African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1472 Return to Europe
Under the circumstances of the same size, it is obviously difficult for the army of a backward small country like Bolivia to fight against the East African army. This is the gap between industrial countries and agricultural countries. The Bolivians obviously do not have the awareness of the Soviet soldiers to fight the enemy to the death.

This is not only true for the Bolivian army, but also the Paraguayan army, because these American countries are mainly composed of immigrants and lack a sense of home and country.

Bolivia is even more divided than Paraguay, especially in terms of attitudes towards indigenous Indians, the two countries are completely different.

Bolivia has had a long-standing racial problem, but after experiencing a major population decline in the last century, Paraguay completely changed its attitude toward the Indian community and actively promoted ethnic integration.

You should know that the proportion of Indians in both countries is not small, and in Bolivia they even account for 70%.

This led to two completely different results. The Indians in the Paraguayan army fought more hard than the Bolivian Indians, and vice versa.

Of course, after a long period of ethnic integration, there are not many pure Indians in Paraguay today. Instead, most of them are mixed-race people of Indian and white immigrants.

In this way, the support battalion is placed in the Paraguayan army, and it is almost impossible to tell the difference between it and the Paraguayans. After all, East Africa is also mostly composed of mixed races.

However, these are not the issues that Gossel is concerned about. Now the support camp is facing difficulties.

"Captain, what should we do with these prisoners and wounded?" asked Wilder, the company commander of the support battalion. "After our count, there are still 177 Bolivian prisoners alive, including some wounded."

Gossel said: "Send a telegram to the rear and let the Paraguayans take over. We can't take part in the next battle with so many burdens, and we can't assign people to stay and guard them!"

The number of people in the support battalion was originally small, so it was even less likely that Gossel would leave his precious troops behind to guard the prisoners.

Wilder asked, "Captain, should we leave at least two people behind to prevent them from escaping?"

Godser said angrily: "Confiscate their weapons, where will they run? The Northern Chaco region covers more than 200,000 square kilometers, but the population is pitifully small."

"Look at the surroundings. Tell me the truth, if it were you, in this wilderness without weapons and supplies, would you choose to run away?"

Wilder's voice stagnated: "I...then I should choose to stay where I am."

The natural environment in the Northern Chaco region is extremely harsh, with almost no human habitation and no abundant resources. Therefore, it would be difficult to survive if one were separated from the main force and logistical supplies.

Therefore, Gossel knew very well that for these Bolivian prisoners, as long as their weapons were taken away, they would be basically no different from harmless lambs.

Gossel ordered: "Move their rifles, machine guns and ammunition onto our trucks. Many of their weapons are German equipment, so we will have some use for them."

"As for these people, leave them here and let them wait patiently for the Paraguayans to take them over. We will continue to follow the map and recapture the next Paraguayan stronghold."

The support battalion's marching route was also carefully selected. It basically followed the military outposts deployed by Paraguay in the northern Chaco region before the war, and moved closer to the pre-war Bolivian-controlled area.

Soon, the disarmed Bolivian prisoners looked at the East African Support Battalion's cars helplessly, driving westward in a cloud of dust, and they were left there.

The Bolivian prisoners looked at each other in bewilderment. After an unknown amount of time, someone finally spoke up: "These Paraguayans just left us behind!"

"Of course not," said a Bolivian officer.

"Sir, now they have left..."

The officer said: "Of course I saw it. What I mean is that they are not Paraguayans at all, but East Africans. Damn, East Africa has also joined the war. Otherwise, how could the Paraguayans defeat us with their level of skill?"

Unlike ordinary soldiers, the Bolivian officer obviously recognized the identity of the support battalion. During previous contacts, he noticed that the clothes and language of these soldiers were obviously not Paraguayan.

Paraguay and Bolivia both mainly speak Spanish, but that group of officers and soldiers obviously did not speak Spanish. Considering the relationship between Paraguay and East Africa, it is not difficult to guess the identity of this army.

