Chapter 213: The Southwest Campaign
The United States had its westward expansion. For East Africa, you could call it "the great southwest development." America's westward movement was a massive land grab from the eastern coast toward the inland areas. What East Africa is doing is a large-scale push into the southwestern region. Unlike the Native Americans in the United States, whose numbers have greatly declined, the southwestern region still has many indigenous tribes.
The "Pocket" area that Felix marked probably has around three million natives. East Africa needs these three million people to help build up East Africa. Of course, in line with East Africa's usual policy, they don't want native children and women—only men of working age. After that filtering, in the end only about one million "laborers" will remain, which, combined with East Africa's existing "workers," makes a bit over two million in total.
Using "laborers" is fine, but there has to be a standard. Native children have no productivity and only consume food, so they are not wanted. Women do have some labor capacity, but to strictly protect East Africa's racial policy, not a single one can remain. East African citizens are divided into three categories: purely White, purely Yellow, and "mixed," meaning White-Asian mixed. Although East Africa has always tried to improve the gender balance, it is still mostly men. If they allowed Black native women to stay, some single men might not control themselves, and children of mixed Black descent could appear—how would they deal with that?
Regarding the imbalance between men and women in East Africa, Ernst has always emphasized that you can wait—opportunities will eventually arise. But if you get together with African women, you'll be exiled. The destination of exile may not be nice. Generally, it's the Alaska colony. As of now, over three hundred people have been assigned this fate. The authorities repeatedly cite these examples to warn East African residents not to take things lightly. Once you're in Alaska, there's no way out. And being exiled to Alaska doesn't mean taking the Black child or African woman along. As for their fate…
Alaska currently has over twenty thousand people, not counting normal immigrants and "criminals" who married local natives—it also has more than one thousand criminals. Usually, you have to commit major crimes to "earn" that punishment. Laws do exist in East Africa and are strictly enforced, but among more than two million people, some incorrigible individuals remain.
East Africa has expanded westward to the upper Congo River's eastern bank. Going further west leads into the vast tropical rainforest. Technically, East Africa could keep going west—Belgium's King Leopold II eventually colonized the entire Congo Basin by going upriver from the west, while East Africa would be going downstream from the east, which is easier. But rainforest development is very hard, and Ernst also wants to see if, once East Africa has occupied the best parts of the Congo (the highlands and mountains), King Leopold of Belgium will still set his sights on the Congo like in the previous timeline.
The Congo left to Leopold would only be the lower portion of the Congo Basin rainforest—lacking minerals, not good farmland, leaving only plenty of timber, and the forest population isn't large either. So if Leopold wants to make a profit, he'll likely resort to extreme exploitation tactics. East Africa blocks the way from the east and south, leaving the west for Portugal and France. The only potential route north would be through the Central African or Chad region. Currently, that place is a confusing mixture of forces: local tribes, several kingdoms driven out of the Great Lakes area by East Africa, plus northern tribes.
By the way, calling Belgian Congo simply "Congo" is somewhat inaccurate. The real Kingdom of Kongo existed around Angola and the Congo River's mouth. The name "Congo Basin" came from that kingdom. Regardless, there's little good land left for the Belgians.
In south-central Africa, rainfall decreases from the Zambezi-Congo (Katanga) highlands downward. Its climate and terrain basically match East Africa's, which is why East Africa treats the southwest region as its main expansion zone. (Map)
So, after absorbing Zambia, East Africa will remain a highland country. In the future, they only need to build one railway to link the two areas. Expanding southward will inevitably involve dealing with the Portuguese. The Zambian southern plains are a key source of ivory for Portugal. There's a trade route crossing southern Africa from east to west, dealing in ivory. The Kazembe Kingdom is an important node in that trade route. Both ends, Angola and Mozambique, belong to Portugal. Even if East Africa takes over the middle section, it won't border Angola. The only one that could intervene is Mozambique.
Now, East Africa has grown more confident, especially with Felix as the army's Commander-in-Chief—an aggressive hawk—and Prince Constantin also having a military background. Both served in the Prussian army. Everyone in Europe knows the Prussian army's style, so you can imagine how East Africa's government acts: expand, expand, and expand. If Ernst and Siweite didn't keep things balanced, Prince Constantin might have already cleared out all the tribes around Mozambique.
…
"East Africa's 1st Cavalry Battalion assembled!"
"Good. The Kazembe Kingdom has refused our friendly offer, so it's time for us to give them a little lesson in cavalry power."
"Listen to my orders: Ride straight to the Kazembe capital and seize its top leaders alive. Don't worry if they get injured—once we hold them, there'll be no fear that they won't obey!"
That so-called "friendly offer" from the East African government wasn't without cause. After Msiri sold the Yeke Kingdom to East Africa, some of its affiliated states turned to neighboring countries. Kazembe was among those who took advantage, so now East Africa wanted them to give up the benefits they'd swallowed. The Kazembe Kingdom had never felt the sting of East Africa, so naturally they refused. If it were the Malawi Kingdom, which has long dealt with East Africa and the Portuguese in Mozambique, they would probably have found a scapegoat and apologized by now.
…
"Heh heh, you see my suggestion paid off. Aren't we better off here in Kazembe than we ever were in the Yeke Kingdom? That Afonso may want to be the Germans' dog, but he doesn't realize how greedy they are. One day he'll regret it. The Kazembe Kingdom is our Portugal-run territory. Anywhere in Africa is a market for business. The Yeke Kingdom barely has a living soul now, so even if Afonso wanted to monopolize it, he'd have no suppliers," boasted Santos to his subordinates.
Upon returning to Kazembe, Santos quickly reconnected with his old contacts. The Portuguese in Africa lacked manpower, so they accepted him easily. Having made good money in the Yeke Kingdom and brought many men, Santos was soon doing quite well in Kazembe.
"Boss, you're right. Like they say, 'the one who laughs last, laughs best.' Afonso will end up crying," his henchmen agreed.
Whether Afonso cries or not remains unknown, but Santos and his group are about to lose their smiles.
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