African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1463: Chapter 24: Underground Organizations

With the signing of the East Africa–Persia Friendship and Mutual Assistance Treaty, East Africa’s Third Fleet moved into the Persian region, preparing to build military bases on the northwestern coast of Persia.

In this way, East Africa’s military presence in the Persian Gulf Region was further strengthened; within the Gulf itself, at its outlets and in the surrounding waters, East Africa achieved a staggered competition with the United Kingdom.

The fulcrums of the United Kingdom’s military presence in the Persian Gulf are Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, southern Persia, and several key islands; if external support factors are not taken into account, East Africa has effectively split the Persian Gulf into two spheres of influence with the United Kingdom.

In reality, however, the competition between East Africa and other countries in the Persian Gulf certainly has to factor in other influences. The British mainland is far from the Persian Gulf; although it has India as a logistical support base, it is clearly no match for East Africa’s homeland, with its powerful industrial foundation.

According to the information East Africa currently possesses, the United Kingdom is now concentrating its main efforts on Egypt, British Somaliland, Yemen, and other areas along the Red Sea coast.

The outcome of World War I has already proven that, in its global strategic deployments, the United Kingdom cannot turn a blind eye to East Africa, this newly risen Great Power.

But at this point, the United Kingdom is no longer capable of suppressing East Africa’s rise in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic, so its strategy toward East Africa has shifted to one primarily of defense.

The focal point of the United Kingdom’s defensive strategy is to prevent, as much as possible, East Africa’s penetration into Europe; thus Egypt and the Suez Canal have become the absolute priority of this strategy.

As for the Indian Ocean direction, the United Kingdom has completely shifted to the defensive. Its current attitude toward the Indian Ocean is to preserve, as far as possible, the security of India, the Mand Strait, the Malacca Strait, and other strategic strongpoints.

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While East Africa was laying out its plans in Persia, the contest between the European powers and Russia formally began. From January to April 1921 alone, with the help of various countries, Ukraine and Poland rearmed hundreds of thousands of troops.

At the same time, the war materiel and stockpiles accumulated by the two major blocs during World War I were being shipped in large quantities to Eastern Europe, and in response, the Russian Labor Party mobilized and organized more than three hundred thousand troops to the Russian border, constantly on guard against an imperialist counteroffensive and reversal.

However, deploying troops at the border was not the Russian Labor Party’s main plan. Behind Russia’s frequent military movements, the Russian Labor Party was organizing large numbers of elite soldiers to infiltrate the Ukraine Region.

City of Xiqueslav.

This city is located in the eastern part of what is now the People’s Republic of Ukraine, and in the era of Tsarist Russia it was known as Yekaterinoslav.

In the previous lifetime, this city had two additional names: in 1926, the Soviet Union renamed Yekaterinoslav to Dnepropetrovsk, and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian government renamed it Dnieper in 2016.

The name Xiqueslav was decided by the puppet government propped up by Germany and Austria—that is, the present People’s Republic of Ukraine. According to the official explanation, it is meant to restore the Cossack history of the region, corresponding to the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

Of course, the Russian Labor Party has its own terminology and still refers to the city as Yekaterinoslav.

From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, Xiqueslav—or Yekaterinoslav, as it was then called—was undoubtedly a large city.

In 1884, when the first bridge across the Dnieper River was completed, Xiqueslav embarked on a period of rapid development; afterward the city’s first railway station was built, linking it to the coal mines of Donbass and the iron ore mines of Krivbas.

Tsarist Russia deployed a large metallurgical industry in the area, and as the economy developed, Yekaterinoslav—today’s Xiqueslav—saw the emergence of many public, educational, and cultural institutions.

Thus Xiqueslav became one of Ukraine’s key regional centers. At the beginning of the twentieth century, its population had already surpassed two hundred thousand; by 1910 it had exceeded two hundred and fifty thousand, and with another ten years now past, Xiqueslav’s population could only be larger.

”Comrade Malinkov, welcome to Yekaterinoslav!”

As soon as they met, Toma Jefuka could not help stepping forward to embrace Malinkov, speaking in excitement.

”You don’t know how badly our organization has been wrecked by the puppet military government. What we lack most now are experienced old comrades like you, to help us restart the workers’ movement in Yekaterinoslav.”

Facing the excited Toma Jefuka, Malinkov said, ”Comrade Toma Jefuka, I understand how you feel. The organization will not forget your contributions. But our great motherland has reached a moment of crisis, so there’ll be plenty of chances to reminisce later. Let’s first coordinate our work.”

Forcing himself to suppress his emotions, Toma Jefuka released Malinkov and said, ”I got too carried away. I’ll brief you now on the specific situation in Yekaterinoslav.”

Then, as he led Malinkov and his group toward his residence, Toma Jefuka said, ”Ever since 1918, after the organization withdrew from Yekaterinoslav under the terms of the agreement, our activities have gone underground.”

”In these past few years, because of German and Austrian interference, the puppet military government has carried out repeated raids and destruction against underground organizations throughout Ukraine.”

”Our five strongholds in Yekaterinoslav have been persecuted by the puppet troops as well, and more than twenty outstanding comrades have been killed, dying at the hands of the puppets’ executioners.”