African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 804 The lion opens its mouth

The British prisoners were the basis for negotiations in East Africa. When the Herman card was revealed, everyone here, especially the colonial powers like Britain and France, felt the most. Of course, the British had broken their defenses, and the French It is to take pleasure in one's misfortune.

 In the colonial wars of the 19th century, colonialists often only needed a small number of troops to achieve considerable gains.

For example, before East Africa, the total strength of the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique was less than 10,000.

The most exaggerated one is the British East India Company’s conquest of India in the 18th century. It only used less than a thousand local troops and about 2,000 mercenaries to achieve the conquest of India. Even in the 19th century, the British troops stationed in India The total number of troops did not exceed ten thousand.

The British can be said to have reproduced the model of conquering India by Wang Xuance of the Tang Dynasty. Although the number of British troops was small, the British formed a large number of puppet troops, most of which were Indians.

 In the more recent war between Britain, France and the Far Eastern Empire in the 1950s, the total military strength was only over 5,600.

Of course, the war in the Far Eastern Empire was extremely unexpected. First of all, the Far Eastern Empire did not have control of the sea at the time, and its capital was close to the coast.

Before the British invasion, the Far Eastern Empire had only one treaty port in Guangzhou, which was also known as "One Port of Trade". This was significantly different from East Africa. In the early days, East Africa only had one treaty port in Dar es Salaam, but the physical geography of East Africa itself Poor conditions and lack of good ports.

 After the transformation of many coastal bays in East Africa, today's coastal urban pattern was formed, typical examples include Bagamoyo and Mombasa.

Before East Africa, both places were truly barren. Bagamoyo had a population of only a few hundred people (historically, Bagamoyo had a population of only about a thousand in 1880). The situation in Mombasa was slightly better, but in Zanzibar It is only a small town under the Sultanate because it is far away from the core area of ​​the Zanzibar Sultanate (Zanzibar Island and the surrounding area of ​​Dar es Salaam).

 European colonists often only needed a few regiments of troops to conquer a country or a large area at will, but East Africa obviously broke this "common sense".

The British had actually "overestimated" East Africa as much as possible before the war. First of all, East Africa's naval strength was among the best in the world. Secondly, East Africa's weapons and equipment were basically at the same level as Europe. Therefore, before the war in East Africa, British Prime Minister Cecil almost used " treat the war in East Africa as much as possible.

Facts have proved that they still seriously underestimated the war potential of East Africa. The capture of tens of thousands of British troops was almost the biggest humiliation faced by the British army since the 19th century.

Of course, the British's determination to use so many troops to attack East Africa at one time is closely related to the rapid economic development of East Africa. Although East Africa is "closed", the economic conditions in the coastal areas are visible to the naked eye. Coupled with the prosperity of trade, East African routes The density of ships, and controlling the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca, the UK itself can obtain a lot of East Africa's import and export data, so the essence of the South African war is driven by interests.

And Herman continued to speak loudly: "There are currently more than 270,000 British and Indian prisoners. In addition to the food, drink and diarrhea of ​​these prisoners in East Africa, as well as compensation for East Africa's economic losses and military expenses, the UK should compensate our country for eight Twelve million pounds.”

As soon as Hermann said this, the whole place was in an uproar. Not only Britain, but also the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, France, etc. could not hold back. In the entire Franco-Prussian War, France’s compensation to Prussia was only 5 billion francs, which was about 200 million pounds at the time.

East Africa demanded 82 million pounds in compensation from the British at one time, which was almost half the war compensation of the Franco-Prussian War. It was also close to the British fiscal revenue for a year. In 1888, the British fiscal revenue for the whole year was about 90 million pounds.

And this is far from over. When everyone was shocked, East Africa continued to speak loudly. Herman did not forget Portugal. He said: "Portugal should also compensate our country for 48 million pounds. This is why our country considers the Kingdom of Portugal." Due to financial difficulties and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, special discounts are given, otherwise if the unit price of Portuguese soldiers is also calculated according to British soldiers, this number will triple."

 This sentence not only made the Portuguese representative's heart beat faster, but also made him deeply humiliated. East Africa pointed out Portugal's low combat effectiveness.

"Count Hermann, you have gone too far in East Africa. Even if you sell the entire Angola and Mozambique, it is not worth 40 million reais (Portuguese currency), let alone pounds." The Portuguese representative took a step ahead of Salisbury. asked.

Herman smiled harmlessly and said: "Mr. Gers, don't worry. Our calculations naturally make sense. The total number of Portuguese soldiers we captured in this war exceeds 120,000. A Portuguese soldier is calculated according to the British army's calculations." Calculated as one-third of the total, which is fifty pounds, that is six million pounds, and this is only the ransom of Portuguese soldiers. We also captured more than 300,000 Portuguese servants. Just the food and drink of the captives in the past few months. Even if we give you a 50% discount, that's an astronomical amount of money.

The damage done by Portuguese soldiers to the three provinces in the west and central part of our country was almost devastating, causing the displacement of millions of residents and the destruction of almost all infrastructure. At the same time, the Hechingen soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend their country also had to Receive compensation and pensions, so how much is £48 million? Our Kingdom of Hechingen has actually suffered serious losses. If it were not for the economic level of Portugal and the fact that the Portuguese soldiers are not as destructive as the British army, you should be the main recipient of compensation. "

According to Herman, Portugal still paid less. Of course, the account cannot be calculated like this. First of all, Herman’s so-called million population is a number conjured out of thin air. If it is a black person, it is reasonable, but black people Obviously cannot be counted as an East African population.

Secondly, East Africa has hardly developed in the west, and the so-called severe infrastructure damage is untrue. After all, most places in the west don't even have "mao".

 Finally, there is the calculation of the Portuguese army. Will Portugal regard the more than 300,000 black servants as "people"? Obviously not, let alone paying ransom for these black people.

So what can be liquidated is actually 120,000 Portuguese local soldiers, and the ransom of six million pounds is actually enough for East Africa to recoup its capital. According to Portugal’s economic situation, it may be difficult to come up with even six million pounds, and the four million pounds offered by East Africa Eighteen million pounds is only about three times more when blacks are included in the Portuguese.

 six million pounds is a lot, but Portugal can still afford it, while 48 million pounds can directly kill the Portuguese government.

There is no doubt that as long as Portugal recognizes this figure, Portugal will not be able to turn around in the next fifty years, and will completely become a third-rate country in Europe.

France is a big country, and Portugal has always rested on its laurels. Moreover, Portugal is small in area and has a small population. If compensation is paid according to this amount, each Portuguese can basically share the debt to about fifteen pounds. During this period, the monthly salary of British workers Most of them have not exceeded ten pounds. The Portuguese with even worse economic conditions will have to pay off their debts in East Africa for at least two or three months without eating or drinking. What’s more, the wages of ordinary people in Portugal can only barely support their families, so the Portuguese government It is inevitable that they will not agree to East Africa's conditions.

 (End of this chapter)