African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 132: Chapter 125: Border Patrol

Ernst is determined to change Rudolph’s fate, genuinely curious about the future. After all, regardless of how Rudolph changes, the impact on his East African plan is minimal, with its concrete effects only to manifest after World War I.

In a previous life, someone said that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Franz’s empire alone, which is very reasonable; the establishment and demise of this empire are closely tied to Franz.

Anyway, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has no future; with that dual monarchy system, only Franz can manage it. The split is only a matter of time.

...

From afar, camel bells ring, and a camel squad appears on the horizon of Kenya, numbering just over twenty.

The lead camel walks gracefully on the sandy ground, its rider swaying rhythmically with each step.

Wearing a Mexican-style straw hat, dressed in a specially made light yellow Prussian uniform, with a Prussian Dreyse rifle slung over the back.

The soldier on the second camel carries a Heixinggen royal lion banner, indicating that this is a formal colonial armed force from East Africa.

Militiamen do not have access to the most advanced Dreyse rifles, still using front-loading flintlock guns that require powder to be loaded from the front.

And the light yellow uniforms are rare in Africa. Ernst had them specially tendered from factories in Germany. The Prussian army, mostly active in Europe, was not equipped for the tropical desert environment.

Africa is inherently hot, and because of the plateau terrain, most areas are sun-drenched, even more so in the northern deserts of Kenya.

Thus, straw hats are increasingly being procured in East Africa, now a common feature. Fields, villages, cities, military, government agencies, all have many people wearing straw hats.

Currently, East Africa primarily orders straw hats from the Far East. These are difficult to produce with machines, and manual production is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Therefore, East African straw hats are mainly imported. Although Mexico is possible and rich in human resources, it cannot compete with the Far East, where straw hats are cheaper.

Yet, the Far Eastern straw hats are too plain for Ernst’s liking, so he had the Mexican style provided to Far Eastern merchants and instructed them to buy according to this design.

Among East African immigrants from the Far East, some can make straw hats, but mostly during the off-season for personal use. This task demands patience, and for well-fed immigrants, it’s not worthwhile. Some immigrants disregard Africa’s scorching sun, having been accustomed to working under the hot sun.

With the clothing color and straw hats, this East African camel squad, from afar, bears a resemblance to the American West but with camels instead of cowboys on horseback.

The squad includes Germans, Austro-Hungarians (some overlapping with Germans), and Chinese, reflecting East Africa’s current colonial population composition.

They are patrolling the Somali-Kenyan border area, essentially the border guard.

Of course, there is no clear boundary between Somalia and Kenya now, as the East African colonial patrol surrounds mainly desert and grassland areas, sparsely populated, let alone controlling national powers.

Currently, Somalia is a melting pot of indigenous tribes and Arab powers, previously colonized by the British, French, and Italians in a past life.

Active in Somalia were primarily the British, focusing on the northwestern part near Somaliland (Aden Bay coast).

Meanwhile, the French only occupied a small area adjoining the British (mainly Djibouti, 1859).

Italians have not yet arrived (1889), so the vast central and southern regions of Somalia are European ”Lands of No Master” (ignoring local natives).

If the East African focus weren’t on northern Kenya and the northwest, Ernst wouldn’t hesitate to claim a large portion of Somalia.

However, Somalia cannot be taken lightly, especially Mogadishu, an important Indian Ocean port city with a long history, even visited by Zheng He (known as Mugudu Su).

Unlike Africa’s inland natives who lack worldly exposure, Somalia is heavily influenced by Arabian civilization, its power comparable to that of Zanzibar.

The battle in Zanzibar was theatrical, with the proximity of the Marine District to Dar es Salaam offering quick support and boosting troop morale.

But northern Kenya, bordering Somalia, remains undeveloped and sparsely populated, making Ernst reluctant to risk attacking Somalia.

The fear is repeating the Italians’ embarrassing plight in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, unlike Italy’s mere pursuit of colony-building, Italy needed local natives as labor to create value.

For East Africa, aiming for future stable rule involves clearing the local population, facing stronger Somali resistance.

Mogadishu, in a previous life, was where even the Americans faced defeat. Without thousands of troops, Ernst refrains from moving on Somalia.

What’s the point of the East African colonial patrol along the Somali-Kenyan border?

This relates to the East African colonial policy, crudely put as ”shut the door and beat the dog.” To target northern Kenyan tribes, it’s necessary to cut off their external connections.

At the same time, it’s necessary to prevent the native tribes from abroad from infiltrating the East African colony.

