African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 810 - 114
Edward Port.
"These South African mountain roads are really tough to traverse, and even the British Army in Cape Town is not completely without means to resist," Merk said to his subordinates.
As East Africa's military advances, the southern military district has already penetrated the eastern hinterland of Cape Town, but is affected by the Drakensberg Mountains. Besides the rugged terrain, the rivers and swamps have greatly hindered East Africa's progress.
Moreover, the British Army can effectively utilize the advantage of the narrow terrain to obstruct the offensive of the East African Defense Army. Edward Port is approximately 150 kilometers in a straight line from Durban.
This area was originally the territory of East Griqualand, also one of the Boer-established regimes, wedged between Natal Colony and Cape Colony. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, it was occupied by the British Army.
Thus, it was originally very desolate, and Edward Port was established not long ago, just a small coastal town with not many people.
"Commander, for military advances, the focus should be on the inland areas. Currently, the western troops should have already crossed the Orange River since the inland plateau areas are convenient for marching, and the population is relatively sparse, while the eastern part, where Cape Town is, has a denser population, making the British Army stronger instead."
The population of South Africa is distributed in a clump-like pattern, with the southernmost part being Cape Town City and its surroundings, followed by the eastern part centered around East London and Elizabeth Port. These two areas are the core regions of the British.
Further north is the Natal Colony and several former Boer Republic areas, which are more densely populated, whereas the highland area between the Western Boer Republic and Cape Town is sparsely populated.
The area between Durban Port in the eastern Natal Colony and East London is similar, except there are more British people here than in the west. Coupled with the main British Army from the original Natal Colony moving southward, the resistance encountered by Merk's unit is thus greater.
Merk said, "The British have not been developing Edward Port for many years. The core area of East Griqualand was originally in Kokstad, not the coastal area, so Edward Port is now our last obstacle on the way to East London."
"However, there is still a journey of more than 300 kilometers in between, and continuing to wear down the enemy at this speed is really too slow. Send a message to the rear to see if the navy can help our army break through the enemy's blockade more quickly."
The reason the British Army was able to safely withdraw from Durban is mainly due to utilizing the sea passages, allowing for an orderly retreat.
Previously, the East African Navy primarily coordinated with northern East African forces to strike along the Mozambique coast. The war in Mozambique is now over.
So Merk plans to use the power of the navy to achieve his goals. Of course, utilizing merchant ships from New Hamburg Port can also achieve Merk's purpose, but it's relatively riskier.
The Navy of Cape Town remains strong. Although it cannot advance north to actively attack the East African Navy, it still has some role in guarding against the East African Navy moving south within the area.
Therefore, if Merk intends to take the sea route, it must be escorted by the navy. Regarding the British Army on the land, a small portion of the troops can be left to engage with them.
Since the population of Cape Colony is mainly concentrated around urban areas, if we break through East London and Elizabeth Port, the Eastern British Army will basically have no more resistance.
East London and Elizabeth Port are also the rear of the British forces. By cutting off the connection between these two places, East Africa can choke off the British Army in logistics alone, thereby forcing the enemy to surrender without a fight.
...
Meanwhile, as Merk's troops move southward.
The various East African units that had just participated in the Mozambique war also began moving southward, following instructions from the General Staff to reinforce the southern battlefield.
The Central Railway segment from New Hamburg Port (Richard Port) to Otto (Pretoria) City also became busy, ever since East Africa retook the eastern part of the Southern Border Province.
The Central Railway, damaged by the British, has been thoroughly repaired, but the journey south for the army is also very challenging. Besides maintaining stability in Mozambique, a large number of personnel is needed to maintain order, with tens of thousands of prisoners to guard.
Currently, East Africa's plan is to settle these prisoners in Maputo and other Mozambican port areas and then transport supplies and rations by sea and land.
Of course, supporting tens of thousands of mouths is not East Africa's style. After identifying valuable prisoners, a large number of Black individuals are directly placed into East Africa's "slave" structure to maintain the plantations in Mozambique.
The most troublesome for East Africa is, in fact, the Indians. First, Indians are not natives, as India is such a large British colony in the Indian Ocean. However, Indians do not belong to the British.
Currently, what East Africa fears most is the British government outright abandoning this group of Indians. It's important to note that, as of now in the South African war, the number of Indian soldiers captured by East Africa has exceeded 170,000.
If they were to emulate the Boers, it'd be enough to establish a nation in South Africa, so handling the Indians is a major headache.
Of course, this headache is directed towards Ernst. From the perspective of East African officials, it's entirely a minor issue. Ernst has a poor impression of the Indians, but from the viewpoint of East African officials, Indians and Black people make no difference. After all, neither has rights, and thus being used as slaves is inconsequential.
However, if such a large number of Indians truly settled in East Africa, it would undoubtedly become one of the future sources of trouble. Considering the historical situation in Africa, regions colonized by the British readily form Indian communities, coupled with the rapid future population growth of Indians, and the proximity of India to East Africa, it's very likely that Indians would easily bring their families to settle in East Africa.
To address the potential emergence of this "low-quality" immigration, Ernst's idea is to package the Indian prisoners within East Africa and send them back to India. Even after the war, if the British truly refuse to take back these Indians, East Africa can simply cover more ship expenses.
Of course, Ernst holds no discriminatory intentions towards Indians by doing so. In fact, quite a few Indian merchants are engaged in business and trade along the East African coast.
But such individuals are surely different from the captured Indian soldiers. Indian soldiers are mostly from the lower rungs of society, possessing little value beyond their brute strength. Despite their robust physiques, they have numerous bad habits. As a tropical race, Indians and Southeast Asian natives are extremely lazy, and Ernst fears most that these Indians might mislead East Africans into idleness.
Maintaining the "diligence" of citizens has always been a key concern for Ernst. Don't consider this an overreaction because East Africa is a place conducive to idleness, just like the Black people here have been idle for thousands of years.
In contrast, in former America and Russia, some vagrants might face threats of cold and hunger, forcing them to do some work.
Meanwhile, with East Africa being a "paradise" of sorts with its "year-round spring, abundant resources," frankly speaking, once basic infrastructure is complete, it's a vagrant's paradise.
Thus, to avert such a situation, efforts must start with the social ethos. The East African Government, to guide the people, encourages East Africans to "work competitively" (inner-revolve).
And an Indian-like "laziness," in particular, holds significant negative educational value. Certainly, in the 19th century, many places were like this, and Indians were not an exception.
However, the primary population in East Africa consists of German immigrants and Far East Empire immigrants. Undoubtedly, residents from these two regions are the "most industrious" people in the current world.
In the 19th century, England and France were also similar, but with the advancement of the Industrial Revolution, Britain has moved past periods of treating people worse than cattle (indeed worse than cattle), and the French prefer enjoying life. So, in the 19th century, when facing competition from Germany, the gap quickly narrowed.
