The Rise of the Empire

"From now on, we must start preparing. Some advance troops should start to move to Africa, and the material reserves must be on track from now on. The Portuguese are not our opponents, that is, we must guard against the British and The actions that the French may take, the possibility that these two countries will be directly hostile to us is not very high, at most they will not cooperate. And once the war starts, it will obviously cost more to transport materials.”

"Secondly, our native troops in Namibia and German East Africa must also be prepared. Although their combat effectiveness is poor, they have special advantages in familiarity with the terrain, reconnaissance, and relationships with other natives around them. Let them cooperate , we'll save a lot of trouble."

"Especially the secrets we planted in the two Portuguese colonies can also be used. These people have penetrated into all aspects of the colonial indigenous social system. With their help, we can easily take over and stabilize the situation in the colonies .”

"In my opinion, it is not accurate to directly define this operation as a war. The enemy we need to face is very weak. To some extent, it is more like an anti-access operation. I am not worried about the Portuguese. Their resistance is doomed to be weak and they are easily crushed. Even I am not very worried about the intervention of Britain and France. After all, the British are still preparing for war, and it is impossible to go to war with Germany. France is fighting us alone Don't worry about the absolute disadvantage.'

"What I'm really worried about is what if, while we're attacking the Portuguese, Britain and France suddenly step in and want a piece of the pie from us? Don't forget that Angola, Portugal's colony on the west coast of Africa, is nowhere near French Equatorial Africa. French Madagascar is also not far from Mozambique. And British Rhodesia is next to Mozambique! They want to act, what should we do?"

"Just like what Japan did to the Philippines a few months ago?" William II raised his eyebrows and said.

"Yes, compared to the British, France is more likely to take action. The British's actions are largely affected by the upcoming Boer War. The French do not have any foreign wars, and it is more beneficial to have strength Why don't the French do the same thing?" the prince asked back.

In fact, the world colonial system formed around 1885 was not stable. In history, this colonial system has suffered several blows. The first one was naturally the United States' war against Spain. In the Spanish-American War, Spain, which was in a weak position, was isolated and helpless. And the British are leaning toward the United States, too. The Americans successfully acquired the Philippines and Cuba from Spain.

Then came the first and second Moroccan crises, this time Germany took the initiative to challenge the French colonial system. The two sides were originally feuds, and the direct cause was that Britain and Spain recognized France's rights in Morocco. This made William II very dissatisfied. Germany did not gain anything from the first Moroccan crisis. After a lapse of several years, the Germans reaped some benefits in the Central African region during the second Morocco crisis.

At the same time, Italy also started Turkey's colonization in Africa in 1910. More than 100,000 Italian troops included Libya in a very short period of time. As for the famous Boer War, let alone. In fact, in addition to these incidents and disputes, before World War I, Britain also planned to carve up the Portuguese colonies with Germany.

So generally speaking, if there is no outbreak of World War I, then apart from Spain, which occupies a corner, and Belgium, which is supported by Britain and France, can keep the Congo,

Other colonies such as Turkey and Portugal will eventually be annexed by other powers.

And on this plane, because of Japan's participation in the Spanish-American War and the encroachment of the Philippines, the old colonial system collapsed even faster! The British can allow other countries to acquire colonies of small European countries, so other big countries can naturally take the colonies of those weak countries. It is the best choice for a big country to even get a share of the trouble.

What the prince can be sure of is that if there was no Boer War, once Germany makes a move against Portugal, the British will definitely get a share of the action when they realize that they cannot stop it! The French will also take advantage of the trend! And now, thanks to the Boer War, the British will adopt some contractionary policies.

Historically, after the outbreak of the Boer War in 1898, Britain gave up its scramble for Samoa. In the case of the army being stretched, it is also impossible for the UK to directly send troops to carve up the Portuguese colonies. So now, the biggest problem is the French. How to prevent the French from getting a share of the pie has become a big problem!

"Although there are two general directions, generally speaking, the possibility of the French launching an attack in the direction of Mozambique is not high. The French's strength in Madagascar is very weak, and their naval strength is even weaker. There is a relatively wide strait in between. , as long as our fleet can quickly occupy several important ports in Mozambique, it can easily cut off the way for the French to enter Mozambique."

"The biggest problem is the French coming from the French Equatorial Africa. If there is no accident, the Belgians will agree to the French transit. If we simply advance from Namibia from south to north, then the French will definitely have time to occupy the northern area. In this way If not, it won’t work.”

"What you said is very reasonable, so do you have any good ideas?" William II said.

"Our navy is actually prepared to deal with the French! At the beginning of the campaign, even before launching an offensive on the southern front, we had to choose to land at the northern port of Angola, and then quickly block the border area between Congo and Angola." The prince said seriously Said.

"We can actually do things better. At least half of the troops will seize the port of the Portuguese by sea. This will not only ensure the control of these two colonies as soon as possible, but also prevent other countries from intervening. If there is no accident If so, the winner may be decided in a few weeks.” William II thought for a while and added that the advantages of sea transportation are indeed obvious, especially for the African region where there are not many railways.

"However, a large number of ships will arouse the vigilance of some countries, especially if these ships are German ships, it will let the opponent know our intentions in advance." It is not that the prince has not thought about this problem, but at this time, if the If a large number of ships are transferred to southern Africa, this move is too eye-catching. Although Germany is Mingqiang this time, it will not go to war without declaring it like Japan. You don’t need to worry about making excuses, but it’s hard to say how long it will take from the occurrence of the incident to the declaration of war. And this period of time is enough for the French to concentrate a force and take action.

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