African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1237: Chapter 246: Closing the Net

Johnson and his party came eagerly but left disappointed, as the Seventh Infantry Regiment would not provide them with meals, and even if the East Africans dared to shelter them, Johnson did not dare to stay in Fashir City.

”Lord Fashir, are we just going to slink back to Khartoum?” An Egyptian officer asked inappropriately.

Johnson retorted, ”What do you mean by ’slinking back’? I simply made the most rational choice. Do you want to challenge East Africa? I don’t mind if you lead your troops to try, but you’ll have to bear the consequences yourself.”

With that said, the Egyptian officer naturally did not dare to say more. Although Egypt had little interaction with East Africa, they knew that East Africa was not to be trifled with.

Of course, from Egypt’s perspective, there were few Europeans that they could provoke, including small European countries like Portugal and Greece.

Johnson said, ”The East Africans have the geographical advantage, with Darfur bordering Eastern Africa. Even if we defeat this East African army, it won’t make a difference, so resolving the Darfur issue requires discussion with London, and negotiations at the top levels with the East Africans.”

Your own people know your own business, neither the British Army nor the auxiliary army in the Sultanate combined could withstand a slap from East Africa, and in this situation, even London might only be able to negotiate with the East African Government with face.

But thinking of the current situation in Europe gives Johnson a headache. At this time, the British Empire is not very useful overseas, unless they withdraw from the European war.

That’s clearly impossible; if they withdraw at this time, France and Russia might collapse directly, and the entire European continent would be under Germany’s control.

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Rhein City.

”Your Majesty, this is the document sent by the United Kingdom and France. The governments of England and France are demanding that the Empire respond to recent actions regarding North Africa and West Africa. Both countries have expressed dissatisfaction.”

”Are they together in this?”

”Not really. France’s reaction is not so strong. They are mainly asking for an explanation regarding the refugee issue in West Africa.”

”Isn’t that right! We’re sending population to West Africa; the French should be pleased since this can provide a significant amount of cheap labor for France’s Upper Volta. The French Government is likely just complaining without consequence, just explain things to them.”

In terms of shamelessness, East Africa, like many major powers, has no bottom line. Although East Africa traditionally transported Blacks to West Africa, doing so on such a large scale and expelling them to the territories of other colonizers is a first.

Though in the past, the large-scale westward migration of Great Lakes Region Blacks numbered over a million, the European colonizers had not deeply colonized West Africa then, so they did not feel the impact.

Now things are different, as European countries have established administrative institutions in West Africa’s inland areas, and the sudden influx of tens of thousands of Blacks will clearly disrupt the colonial system they have established.

Ordinarily, such circumstances aren’t blameless, and many of the colonizers went out of their way to transport more Black slaves to West Africa.

But times have changed; with European countries deeply embroiled in the European war, stabilizing their respective colonies has become the primary goal.

Ernst continued, ”In any case, within these two years, 800,000 Blacks need to be sent out entirely. Not just Togoland, but any place that can land, anywhere with conditions can be tried. After all, nobody is looking to bother us right now.”

Exiling 800,000 Black slaves all from Togoland is indeed a bit much, as suddenly gaining so many people is a major issue just for providing provisions.

Even if England and France resort to mass killings, they won’t succeed, as the total number of citizens near Togoland from both countries amounts to only around ten thousand.

And the Black slaves are not passive lambs, especially those enslaved in East Africa for so many years; their thirst for freedom is unmatched.

These liberated Black slaves are bound to roam across the entire West Africa region, disrupting the local situation—it’s not just the 800,000 Black slaves, but even releasing 100,000 pigs onto the plains would be difficult to round up.

Moreover, among these 800,000 Black slaves, although many are elderly, sick, or weak, there are also quite a few young and strong ones, with tens of thousands of physically fit young people.

These individuals not only have been confined in East Africa for long, and worked hard, but have also been repressed for a long time; frankly speaking, in East Africa, there are no female Black slaves.

More importantly, East Africa has long managed these Black slaves through militarization. Once a leader-type character emerges among them, it could cause unimaginable damage to West Africa’s social ecosystem.

”How is the British reaction regarding Darfur?” Ernst asked.

”The British reaction to Darfur is quite strong, which is the most significant point of British protest against us; the West African region is considered relatively minor.” the subordinate answered.

This is quite understandable; while 800,000 Black slaves are intimidating, they do not have the courage to confront the white colonizers, only daring to turn on their fellow compatriots.

Though East Africa has exiled them without providing weapons, they have the ability to make wooden stakes, or to rob small tribes, and eventually using this as a foundation, they could grow strong, fracturing West Africa’s native political ecology.

Though they have been working in East Africa for over a decade, let’s not overestimate their development abilities, similar to European colonizers forcing natives into single crop plantation economies; most Black slaves in East Africa only worked in the construction industry.

These 800,000 exiled Black slaves clearly have a more immediate need than engaging in civil engineering, road construction, and canal digging, which is addressing the issue of sustenance first.

The problem in West Africa is the low grain output; despite flourishing plantations under colonizer whips, real grain crops only ensure local people’s basic survival.

If East Africa were to sell these Black slaves to the United States, Brazil, the Ottoman regions like before, it would be different; they could quickly find work thanks to these regions’ industrial structures.

But in West Africa, these Blacks obviously find no arena for their abilities, and after decades of exploitation, they have lost hunting and other basic survival skills, leaving them with the only option to rob from native West Africans.

Thus, the exiled Blacks from East Africa primarily affect the West African Blacks, allowing West African whites to continue enjoying the good life—so the refugees and social conflict in West Africa are not major issues for the colonizers controlling the ”truth.”

The situation in Darfur is entirely different; Darfur is an actual British colony—even if only in name—and East Africa’s actions are extremely risky.

This is equivalent to East Africa invading British territory, so the British will not easily relent on this issue.

Of course, the East African Government naturally has taken these concerns into consideration, Ernst said, ”Let’s use our previous plan to explain to the British, saying that Darfur has become our new subsidiary state, and we’re unaware of the prior relationship between Darfur and the British Sultanate administration.”

The relationship between Britain and Darfur naturally does not need to be informed to East Africa, so using this as an excuse is passably plausible.

”All in all, concerning the Darfur issue, we should play deaf and dumb; the British cannot hold on to this matter indefinitely. Once Germany applies some pressure on them, they will inevitably relent.”

”Naturally, we can also assure the British Government that East Africa will not take any action in other Sultanate regions, respecting Britain’s sovereignty over other Sultanate areas.”

Ernst’s words are quite prudent, only promising not to have ambitions in other Sultanate areas—the matters beyond Sultanate depend on East Africa’s future strategic choices.

Mainly, East Africa undervalues the current value of the Sultanate, only finding some agricultural worth along the Nile River, but East Africa is not lacking such land. Frankly, Jezira City’s agricultural state, through East Africa’s renovation over the years, is far better than the political center of the Sultanate, Khartoum.

Note that Khartoum has far more usable land than Jezira City, occupying the most fertile territory of the Jezira Plain and has the Blue Nile as a water resource.

In contrast, East Africa’s Jezira City only occupies the southwest corner of the Jezira Plain, with the sole White Nile as its water source; yet, its agriculture surpasses Khartoum, relying on East Africa’s decades of comprehensive irrigation infrastructure along the White Nile’s banks.