Chapter 375: The Security Situation in First Town
After staying two days in Soga City, Ernst finally arrived in First Town. This time, Constantinoo led his ministers to greet him in person.
Seeing his father safe and sound in Africa—and actually living quite well—Ernst felt a sudden sense of belonging. "Father!"
Constantinoo said, "Ernst, at last you're here!"
Ernst asked, "Father, how have you been in Africa?"
Constantinoo replied, "Not bad. Other than not being able to see my old friends in Europe, there isn't much difference."
Ernst said, "That's good. I've been worried you might not adapt to the environment here in East Africa."
Though East Africa's climate is actually quite pleasant, "not getting used to the water and soil" is a real issue—one that remains difficult to tackle even in later times.
In his previous life, Ernst personally went through something like that. He was from the north, but when he went to university in the south, he had a terrible first month: constant colds and fevers, even though he almost never fell ill before. Only after living in the south for a while did he realize this was probably what people called "not used to the local water and soil." He suspected the higher humidity in the south was the reason.
Still, his experience in the south proved useful for Ernst. Traveling between north and south regularly meant that when he eventually worked in East Africa, he felt little discomfort. Compared to the difference between the Far East's northern and southern climates, East Africa's environment was no big deal.
In his previous life, what he worried about in Africa most were diseases and wars. Fortunately, East Africa was relatively stable by African standards. Disease was harder to prevent; most Africans scoffed at hygiene and science, making them carriers for many illnesses, especially HIV. In Africa, if you can't keep your pants zipped, you're at risk at any time.
But these days, thanks to Ernst's measures, illness in East Africa has dropped to a very low level—even lower than in Europe or parts of Asia that were traditionally considered comfortable to live in.
History follows a pattern. Initially, humans were best suited for drier, easily irrigated agricultural zones like Egypt, Babylon, the Indus River, and the Yellow River. As productivity rose, humans spread into more humid regions such as Europe, the Ganges Plains, and the Yangtze River Basin. With the Industrial Age, humanity expanded even into cold regions: the Ruhr area in Germany, Russia, the Northeast, Canada, and the Great Lakes region, all in higher latitudes. By the 21st century, humankind began moving back toward the tropics: Brazil, Southeast Asia, Africa, as well as drifting south in traditional countries—America's Great Lakes became a Rust Belt, the Northeast declined, the Ruhr declined, Russia's Siberian regions saw population loss…
Overall, humanity went from the equator to the poles and then back toward the equator. In any case, the most habitable regions remain in the mid to lower latitudes north and south. Because of East Africa's unique highlands, its tropical climate is unusually livable, and Ernst is simply accelerating the process.
Thus, Ernst was concerned about whether Constantinoo could adapt to life in East Africa. It seems that most people are indeed adjusting well, which is good news for East Africa.
Other senior officials of East Africa came forward to pay their respects. Although the Crown Prince spent long periods commanding from Europe, these top figures in East Africa were hardly strangers to him. The upper echelons of East Africa can be divided into three major groups: mercenaries (some had met Ernst in Europe), graduates of Hechingen Military Academy (firmly loyal to him), and employees of the Hechingen Consortium. Among these three groups, it was mainly the mercenaries who had the least direct contact with Ernst, and even they were relatively few in number. After briefly speaking with each of his officials, Ernst moved into the Swete Palace.
The old steward, Kaino, inquired about his son: "Your Highness, do you know how Tom is faring in Europe?"
Ernst replied, "Don't worry, Uncle Kaino. Tom is one of my most trusted assistants. Right now he's overseeing the Consortium's operations in Europe on my behalf."
Kaino said, "That's good. I've been afraid he might be causing trouble for you."
Ernst laughed, "Not at all. You can consider Tom like a brother to me. Taking care of him is only right."
Hearing that, Kaino felt reassured. Serving the Hechingen royal family has always been his family's tradition—something like a guaranteed lifelong role.
Under Kaino's supervision, Ernst's "treasures" and his luggage were officially inventoried and placed in the Swete Palace in an orderly fashion.
Swete Palace is not much bigger than the Hohenzollern Castle set in the mountains. The overall style is quite similar—more reminiscent of a military fortress, revealing an unchanged original spirit.
However, Swete Palace does not match Ernst's ideal of a political center—after all, this isn't the Middle Ages anymore, with local monarchs living in fortresses, braced for constant war.
When Swete Palace was built, they considered the fact that First Town is not far from the sea, so security was a concern. In the entire world, the capital that most resembles First Town is probably Beiping in the Far East.
Beiping had Tianjin guarding the sea route, and with the Shandong Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula on either side of the Bohai Sea, any invader would be easy to contain. That geography gave Beiping remarkable defensive advantages. But in reality, the Far Eastern navy was weak, and the army was also inadequate, so the advantage of that natural defensive barrier was never fully realized.
First Town lies on the southeastern bank of the Little Rhine River, with Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam forming a triangle from the east. To reach First Town, an enemy must capture one of those two coastal cities first.
And that's not easy. Zanzibar Island's military is under East African control, and the channel between Zanzibar Island and the mainland is just under fifty kilometers wide.
East Africa's coastal defense cannons on both sides of the strait can seal off the entire channel. If you can't enter the strait, it's impossible to attack Bagamoyo or Dar es Salaam. Plus, the main base of the East African navy is in Bagamoyo, ready to launch a counterattack at any time. Under such conditions, a conventional landing operation near First Town is basically impossible.
With Ernst's near-shore defense plan increasingly perfected, East Africa's coastline—especially around the Central Province—can be described as impregnable. As long as the East African army doesn't do something foolish, there's little chance, given the warfare level of this era, for an invasion from the sea. Of course, if the British, the world's top navy, committed everything, then it might still be possible.
That shows the importance of Zanzibar. Without it, East Africa could never be so secure. Hence, East Africa will definitely incorporate Zanzibar Island into its territory in the future.
There's little worry about First Town's security overall. But it can only serve as East Africa's temporary capital—this is a result of the kingdom's continuous territorial expansion. If East Africa's borders were just what later became the East African Federation (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi), making First Town the capital would be no problem.
However, the East African Kingdom has extended deep into Central Africa, Southern Africa, and even the edges of North Africa. To maintain unity in the kingdom and drive future development, they will inevitably have to move the capital. The most likely choices lie in Zambia or southern Congo.
East Africa isn't like the United States or the Far East, where the economic center is concentrated in the east; nor like Russia, whose focus is in the west; and it isn't like Britain, which has only a small core territory. East Africa's future capital must be located in a place convenient for transportation and able to connect the majority of the kingdom. The climate differences within East African lands aren't huge, and resources are fairly evenly spread. Conditions in each region don't vary too much. While the eastern region currently enjoys the advantage of having a coastline, in the future, East Africa may well extend to two oceans. That means a capital near the kingdom's geometric center will be most suitable.
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