African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 560: Chapter 238 Landing

Southern Ryukyu Islands.

The first batch of ships set sail from the Zhuhai Trade Region, arriving at the Southern Ryukyu Islands in just a few days. After all, the Zhuhai Trade Region is relatively small, and the support from the Huaihai Economic Zone is the main force.

Even so, East Africa dispatched five of its own armed merchant ships from the Zhuhai Trade Region to the Southern Ryukyu Islands, along with more than 300 armed personnel, preparing to be stationed permanently in the Southern Ryukyu Islands.

The Southern Ryukyu Islands are not actually far from the Zhuhai Trade Region, because they are just east of Egg Bay Island.

Therefore, East Africa prepared large amounts of supplies and ammunition. If they were to engage in colonization, they would do it thoroughly by first arranging for the troops to be stationed there.

The total population of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is only about ten thousand, so 300 East African soldiers are enough to handle most threats. In the Far East Empire, these armed personnel were security staff of the Heixinggen Consortium. Once outside the Far East Empire’s main land, they resumed their true identities. East Africa will continue to increase its troops, with Ernst planning to initially deploy at least 3,000 soldiers, focusing on defense in Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island.

”This place is already the best residence on the island and has been requisitioned by us. However, it is completely inadequate for us, so we need to quickly build some shacks for temporary use. Besides the islanders on the island, there are some pirates and Japanese worth noting.”

The 19th-century pirates were indeed as numerous as cattle, especially in the Nanyang and Caribbean Sea regions. There are also pirates in the waters near East Africa, but not many, because there aren’t many islands around East Africa, most of which are still controlled by East Africa. Before East Africa was established, the pirates in East African waters were mostly Portuguese and Arabs (including Swahili people). As for pure Black forces capable of building relatively large ships, it’s the original Somali, which has now been incorporated into East Africa.

In recent years, the East African navy has grown stronger, further reducing the pirate living space, forcing them to use Madagascar and Mozambique as bases, significantly improving security on East Africa’s eastern maritime routes.

However, the number of pirates in the Red Sea region has surged, primarily because, after the opening of the Suez Canal, most ships opted to travel through it.

”Don’t worry about the Japanese for now. Once we’re established on Miyako Island, we’ll drive them away. As for the pirates, once the troops are settled, we’ll immediately begin clearing them out. But considering some islands have islanders, we’ll issue a notice in a few days to persuade conscientious islanders to surrender.”

As East Africa landed on Miyako Island, Japanese intelligence personnel on the island also discovered this fleet, as did personnel from the Far East Empire in the Southern Ryukyu Islands. The personnel sent by the Far East Empire to the Southern Ryukyu Islands are mainly military instructors, organizing the locals to resist Japanese invasion. As a formerly loyal subordinate state, the Ryukyu Islands naturally also have die-hard supporters of the Far East Empire.

Miyamoto Island, a Japanese-style residence.

”Mr. Kohara Masaki, I know the origin of the people across the channel. They are not from the Far East Empire but are Germans.”

”Southern Nigeria, are you sure?”

”I’m sure I didn’t see it wrong. Their flags feature a Western lion, though I don’t know exactly which country it is. But the ships bear the flag of the German Far East Chamber of Commerce. All five ships have it.”

”Germans, it could be Germany, Austria-Hungary, or that East African Kingdom - but what are they doing here on the Senkaku Islands (Southern Ryukyu Islands)?”

As mentioned before, the Southern Ryukyu Islands only hold significant strategic value for the Far East Empire and Japan. As for economic benefits, that’s out of the question; there’s not much land, just enough to grow some rice and other tropical fruits and vegetables.

The main Eastern and Western trade routes pass through the Egg Bay Island strait, and generally, nobody would trade in the Southern Ryukyu Islands. The entire population of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is less than 20,000, barely reaching 100,000 even in the previous life, highlighting how remote this place is.

With neither large areas of land for cultivation nor developed trade, the population of the Southern Ryukyu Islands does not grow much.

And the Southern Ryukyu Islands are adjacent to Egg Bay Island, making it a staging post for Japan’s occupation of Egg Bay Island in the previous life and an important chain in blockading the Far East Empire.

As for East Africa’s occupation of the Southern Ryukyu Islands, it was purely to connect to Alaska, besides providing convenience for East African ships in the Far East.

This also indirectly stopped Japan’s plans for Egg Bay Island, but now East Africa is not something Japan can provoke. Even if they are not happy, they can only hold it in.

Moreover, East Africa is not the United States. There are no barriers between Japan and the United States, while between East Africa and Japan lies Malacca, so Japan poses no significant threat to East Africa’s mainland. Of course, if Japan really does enter the Nanyang region as in the previous life, then that’s another story. The overseas province of Lan Fang seems similar to Hawaii.

”Ninomiya, we must quickly send this news back to the homeland. These Germans certainly don’t have good intentions here.”

”Right. But Mr. Kohara Masaki, after all, they’re Germans. If they indeed have intentions for the Senkaku Islands, then what about our great Japanese Empire?”

”It’s not something you or I can decide, but it certainly introduces a variable. I just hope the Germans plan to stay here temporarily.”

Ninomiya shook his head and said, ”I doubt it. They’ve brought about two to three thousand people, all fully armed, are unloading goods from their ships, and have already met with local Ryukyu officials. According to our informants, those Germans seem to have obtained permission from the Far East Empire, so they plan to develop here.”

”Develop?”

”They probably mean economically, but I don’t quite buy it. The Senkaku Islands don’t have any resources. Even if they colonize, it’s not very profitable here.”

”Then it might be due to strategic needs!” Kohara Masaki stated.

”Strategic?”

”German colonies are few, and excellent colonies have long been taken by other countries. The Germans can only pick what the British and French left over, and the Senkaku Islands may be among them.”

”Are German colonies still few? That East African Kingdom supposedly occupies half of Africa, even coveted by the British and Portuguese.”

”Heh, Mr. Ninomiya, East Africa isn’t considered a colony; it’s a country like America was at its independence. If East Africa really was a colony of Germany or Austria-Hungary, the world would gain another superpower on par with Britain and France. But it’s exactly because of this that East Africa escaped trouble; no country wants to see Germany or Austria-Hungary with such a large overseas colony.”

”Hmm, the Germans are really lucky. Africa isn’t small, so why didn’t the British and French fancy it back then?”

”Isn’t it because of malaria? Quinine made it possible to colonize Africa, and the older colonial powers like Britain and France didn’t seize this opportunity, allowing East Africa to take advantage.”

”Mr. Kohara Masaki, in my opinion, the Germans established a state in Africa with unique strategies. East Africa might have capitalized on Quinine, but over all these years, no other European country has progressed as rapidly in other African regions.”

East Africa indeed has its own secret knack, but it’s not something that can be easily replicated by others, and that is the fanatical migration. The German region and the Far East Empire were also areas of explosive population growth.

In East Africa, migration means delivering farmers, workers, and soldiers. With enough migrants came the present-day East Africa, which is currently enjoying the national benefits brought by a large population.