Chapter 457 Africa Raiders are perfectly finalized

  Ten days later, February 2, 1886

  Red Fort

   "Fake oil, is this kidding me?"

  Li Fushou looked at the urgent trans-ocean telegram in disbelief, and couldn't help but spit out the dirty words in shock, because the news was so shocking.

   News from London;

On the morning of February 1, the British Conservative Cabinet, which had just been in power for less than 7 months, collapsed. Her Majesty Queen Victoria has instructed the Liberal Party leader William Yurt Gladstone to reorganize the emergency cabinet. This is an event from London. Political earthquake.

On Li Fushou’s desk, there is also a telegram from Lord Charles, Assistant Minister of the Colony Department a few days ago, saying that Sir Robert has an important letter on Mozambique, which has been sent to Queensland via diplomatic mail. The telegram told Foreign Secretary Tang Shaoyi. There are many beautiful words.

  Now this important diplomatic letter will take more than a month to arrive. As a result, the Conservative Party’s cabinet has fallen. Where is the reason for this mess?

The   African Expeditionary Force contingent is still floating in the sea. It is estimated that the striker should have landed in Mozambique in some time. Everything in the front is still darkened, and the news has not been sent back for the time being.

At this moment

  The Minister of Colony, Sir Robert, who led the landing on the coast of Mozambique, has stepped down. Then...that...how does the private agreement count?

Li Fushou really felt the 10,000 beasts flying over his head. This kind of inexplicable feeling came to his mind. It felt as if a carefully prepared banquet was about to start. The back chef started to take the dishes, invited VIPs. But the appointment was dropped for no reason.

   "That... Master Yuan Ding, there are unforeseen circumstances, and people have misfortunes and blessings. This matter is hard to come by." Fan Zhongzhai saw that Lord Earl's face was extremely ugly, and he couldn't help but comfort him.

  "Special NND, this time, I have been miserable by the British guy." Li Fushou sighed, scratching his scalp with some annoyance.

  How can there be a turning back arrow when opening a bow?

The advance team of the African Expeditionary Force may have landed on the coast of Mozambique at this moment. It is only a matter of time before the Portuguese react. War may not necessarily break out, but small-scale conflicts of push and push will inevitably occur.

  Queensland is not afraid to have a real fight with the other party. On the contrary, the Portuguese has no confidence and will not dare to do it for a while. They will definitely call Lisbon for assistance. After finding out the details, they can take targeted measures.

  This situation is like a fight between two guys. Queensland ran to Portugal to provoke. Originally, there was a big British man standing far behind Queensland. Although he did not interfere, he was full of deterrence and his bias was self-evident.

  Now Queensland looks back, and the British guy behind him doesn’t even have a shadow...

under these circumstances

  If the Portuguese can figure out the details of Queensland, coupled with the cheering of three friends and four friends of the European royal family, it will be the real big trouble to attack Mozambique.

  For similar situations, you can refer to the Boer War. Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland provided volunteers, and France secretly provided financial assistance. Other countries gave moral solidarity to isolate the British. Even the British Empire could not bear it, let alone Queensland.

  Once the Mozambique problem persists for a long time and international public opinion is surging, London, which is burdened by huge international pressure, may shrink back, and Queensland can only withdraw its troops back.

  This is obviously going to hit the door to bully the white people, and there is no British backing behind him. Li Fushou really dare not send soldiers to Mozambique to go wild. This will arouse public anger.

  According to the secret agreement;

The correct posture should be that London is responsible for mediating at the diplomatic level, or forcing or suppressing some private transactions, suppressing dissent before the storms and buying time for the African Expeditionary Force, and when all the dust settles, it will be fine. After finishing work, divide the site...

  If you say something good, you can see the yellow, can Li Fushou not be anxious?

  He carefully measured a moment in his mind and found that the problem had not reached the worst level.

  Communications are extremely underdeveloped in this era, let alone the poor and white African continent.

  It is estimated that there are several times of communication back and forth, and it will take three or four months to do so. By then, the advance team of the African Expeditionary Force has already established a firm foothold, and the response to the large force has developed in depth.

   Anyway, it can't make a big loss, at most it will increase the casualties.

With this period of transition, the London emergency cabinet has long been set up, and it is still the last Liberal government in power. The prime minister is still the leader of the Liberal Party, Lord William Ult Gladstone. This is unequivocal. .

  As for whether the Secretary of the Colony is still Lord Gulliver, according to Li Fushou’s understanding of the most complicated various forces in the British political arena, it is estimated that more than 80% will be replaced.

  This means that Queensland has to deal with a new colonial minister. What kind of character and political orientation is this person, and is he born in the Liberal Party? Queensland's eyes were completely blackened.

  Does not rule out a situation, that is, in order to reflect the broad representation of the emergency cabinet and win over small parties in the London political arena. The current emergency cabinet has surrendered some important positions through private transactions, and the colonial minister is the leader of a small party.

  What a fuck!

   "Send to the European agencies, any latest news from London must be reported as soon as possible, order diplomatic representative Tang Shaoyi to urgently contact the proposed cabinet members, and seek a clear answer from the Colony Department. Is the previous secret agreement valid?"

