African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1023 Russian Navy Landing
"In that case, let's first provide the Kingdom of South Germany with two thousand rifles and bullets. This will be enough for them to sweep across the entire Komadugu Yobe River Basin!" said Ernst.

So far, the Kingdom of South Germany has formed a force of 5,000 people, which is relatively easy for a country with a population of one million.

It was precisely with the help of this army, which seemed very weak in East Africa, that the South German Kingdom basically formed a huge advantage over the surrounding indigenous forces. After all, the South German Kingdom was bordered by Libya to the north and Egypt's Sudan to the east, and its core territory was basically separated by the Sahara Desert.

Even though Egypt seemed much stronger than the Kingdom of South Germany, it was impossible for it to cross the Sahara Desert to launch an attack on the Kingdom of South Germany, not to mention that the Kingdom of South Germany had the giant East Africa behind it.

In other words, except for East Africa in the south, the other directions of the South German Kingdom were either deserts or some extremely backward nomadic peoples. The west was special, with colonies of Britain and Germany, but the forces bordering it were still indigenous forces.

……

1904 10 Month 4 Day.

Luanda.

Due to the continuous victories of Japan's military in the Far East, Russia, which had extremely despised Japan before the war, began to tend to exaggerate Japan's strength.

The reorganized Pacific Second Fleet of the Baltic Fleet, which had been preparing since the year before, finally arrived in East Africa.

Under the escort of East African warships, the Russian Navy's warships sailed into the East African port of Luanda in an orderly manner to enjoy a rare rest.

"God, we finally arrived in Luanda! I don't know what these idiots in the government are thinking. They should negotiate with the East African government to set the port of call to Cabinda, so that we can suffer less." Russian General Kurovsky complained.

"When I saw Cabinda, I thought we had arrived at our destination, but it was all in vain. Fortunately, Luanda looks as prosperous as Cabinda, so I can finally take a good rest."

Kurovsky was not dissatisfied with the environment in Luanda, nor did he think that Luanda was worse than Cabinda. Instead, he thought that if they could go ashore in Cabinda early, it would be a greater comfort to the Russian navy who had already suffered a lot at sea, even a few hours earlier.

For the Russian sailors, the journey of these days was simply a disaster. Except for the relatively comfortable time in German waters, the rest of the journey caused indelible damage to everyone's mind and body.

Starting from crossing the English Channel, basically many countries, including France, and most countries or colonial ports refused entry to Russian warships.

Moreover, the British warships monitored the Russian navy for a long time and watched the Russian navy reach the waters near Morocco.

In addition, British warships often provoked the Russian army. Under this influence, the psychological damage to the Russian navy was even worse.

During the journey, due to the joint pressure from the Japanese and British governments, most colonies were closed to the Russian Navy. This situation continued until the German colony of Cameroon. However, the conditions in the Cameroon colony were too poor and it was unable to provide high-quality services to the Russian Navy.

Therefore, the Russian Navy carries a large amount of coal to ensure that long-distance voyages will not be without fuel due to exhaustion. Although the East African government and Russia have reached an agreement to replenish fuel in East African ports, the Russian government is also worried that the East African government will change its mind at the last minute, so it is necessary to prepare enough fuel.

In fact, if it weren’t for the help of William II, no fleet would be willing to help Russia transport coal. The Russian navy was followed by German coal ships, but even with William II’s intercession, these German shipping companies only promised to escort them to the Strait of Malacca, because they were also worried that Japan would not follow the moral code of war and take action against the Russian navy in advance. If it weren’t for the pressure from William II, the ships of these German shipping companies probably wouldn’t even want to go to the Indian Ocean.

In fact, the Russian navy is divided into two routes, one part takes the Mediterranean route, and the other part chooses the west coast of Africa. Finally, they will meet in Mombasa and then head to the Strait of Malacca. After the last rest in Pontianak Port, they will go directly to the East Asian waters.

The fleet that Kurovsky was in was sailing along the west coast of Africa. Compared with the Second Fleet, which was still being monitored by the British in the Mediterranean, the Russian army that chose the west coast route was undoubtedly much luckier.

The Mediterranean had to be constantly vigilant against the Japanese and British navies, but starting from the Cameroon section on the west coast of Africa, there was no need to worry about being ambushed. Moreover, after arriving at the port of Luanda, the Russian Navy had ample rest and supplies.

Many Russian sailors landed in Luanda. After carrying the supplies, the commander gave the exhausted sailors half a day off, and the fleet officers also began to look for places to spend money.

Kurovsky and several colleagues came to a relatively luxurious state-owned hotel in Luanda. Compared with the lower-level sailors with relatively low income levels, the Russian officers like Kurovsky undoubtedly had a higher spending power.

Russian sailors could only go to some cheap taverns that provided services specifically for sailors, while the Kurovskys naturally ate delicious food and fish in hotels with elegant environments and excellent services.

Stuffing imported Argentinian steak into your mouth, drinking high-end red wine made in East Africa, listening to elegant music.

Kurovsky said: "This is the life that people should enjoy. I feel like I am almost growing hair on the sea. If we had come a little later, we might have only been able to eat low-quality black bread like ordinary soldiers."

Ankarev said: "There is no other way. It is basically difficult to obtain supplies on the sea. All materials must be carefully calculated. If we do not reach an agreement with the East African government, I am afraid that we will still suffer in the next two or three thousand miles of sailing."

"If there is no East Africa, we can only choose the French overseas territory of Madagascar as our foothold, but I believe that the conditions in Madagascar may not be as good as those colonial ports we passed by in West Africa."

Kurovsky: "Yes, the conditions in those ports are too poor. Compared with the East African coast, they are like two different worlds. I really want to know, in the same Africa, why is there such a big gap? Other countries' colonies on the West African coast are simply undeveloped wilderness, while Cabinda and Luanda on the East African coast are probably not bad in Europe."

Ankarev: "Who knows! Maybe it's the difference in race? Anyway, I hardly saw any black people in Luanda. This is the most fundamental difference between the colonies in East Africa and West Africa. Maybe it's because the black people are too uncivilized that they can hardly be civilized even if they come into contact with the civilized world."

Kurovsky said, "Maybe! Along the way, the closer you get to East Africa, the more prosperous it becomes. Although it is not as prosperous as the coastal areas of Western Europe, it is definitely better than many areas in Russia. East Africans have a huge advantage. They face the ocean, which is what we in Russia dream of. Those colonies in West Africa are simply wasting this great resource."

For the Russian Navy, East Africa is a very unfamiliar country. In the past, they could only see its general outline on the map. Only when they actually came here, especially in sharp contrast with the backward areas of West Africa, did the Russian Navy understand the uniqueness of this country.

In fact, this feeling becomes more profound as we enter the South Atlantic. There are not only more towns, farmlands, and plantations near the East African coastline, but also better infrastructure conditions. Not only are the cities larger, but the buildings are also obviously stronger than in other regions. The water conservancy facilities in rural areas are more complete, and there are more livestock than in West Africa.

In particular, the facilities in the ports of Cabinda and Luanda are obviously more modern, with more large equipment and significantly more ships in the ports than in West Africa. This is a reflection of the relatively prosperous trade. Many ships fly the East African flag, and there are also rare fishing boats. These can be reflected quite intuitively.

(End of this chapter)