African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1711 Progress of the Central Asia Highway
Ali's proposal received support from many members of his family, as no one wanted to leave their homeland unless absolutely necessary.

Chief Hussein said, “This is a good suggestion. We should first contact the Italians ourselves. If we can’t reach an agreement, we can then use the connections of the Ottoman Empire to see if they can act as intermediaries between us and the Italians.”

"Besides, we're not the only ones facing this headache; we can also communicate with other factions in Tripoli to see what they're thinking."

The local power in the Tripoli colony was actually quite "fragmented," much like the countries and regions on the Arabian Peninsula before it, with families and tribes being important components.

This was further reinforced after the French colonization, and by the early 19th century, at least the Caramelli family, as the ruling dynasty, had a ruling core.

When the French arrived, they ousted the Caramelli family and seized power for themselves.

Now that the French have left, the people of Tripoli are left without a leader, and as for the "new master," Italy, it is clearly difficult to win over the people at present.

The members of the Karamanli family then discussed some details in more detail, and under Chief Hussein's arrangement, they began to prepare and implement various family matters. At the same time, similar scenes were unfolding in other families and tribes in Tripoli.

However, these major powers have clearly avoided one thing: regardless of the consequences, they have chosen to confront Italy directly.

The Governor's Palace in Tripoli.

At this time, the governor's residence was under heavy guard. Italian soldiers, dressed in khaki cotton uniforms and equipped with Italian-made standard rifles, were constantly on guard against the situation in the streets outside the governor's residence.

Upon entering the Governor's Palace, one must first undergo inspection, with the exception of Italians.

There are actually quite a few Italians in Tripoli. In addition to the colonial government and military, there are also many Italian merchants and immigrants in the area.

Especially in Tripoli, Italians are a relatively common foreign resident.

Italy and Tripoli are separated only by the Mediterranean Sea, and Italy itself is one of the countries with the highest population pressure in Europe. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see Italian businessmen and people working abroad in various places along the Mediterranean coast.

Tripoli, a place almost within arm's reach of Italy, is no exception.

At this moment, Governor Massimi was leaning back on the sofa left by the French. Compared to when he first moved into the Tripoli Governor's Palace, he was visibly more relaxed now.

“Antar, it seems the situation in Tripoli is not as bad as we thought. There haven’t been any serious incidents against the Kingdom in all these days.”

Over the course of several days, the people of Tripoli made absolutely no reaction to the arrival of the Italian colonial government, especially to the “terrorist” incidents that Governor Massimi had previously anticipated.

Antar said to him, "Your Excellency, we cannot let our guard down yet. The local forces in Tripoli are just too slow to react."

“In the past few days, we have also communicated with local citizens and obtained a lot of real information from them.”

“The people of Tripoli are clearly wary of us, not to mention that various terrorist organizations from the former Cyrenaica are active here, and these terrorist organizations are naturally hostile to us.”

"Therefore, the security of the Governor's Office cannot be relaxed easily."

Governor Massimi nodded and said, "These scoundrels are indeed hateful and despicable, and we must guard against their sabotage."

"However, compared to the local Tripoli families and tribal forces, these terrorist organizations are ultimately no match for the powerful."

"Whether we can take over the entire Tripoli colony smoothly ultimately depends on whether the local forces cooperate."

The Italians currently view the local forces in Tripoli and the Cyrenaica resistance as two separate entities. Before domestic support arrives, Governor Massimi is willing to adopt a conciliatory approach towards the original local forces.

When the topic turned to the local powers in Tripoli, Antar's tone softened somewhat, saying, "I think the local powers can be of use to us right now. Three major local families have already made initial contact with us."

"They want Italy to maintain the status quo as it was under French rule and cooperate with us. As you instructed, I did not directly refuse when I met with them."

Governor Massimi's eyelids twitched as he said, "They're smart enough to know what's good for them, but we have our own clear goals for the future of the Tripoli colony."

"The two sides are ultimately not on the same side. For now, in order to keep them in check, we can make use of them. Once we have enough manpower and resources, we can kick them aside."

