid-September, the East African army's reorganization had concluded. Felix said, "Your Highness Prince, now that we've finished integrating the army, I think next year we should grab the south."
He placed a teacup in the middle of the map at the northern region above the upper Zambezi River.
"It's not urgent," Siweite suggested. "There's only a few months left in the year. I think we should first make an agreement with Msiri so that he hands over the land east of the Lualaba River. That way, East Africa can completely control all territory east of the upper Congo River. As for the south, maybe next year at the earliest."
Prince Constantin seemed not to hear them. He bent down to study the map carefully, a frown appearing on his brow. Resting his thumb on the map where the Kingdom of Malawi was marked, he said, "Why haven't we taken down this Malawi Kingdom? It sits right between the Upper Lake Malawi area and the Eastern Katanga area. It looks like how Prussia's eastern and western territories were cut in two by those small states before the Austro-Prussian War."
Since arriving in East Africa, Prince Constantin had opened his mind to new scales. German states used to look big to him, but now he called them "small countries." If you didn't have a land area of at least 100,000 square kilometers, he considered it too tiny to catch his eye. Especially since Prince Constantin had been part of the Prussian army, he saw it all differently now.
"Your Highness, the Prince especially told us not to move against Malawi. You see, to its southeast is Portuguese Mozambique, so Malawi acts as a buffer zone."
"That seems to benefit those natives too much," Prince Constantin commented. "From the map, that country still looks sizable. I see its northern lands could be taken at least. The leftover southern part should be enough to remain a buffer zone."
"There's no need to worry about that, Your Highness," said one official. "This map is already outdated. Ever since our East Africa forces began expanding in Tanganyika, we've slowly been nibbling away at that kingdom's territory. When we developed Karonga City in the Upper Lake Malawi region, we dealt with some of that kingdom's subordinate tribes. So by now, its northern area is under our control. It's not a real threat."
"That's good then. Mainly, from the map, our East African territory looks like a snake. If some force uses that protruding area to launch a strike on the land corridor between Lake Soren (Tanganyika) and Lake Malawi, they could slice East Africa in half," Prince Constantin said, analyzing from a geographic perspective. As for who might use that to attack, that was a matter of opinion.
"Your Highness, it's easier to assess East Africa's surroundings with a sand table. It's more direct," someone advised.
"A sand table?" asked Prince Constantin.
"It's something His Highness the Prince introduced, used only by the East African central government and the army, to keep track of East Africa's changing territory and Africa's terrain," an official explained.
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this earlier?"
"Well, the sand tables are huge, so the central government's office has a special room for it, and the rest are in army camps. The royal palace here is new, so we haven't put one in yet."
"Then get one made for me and place it in the middle of the meeting hall," Prince Constantin ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness," Siweite replied.
"Alright, let's go back to East Africa's expansion plans. This map may be rough, but we can manage for now," he said.
Siweite and Felix fell silent and listened.
"Right—earlier you suggested some sort of deal with Msiri. What is that about?" Prince Constantin asked.
Siweite explained, "I was in charge of that before. Msiri was the ruler of eastern Katanga, originally the king of the Yeke Kingdom. Through negotiations, we peacefully took that land, so Msiri's regime wasn't destroyed. He's still a 'king' in the Luba Kingdom area. The Luba Kingdom is an ancient African country that once claimed over a million people at its peak, stretching to Lake Tanganyika, but by the 19th century had splintered. Msiri rose up in one of its smaller offshoot chieftaincies. Apart from Msiri, we East Africans also have some contact with that same Luba Kingdom. The territory we seized in the Mitumba Mountains in the northwest to the area between there and the Lualaba River belonged to little tribes that had broken off from Luba.
"Most of Luba itself is west of the Lualaba, but Msiri is now in the eastern part, next to our border. Before you arrived, His Highness the Prince planned to claim everything east of the Lualaba River for East Africa, so that all land east of the upper Congo would be under our control. So our agreement with Msiri basically says he moves west of the Lualaba to remain king in the eastern Luba region, and we take over all land east of that river."
"Alright, so that's the area by this river. Doesn't look that big. We can take it this year," Prince Constantin said. "So, Felix, about that idea of seizing the south—what's the situation?"
"Your Highness, I said 'the south' but really meant southwest," Felix answered. "I placed that teacup down earlier, pointing to an area mainly north of the Zambezi River. Look, the upper Zambezi is near the Lualaba, so those two rivers form almost a big circle. My idea is that we claim everything inside that circle."
Indeed, Felix's plan fit his hawkish style. He basically wanted to enclose almost all of Zambia and much of Katanga, nearly matching the size of Tanganyika from a glance. To the south, it would border Zimbabwe along a river.
"What's special about that area?" Prince Constantin asked.
Felix replied, "Because it's shaped like a pocket, I call it the 'Pocket Plan.' It's bounded by the Congo and Zambezi Rivers, a tropical savanna climate. The further south, the less rainfall. Our troops shouldn't have too many problems marching. Most importantly, south of us, like Tanganyika before, there isn't a real country there—only tribes. Our soldiers are used to that style of fighting."
He pointed to the map.
"But there's the Kazembe Kingdom," Siweite added.
"Kazembe is no big deal," Felix dismissed. "It's too close to us. Our first step moving south would be to wipe them out."
"Won't the Portuguese be upset?" Siweite asked in concern.
"Kazembe does have some Portuguese merchants, but it's no colony or protectorate of theirs. I don't see an issue," Felix answered.
"Well said," Prince Constantin agreed. "Let's see who claims it first. The Portuguese aren't truly in charge there, and we've already left Malawi as a buffer for them. Mozambique alone doesn't represent their whole kingdom. If they want to protest, let them protest!"
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