Chapter 470 Orange surrenders to Britain
East Africa's behavior has made Cape Town very nervous, but now it has no way to face the behemoth of East Africa on its own. However, Cape Town does not need to be sad. East Africa did not intentionally target Cape Town. In fact, the Portuguese in Angola also feel frightened. .
Letania Province is far away from Walvis Bay, separated by a vast desert area, but the climate conditions in the area where Namibia and Angola meet in the west of Letania Province are not bad! This can be seen from the map of Namibia. Basically, the important rivers in Namibia are distributed in the north.
Although these rivers are also mainly seasonal rivers, the plateau area in the northern region is quite large, and the precipitation can barely reach 500 mm.
Although there are plateaus in the southern region, there are also mountains. These mountains are the reason why it is inconvenient for East Africa to directly invade Namibia from the east.
Just imagine, after finally crossing the Kalahari Desert, you encounter the rolling mountains. After crossing the high mountains and plateaus, you still end up in the desert. This kind of despair cannot be overcome by willpower. That's why East Africa took the measures when colonizing Namibia. A way of advancing simultaneously by sea and land.
In the plateau area to the west of Letania Province, Namibia was called Ovamboland in the previous life. It is the most important farming area in the country. Subsistence food crops such as millet, sorghum, and potatoes can be grown. 100% of the country's population lives there. of thirty people.
How important is this region to Namibia? Let's just say that Namibia's food self-sufficiency rate is only about 20%, and most of this 20% food self-sufficiency rate is contributed by Ovamboland.
It's no wonder that the Portuguese don't like Namibia. This land is indeed bad land, but this is only based on the cost of colonization.
To East Africa, the value of Namibia is different. The importance of the ocean is self-evident, and if Namibia is captured, East Africa will immediately become a two-ocean country.
As for the harsh climate in Namibia, it is not a problem for East Africa. East Africa itself has enough agricultural land and there is no need to add additional land. Just like the original positioning of South Africa, there is no need to vigorously develop the planting industry.
April 1877.
East Africa is also planning the Congo rainforest zone. The Ubangi River Inland Force has been established to conduct regular patrols on the Congo River and the Ubangi River. This also indicates that East Africa will completely incorporate the Congo Basin east of the Ubangi River into its own territory.
East Africa as a whole is in an offensive state in the west. With the blessing of railways, East Africa's transportation capacity has been greatly improved, especially the western section of the Central Railway, which approaches the colony of Angola and ends abruptly inland, forming the feeling of a broken railway.
As for why the western section of the Central Railway was built like this, it can be said that Sima Zhao's intention was well known to everyone on the road, and it was one of the manifestations of his plot to colonize Angola.
…
May 1877.
Bloemfontein.
Following the British's persuasion, the Orange Free State held a final vote on whether to join the Cape Colony.
"The voting results were 1,308 votes in favor, 230 votes against, and 415 abstentions. I declare that from today onwards, the Orange Free State will be dissolved and Cape Town will automatically join." Brand The president personally dissolved the last Boer republic, so that South Africa completely changed from a tripartite force to a confrontation between two tigers.
In fact, President Brand is also very helpless. He personally hopes that the Orange Free State Republic will continue to remain, but if he really does this, I am afraid that a civil war may break out in the Orange Free State the next day, so merging with the Cape Colony is not a good idea in Brand's eyes. Poison that had to be swallowed.
Apart from the Boers, the only remaining force in South Africa is the Kingdom of Lesotho. However, the Kingdom of Lesotho was robbed by the British at the beginning of the year and declared subjugated. This is also in line with the British character. After all, the Kingdom of Lesotho, which was crippled by East Africa, no longer exists. With no use value at all, with the Orange Free State also annexed to Cape Town, Britain initially unified southern South Africa.
The negative vote in the Orange Free State means that they do not want to collude with the British. Maybe East Africa is not a good thing, but the British are definitely bad. As for those who abstained, most of them did not want to mess up the dispute between the British and the Germans. It appears that the Orange Free State should remain neutral.
These people are generally natives of the Orange Free State, but the opposition and abstentionists are weak. More Boers, especially those who were driven to the Orange Free State by East Africa, hate East Africa deeply. , driven by their emotions, most people in the Orange Free State also harbor hatred for East Africa.
Following the deception of the British, the Orange Free State did not hesitate to embrace the British Cape Colony and became part of the Cape Colony.
In the situation of wolf behind tiger, Britain is obviously more deterrent than East Africa. Moreover, the Orange Free State is quite aware of what East Africa did in the Transvaal Republic, and they are also afraid of entering the Transvaal Republic. The footsteps of the Republic of Vanuatu.
British Special Envoy to Cape Town Ryan: "The Boers made the right decision. From today on, you are all my brothers, and we will work together to defend the peaceful order of South Africa."
The British also spent a lot of money to win over the Boers. In order to reach an agreement with the Boers, the British generously stated that they could split the diamond mines in the Orange River 50-50 with the Boers. Of course, due to the need of national defense pressure, they temporarily left it to themselves. It was held in escrow to maintain military expenditures, and that part would be returned to the Boers after three years.
At the same time, the British also promised to forgive the arrears of the two previous countries. This is very important to the Orange. The Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic are evenly matched, and their fiscal revenue is basically in a deficit, so they cannot borrow money from the British. Little money, after all, it is impossible for the Boers to borrow money from the Zulu and other indigenous people.
For the Boers, Governor Henry Buckley of Cape Town also offered a price, promising that the Boers would have the same status as British citizens. Britain would respect the rights of the Boers and protect the sanctity of their private property.
Of course, if Ernst knew about the British's commitment to the Boers, he would definitely sneer at it. Dogs cannot change their eating habits, and the same is true for the British's commitment.
Moreover, the British deception this time was almost the same as in the previous life. They did not even offer any substantial benefits. They just shouted slogans and relied on the anti-East African sentiments of immigrants from the Transvaal Republic in the Orange Free State. Bring the Orange Free State into your sphere of influence.
This is almost inevitable. The Transvaal Republic originally had a larger population than the Orange Free State. After they were expelled from East Africa, a large number of Transvaal people poured into the Orange Free State and quickly took advantage of its population advantage. Gaining the right to speak in the Orange Free State, coupled with the support from the British, actually caused the original Boer power in the Orange Free State to be eclipsed.
At this point, East Africa can be said to have dug a hole for itself. However, expelling the Boers from the Transvaal Republic is the best choice for East Africa. It would be true if Ernst really kept the Boers in East Africa. Time bomb.
The Boers have initially formed their own national ideology, which is contrary to the Germanization of East Africa. If you want to transform the Boers, the cost is too high, and it may not be effective, so it is better to let them leave, although East Africa knew that this group of Boers might become enemies in the future and had to do this.
(End of this chapter)