Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 444: Division of African Colonies

After reading the secret report on the regional inspection, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was quite satisfied with the current development of the Black Flag Army. The Black Flag Army had a population of about 140 million in its eight-province territory, which was a lot for a local warlord.

Today, Vietnam is divided into three parts. The Vietnamese royal court with Hanoi as its core occupies 17 provinces in the north. It is the traditional ruling power and is crumbling under the maintenance of the court garrison.

The Black Flag Army, centered on coastal defense, occupies eight northern provinces. The base's business is developing rapidly and the future is bright.

In the central and southern parts of the country, the French Saigon Governor-General controlled about 37 provinces, as well as large territories of Cambodia and the Kingdom of Laos, making it one of the largest powers in Indochina.

Vietnam's provinces are very small, almost equivalent to the county level of Chu, and their territories are much smaller. Many of them are only equivalent to the towns and villages of Chu, and the territory appears to be very fragmented.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was quite satisfied with this situation. He used the Black Flag Army as a barrier to block France's attempt to invade to the north.

The poor northern China has already suffered so many disasters, it would be good if it could suffer less.

In these few years, small countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal have all come to the northern China and forced the court to sign some concession agreements to cede sovereignty. King Zheng Guohui of Chu has become numb to this.

Anyone can bully me, I have given up resisting.

This is just a thing lying limply on the ground. No matter how much you stimulate it, it won't stand up. What else can you do?

The Empress Dowager of the Western Palace even said shamelessly, "I would rather give it to friendly foreign countries than to domestic slaves," and "measure the material resources of China and win the favor of other countries." The fact that she could say such words clearly shows the thoughts of the Manchu clan.

It would be better if such a court fell early.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu is the ruler of the State of Chu. What he cares more about now is the interests and development of the State of Chu. The Northern Divine Land naturally has its own historical trajectory of evolution.

How can one transform and be reborn without experiencing the nirvana of desire?

In 1883, the major international event was the upcoming Berlin Conference to discuss the division of Africa.

in Europe

The current Kingdom of Belgium signed an agreement with the United Kingdom, in which the United Kingdom recognized Belgium's colonial rights in the Mozambique region, which was tantamount to betraying Portugal.

Mozambique has an area of ​​about 80 square kilometers, which is much smaller than the 230 million square kilometers of the Congo River Basin and is only about one-third of the latter.

After the Congo River Basin fell into the hands of the Chu State, the unwilling Belgian King Leopold II found his cousin Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, said that he had set his sights on Mozambique, and asked for help from Britain.

Mozambique is the second largest forest green land in Africa, second only to Congo and its basin. It has a complex water network, a mild climate, and is rich in gold and ivory. It is a traditional Portuguese colony.

To this end, Britain did not hesitate to offend Portugal and signed a bilateral agreement with Belgium to recognize its Mozambique territory, formally establishing Belgium's colonial status.

This move was strongly opposed by Portugal, and the opposition was ineffective.

The Portuguese royal family's premonition came true. If they had not given up the Congo River basin at that time, it would probably have been forcibly occupied by the Chu State and they would have gained nothing.

There are also differences in closeness among European royal families. Compared with the Belgian royal family, which has close marriage relations, the Portuguese royal family, which speaks Portuguese, is much more distant. Moreover, one of the two believes in Protestantism and the other in Catholicism, and they are completely incompatible.

Historically, the Portuguese royal family was closer to the French royal family. Now that France is in the Third Republic, and the French aristocracy has been wiped out, there is no need to mention these historical origins.

Looking around Europe, not a single royal family spoke for the Portuguese royal family. This is quite a sad ending.

It was precisely because of the dispute between Belgium and Portugal over the division of African colonies that this diplomatic conflict received attention in Europe, and the Berlin Conference was to be held in the second half of next year.

The international conference was planned to be chaired by German Chancellor Bismarck and held in the German capital of Berlin to divide Africa among the great powers.

Currently in the consultation stage, the participating countries have been roughly determined, and 16 countries have expressed their willingness to attend and participate in the Berlin Conference process.

They were the host German Empire, the British Empire, the French Third Republic, the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the State of Chu, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

The meeting will discuss the ownership of Mozambique, the purchase of the Congo River Basin by the Chu State, the demarcation of British and French colonies in Africa, the demarcation and international recognition of the African colonies held by various powers, etc. This is a feast for the division of African colonies.

At the current stage

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had no intention of seeking a larger colony in Africa. He felt that it would be a very difficult task to completely digest Chu's East Africa and Chu's West Africa (Note: the Congo River Basin).

There is actually no need to be greedy for big and more.