It should be known that Africa has many tribes, and they have no concept of territory; they go where there is water and pasture for hunting and grazing.

If East Africa clears out the local natives, only for foreign tribal groups to sneak in afterward, all efforts would be in vain!

Especially in northern Kenya and the Somali region, where the climate is more arid, many tribes rely on nomadism for survival.

Therefore, the task of the East African border patrol team is to forcibly separate Somali tribes from Kenya while expelling Somalis from the border areas.

The temporary boundary between Kenya and Somalia mainly consists of desert and grasslands, with camels being the best mode of transportation in the desert.

The East African colony has been familiar with camels for quite some time since there are many in Zanzibar, and every batch of immigrants arriving at coastal cities like Dar es Salaam could see camels.

The history of the East African colonial government using camels to form cavalry is not too late either. After acquiring some camels from Zanzibar, it established a cavalry force of over two hundred people.

Now, this cavalry unit is fully active in northern Kenya, and Kenya in its previous life was also a major camel country, with numbers around three million, second only to the Sultanate and Somali.

Of course, the East African colony could not possibly maintain that many camels in Kenya; camels are best suited for desert activities and are not very flexible in other areas (as other livestock are more advantageous).

Currently, only northern Kenya is suitable for large-scale camel breeding, but northern Kenya also has plenty of grasslands which far exceed the desert area, so it can be used for large-scale cattle and horse breeding.

...

Hans Buck is the leader of this camel team, a native German born and raised in the Austria-Hungary Empire and an authentic Austrian German.

Thus, it is self-evident why Hans Buck could become the patrol team leader.

In East Africa, the principal concern is not actually the Chinese, but immigrants from Serbia and other Eastern Orthodox believers.

With the European mindset of the era, there was a strong belief in the hierarchical nature of civilizations, and the only current world contender against traditional Europe was Tsarist Russia.

Heresy often evokes more disgust than heathenism, with the Eastern Orthodox Church’s fault lying in its rivalry with European traditional churches (including Protestant) over orthodoxy.

However, the faithless Chinese (ancestor worship aside), are not the primary targets of the East African Germans; rather, they are the main targets of evangelism.

Although there are no churches in East Africa, many believers (especially Austrian Catholics) passionately share their religion with the Chinese.

Certainly, Eastern Orthodox groups from Serbia and the like are different. Were it not for their relative docility (after all, they are peasants, once subjects of rule, and of the lowest status in Austria-Hungary, hence accustomed to it), it’s expected they’d clash with Catholics and Protestants.

Germans and other Europeans also have minor complaints about the Chinese, such as those who speak with a split tongue about the Lord and Heaven, making it seem to Europeans that the Chinese are rather irreverent.

There are even those sharing a faith with the Arab region, given the diversity among a large population. Particularly many immigrants fleeing from within the Ottoman Empire to Austria-Hungary were recruited into East Africa. Yet, their numbers are sparse, and no one has yet stepped forward claiming association with the Arab churches.

Of course, these are minor details since everyone is busy with life and work, and without much culture, they are blunt and lack opportunities to target one another.

Hans Buck found a shaded area behind a camel, laid down a cushion, took out his water bottle, and took a refreshing gulp.

Other team members also dismounted from their camels to rest the team briefly.

”Heinz, how much farther must we go before reaching Divu (place name)?” Hans Buck inquired.

”We’re almost there, about thirteen miles to go; an hour ago, we just passed the dried-up riverbed marked on the map,” Heinz replied.

”That’s good, we’ll rest for ten minutes and then set off!” Saying this, Hans Buck fetched a blue cornflower pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

He pulled out a cigarette, lit it up, and smoked with a face full of satisfaction.

The blue cornflower was Germany’s national flower in the previous era, symbolizing happiness, with its homeland in Europe.

Heixinggen Tobacco thus launched this cigarette in the German region, producing iris in France, sunflower for Tsarist Russia, and edelweiss for Austria...

This series of cigarettes marked by flowers famous in various countries became known as the National Flower series.

And in East Africa, naturally, the tobacco factories from German regions supply the cigarettes, mainly for the military and government. Of course, ordinary people can also purchase them with money, as there are wages in East Africa, albeit meager. However, given the entertainment industry is practically barren in East Africa, many spend that small wage on tobacco, initially only smoked by Austria-Hungary immigrants, eventually adopted by some of the Chinese.

Amidst hard work or warfare, a cigarette can indeed help relieve emotions greatly.