Chapter 424 Empire Territory

  It is in this historical context

  It is an inevitable choice for Britain to make greater compromises on the African issue, so as to prevent the European kingdoms from forming an anti-British-French alliance with the United States and harm the vital European interests.

  Lord Gulliver, Minister of the Colony Department, sensitively perceives a loophole, that is, as an overseas colony, Queensland has proven itself by winning the East Indies War and already possesses a certain ability to expand.

   Therefore, he envisioned that by secretly supporting Queensland’s expansion and endorsed by the United Kingdom, he could also achieve the strategic vision of occupying more territory and gaining more benefits in Africa.

  This can be used as a supplement to the 2c plan. Anyway, I am lucky and lost, and I don’t need anything from the British Empire. This is probably what Qi means.

  "……

Therefore, after communication and discussion with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we agreed to support Queensland’s occupation of Somalia. Related interests will be guaranteed at the Berlin Conference. This is also a manifestation of the “first come, first served” principle of this conference. After all, there hasn’t been any before. The country claims its interests in Somalia.

  As for the Guinea region, no one cares about the corners of the chicken feet. This is not a problem.

   in return

  We hope that Queensland can make substantial moves in Madagascar, including but not limited to establishing frontier settlements, and gradually expanding its presence in the region. It would be great if the island can be fully occupied.

  The colony of Mauritius needs cheap labor from the Kingdom of Madagascar, which is vital to our development of the region. At the same time, the presence of Madagascar will greatly curb the spread of French power on Reunion Island. This is what we would like to see.

  I know that Your Excellency Piaget is very interested in Africa, and I hope to have a frank discussion on this issue. What do you think? "

  Lord Gulliver said straightforwardly. This does not need to be concealed, it is something that everyone knows well.

  Li Fushou did not answer immediately. He was silent for a while, and asked after careful consideration; “As far as I know, the French are fighting a war of conquest in Madagascar.”

"Yes, but there is nothing to worry about. The arrogant Gallic rooster has been defeated in the past two years. After the defeat in the French War, he slammed into the stronghold of the Kingdom of Madagascar. More than 900 people had to withdraw in a desperate manner. They temporarily hid in Fort Ivan and licked their wounds. It is estimated that the conquest war this time will be fruitless again, ha ha ha..."

  Lord Gulliver did not have the intimacy when meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Jean-José. Instead, he laughed and gloated and fully demonstrated the plastic brotherhood between Britain and France.

   "With the powerful strength of the French army, it is not yet successful. It seems that the fighting power of the Kingdom of Madagascar is not weak!" Li Fushou said solemnly.

   "It's okay. The firearms of the Kingdom of Madagascar are all front-loaded rifles eliminated from the British arsenal. The youngest is more than 40 years old. It is estimated that almost half of the firearms were scrapped and the remaining black powder was insufficient."

This question was answered by Sir Blair. After years of infiltration, the British knew well about Madagascar’s arsenal; “The black powder on the island is provided by us, and the supply will not exceed 100 barrels each time. For the next batch, it is estimated that there will be only 20 or 30 barrels left, and it will only be enough to fight a small-scale war."

  The British and the French are the same. When dealing with them, the local indigenous people will not suffer.

  Well, Li Fushou is not a messenger of justice, let alone trying to hide in his heart. What he needs now is stronger support.

   "Lord Lord, with the strength of Queensland today, the strategy of Madagascar cannot be achieved overnight. We need to develop a practical implementation plan to gradually expand our power within 2 to 3 years, step by step, and fight steadily."

   "Watt... this time is too long, and we hope to see results within a year."

"My Lord, Queensland is now in the post-war recuperation period. In October this year, more than 7,000 experienced war veterans who had participated in the war retired and took their merits to become a happy farmer. The strength of the divisions Therefore, it has shrunk by a quarter, more than preserved, and insufficiently expanded!"

   "Anyway, if the experienced army is still there, you can immediately recruit sergeants and train troops. As long as the capital investment can keep up, I don't think it will take long."

"The training of the army will take 6 months at the earliest. It will be until the end of next year until the action is taken. The larger the scale, the longer the preparation time will be. To be honest, I don’t think we can take action in 1885. Maybe it can be tentative. The establishment of 1 or 2 settlements depends on the strength of London’s support."

"Uh... don't count on money too much. The fiscal expenditure budget of 1885 did not have this item, and the coordination of the army is also very difficult. They currently maintain a huge expenditure on the troops stationed in Afghanistan and Burma, and want to crowd them out. It’s hard to get to the sky with a little blood. It’s more diplomatic recognition that if you can gain a stable foothold in Madagascar, you can put the relevant area under Queensland, which is no problem.” Lord Gulliver looked at it. Seeing Li Fushou’s embarrassed look, he thought for a while and said, “I have communicated with the Royal Navy recently and they are interested in selling a batch of old iron-clad battleships. If there is demand from Queensland, I can get a discounted price of half-buy and half-free. ."

   "Thank you Lord Lord, Queensland does not have such a demand, and we cannot afford more expensive warships, but we still have to sincerely thank you for your kindness." Li Fushou rebuffed.