Having learned from the success of the Cyrenaica and Red Sea colonies, the Italian government's expectations for the Tripoli colony were clearly not just to continue operating it as a colony, but to make it part of Italy, the so-called "fourth coast".

Benito himself regarded the Mediterranean as "our sea," and thus proposed the so-called "fourth coast" concept in the expansion in the Mediterranean direction.

The fourth coast includes Tripoli and Cyrenaica, which is the whole of Libya. Cyrenaica has completely taken on the shape of Italy, and Tripoli is no exception in Italy's eyes.

Since there is a fourth coast, there must also be a first, second, and third coast. The first is naturally the Italian mainland, including the main islands of Italy.

The Second Coast is currently not under Italian control, mainly referring to the French colonies of Tunisia and Alria, which demonstrates Italy's ambitions in these two territories.

The Third Coast is a more specific case, referring to Italy's Red Sea colonies. However, in the previous life, Italy's Third Coast referred to the Horn of Africa, including the coasts of Eritrea and Somalia.

As is well known, the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula, is now part of East Africa and is an integral part of the East African continent. Therefore, no matter how much the Italians might want to do something there, they obviously wouldn't dare to set their sights on it.

Therefore, Italy's third coast became the Red Sea colony, mainly composed of parts of the former Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

Even though Benito himself is arrogant, he can still recognize reality in the face of absolute strength. For example, compared to his previous life, his attitude towards Germany now is obviously much more friendly.

France was clearly not a country worthy of "respect" in Benito's eyes, so it is not surprising that Italy coveted French colonies.

The gap between the two countries is clearly not large enough to make Italy consider backing down.

Therefore, Algeria and Tunisia on the second coast remain key regions that Italy will focus on exploring next.

Before Governor Massimi arrived at the Tripoli colony, Benito had clearly given him instructions, so he had a clear understanding of the colony's future: Italy hoped to turn it into "a second Cyrenaica." This meant that the local forces were of little value to Italy, and they would be eliminated by the Italians sooner or later.

……

East Africa.

Following the Warsaw Conference in late 1938, the major actions taken by Italy and Germany in the Middle East and North Africa undoubtedly attracted the attention of East African governments.

After all, these two places are relatively sensitive areas for East Africa, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are right on East Africa's doorstep. Crown Prince Frederick had a discussion with East African officials about this change.

Ultimately, the matter was dropped, since the areas that Germany and Italy had won through the Warsaw Conference were originally within the sphere of influence of Britain and France, and East Africa had no reason to criticize or interfere.

Of course, more importantly, East African governments now believe that these changes will not pose any threat to East Africa's own interests and security.

Especially Italy, given its national strength, East African officials do not consider Italy a threat.

On the contrary, Germany is more cautious about East Africa.

In the back garden of the Rhine Palace, Crown Prince Friedrich told Ernst: "Officials are mainly worried about Germany. The entry of German military forces into the Red Sea may pose a real threat to us."

"Germany is not Britain. If it grows powerful along the Red Sea coast or even controls Egypt, it will undoubtedly make it more difficult for the empire to plot the Suez Canal."

"At the same time, it will further strengthen Germany's expansion in the Middle East and pose a threat to the Reich's interests in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean."

Although the British currently control the Red Sea shipping lanes, their control over East Africa remains largely unchecked. As time goes on, it will become increasingly impossible for Britain to maintain control of the Red Sea shipping lanes, and their eventual complete withdrawal from the region is now a foregone conclusion.

Germany's entry into the Red Sea and its expansion in the Middle East clearly represent an uncontrollable risk for officials in East Africa. Besides the fact that Germany itself is a force to be reckoned with in East Africa, its geographical location also gives it a clear advantage over Britain in controlling and influencing the Red Sea coast.

After annexing Austria-Hungary, Germany had gained territory in the Mediterranean, and its navy could extend its reach into the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions. Not to mention, Germany also had Italy and the Ottoman Empire as allies.

