African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 232: Chapter 220: Dignity

January 20, 1870.

Gledi Sultanate, Mogadishu.

Mogadishu, as it is called by the East African government, derives its name from Ancient Persian, while locals call it Hama and during the Ming Dynasty it was known as Mugudu Su. These three names highlight the city’s long history and flourishing cultural exchanges.

Now this ancient city has been completely destroyed by the East Africans. Sivert launched an artillery attack here with over thirty cannons, and eventually, under the assault of more than three thousand East African soldiers, the strongest fortress of the Gledi Sultanate turned into a heap of ruins.

After the Battle of Mogadishu, the Gledi Sultanate was effectively declared fallen, as this was already the most populous area of the Sultanate.

The Gledi Sultanate has never been able to support a large population throughout history, not even Mogadishu, which mainly relies on pastoralism, making it difficult to develop agriculture.

The city of Mogadishu is located on the east bank of the Shabelle River. Although the Shabelle River is the largest river in Somalia, its water volume is very low.

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From February to March, the entire river dries up completely. If it weren’t for its origin in the Ethiopian Highlands, there wouldn’t be much water in other seasons either, so the river’s navigation and hydropower value are almost nonexistent.

Although the rivers in East Africa don’t have high shipping value, they are rich in hydropower resources. The Shabelle River lacks even that, and like the Yellow River, it is very prone to change course. In the 21st century, there’s a phenomenon where the riverbed is higher than the banks downstream. No wonder Ernst said the Gledi Sultanate had no significant value.

”Report to the Chief of Staff, there is a letter from the Central Government.”

Sivert, who was preparing to lead the army along the Shabelle River upstream, was stopped by an intelligence officer.

He opened the letter and read its contents.

”Lavis?”

”Present, Chief of Staff!”

”Your unit stays here to guard the residents of Mogadishu. From now on, no one is allowed to leave the city. The government will send people later to take over the population. At that time, you must cooperate with the government’s work and keep a good watch on everyone in the city.”

”Yes, Chief of Staff!” Lavis replied firmly.

”But Chief of Staff, what exactly is written in the letter?”

”It’s nothing major, I might as well tell you. East Africa now needs more natives to serve as labor force, it’s as simple as that.”

”By the way, let me emphasize to you, separately detain the royal family and nobility of the Gledi Sultanate; these people have other uses.”

”Yes, Chief of Staff!”

This time, Lavis wasn’t too curious. Native royalty? In Lavis’ eyes, they’re no different from those tribal chiefs, just a bit fancier in name. East Africa has wiped out hundreds, if not over a thousand, native chiefs, so it was nothing unusual.

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The territory of the Gledi Sultanate is still quite large, primarily in the Shabelle and Juba River basins. Next, Sivert will sweep through the entire Shabelle River basin to exterminate the remaining forces of the Gledi Sultanate, so he just needs to proceed upstream along the Shabelle River.

The Juba River is in the southern part of the Gledi Sultanate. When East Africa moved north, they already attacked it once. Now it can be handled by East African border patrols that were stationed there before.

Sivert’s operational range this time is not limited to within the borders of the Gledi Sultanate, but also includes the territory of the western Kushites, to annex the southern lands of the Kushites. This way, the newly occupied Somali region of East Africa can be connected with the Omo River Basin.

In other words, the historical southern regions of Ethiopia and Somalia would be incorporated into East African territory, with the Ethiopian Highland and Somali desert areas forming a natural geographical barrier.

Once East Africa achieves this goal, the former Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa would directly become a border region between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire. (Historically, Menelik II officially moved the capital to Addis Ababa in 1887. It was a plateau in the mountains, and before it became the capital of Ethiopia, it was entirely a wilderness.)

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”Fighting in the desert area has the advantage of not having to play hide and seek with the native tribes on the grasslands. These Gledi Sultanate tribes live by the availability of water and grass. We can locate and eliminate these natives just by following the rivers or looking for oases,” said Sivert.

Having just left Mogadishu, Sivert wiped out another village of the Gledi Sultanate, with a few dozen people, who were camel herders.

”Keep advancing. This time, we’re going to fight all the way to the source of the Shabelle River!”

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”Mr. Platini, if you look only at the port of Dar es Salaam, what do you think of East Africa’s strength?”

The Portuguese delegation from Mozambique was in discussions with the East African government over the division of the Kingdom of Malawi. Although East Africa essentially already occupied the northern part of the Kingdom of Malawi, the conference was intended to allow the Portuguese to invade the southern part of the Kingdom of Malawi.

However, to show that East Africa placed great importance on this matter, the city government of Dar es Salaam actively engaged in an unnecessary tug-of-war with the Portuguese delegation.

During breaks in the meeting, the Portuguese conducted official evaluations of East Africa’s strength, but the East African government denied their request for freedom of movement, only allowing them to move within the port area.

”In terms of urban construction, Dar es Salaam can already be compared with Maputo, but that doesn’t mean much value. After all, no matter how many buildings there are, it can’t increase power. However, the Germans’ construction of coastal defense works is quite good, such large-caliber coastal defense cannons that even Mozambique doesn’t have.”

”Mr. Platini, that’s for sure. Just think about the pitiful navies of Prussia and Austria, and you’ll understand why the Germans pay attention to coastal defense cannons, hahaha!” Everton laughed heartily.

Platini was amused by Everton’s words and said, ”Mr. Everton, you’re right, without a powerful navy, if the Germans didn’t have some coastal defense cannons, they’d be doomed.”

Actually, the strength of the Portuguese navy might not match the navies of Prussia and Austria, but since both Prussia and Austria are land power countries, their army’s power is too overwhelming. At the same time, their navy is restricted by terrain, becoming merely coastal fleets, easily creating the illusion of weak naval power for both countries.

While Portugal has many ships, most of them are old vessels, and East Africa’s navy could probably even single out them.

The great earthquake and tsunami of 1755 interrupted Portugal’s fortunes, and since then, Portugal’s national power has been steadily declining.

Although there are many ships, as it’s the livelihood of many Portuguese, the Portuguese Kingdom is unable to support new shipbuilding plans, and the current state of the Portuguese navy is extremely bleak.

Historically, it wasn’t until 1876 that the first ironclad ship Vasco da Gama was launched. Even this outdated ship, inferior to the Dingyuan, participated in Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, illustrating Portugal’s decline.

However, this doesn’t stop the Portuguese from ridiculing East Africa’s naval power. Apart from those major nations, small nations have very flexible naval forces. East Africa’s navy’s two ships, which were inherited from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were not that different from Heixinggen Trust’s merchant vessels for overseas trade, just equipped with a few more cannons, and in terms of power and size, Heixinggen Trust’s merchant ships were mostly newly built and more advanced.

Similarly, the merchant ships of the Kingdom of Portugal could serve as warships, which is where the Portuguese confidence lies. Occasionally acting as pirates, they could even substitute for the Portuguese navy, with military and civil functions combined, maintaining the dignity of this old colonial kingdom.