French West Africa was the largest single colony, mainly based in Algeria, with unlimited expansion to surrounding areas, reaching as far south as the Congo River territory of Chu West Africa.

At the Berlin Conference
Clarifying the dividing line with France in Africa is an important diplomatic task.

The Chu State's position was to divide the Cameroon region into two parts, with the southern part belonging to Chu's West Africa and the northern part belonging to the French West African colonies. The dividing line was north of the Grand Bay City (Note: Douala in Cameroon).

Basically, the Chu State occupied four-fifths of Cameroon, and France occupied one-fifth of the northern part of Cameroon, which was directly divided by a geographical dividing line, presenting a clear geographical boundary like a knife cut.

The advantage of this is that there is no dispute, and everything is based on geographical longitude and latitude lines and border demarcation agreements.

In the southern part of Chu's West African colony (note: the Congo River Basin), there was a boundary between Chu and the Portuguese colony of Angola. This had been made clear in the previous boundary treaty, and Chu did not seek more.

If you never take advantage of others, everyone will hate you.

The existing territory of the East African Company mainly consists of 9.6 square kilometers in the Eritrea region along the northern coast of the Red Sea and 3 square kilometers in the Djibouti region. It is almost a long strip of narrow coastal oasis area along the Red Sea for more than 1400 kilometers.

Its northeastern end is in Djibouti, belonging to the small section where the Arabian Sea enters the Bab el-Mandeb Strait of the Red Sea, and is also the westernmost part of the west coast of the Indian Ocean.

It happens to be located in the east and west of the Indian Ocean, respectively, with Aceh, the home port of the Chu State's Indian Ocean Fleet, and the two echo each other from a distance.

As for the vast desert area of ​​East Africa, namely the Somali region, the Chu State did not have any idea of ​​colonizing it.

This vast desert in the Horn of East Africa is barren and uninhabited, covering an area of ​​more than 63 square kilometers. Although the land is large or small, there are no oases and it is extremely desolate.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had no interest in this place at all. It was also a natural geographical barrier that separated East Africa and the Ethiopian Plateau from the Chu-owned East African territory.

Overall
Chu's diplomatic demands at the Berlin Conference should have been implemented. The difficulty itself wasn't high, primarily resolving geographical demarcations, which wasn't a problem. However, Germany, the conference's chair, strongly demanded the possession of two large colonies in Africa: one south of Portuguese Angola, primarily in Namibia, to be called German South-West Africa.

The German Southwest Africa colony is right next to South Africa. Continuing south from here is South Africa, which the British called the Rhodesia Colony.

The other area is called German East Africa, which is the Tanzania region. It is located south of Mozambique, which is now the disputed area between Belgium and Portugal, and belongs to Central Africa.

Both of these territories are ownerless and are vast contiguous areas, covering an area of ​​more than one million square kilometers, which is extremely vast.

But these areas are not good places either. They are typical arid desert terrains. There are oases, but not many. They are not suitable for large-scale population reproduction. The land carrying capacity is limited and the climate environment is relatively harsh.

There are not many good places in Africa itself, and North Africa is basically divided up between the two powers, Britain and France.

French North Africa was a huge territory, and the rest was British Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, separated only by German East Africa and the fiercely contested Mozambique. The rest was British Rhodesia, also known as British South Africa.

The State of Chu occupied a good location, the Congo River Basin, known as the green lung of Africa, where water resources are the most abundant and there are large areas of lush tropical rainforest.

Continuing to occupy African colonies would easily arouse the jealousy of European powers, and would inevitably lead to further covert actions.

We have to guard against all of these, and it is enough to be able to protect our current interests.

According to the plan of King Zheng Guohui of Chu, he planned to go to Europe in person to participate in the grand international conference, the Berlin Conference, and at the same time show his face in front of European countries and make friends with the royal families of European countries.

A single yin cannot last long, and the same goes for a country.

By making more friends on the international stage and having strong strength as a foundation, other countries will be willing to go along with it and sell you a good deal.

Staying in the Nanyang region all the time is not in line with the increasingly expansionist interests of the Chu State and gives the European royal family the impression of being aloof, which is not a good thing.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu already has 21 princes and 14 princesses, big and small. He can marry some of them to European royal families. This is a diplomatic matter that can be arranged.

The Crown Prince of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shang Ming, has come to propose marriage and plans to marry the second princess. King Zheng Guohui of Chu has agreed. This is a good thing!
However, the second princess is only 14 years old and needs two years to get married. Shang Ming, who is already 19 years old, can only wait for another two years before they can get married.