However, this is also what makes the Bolivian officers feel that fate is most unfair. After all, how could they have imagined that their opponent would be the East African army.

For Bolivia, countries like East Africa are not on the same level at all. The latter's participation in the war is simply a dimensionality reduction attack on Bolivia.

The soldier asked: "So are we going to run away now?"

The officer said grimly, "Where to run? We don't even have weapons and supplies now. Even if we want to turn back, there is no chance. After all, the way back has been blocked by the East Africans."

"In the entire Northern Chaco region, there are no people, not even ghosts. So even if we run away now, we will probably starve to death. It's better to stay here and wait for the Paraguayans to arrive."

The Bolivian prisoners of war were very depressed. After all, their opponent was an unexpected opponent in East Africa, which was simply a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The reason why East Africa directly joined the war is very simple, that is, for greater benefits.

Bolivia has a lot of resources, especially iron ore, silver mines, tin mines, etc., which are all coveted by East Africa.

East Africa's original plan was to first build the Asuncion-Lima railway, and then gradually control Bolivia's resources through investment along this railway.

But now that Bolivia has ruined East Africa's plan, East Africa will naturally not be polite anymore. According to East Africa's original plan, it still left some dignity for Bolivia.

In East Africa's original vision, it was hoped that the three countries of Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru would be connected through railways, thereby creating an economic belt with railways as the core, and enhancing East Africa's influence and economic interests in the three countries.

Now, Bolivia has declared war on Paraguay without declaring war, which has ruined the original plan. Therefore, facing the ungrateful Bolivian government, East Africa can only strike hard, especially when it has the support of the Americans behind it.

Even if Bolivia cooperates with countries like the UK, East Africa will not react so strongly. After all, the UK is on the decline and will withdraw sooner or later.

The United States is different. As East Africa's largest economic rival in the world, it also poses the greatest threat to East Africa's interests in Latin America.

Bolivia's current behavior is equivalent to choosing sides, and it has chosen the side of its East African opponents. Choosing sides directly will obviously make it more vulnerable to targeting.

...Rhine City.

The war between Bolivia and Paraguay is a direct military confrontation between East Africa and the United States in Latin America. Although there were conflicts between the two sides before, they were mainly based on commercial competition or supporting each other's forces.

This time, the war directly rose to the national level, with Bolivia and Paraguay acting as proxies for confrontation.

Friedrich was not satisfied with this. He said to government officials: "The Asuncion-Lima Railway is an important strategy for the empire to control southern South America, so no one can destroy it. This time the Americans want to extend their hands to the south with the help of Bolivia, and we must not give in."

"The United States has gained a lot in the Americas, especially in the Caribbean. Since the Americans want to go south, we can also make some efforts in the north and encourage the Panamanians to make a claim to the Panama Canal."

The Panama Canal can be said to be a very sensitive nerve of the United States. Now that the United States has taken action in southern South America, East Africa’s counterattack will also use the Panama Canal to warn the United States.

This is a mutual test between the United States and East Africa. For both countries, these are actually "small conflicts". Until there is an overwhelming advantage, this tug of war will continue to exist.

However, East Africa will obviously not be soft-handed on the Bolivia issue. In addition to excluding the United States, what is more important is to crack down on a number of countries in South America, which has been regarded by East Africa as its core area of ​​interest in South America.

For Pacific coastal countries such as Peru and Chile, East Africa will not take a tough stance due to their geographical location. However, Bolivia, as a landlocked country, is very different. After all, the United States only has a navy, and Bolivia has no coastline, which makes it impossible for the United States to play a role in Bolivia militarily.

East Africa believes that its own army is stronger than that of the United States, so it dares to deal with the Bolivians with confidence.

Crown Prince Friedrich went on to say: “After the war, the Empire will also station troops in Bolivia to further expand our control over southern South America while safeguarding the Empire’s interests in Bolivia.”

Bolivia plays an important role in East Africa's management of southern South America. It is also related to the smooth land trade between East Africa and Peru and Chile.

