African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 525: Chapter 203: Providing a Stage for the Russians

About sixty kilometers north of Kabul City lies a small village.

Here gathers a group of Afghan resistance organizations. Before the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Russians were allies of Afghanistan. Afghanistan and Tsarist Russia formed an alliance last July, and by November of the same year, the British invaded Afghanistan.

Obviously, Russia had no deterrent power against Britain, or rather, Britain attached great importance to Afghanistan, determined to prevent Russia from reaching the Indian Ocean, willing to nip even the slightest possibility in the bud.

This is similar to the America of the previous era; everyone knows the breakout points of Russia—one is the Middle East and Black Sea, another is the Indian Ocean.

If Russia could truly open an outlet to the Indian Ocean, its geopolitical influence would be invincible. Although Russia’s large land area already gives it an unbeatable position, without the oceans, Russia can never achieve the coveted status of world overlord.

Since the Age of Exploration, the ocean almost equates to trade, and controlling the oceans naturally means becoming the world overlord. This status was unattainable for Europe’s former gendarme, Russia, and the former continental overlord, France. Thus, even continental dominance cannot compare to the allure of Britain’s maritime supremacy. The maritime overlord equals the world overlord, something Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands deeply understand. Of course, France held the title for a few years, but never with the overwhelming dominance like those maritime rulers.

Of course, the sea power versus land power debate indicates that land power still holds competitiveness, but Ernst does not believe land power can surpass sea power, unless a centralized empire controlling the Eurasian continent appears, and there’s that slim hope.

Whether such an empire can appear is uncertain, but even if it appears, its influence would only be limited to three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—since land is segmented by the seas.

As a maritime overlord, Britain can intervene in global affairs through the oceans; wherever its warships sail, that becomes British territory.

Thus, Britain’s antagonism towards Russia is understandable. If Ernst were British, he would also want to confine Russia inland, and as long as Ernst is not Russian, he would surely support confining Russia inland.

Russia’s land is like monopolizing a continent, comparable only to America, East Africa, and the Far East Empire. If not for Russia’s harsh environment, only Britain with vast colonies could firmly suppress Russia.

This time, watching its ally being annexed by Britain leaves Russia displeased, but the longer-than-historical Russo-Turkish War forces it to do little more than glare at the British.

As a result, even simple support for Afghanistan is beyond reach; Russia can only symbolically send a few military instructors and limited arms to support Afghan anti-British forces.

Mainly due to the heavy toll of the Russo-Turkish War, weapon supplies are prioritized for that battlefield. Russia’s industrial and logistical capabilities struggle just to cope with the Russo-Turkish War.

East African-supplied weapons greatly alleviate the Afghan resistance’s urgent needs. Though the weapons are somewhat outdated, they satisfy a country like Afghanistan with zero industrial base.

Today, Ilya, the Russian military instructor in Afghanistan, is surprised to find a batch of weapons acquired by the Afghans.

He approaches Afghan resistance leader Murat to inquire: ”Where did you get this batch of weapons?”

Murat doesn’t mind this Russian who supports Afghanistan against the British; he tells Ilya, ”Reportedly, they were delivered by international friends from Persia, although they prefer not to disclose their identity.”

Persia? Ilya doubts the Persian people have the courage to support Afghanistan, given how formidable the British are. They wouldn’t risk bringing trouble upon themselves.

”Persia is unlikely, as their fear of Britain is overwhelming. It’s improbable they’d have the guts. Do you know who sent these weapons?”

”Mr. Ilya, indeed, an Arab merchant sponsored us. He claimed the weapons likely came from you Russians.”

This surprises Ilya: ”Impossible! If they were from us, how could I not know? And if it were domestic support, the authorities would meet me, not rely on a third party, right?”

Murat scratches his head and says, ”I’m unclear on the specifics, but the Arab merchant mentioned the leader of this delivery was Russian, reportedly from Saint Petersburg.”

Feeling something amiss, Ilya seriously asks, ”Could someone be impersonating?”

Murat replies, ”Unlikely. That merchant frequently deals with your people, so if someone were impersonating Russians, he’d notice.”

”Is that so? Am I being paranoid?” Ilya feels puzzled.

Then Murat says, ”Mr. Ilya, there’s no need to get caught up in this. The force providing us weapons is certainly a friend of the Afghans, at least Britain’s enemy, which suits us fine given our weapon scarcity.”

Hearing Murat’s words, Ilya realizes he’s overthinking. His task is to destabilize Britain, and these weapons can enhance the resistance’s combat strength. The headache should be Britain’s.

”Mr. Murat, you’re right. It certainly wouldn’t be the British graciously supplying us with equipment.”

Speaking of Britain, Ilya suddenly notices this batch includes many British weapons.

”This is Enfield? There’s also France’s Martini, Germany’s Dreiser, and various models of flintlock guns.”

This discovery greatly intrigues Ilya as he examines the pile, finding a mix of international weapons but primarily German, British, and French ones, with very few Russian ones.

Ilya analyzes two possibilities: first, Arab nations might really have provided them, given the eclectic sources suggesting piecemeal second-hand European weapons. Second, perhaps this is Russian-supplied, and the low Russian gun presence is suspicious. Perhaps an internal faction supports Afghanistan clandestinely, not wanting to be identified.

The second guess isn’t impossible, yet Ilya leans toward the first; domestic support for Afghanistan wouldn’t need such secrecy.

In fact, these are East African Black Corps weapons retired from the East-Portuguese War, supplemented by seized Portuguese equipment from Britain and France.

East African intelligence even cunningly mixed in weapons from various nations, ensuring broad involvement.

”This batch seems not new. Can they handle the British? What about high malfunction risk?”

Ilya stops worrying about the weapons’ origin, instead scrutinizing their quality.

Yet Mutilla is content and says, ”That doesn’t matter to us. With these weapons and our brave warriors, we can deliver a heavy blow to the British.”