King Chulalongkorn of Siam, Rama V, asked for the eldest princess of Chu to marry his third prince, but he did not get the approval of King Zheng Guohui of Chu for the time being.

the reason is simple

The Siamese royal family did not confirm the status of the third prince as the crown prince. How could the eldest princess of Chu marry a prince who did not have a clear status as the crown prince?

This can only mean that King Chulalongkorn lacks foresight. He wants to be on good terms with the State of Chu and strengthen the royal marriage between the two countries, but he does not want to clarify the status of the crown prince. How can such a good thing happen?
King Rama V of Siam ascended the throne in 1868 and now has 33 children, second only to King Taksin of Chu. There will certainly be more royal children in the future.

As the royal family grew in number, the princes of the Kingdom of Siam became worthless.

In addition, the Kingdom of Siam was in a weak position, sandwiched between the two superpowers, Britain and France, which would cut into its territory from time to time, occupying a piece of land every 10 or 8 years, causing its royal territory to shrink significantly.

under these circumstances
Making friends and strong allies is very beneficial to the rule of the Kingdom of Siam. The status of a crown prince can further strengthen the effect of the marriage between the two countries, which is beneficial to the country and the people.

If he cannot see these things, he will be nothing more than a foolish king.

The children of the Chu royal family had no trouble finding a husband. The indigenous kingdoms of Johor, Perak, Banten, Yogyakarta, Kedah, Selangor, Sulu and other western Malaya came to ask for the princess' hand in marriage, seeking peace of mind.

The Sultanate of Aceh was once the dominant power in the Malacca region, but was devoured by the Chu army and not even a bone was left. The foundation of the country was completely uprooted. This is a lesson for us.

If they could form an alliance with the tyrannical Chu State and ask the Chu State to show mercy and spare them, their own kingdom would be protected by Britain, and with this marriage, wouldn't it be secure?
It was based on this consideration that the countries of West Malaysia came to Chu to propose marriage, and even the King of Perak was willing to immediately depose the queen and marry the princess of Chu as his principal queen.

This shows that the regional influence of Chu was extremely powerful.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu's plan to visit Europe next year has attracted great attention from the entire government, and planning for related matters has begun early.

The first issue is the fleet's mid-journey supply. The fleet led by His Majesty will stop at the port of Aceh for supply. After entering the Indian Ocean, it must resupply fuel, vegetables, food and water in Sri Lanka or the port of Cochin in the southernmost part of the British Indian peninsula.

Only in this way can they cross the Indian Ocean and reach Dinghai Port or Djibouti, which belong to the East African Company.

This is also the last midway supply on the journey to Europe, and the same is true for the return journey.

The king's fleet replenished supplies at British ports along the way, which made the rulers and ministers of Chu feel uneasy. They also discovered the shortcomings in the process of colonial expansion and the inability to achieve the perfect effect of global deployment.

If the Chu fleet visits the United States, it will be resupplied at the ports of Chu throughout the journey, which greatly improves safety and convenience and is also a symbol of national strength.

However, it was a pity that when passing through the Indian Ocean to the west, the ship had to stop in British colonies for supplies.

Therefore

The Chu Royal Navy General Staff Headquarters is actively seeking countermeasures to see if it is possible to temporarily conquer an Indian Ocean island in the Indian Ocean region and use it as a place for the king's fleet to stay along the way.

After some searching, I was disappointed to find that there were really no suitable islands to conquer.

Even Indian Ocean islands such as the Seychelles and the Maldives are under British protection and cannot be encroached upon by other countries.

The other islands were either too remote or too far away from the Eurasian shipping routes to be of any use. Their value plummeted and the Chu State did not value them.

Today, the most feasible supply option is still the Port of Cochin at the southernmost tip of the British Indian Peninsula. It is a world-class open port and a must-pass place on the Eurasian route.

Almost all cargo ships on the Europe-Asia route will resupply at the Port of Cochin. The next resupply port is either Djibouti, Dinghai Port, Suez City, or Port Said, which means there are many options to choose from.

In the central Indian Ocean, only Cochin Port and Sri Lanka can provide supplies. Goa, a Portuguese territory, is also an option, but that would deviate from the route.

Some people say not to resupply, is that possible?
That's not impossible, but the fleet will suffer.

First of all, the fleet must carry as much coal as possible, and even bring a few more coal support ships. It must also carry as much food, vegetables and water as possible, and distribute them as little as possible to avoid running out of supplies before crossing the vast Indian Ocean.

Even the soldiers' warehouses and beds were filled with supplies. One can imagine how cramped and uncomfortable the living conditions were.

(End of this chapter)