Chapter 467: Observation
Besides the Orange River, the Tugela River also marks the geographical boundary between East Africa and the Cape Colony. The Tugela flows from Lesotho to the Indian Ocean. It is a wide and fast-flowing river, and home to the famous Tugela Falls—second only to Angel Falls in height at 944 meters. The terrain along the Tugela River is extremely rugged, providing excellent natural defense for East Africa.
North of the Tugela, the construction of New Hamburg Port has been completed. Its scale has quickly approached that of Maputo and Durban, making it one of the three busiest cities in the region. A British observation vessel from the Colony of Natal lingered offshore, surveying this familiar yet unfamiliar rising port. An East African warship followed closely behind, watching for any British tricks.
But the British weren't foolish. As a dual-use military-civilian port, New Hamburg had formidable defenses. Besides its naval base, the mobile artillery mounted at the harbor entrance alone made it nearly impregnable.
"This port's layout looks almost identical to Durban's—narrow entrance, wide interior. It's a natural trumpet-shaped harbor, ideal for naval bases. Why didn't our people value it before? Now it's in German hands," one officer, Wilke, complained.
"The answer is simple," his colleague replied. "We already had Durban, whose natural conditions are superior to this bay."
"But from the current construction, I see no sign New Hamburg is inferior to Durban."
"It wasn't, originally. But East Africa invested heavily—especially with rapid population growth. That gave them the capacity to reshape the harbor and overcome its natural shortcomings."
At present, New Hamburg has around 30,000 residents. With nearby Zulu communities included, the number exceeds 70,000. East Africa has poured major resources into New Hamburg, particularly railway infrastructure, making it an extremely busy city.
"The Germans are impressive builders. A few years ago, this coastline in the Zulu Kingdom was barren. New Hamburg was just a desolate bay—far worse than Durban. And the area south of the harbor was a swamp with serious siltation. But with German reconstruction, in a few more years, New Hamburg will surely surpass Durban as the region's top city."
The southern swamp has already been transformed by East Africa. Over 20,000 Zulus labored for three years to create 3 square kilometers of deep-water harbor. A canal now connects the northern lakes, dramatically improving New Hamburg's conditions. Its usable area already exceeds Durban's—and that's not the limit. To the south lies an untouched five-square-kilometer lake still awaiting development.
Wilke grumbled, "Are the Germans a breeding machine? America couldn't contain them, and now they want to take Africa too!"
"East Africa's growth is closely tied to the German population boom. During the last war, they mobilized tens of thousands of troops. That means East Africa must have at least hundreds of thousands domestically. New Hamburg alone likely has tens of thousands. And Dar es Salaam and Mombasa have even more. Just on the coast, they might already have several hundred thousand people."
As a veteran sailor of the Indian Ocean, Enlai was quite familiar with East Africa's ports. He estimated that Dar es Salaam and Mombasa likely had over 100,000 residents each—comparable to major European ports.
Wilke was alarmed. If true, East Africa could launch inland offensives into southern Africa. The total white population could exceed a million—small by European standards, but in Africa, only Egypt and a few North African states had more.
Enlai added, "Still, things might not be that bad. A large portion of East Africa's population is East Asian. In Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, I found that nearly half the people were East Asians. So East Africa isn't as scary as it seems."
"That so?" Wilke replied. "If they're padding their numbers with Asians, that's easier to accept."
It wasn't strange for Wilke to look down on East Asians. The Far Eastern Empire had been so weak for decades that Britain had developed full confidence in defeating them. The British now believed that Asians were no match—that just a few gunships could easily bring the Far East to heel. If East Africa was half East Asian, it was "less threatening."
And not just East Asians—Britain also looked down on South Asians. Colonizing India had been absurdly easy.
Wilke, a British investigator, hadn't realized that half of East Africa's army was made up of Chinese immigrants. Chinese troops had played critical roles in all East African wars, including the recent South African conflict.
Still, Britain's lack of concern was understandable. The South African War had appeared to be a clash between Germans and Boers. Since the Transvaal's performance was so weak, the British thought nothing of it. After all, even the Netherlands—Boers' mother country—dared not confront Germany. If Britain actually fought East Africa, they were certain the Germans would quickly learn who the true colonial power was.
Wilke scoffed, "It's about race. Blacks are the lowest tier on Earth. Even India's people are better. The Germans have just exploited our neglect of Africa to stake claims. But their good days are ending. Once we secure India's borders and deal with the Orange Free State, we'll show East Africa who the real colonial masters are—something those land-bound German barbarians can't comprehend."
Population and scale did matter—but Britain wasn't impressed. After all, they'd humiliated the U.S., the Far East, and others before.
In America's early years, Britain had imposed harsh trade embargoes. Only ships under 60 tons were allowed to sail. Only after America opened up Pacific trade—especially with the Far East—did the blockade break.
Yet the U.S. was hardly innocent. Soon, it copied Britain and used opium for unfair trade. The Far Eastern Empire, unable to tell Brits from Americans, was duped by both—especially by Boston merchants who got rich off opium.
Trade embargoes had always been Ernst's fear. Though East Africa's navy now had some retaliatory capacity, the risk remained. That's why Ferdinand's trip to Austria was so important.
Britain's embargo against the U.S. had succeeded only because Spain, France, and others cooperated. East Africa couldn't let other nations side with Britain. That made Austria-Hungary a necessary partner. Any power thinking of targeting East Africa would now have to consider Vienna's stance.
Even if Austria-Hungary remained vague, having a position was better than none. And Ernst had been taught never to over-rely on others. If self-reliance was possible, it should always be the goal.
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