  What's the joke?

  The old iron-clad ships of the Royal Navy that still retain their sails are a pile of tattered ones, and they are looking for takers everywhere!

I heard that the three South American countries (Brazil, Chile, and Argentina) have intentions, and the Ottoman Empire sent personnel to see it. There were even Fuso little devils who were stimulated by the two huge ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, drooling around the iron-clad warships that were about to be retired. , After wandering for a long time, I don't know who will get the flowers in the end?

  The actual service life of these iron-clad warships is not long, but with the rapid development of science and technology in the steam age, they have fallen behind the times and will be eliminated.

No matter who wants Queensland anyway, these ironclad sailing ships still using old horizontal steam engines are two eras away from the latest steam engines. They have low power consumption and high pollution. They are simply mobile black smoke producers. The data on the surface is very ridiculous, with a displacement of six to seven thousand tons at every turn, but it is just a bunch of tattered things.

  Seeing that Li Fushou was shrewdly not taking the bait, Lord Gulliver smiled happily, but did not think about it. This was originally the addition of two shots.

  To get Queensland out of the field, we must come up with practical support. Lord Gulliver's eyes touched Sir Glare and signaled to come up with an alternative plan to discuss.

   "Ahem..."

  Sir Greer cleared his throat with a dry cough, attracted Li Fushou’s gaze, and said with a sincere expression on his face;

  "London has difficulties in London and may not be able to provide strong support in terms of money. Even if the Ministry of Finance prepares a special budget, the scale will not exceed 200,000 pounds, which is a drop in the bucket for a war.

But support can be made up in other ways. We know that Madagascar does not have rich resources, but across the strait, the Zambezi Valley in Portuguese East Africa is rich in gold and ivory, and there are large herds of bison, which is a good resource. place. "

   "So what?" Li Fushou asked.

"As long as Queensland sends a colonial army with a scale of more than 10,000 people, according to our tacit understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and launching actions within the term of the current cabinet, we can withstand the pressure of small Western European countries to unite Germany and the French and recognize Queensland's presence in the region. It is our greatest sincerity to demarcate a large territory from Portuguese East Africa."

  Sir Glyle closed his mouth tightly after speaking, with a confident smile on his face, he was sure that the young earl in front of him would be taken the bait, and there was no reason to see that the fat would not go up and take a bite.

  The reason is very simple;

  Somali and Guinea such remote scum places can arouse the keen interest of the Earl of Queensland, and the resource-rich Portuguese East Africa is unreasonable.

  Even the veteran colonial countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands are also coveting this place. They have challenged Portugal’s colonial rule in the region several times, but they have returned with a strong counterattack, without success.

  The Portuguese began to encroach on Mozambique in East Africa since the 15th century. Portugal’s occupation of Mozambique has continuously encountered challenges from Western European powers.

  In the 17th century, the Dutch fleet surrounded the island of Mozambique many times, but failed to occupy it.

  In the 1860s, gold and diamonds were discovered in the Cape Colony near Mozambique, and the competition between Western European powers and Mozambique became more intense.

  In 1869, the British attempted to occupy the Delagua Bay unsuccessfully.

  At the upcoming Berlin Conference, Portugal tried its best to promote the recognition of its sphere of influence in East Africa by France and Germany. The United Kingdom held a completely negative attitude towards this.

  It can be seen from this that the British are still unsuccessful in the area.

   can make Queenslanders try again, why not do it?

  Li Fushou has to sigh that the British guy’s water is too deep. Quante is a routine!

  But I like it, I really like it.

  He was worried that he had no reason to intervene in Mozambique. The two important figures in the colonial ministry who thought they were able to take care of him handed over the picture cakes. Why not accept it?

  The British can indeed bully Portugal, even if Portugal is the closest ally in the footsteps of the United Kingdom, London does not mind cutting off a large piece of meat on him and instigating European public opinion to recognize Queensland’s occupation in Mozambique.

  The occupation of Queensland is equivalent to the occupation of London, which is fine.

  The premise is that Queensland does not have any indiscriminate thoughts, is not independent, and does not divorce from the brilliance of the wise and wise Her Majesty the Queen. The arrogant British have never thought about the stupid question of Queensland becoming independent. How is this possible?

In the small cafe called Dawn on Whitehall Street, the three people who participated in the secret conversation privately divided more than one million square kilometers of land in Africa, including more than half of the island of Madagascar and Mozambique, and established the general territory of the emerging empire in the future. , The impact is far-reaching.

Eighty years later, on the African continent where national consciousness is generally awakened, the newly formed African Union has to accept the emerging empire as one of its member states, and has a decisive right to speak with its powerful strength, affecting most African countries.

At this time, the emerging empires shouted the slogan "African affairs, Africans are the masters", which evolved into a ridiculously African version of the Monroe policy, but the dominant ones were lighter-skinned Orientals, and they were generally regarded as white countries in Europe. .

  India is also a white country, which is fine.

  (End of this chapter)