African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1089 Final Plot - Persian Gulf
In short, as for the area near the Red Sea route, it is impossible for Britain to allow East Africa any chance to expand in the Red Sea region. This is one of Britain's bottom lines, because East Africa has a certain advantage because of its location and proximity to the Red Sea. If East Africa goes further, the Red Sea route controlled by the British will be in real danger.

In this case, India and Australia are definitely not allowed to move, the South Pacific cannot move because of the Malacca Strait, and the area around the Red Sea cannot move at all. The only area that can be operated is the coast of the Persian Gulf.

Ernst confirmed Siewert's judgment: "Yes, if Britain really wants to give up an area, it will most likely be near the Persian Gulf. Of course, if Britain really wants to give us this kind of 'bad land', then we are not forced to accept it."

Although the Persian Gulf occupies an extremely important position in the UK's national strategy, the situation is stronger than people. The current British government's thinking is no longer about how to expand its hegemony, but also how to delay the decline of its hegemony.

This is not directed at East Africa, but at the United States, the world's number one economic power. The development of the United States has made the British government realize that it is unrealistic for Britain to monopolize world hegemony. Moreover, given the size and industrial capacity of the United States, as time goes by, Britain will simply not be able to do anything to the United States.

Now with the joining of Japan and East Africa, Britain's situation has become even more difficult. The reason why Britain wants to support Japan is essentially a manifestation of the decline of its hegemony. Japan's role is not just to balance Russia and the Far East Empire. The United States and East Africa are also reasons for Britain to support Japan.

This has to some extent shown that Britain cannot stand alone in the competition in the Far East and must seek agents and allies to share Britain's pressure. After all, Britain is naturally aware of the evil ambitions of Japan, the ungrateful country, but it has no other choice except Japan.

East Africa, like the United States, is a power that is too big to be eliminated. It is not that Britain has not suppressed East Africa in the past, but just like the United States at the beginning of its independence, due to geopolitical reasons, Britain could not find a fulcrum to contain East Africa.

For this reason, Britain even went so far as to personally fight a war with East Africa in the 1980s. Naturally, the result was not satisfactory. After joining forces with Portugal and the Boers, it was still defeated by East Africa in the end.

However, Britain's greatest advantage is that it knows how to make choices, which is the most important point that distinguishes Britain from many irrational countries. This also allowed Britain's hegemony in the past to be delayed until the end of World War II.

Today, the UK is actually taking similar measures towards East Africa, Japan and the United States, that is, being brave to compromise. This is undoubtedly a wise choice for the UK, which is still the world hegemon. Ordinary governments simply cannot do this. No wonder the UK has been able to sit in the position of world hegemon for so long.

Ernst said: "For us, if the British government can give us a piece of land as our operating area on the coast of the Indian Ocean, it will be a pleasant surprise, so no matter how valuable the land is, even if it is a desert, we can accept it, of course, the premise is that the desert is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf."

Ernst finally spoke out his thoughts, which also gave East African government officials a heads-up that the crown prince was optimistic about the land along the Persian Gulf coast.

In the eyes of East African officials, although the land near the Persian Gulf, except for the Mesopotamian region, is almost all bad land, the Persian Gulf is also a relatively important strategic location in the world. If East Africa can occupy a place near the Persian Gulf, it will be a very good start.

In this era, more people still cannot see the value of the land along the Persian Gulf. Of course, for countries such as Britain and Russia, it is undeniable that the Persian Gulf has huge strategic value. Russia needs an outlet to the sea, and Britain wants to open up a land route to India.

As for the economic value, it is almost negligible. Those oil-rich countries in the previous life did not exist at all. The locals almost existed in the form of nomadic tribes, and eating was a big problem.

This is also the point where Ernst is planning to use the land along the Persian Gulf coast. Taking advantage of this time, the oil and gas resources along the Persian Gulf coast have not been discovered on a large scale. Finding a stable "oil barrel" for East Africa is especially important for the future economic and industrial development of East Africa. Nowadays, with the development of the automobile industry and the oil industry, the oil consumption in East Africa has reached a relatively alarming level. At present, the development of domestic oil and gas resources in East Africa is not going smoothly. Although it can meet the needs of the country, in the face of the rapid increase in consumption, East Africa must find a stable, large-volume, and low-cost oil production area.

The Persian Gulf coast is undoubtedly the easiest area to target in East Africa. This is also the main reason why Ernst had previously made great efforts to disrupt the local situation. Everything was to pave the way for the industrial development of East Africa.

Ernst said: "My current idea about the Persian Gulf region is to get a piece of land from the British. If the British only give us a piece of rotten land like the desert, it is not unacceptable, but the area must not be too small, and it must be matched with a corresponding coastline. Of course, we must not drag out our trump cards during the negotiation."

"The UK itself cannot give us land of great value, so we should not hold out too much hope for this. We can distract the UK's attention by making some excessive demands, and then guide the final result to what we want."

"To put it simply, our bottom line is to obtain a large piece of land along the Persian Gulf coast, even if it is a desert, it must be large enough. As for which piece of land the UK is willing to give, that is not the result of our consideration, but depends on the sincerity of the UK."

For Ernst, no matter where the Persian Gulf coast is finally obtained, it will be of great benefit to East Africa. As the world's most oil-rich region, the Persian Gulf is bound to have oil resources as long as the area it occupies is large enough, even on the seabed of the Persian Gulf.

East African officials did not find what Ernst said strange. Just as Ernst said, unless the British got carried away they would give the good land to East Africa. Britain would only give the bad land to East Africa. On this basis, it was not excessive for East Africa to ask for a larger area.

As for the coastline issue, it is also easy to explain. Without a coastline, given the coastal environment of the Persian Gulf, even if East Africa obtains these areas, it will only be able to eat sand if it does not transport food from its homeland.

"That's it! During the negotiations, we will choose a few areas that the British will never agree to, such as the Red Sea coast or the area near the Strait of Malacca as a test. In the end, the British will definitely go back to the Persian Gulf coast. After all, this is the only area that the British can barely accept."

Although the Persian Gulf is very important to India, it is completely insignificant compared to the Red Sea route. The Persian Gulf is only a link in Britain's plan to control India from land, while the Red Sea route and the Cape of Good Hope route are the basis for Britain to control India.

In addition to guarding against East Africans moving north along the Red Sea, Britain itself also had a huge demand for the Red Sea route. Take the experience of World War I in the previous life as an example. In order to deal with the European battlefield, Britain needed to obtain troops and a large amount of supplies from India. Most of these supplies were delivered through the Red Sea route and the Cape of Good Hope route. After all, the Ottoman Empire belonged to the Allied camp at the time, and the so-called land channel was simply impossible to achieve, and the cost of land transportation was too high.

As for the Strait of Malacca, it can be said that Malacca monopolized most of the trade between the Far East and Europe. Britain could not joke about it, so in the end only the coast of the Persian Gulf was within the range that Britain could psychologically bear.

Of course, if Britain really agreed to give up part of its sphere of influence along the Persian Gulf coast to East Africa, that would be exactly what Ernst wanted. Many years later, when East Africa exploits the oil in the Persian Gulf, Britain would probably be so angry when it reviews the situation.

(End of this chapter)