African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1144: Backed by East Africa, it’s a good place to take a rest

Cabinda in East Africa is only a hundred kilometers away from Pointe-Noire, so the Belgians in Pointe-Noire are no strangers to this "international metropolis". They only need a boat ticket to reach Cabinda, and of course, there is also a road between the two places.

For the citizens of Pointe Noire, Cabinda is as prosperous as the Belgian capital of Brussels. Many Belgian dignitaries in Pointe Noire even live in Cabinda.

Hughes called a taxi and then invited his brother and his family to his residence.

Herman was a little surprised and asked, "Isn't this too expensive?"

To Hermann, cars are a rare commodity. The automobile industry in Europe is far behind that in the United States, not to mention East Africa. Therefore, only rich people can afford cars in Europe. Hermann's family is not wealthy, and they can only envy the rich and nobles who drive cars on the streets of Belgium.

Hughes said nonchalantly: "If you pay attention to the number of cars in Cape Noire, you should be able to see that there are quite a lot of cars here. I don't know how the local development has been in recent years, but I was also shocked when I came to Cape Noire."

"Our hometown Antwerp is considered a big city in Belgium, but when I left Antwerp, I could hardly see many cars. But when I arrived in Pointe-Noire, I found that there were quite a lot of cars here."

"Especially in recent years, the number of cars in Noire City has increased rapidly. Almost everyone with a little money will buy one. There are still many wealthy people in Noire City. I estimate that the number of cars in Noire City is at least tens of thousands."

You should know that the total population of Pointe Noire is only over a hundred thousand, so the car penetration rate in Pointe Noire is quite high, even higher than that of some cities in East Africa.

Hermann sighed: "Antwerp has not changed much since you left, but before I came to Cape Noire, I would never have imagined that this place would be a colony of Belgium."

Hughes said: "The main reason is that Cape Noire has a good location. East Africa has developed rapidly in the past decade or so. With the support of East Africa, Cape Noire has also enjoyed the dividends of development. The large amount of mineral exports has made Cape Noire rich. You should know that the entire Belgian Congo is six or seven times the size of the mainland, but the population is only a fraction of the mainland. Therefore, mining here is quite developed and can create huge social benefits. Any leakage is enough to make many people rich."

"This is also the main reason why I contacted you to seek refuge here. What the Belgian Congo lacks most right now is population, especially technical talents. You can work hard in Antwerp and only be a small worker, but here you can at least become a small manager, and the salary is not lower than in your hometown."

"There is almost nothing missing here. Even for medical care, consumption and education, you can go to the two major cities of Cabinda and Kinshasa in East Africa to get them."

"Our boss lives in Cabinda, which is a good place where every inch of land is valuable. Kinshasa is also good, but it is a bit far from Pointe Noire. You have to transfer in Cabinda first, and then take the railway or bus to Kinshasa."

Cabinda and Kinshasa are the two most influential and well-known East African cities in Belgian Congo. Basically, Belgians in Belgian Congo will go to the two East African cities based on the principle of proximity.

Those living along the coast will choose Cabinda, which is very convenient both by sea and land. As for inland areas, most will choose Kinshasa, and generally reach Kinshasa through the weak inland transportation of Belgian Congo.

After all, transportation in East Africa is completely different from that in the Belgian Congo. Except for its capital, Pointe-Noire, the infrastructure in other areas is extremely poor and the investment is not high.

Of course, in recent years, due to the export of minerals and agricultural products, the Belgian government has increased its investment in transportation in Belgian Congo, so the transportation situation in Belgian Congo is improving.

"Hearing what you said, it seems that East Africa played a big role in the development of Belgian Congo?" Hermann asked his brother curiously.

In fact, Herman had long been curious about East Africa. In their past correspondence, Hughes often mentioned East Africa, but because of the high cost of communication, the frequency of their contact was not very high, maybe once or twice a year, and mainly to report safety. Hughes replied: "That's natural. It can be said that everything in the Belgian Congo is closely related to East Africa. Many industries in the Belgian Congo are now invested by East Africans, and East Africa is basically the only civilized country near the Belgian Congo. So apart from dealing with the locals, East Africa has the closest relationship with us."

"Some time ago, East Africa was planning to join forces with four countries in Central Africa to carry out transportation planning for areas including our Belgium, and to build railways and roads. Unfortunately, due to the war, it was temporarily interrupted."

"If it weren't for the war in Europe, Germany and Belgium became hostile countries, the project would have started by now."

It can be said that the relationship between Belgium and Germany is very awkward. After all, they used to cooperate relatively harmoniously in Africa, but now they have become enemies.

Of course, this was also a helpless move. Germany's invasion of Belgium was certainly morally untenable, but France might not necessarily be a good thing.

The reason why Germany's Schlieffen Plan chose Belgium as the entry point can be said to be related to France's unethical military deployment.

France's military deployment can also be linked to the famous Maginot Line in the past. In fact, before World War I, France had deployed a prototype of a weakened version of the Maginot Line.

After all, the feud between France and Germany is not a one-day or two-day thing. Since the Franco-Prussian War, most of France's military operations can be linked to Germany.

Therefore, the French government began to deploy defense projects from the border between the two countries to the Alps. Although the defense system formed by these projects was not as tight and systematic as the Maginot Line, it also greatly increased the pressure on Germany.

In fact, before World War I, the French government successfully predicted some of the German army’s future plans, so the French government formulated the so-called Operation Plan No. 17 based on these predictions.

Operation Plan No. 17 was based on the French General Staff's assumptions about the German offensive plan. Given that the French had already built a tight defense system in the border area, the French correctly estimated that the Germans would not launch a direct attack on the front, but would bypass the French border fortress system through Belgium and Luxembourg and attack the French flanks.

In other words, the French government anticipated from the beginning that Germany might bypass France's eastern defense line, pass through Belgium or Luxembourg, and then attack the French mainland.

This was exactly what the French wanted. Adhering to the mentality of harming their neighbors, the French had intended to use Belgium as a battlefield between the two countries from the very beginning.

Like the German army, the "quick victory and quick decision idea" also dominated the French army, and the Eastern Defense Front would obviously be mainly defensive, so Belgium would also become the main breakthrough point for France's mobile warfare against Germany.

As long as the war is not fought within French territory, the French government will not feel any pain at all. This is also a lesson learned from the Franco-Prussian War.

Therefore, the invasion of Belgium by Germany is closely related to France. In the previous World War II, France may have held a similar mindset and did not extend the Maginot Line, but they did not expect that the German army's tactics in World War II were no longer in the same dimension as theirs.

Hermann: "When we came, the Germans had already occupied Brussels and were very close to Antwerp. This was the main reason why I decided to bring my family to join you. Now that the two countries have become enemies, the previous cooperation agreement has naturally become a piece of waste paper. I just hope that East Africa will not learn from Germany and take advantage of the situation to rob."

In his heart, Hermann was somewhat wary of East Africa. After all, East Africa, like Germany, was a German country. At this time, Belgium itself was invaded by Germany, and the Belgian Congo far away in Africa might be taken advantage of by East Africa.

(End of this chapter)