The role that the Asuncion-Lima railway can play in the future is obviously much higher than the Strait of Magellan, and this railway is directly related to the four countries of Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Chile.

As for Argentina, although they border Chile, the relationship between the two countries is not very good. In addition, due to geographical factors, it cannot serve the purpose of connecting land trade.

At the same time, the starting point of the Asuncion-Lima Railway is Asuncion, and the estuary of the Paraná River it passes through is the estuary of the Rio de la Plata in Argentina. This trade route can take into account both Argentina and Uruguay, so there is no need to do anything extra.

……

This government meeting was entirely chaired by Crown Prince Frederick. Emperor Ernst did not attend because he had already left for Vienna to attend the funeral of Emperor Franz of Austria-Hungary.

After the Hungarian Labor Party regime was completely suppressed, Emperor Franz finally passed away, and Rudolf will be officially crowned the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

While Friedrich was presiding over the government meeting, Ernst had already arrived in Mogadishu and was preparing to sail again to Austria-Hungary.

The reason for choosing Mogadishu as a transit point is very simple, which is to reduce the time of turbulence at sea.

With East Africa's well-developed railway network, it is entirely possible to travel from Rhineland to Mogadishu by rail, and this is one of the ports closest to Europe in East Africa.

Today, although East Africa also has an outlet to the sea on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, the local infrastructure is not perfect and transportation is not convenient.

East Africa’s control of the Horn of Africa is a recent development, having previously launched several campaigns against local guerrillas.

In the port of Mogadishu.

Ernst is very satisfied with the current development of Mogadishu. He said: "This is my first time in Mogadishu. The closest time I was to Mogadishu was probably when I arrived in East Africa from Europe, but I did not land here."

"At that time, Mogadishu was just a small town, but now it has become the pearl of the northern Indian Ocean."

Mogadishu is not a big city in East Africa, but it is very well-known on the Indian Ocean coast. If it were not for the limitations of the natural environment, its development might not be worse than that of Mombasa today.

At the same time, Mogadishu is also one of the major modern cities in the world's desert areas. There are also many foreigners in Mogadishu, especially businessmen from Arab countries, Europe, India, the Far East and other regions.

Because Mogadishu is also one of the important commodity export ports in East Africa, almost all agricultural products exported from the Shabelle River Basin and industrial products from the northeast of the empire are largely sold overseas from here.

The city of Kismayo south of Mogadishu is also well developed. These two cities are considered to be the largest modern cities in the Somalia region in northeastern East Africa.

"It's a pity that this trip was rather rushed and I couldn't observe and explore Mogadishu in detail. When I return from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I may stay here for a while."

This time Ernst went to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for two main reasons. The first was to attend Franz's funeral, and the second was to attend Rudolf's coronation ceremony.

The rush of this trip also made Ernst realize the significance of building the North African railway in the future.

If East Africa could build a railway directly connecting North Africa to the Mediterranean coast, communication between East Africa and Europe would be more convenient. Today, the reliability of airplanes is still not high, at least Ernst does not dare to take the risk.

Therefore, he decided to build a North African railway in the future to open up connections between East Africa and the Mediterranean.

In this way, the next time you visit Europe, you can first reach the ports along the North African coast by rail, and then take a ship to the countries on the northern coast of the Mediterranean.

Instead of having to go through the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and then west through the Eastern Mediterranean before finally reaching Central and Western Europe as it does now.

After a short stop in Mogadishu, Ernst finally boarded the ship and embarked on a long journey to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

1929 1 Month 13 Day.

Ernst and his party docked in Trieste and eventually arrived in Vienna by rail, which made him feel deeply moved. In a sense, Europe was also his homeland. Ernst spent his childhood and youth on the European continent, but this time he returned as the emperor of the most powerful empire in the world.

Ernst's arrival also made the European nobles and dignitaries who came to Vienna to pay their respects even more agitated. Today, East Africa is no longer the so-called "barbaric land" in the eyes of Europeans. The name of the Rhine Empire is known to everyone in the world.

(End of this chapter)