   "Yes, Lord Yuanding, what else do you have to order?" Fan Zhongzhai wrote down urgently, preparing to go back and draw up a telegram according to Lord Earl's wishes, and send it to London immediately.

"Oh...I know that at the time of the cabinet turmoil, Downing Street definitely has no time to take care of Tang Zhaoyi, the diplomatic representative. They don’t know anything about the Mozambique plan, and there is no leader in the colony, and it is difficult for them to give a clear answer. The situation facing Tang Shaoyi It's very difficult..." After thinking about it, Li Fushou continued; "Through my order, grant him the right to make an impromptu decision, and have the right to withdraw 50,000 pounds at Huitong Bank. You only need to report it afterwards. I hope it can Bring us good news!"

   "Yes, then I will do something."

   "Go, oh... By the way, the second Majesty-class battleship built by the Red River Shipyard will be delivered soon, right?"

"Uh... let me think about it." Fan Zhongzhai was stumped by the sudden question and replied after thinking about it; "Yes, the second armored battleship was launched in September last year, and now it has been outfitted at the shipyard. I have to check the delivery time."

  "Then find any reason to delay the delivery, the specific time...wait for my notice."

  "This...humble duty as ordered."

  Fan Zhongzhai hesitated to persuade him, but Li Fushou glared back at him, and he hurriedly responded, holding a document under his arm and hurriedly left to do something.

After seeing him leave, Li Fushou went to the wine cabinet in a irritable mood and took out the crystal wine glass, opened a bottle of French dry red to pour a glass, picked it up and took a big sip to calm his emotions, then walked to the sofa and sat down. Come down.

   lit the cigar, so that the figure was enveloped in a strong tobacco atmosphere.

  He has done all he can do, and the rest can only be resigned, and may God bless you!

  The nature of this expedition to Mozambique is completely different from that of the East Indies War. The last time Li Fushou first discovered and declared the possession of Ilian Island and renamed it Shangri-La Island. This matter was recognized by the British Colony Department and there is no widespread dispute in Europe.

  The Dutch colonists took the lead in provoking the war. Queensland actively challenged the defense as the defensive side, and expanded the war to Borneo, which was both reasonable and reasonable.

  Mozambique, located in central East Africa, is completely different. If the Portuguese first landed in the area in the 15th century, it is still in the Ming Dynasty era and has a history of more than 300 years.

  Even after the Portuguese eliminated several local indigenous kingdoms and unified the middle and lower reaches of the Zambezi River, it has been more than 100 years.

  The Queensland army went to the door with open fire, showing that the bullying of Portugal had fallen.

  Zambezi is called "Liba River" locally, and it means "huge river" in aboriginal language. The river has a total length of 2,660 kilometers and a drainage area of ​​1.35 million square kilometers. It is the fourth largest river in Africa and the largest river in southern Africa.

  The Zambezi River originates from the mountains at 1,300 meters above sea level on the northwestern border of Zambia. The main stream flows through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique, and flows through the Malawi main stream into the Indian Ocean Strait of Mozambique.

  On the other side of the Mozambique Strait is the Kingdom of Madagascar that Li Fushou has been thinking about.

   Thinking of Li Fushou, the Kingdom of Madagascar, he snickered. The French finally retreated. The local aboriginal kingdoms celebrated their victory with singing and dancing. Within two months, they started fighting again, and the country was in chaos.

  The powerful queen who has been in charge of this indigenous kingdom for decades has passed away. The court officials split into two factions to fight. The riots ranged from the city to the countryside, and **** massacres were everywhere...

   Make trouble, the more fierce the trouble, the better, the scar is really healed, forget the pain, such a backward and ignorant aboriginal kingdom will not be destroyed if there is no reason for it.

  It won’t take long for the melons to ripen.

  Once Mozambique is taken over this fertile turf, Queensland’s African strategy will generally be in perfect shape.

  The rest... is how to operate.

  There are too many issues involved in all aspects. Queensland does not have the energy to stretch out so much for the time being. You can put it aside for a few years. According to the spirit of the Berlin Conference, we must first occupy the site.

  Development and population policies are things in the future, so they should be studied slowly.

  Now the main focus is on the development of Borneo and Shangri-La, taking into account the mainland of Australia. This is the current major event.

  According to Queensland’s current financial resources, there are very few resources that can be allocated to Africa.

Li Fushou has no interest in the arid areas of inland Africa. Mountains, deserts and Gobi have divided the oasis into pieces. The basic transportation facilities are equal to zero. Especially in the inland areas, there is no trace of modernity at all, and it is still half. Primitive tribal life.

If such an area is to be developed, the investment is a bottomless pit, and the huge investment does not see any return. It is possible that with the wave of African national consciousness awakening decades later, Queenslanders with different skin colors will have to withdraw in a desperate manner and repeat history. The scene of the European countries losing their African colonies.

  This kind of thankless stupid thing, Li Fushou is not willing to do it. Is it not good to invest funds in Shangri-La Island? Does it not fragrant to develop Borneo?

  (End of this chapter)