Chapter 547 Landing
Southern Ryukyu Islands.
The first batch of ships departed from the Zhuhai Trade Zone and arrived at the Southern Ryukyu Islands in a few days. The Zhuhai Trade Zone was relatively small after all, and the bulk of the work was waiting for the support from the Huaihai Economic Zone.
Even so, East Africa dispatched five of its own armed merchant ships from the Zhuhai Trade Zone to the Southern Ryukyu Islands. At the same time, more than 300 armed personnel accompanied them and prepared to permanently station in the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
The Southern Ryukyu Islands are actually not far from the Zhuhai Commercial District, because the Southern Ryukyu Islands are just east of Danwan Island.
So East Africa has prepared a large amount of supplies, weapons and ammunition. Since colonization is to be carried out, it must be done at once and the troops deployed first.
The total population of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is only more than 10,000, so 300 East African soldiers are enough to deal with most threats. When they were in the Far East Empire, these armed personnel were the security personnel of the Hesingen Consortium. After leaving the Far East Empire mainland, they were restored. After revealing his true identity, East Africa will continue to increase troops in the future. Ernst plans to invest at least 3,000 troops in the Southern Ryukyu Islands in advance, of which Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island are the key defense areas.
"This place is already the best residence on the island. It has been requisitioned by us, but it is not enough for us, so we must quickly build a shack and make do with it first. In addition to the islanders, there are also some pirates on the island. And the Japanese are noteworthy."
There were so many pirates in the 19th century, especially in the South China Sea and the Caribbean. There were also pirates in the waters near East Africa, but the number was not large, because there were not many islands around East Africa, and most of them were still controlled by East Africa. Before the establishment of East Africa, the waters of East Africa The pirates are mainly Portuguese and Arabs (including Swahili). As for the purely black forces that can build relatively large ships, it is the original Somalia, which has been incorporated into East Africa.
As the East African navy has become stronger in recent years, the pirates' living space has become even smaller. They can only use Madagascar and Mozambique as their bases, which has greatly improved security on the eastern routes of East Africa.
However, in contrast, the number of pirates in the Red Sea has increased sharply. After all, after the opening of the Suez Canal, most ships chose to use the Suez Canal.
"Don't worry about the Japanese for now. Wait until we have a firm foothold on Miyako Island and then drive them away. As for the pirates, wait for the troops to settle down and we will clean them up immediately. However, considering that some islands are also islanders, we will attack first in a few days. An announcement to persuade some conscientious islanders to surrender."
At the same time that they landed on Miyako Island in East Africa, Japanese intelligence personnel on Miyako Island also discovered this fleet, as did the people of the Far Eastern Empire in the Southern Ryukyu Islands. The personnel stationed by the Far Eastern Empire in the Southern Ryukyu Islands were mainly military instructors. , organized local people to resist the Japanese invasion. As a former loyal client state, the Ryukyu Islands naturally also had die-hard loyalists to the Far Eastern Empire.
A Japanese-style house on Miyamoto Island.
"Ohara Masajun, I know the origins of the people opposite. They are not from the Far Eastern Empire, but Germans."
"Nanny, are you sure?"
"I must have read it correctly. The flag they flew is the lion of the West. I don't know which country it is from, but there is the flag of the German Far East Chamber of Commerce on the ship, which is on all five ships."
"The Germans may be Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or the East African Kingdom, but what are they doing in the Sakishima Islands (Southern Ryukyu Islands)?"
As mentioned before, the Southern Ryukyu Islands only have great strategic value to the Far Eastern Empire and Japan. As for economic benefits, forget about it. There is not much land, so you can only grow some rice, other tropical fruits and vegetables.
The East-West trade route mainly takes the Danwan Island Strait, and most people will not go to the Southern Ryukyu Islands to engage in trade. The population of the entire Southern Ryukyu Islands is only 20,000, and even in the previous life, it barely reached 100,000. It is conceivable that I know how remote this place is.
There is neither large land for cultivation nor developed trade, so the population of the Southern Ryukyu Islands cannot be large.
The Southern Ryukyu Islands are close to Danwan Island, so in the previous life it was also the springboard for Japan to occupy Danwan Island, and it was also an important chain that blocked the Far Eastern Empire.
As for East Africa's occupation of the Southern Ryukyu Islands, it is really just to connect to Alaska, and at the same time, it can also provide convenience for East Africa's ships in the Far East. This can be regarded as indirectly blocking Japan's plan for Danwan Island, but now East Africa is not something Japan can touch at all, so it can only hold back its unhappiness.
And East Africa is not the United States. There is no barrier between Japan and the United States. East Africa and Japan are separated by Malacca. Japan poses no threat to East Africa itself. Of course, if Japan can really enter the Nanyang region like in its previous life, that is another matter. The nature of Lanfang Overseas Province seems to be similar to that of Hawaii.
"Nonoki, we must quickly spread the news back to the country. These Germans must have no good intentions when they come here."
"Hi. But Masaru Obara, they are Germans after all. If they really have ideas about the Sakishima Islands, what will happen to our Empire of Japan?"
"This matter is not something you and I can decide, but it is indeed a variable. I just hope that the Germans only intend to stay here briefly."
Nonoki shook his head and said: "I think it's difficult. They came with about two to three thousand people, all fully armed. They are now unloading goods from the ship, and they have already met with the local Ryukyu officials. According to our informant, Those Germans seem to have received permission from the Far Eastern Empire, so they want to develop this place."
"Develop?"
"It should be economic, but I think it's unlikely. The Sakishima Islands don't have many resources. Even if they want to colonize, it's not very cost-effective."
"Then it may be a strategic need!" Ohara Masaru said.
"Strategy?"
"The Germans have very few colonies, and the good colonies have long been carved up by other countries, so the Germans can only pick up some of the remaining colonies from Britain and France, and the Sakishima Islands may be among them."
"There are still few German colonies? I heard that the East African kingdom encompasses most of Africa, and even the British and Portuguese are covetous of it."
"Haha, Mr. Nonoki, East Africa is not a colony, but the same country as the United States when it became independent. If East Africa is really a colony of Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then there will be another superpower on the same level as Britain and France in the world, but It is precisely because of this that East Africa escaped disaster, and no country wanted to see Germany or Austria-Hungary have such a large overseas colony."
"Humph, the Germans are really cheap. Africa is quite big. Why didn't Britain and France take a fancy to it back then?"
"Not because of malaria, the emergence of quinine made it possible to colonize Africa, but traditional colonial powers such as Britain and France failed to seize this window, allowing East Africa to take advantage of it."
"Masaki Ohara, in my opinion, the Germans must have had other ingenuities in establishing a country in Africa. Although East Africa took advantage of the convenience of quinine, the East African Kingdom has not seen such success in other parts of Africa from other European countries in all these years. Fast progress."
East Africa certainly has its own unique skills, but this unique skill cannot be learned by ordinary people, that is, crazy immigration, and both the German region and the Far Eastern Empire happen to be areas where population is exploding and growing wildly.
In East Africa, immigrants represent farmers, workers, and the military. With enough immigrants, East Africa is what it is today. East Africa is also enjoying the national dividends brought by its large population.
(End of this chapter)