African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1308 Taking advantage of the situation
The United States joining the Allied camp will inevitably have a new impact on the future world pattern, and this will require East Africa to make new judgments and plans for future development.

Defense Minister Pripyat said: "With the participation of the United States, the strength of the Allies has greatly increased. Even if Russia withdraws from the war, it will bring tremendous pressure to the Central Powers."

"According to our prediction, the war between the two camps will further move towards a competition of attrition and strength. Unless the Allies can achieve successive military victories like they did on the Eastern Front, the Allies will eventually be at a disadvantage as they will continue to consume materials and national strength with the Allies."

If we only look at industry, the Allies were not actually weak. However, among the Allied Powers, Britain and France controlled more overseas colonies and had sufficient supplies of materials and energy. After the United States joined the Allied Powers, the Allied camp's industrial disadvantage was completely reversed.

Therefore, there is only one way left for the Allies, and that is to quickly open up the situation militarily. Whether it is the Western Front or the Eastern Front, as long as they can break through the blockade of the Allies, it will greatly reduce the pressure on the Allies.

Although Russia has withdrawn from the war, this does not mean the end of the Eastern Front. Now the Eastern Front has shifted further south than before, from the original border area between the Allies and Russia to a line from the Balkan Peninsula to the Persian Gulf.

The main force on this front is Britain. Since the end of last year, Britain has attacked the Ottoman Empire from multiple directions, which is also the reason for the complete interruption of trade between East Africa and the Allies.

In the north, the British actively wooed countries and forces such as Romania, Montenegro, and Greece to maintain the Allied Powers' disadvantage in the Balkan Peninsula.

It is actually normal for these countries to turn to Britain. After all, whether it is the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Ottoman Empire of the Allied Powers, or even Bulgaria, they may make these countries disappear from the map of the Balkan Peninsula.

At the same time, Britain's own attack on the Ottoman Empire was divided into three parts: the first was to capture Constantinople, the second was to unite with Egypt to attack the west coast of the Ottoman Empire from the Red Sea line, and the third was to join forces with Persia to blockade the Persian Gulf.

This is basically the situation of the "New Eastern Front". Compared with the original Eastern Front, it is more scattered, but every point attacked by the British is a key point.

Chief of General Staff Cristiano said: "From the current war situation, the Allies should want to achieve the following goals. The first is to completely block the Central Powers in the encirclement and block their access to strategic resources such as war energy, industrial raw materials, and weapons from the outside."

"Among them, the Persian Gulf and the Dardanelles are key nodes, which can block the Ottoman Empire's external connections and, on this basis, cut off the linkage between the allies."

"The Ottoman Empire itself is the weakest, and at the same time it controls the channels of communication between the Allies and the outside world. Therefore, the Allies have made the Ottoman Empire the focus of the war at the current stage, which is greatly conducive to weakening the power of the Allies."

"The second point is to share the pressure on the Western Front. Now that Russia has withdrawn from the war, it means that the millions of troops on the Eastern Front of the Allies can be deployed to other battlefields."

"This will put great pressure on France and Britain, so opening up more battlefields on the Eastern Front, especially taking advantage of the terrain of the Balkan Peninsula, will enable us to better maneuver and contain the Allied forces."

"The third point is to enhance the confidence of the Allied camp. Russia's withdrawal from the war is a huge blow to the Allied camp. Launching a new round of offensive will help consolidate its allies' optimistic attitude towards the war."

"This also means that in the next two or three years, the war will be more brutal, more countries will be involved in the battlefield, and if the Russian civil war is included, the whole of Europe will become a battlefield."

In the current situation, it is no longer possible for Britain and France to continue to work without putting in any effort, especially Britain. Its previous performance on the battlefield could only be considered mediocre, far inferior to France and Russia, which were giving their all.

Although the United States joined the Allied Powers to repair the mess left behind by Russia's withdrawal, it was clear that Britain and France did not fully trust the United States.

After all, Russia and the Allies were bordering each other before, and there was no possibility of reconciliation unless one side bleeds heavily. But the United States is different. The United States and the whole of Europe are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, which means that the United States has a way out.

In the worst case, the worst-case scenario is to withdraw from the war and return to America to be a turtle. Anyway, the Allies cannot attack the U.S. mainland across the Atlantic Ocean. With the help of geographical advantages and the world's third-largest naval strength, the U.S. still has the confidence to defend its homeland. This is why the U.S. dares to directly join the Allies. Moreover, over the years, the U.S. has become accustomed to entertaining itself in America. If it is really blocked, the situation will not be that bad.

After listening to the analysis of the government leaders, Ernst asked, "In this case, how do you think we in East Africa should deal with the current international changes?"

Cristiano said: "Your Majesty, I think we should speed up the negotiations with Britain on the division of power in the Indian Ocean. The French have already set a good example, but the British have always been timid and insincere."

"Now, Britain's cutting off of Persian Gulf trade is itself damaging East African interests, and the British government has not given us a satisfactory answer to this."

"So, flexing our military muscles in real time can also make Britain compromise with the empire where necessary."

In order for Britain to cut off the Persian Gulf trade route, it must have gone through multiple rounds of political and diplomatic games with the East African governments.

After all, without East Africa’s acquiescence, the British would not have been able to attack the Basra region of the Ottoman Empire so successfully.

This game is mainly reflected in psychology. Any improper operation may lead to changes in the regional structure. This kind of psychological game at the national level is the norm in international exchanges.

Of course, this can also be understood as a political gamble, especially in the political and diplomatic activities between small and big countries.

"Just because we didn't take action in the Indian Ocean doesn't mean we shouldn't have any gains in East Africa," Cristiano said.

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"Especially Britain, whose military operations in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, as well as its previous blockades of the Suez Canal and Gibraltar, have actually harmed the interests of the empire."

"Britain must give the Empire a satisfactory answer on this point. The most important thing is to redivide the sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean. In particular, strategic locations such as Seychelles should preferably fall into the hands of the Empire through negotiations with Britain, thus further consolidating the Empire's strategic security in the Indian Ocean."

Simply put, Cristiano's idea is that East Africa should gain some tangible benefits while Britain is currently weak in its global strategy.

Ernst agreed with Cristiano's view: "Indeed, no matter how the war situation in Europe changes, the post-war world pattern will inevitably change, and the European victors will re-dominate the European order and rely on Europe to suppress other regions."

"We are facing this problem, and I'm afraid the United States is facing the same problem. This will test the strength of the empire. So from a pragmatic point of view, to ensure that the future development of the empire is not restricted by Europe, we should control more overseas colonies."

Today, East Africa is in a strategically proactive position. This strategic position makes East Africa the target of the two major camps. It is precisely this position that makes it convenient for East Africa to blackmail the two major camps. This is unlike the United States. The United States has already joined the war, so it can only go all the way with the Allies.

At present, the Allies can basically offer no tangible benefits to attract East Africa. Among the Allied Powers, France has performed well and stabilized East Africa through partial territorial transactions.

Britain's sincerity alone is not enough, so East Africa will show a tougher attitude in subsequent diplomatic activities with Britain.

(End of this chapter)