Ernst, holding a kettle, said, "Once Germany solves the European problem, they will indeed become East Africa's biggest competitor, or even its main threat."

"But Germany is clearly not qualified until it has solved the problems in Europe and become the sole leader in Europe."

Crown Prince Frederick nodded and said, "That's our assessment too. The main thing to watch next is how the situation in Europe develops."

"Compared to Germany, Italy's expansion is not worth our attention. Italy has already occupied western Libya and has officially turned what was formerly eastern Libya into its Cyrenaica province."

Ernst said, "This is a good thing for us. Unless Italy restores the territory of the ancient Roman Empire and assimilates all of its occupied territories, it does not even have the right to have an equal dialogue with East Africa."

"But Italy obviously can't do that. We can also use the Italians to further weaken the Arab influence in North Africa."

"Previously, North Africa was too stable. Britain and France had already established good cooperative relationships with local forces, and the whole of North Africa was like stagnant water."

"It's good to let Benito, this extreme nationalist, muddy the waters."

Ernst verbally called Benito an extreme nationalist, but in reality, he wasn't much different from Benito. In fact, Ernst was a super-enhanced version of Benito, as evidenced by his attitudes and methods towards Black people and Arabs.

Crown Prince Friedrich did not fully understand Ernst's idea, but he did not oppose it either.

He said, "East Africa is indeed not suitable for doing this kind of dirty work right now. The Italians taking the initiative to step forward is indeed more beneficial for us to weaken the Arab influence in North Africa. However, it is still hard to say whether Italy can handle Tripoli."

East Africa's understanding of Tripoli's intelligence was no less than that of the French who had previously ruled the area, so East Africa was even more aware of Tripoli's complex situation than the newly arrived Italians.

Ernst said, "These are all things that will give the Italians a headache, but I actually hope that Italy can successfully replicate their success in Cyrenaica."

"Compared to these matters, what is the current situation of the Central Asia Highway?"

Ernst then steered the conversation to the progress of the Central Asian Highway project, which has been a major focus of his attention recently.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Although we are working hard, the Soviet Union is not very proactive in this regard, so the completion of the Central Asian Highway will probably be delayed until the middle of next year."

The Soviet Union was not unenthusiastic about the construction of the Central Asian highway; on the contrary, it attached great importance to it. However, the reason why it did not achieve the desired results in East Africa can be more accurately described as the Soviet Union selectively constructing the road within its own territory.

The Soviet Union's emphasis on the Central Asian Highway stemmed from its desire to establish a trade route with East Africa, thereby preventing a complete blockade by Germany and the Axis powers should a future war break out.

The main objective of East Africa's road to Central Asia was to open up a route to aid the Far Eastern empires and do some business along the way, so the two sides had different focuses on the road itself.

The Soviet Union was clearly less enthusiastic about aiding the Far Eastern Empire than East Africa, and more importantly, the Soviet Union itself was quite conflicted about East Africa interfering in the Far Eastern Empire.

After all, the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire was now considered by the Soviet Union to be within their sphere of influence. Therefore, the completion of the Central Asia Highway would bring East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire closer together, which could have a significant impact on the interests of the Soviet Union.

Therefore, when the Soviet Union was building the Central Asian Highway, the southern section was progressing much faster than the northern section.

Of course, this is also related to the economic and military pressures the Soviet Union was under. In order to counter Germany, the Soviet Union had to invest the vast majority of its resources in the European part, while the development of Central Asia was somewhat beyond its capabilities.

The fact that the Soviet Union could allocate some resources to cooperate with East Africa in building the Central Asian Highway already showed great sincerity.

Ernst was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with the Soviet Union's progress: "These Soviets are really missing a screw in their heads. The construction of the Central Asian Highway is definitely more beneficial than harmful to them, and can even be said to be entirely beneficial without any harm."

"But now they're still playing dirty tricks and dragging their feet. If we wanted to target them, there was no need for all this complicated stuff."

(End of this chapter)