African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1315 Handover
1918 5 Month 27 Day.

A fleet consisting of two destroyers, a frigate and a supply ship was speeding towards the heart of the ocean, riding the waves of the Indian Ocean under the deep blue sky.

"Captain, we have discovered an island ahead. It should be the Chagos Islands."

A sailor came to Captain Hemmert of the East African destroyer Kagera and reported.

Hemmert picked up the telescope and looked carefully ahead, and sure enough, a large piece of land appeared in his sight.

Judging from the scene in the telescope, this island is very small, distributed in the north-south direction, and forms a string of islands and reefs. It is extremely desolate. On the shore of the island, in addition to the dark yellow beach, there are lush tropical trees.

In addition, other islands can be seen to the south of this green-covered island, and there is a small island between the two that is almost imperceptible to the naked eye and is blurry due to the long distance.

However, based on the markings on the nautical chart, Hemmert determined that it was an island reef. Of course, this is only what can be observed at present.

This island reef is actually an island reef near the west of the Egmont Islands on the nautical chart, and the Egmont Islands are an important part of the Chagos Archipelago.

Hemmert said happily: "The Chagos Islands should be ahead. The fleet will continue to move 30 degrees southeast."

The reason why Hemmert was able to determine that this archipelago was the Chagos Archipelago was not only because it met the characteristics of the nautical chart, but also because of the arrival time. The Chagos Archipelago is nearly 3,000 kilometers away from the eastern coast of East Africa.

It is located deep in the heart of the Indian Ocean and there are no other large island groups around it, so it can be confirmed that this is the destination of the fleet.

Of course, although they arrived at the Chagos Archipelago, the real destination of the East African Fleet was Diego Garcia, the main island of the Chagos Archipelago.

Diego Garcia is located southeast of the Chagos Archipelago, which is why Hemmert ordered the fleet to head southeast.

The name of Diego Garcia Island comes from the Portuguese navigator Diego Garcia who discovered it. Later, the island was occupied by the French. In the last century, because of Napoleon's defeat, the island was controlled by the British again.

Soon the East African fleet passed the islands and reefs west of the Chagos Archipelago. At this time, it could be clearly seen that these islands and reefs were not large in scale, and many were covered by sea water, which obviously could not provide good living conditions.

After sailing southeast for an unknown period of time, Diego Garcia Island finally appeared in front of the fleet.

The reason why the identity of Diego Garcia Island can be identified at a glance is very simple. It is the only densely populated area in the Chagos Archipelago.

Hemmert and others could even see the barracks, warehouses, watchtowers, lighthouses and other facilities built by the British on the island.

However, the population of Diego Garcia is obviously not too large. According to Hemmert's observation, there may be only dozens to hundreds of British garrisons on the island.

This is easy to understand, because the entire Diego Garcia covers an area of ​​only more than 20 square kilometers, and it is already the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago.

At the same time that the East African Fleet discovered Diego Garcia, the British troops on the island also noticed this fleet flying the East African flag.

Soon, all the British on the island gathered at the harbor dock and watched the East African fleet enter the simple port of Diego Garcia. No conflict occurred during the process. Instead, as the East Africans went ashore, the British garrison cheered.

As soon as Hemmert landed, a British commander came up to him and said happily: "God, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you here for more than half a month. It is really tortured."

Hemmert looked at the group of cheering British people with surprise, and really couldn't understand why they were so excited.

Suppressing the weird thoughts in his heart, Hemmert said: "It seems that you have received the notice from the British government. In this way, we don't need to explain any more and save a lot of trouble." The British officer said happily: "Of course, we have been looking forward to leaving this damn place for a long time. I am almost having mental problems staying here."

"There is nothing on this island except for the thirty-one of us. Staying here every day makes me feel like I am going moldy."

"Occasionally a boat would pass by and some people would go ashore, and we would be excited for the whole day. If it wasn't for the fact that it didn't matter, I would have wanted to leave this damn place a long time ago."

Through the words of this British officer, Hemmert finally understood why the British on the island were so excited after receiving the news that East Africa would take over the island.

Or maybe the conditions on Diego Garcia Island are too harsh. As mentioned before, the Chagos Archipelago is located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, which means that this is a truly desolate place.

Not only was there no entertainment on the island, there were no residents at all, and the British only sent 31 people to guard the place.

Just think about how depressing and lonely it is to stay here. This is why the British on the island were so excited when they knew they were leaving here.

Even if the island was ceded to East Africa by the British government, it was difficult to quell their inner excitement. It can be said that staying in this place is more uncomfortable than staying in prison.

The British officer said excitedly: "We have had enough of this isolated place. Fortunately, because of you, we can be transferred out of this sea 'prison'."

"Even if it weren't for you, I have no doubt that we are almost forgotten by the British government. Now that the transfer order has come, we can leave this unfortunate place."

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After staying here for a long time, the British officer's desire to talk to outsiders was completely unleashed, which made Hemmert look embarrassed.

The British officer continued excitedly, "We haven't touched anything on the island. After we leave, you can continue to use the facilities here."

"There is nothing valuable here. Apart from this port, two warehouses for supplies, a lighthouse, and a barracks, there are no other buildings."

"Staying here, you can't see anything except seabirds every day, but now it's good, we can finally leave. Believe me, you will be tortured crazy by the environment here..."

Under the watchful eyes of Hemmert and others, the group of British people boarded the departing ship and headed towards the north of the Indian Ocean. According to the British officers, they were transferred to India this time.

When leaving, the British waved goodbye enthusiastically to the East African officers and soldiers, as if this was some terrible place.

This is indeed the case. The location of Diego Garcia makes it almost impossible to communicate with the outside world. There are no entertainment facilities on the island, and the entire Chagos Archipelago is a barren land.

Indian Ocean islands such as Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives have a large permanent population, which explains why Britain was willing to hand over the island to East Africa.

In fact, Britain attached great importance to the Chagos Archipelago in the past, especially after its colonies in the Indian Ocean gained independence. The British government and Mauritius often had lawsuits over the Chagos Archipelago. Later, they were forced to give up due to the exclusion of the Americans. However, in this era, the British obviously did not have this sense of crisis. After all, the British Empire was still prosperous.

Compared with the Chagos Archipelago, India, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Aden... the British have plenty of choices in the Indian Ocean.

However, the East African government was very satisfied with the environment of the Chagos Archipelago. Ernst liked this kind of island without "indigenous people" the most. What's more, the Chagos Archipelago had important strategic value for East Africa to open up the Sunda Strait route. At the same time, it could serve as a transit station for East Africa to influence the South Pacific and Australia and provide a foothold for the East African army.

In the past, Americans chose this place as the place to build their military base. Planes taking off from here can strike the entire Indian Ocean coastal area. It would be even more convenient to deploy missiles.

(End of this chapter)