African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1728 Unremarkable News
After the first day of negotiations, the Soviet officials returned to their hotels to rest, exhausted. Minister Livinov, though tired, was in good spirits.

The negotiations have finally yielded results. At least they learned one thing from today's talks: East Africa and Germany are not of one mind.

Otherwise, East Africa would never have agreed to the Soviet Union's suggestion of cooperation. At this time, cooperating with the Soviet Union would be like throwing a punch at Germany.
Of course, the Soviets were also aware that East Africa would at most remain neutral, and they would not side with the Soviet Union.

Livinov and several Soviet officials were summarizing the day's negotiations when he suddenly said, "I wonder what the situation is like in Europe lately!"

Germany is currently at war with Britain and France, and the outcome of this war will be crucial to the fate of the Soviet Union.

Spiridonov said, "There are newspapers in the hotel; perhaps we can find relevant information in East African newspapers."

Livinov nodded and said, "The war in Europe is the focus of the whole world right now, and it's definitely on the front page even in East Africa. Let's see how the East Africans report on the war in Europe!"

Then, they easily found the recent newspapers on the hotel's newspaper rack.

Unsurprisingly, the war in Europe not only dominated the headlines, but also filled most of the newspaper articles with related news.

The first unfortunate victim has already appeared in this newspaper. Just yesterday afternoon, Germany captured Denmark. On the same day, Germany also launched an attack on Norway. Denmark only resisted for a few hours before surrendering completely. The war in Norway is still ongoing.

Livinov and others were deeply moved when they saw this news. Although Denmark was just a small country, the fact that it was so easily taken over by Germany still made them feel a chill. After all, Denmark was still a country, no matter how weak it was.

Spiridonov said, "Although I had expected this, it still caught me somewhat off guard."

Livinov nodded and said, "It was inevitable that Denmark would be the first to suffer at the hands of the Germans. Denmark's position is already very awkward, making it difficult for them to seek help from outside."

Denmark’s core territory, the Jutland Peninsula, is completely bordered by Germany, and the German army could easily reach it within a day.

Furthermore, Denmark has an awkward problem: its capital, Copenhagen, is located on Zealand Island, not on the Jutland Peninsula.

As the political center, Denmark must allocate significant resources to protect Copenhagen, which inevitably diverts resources from the Jutland Peninsula, leaving it unable to defend both its front and rear.

Spiridonov said, "Germany attacked Denmark and Norway first for two reasons: to maintain its iron ore supply and to break the British naval blockade."

Germany's war machine relied on high-grade iron ore imported from Sweden.

When the Baltic Sea freezes over in winter, the ore must be transported by Swedish railway to Narvik, a port in Norway that is not exposed to ice, and then transported back to Germany via the Norwegian coastal waterway.

This "lifeline" is now exposed to threats from the British sea and air.

Therefore, in order to secure a stable supply of iron ore, Germany first needed to attack Denmark and Norway, two places crucial to the iron ore transport routes.

In addition, gaining access to ports and bases in Norway and Denmark would allow the German navy to enter the North Atlantic, thereby breaking the British blockade and threatening British sea lanes.

At the same time, occupying these two countries would also eliminate potential threats to Germany's flank, since both Denmark and Norway were more influenced by Britain.

Livinov said, "Moreover, Germany controlled the passage between the Baltic and the North Sea, which also influenced Germany's subsequent wars against the Low Countries and France."

"The German Navy can sail west out of the Baltic Sea and pose a threat to countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium from the sea, in coordination with the German Army's operations."

"I just don't know if the Western European countries can hold off Germany. If this war follows the script of the last World War, it will be most advantageous for us."

The Soviet Union certainly hoped that the Western European countries could hold back Germany, and ideally, turn the Western European front into a "meat grinder" like it had done before, so that the Soviet Union could gain greater initiative in the future.

Spiridonov said, "The Low Countries, together with Britain and France, are not much weaker than Germany if they can unite."

"I think they should be able to hold off Germany. Even if the Low Countries can't hold out, the Maginot Line built by France is not just for show."

According to Spiridonov, the most distressed countries in the current war between Germany and Britain and France are the Netherlands and Belgium, which will most likely be the areas repeatedly contested by both sides on the Western European battlefield.

Livinov shared the same view, saying, "The Netherlands and Belgium are ultimately much stronger than Denmark. Their military potential, if it can be unleashed, should be sufficient to cooperate with the British and French forces."

“Belgium, in particular, has more than 700,000 troops, more than twice that of the Netherlands, which can greatly alleviate the pressure on the French.”

Unlike the Netherlands, Belgium, as a victim of World War I, shares a consensus with its government and people: the so-called "neutrality" pledge is worthless in the face of power. The last time Belgium also shouted the slogan of "neutrality," it still suffered a ruthless invasion.

Therefore, in recent years, with the escalating tensions in Europe, Belgium has long since begun to arm itself in advance.

Of course, they did not abandon the slogan of "neutrality," but no matter what conflicts existed between Britain, France, and Germany, whichever country's army first set foot in Belgium was their enemy.

In contrast, the Netherlands still harbors a sense of complacency, having escaped the last world war. Although they were also impacted by the refugee issue, compared to the war, the refugee problem was clearly a minor one.

Even setting aside the refugee issue, the Netherlands profited considerably from the last World War. Therefore, although the Netherlands has also expanded its domestic army this time, they are not as enthusiastic about it as the Belgians.

Livinov said, "If other countries had the same awareness as Belgium, it would have been difficult for the Axis powers to cause any trouble in Europe."

"However, Belgium's mobilization capacity this time is truly astonishing, considering that its entire population is only over eight million! As the war progresses, Belgium's military strength may exceed ten percent of its total population."

Spiridonov then reminded him: "Comrade Livinov, you've forgotten one thing, which is that Belgium still has a colony in Africa, and the Congo Dominion should have provided Belgium with a lot of soldiers."

The Congo Autonomous Territory has developed very well in recent years, almost becoming "the second Belgium". Its level of development is not much different from that of the mainland. The only drawback is that the local population is much smaller than that of the mainland.

Due to the influence of East Africa, the Congo Dominion and Zaire (Congo), which was formerly a Belgian colony, are completely different concepts.

Given the brutality of Belgium's previous colony of Zaire, they probably wouldn't dare use the local Black indigenous people to fight against Germany. There was a possibility that the colonial army might mutiny and defect to Germany on the battlefield. The Congo Dominion, however, is completely different. The local people have "human rights," and in recent years, the rights they enjoy are basically no different from those of the Belgian people.

Therefore, the Belgian government felt comfortable recruiting troops from the Congo.

Livinov didn't have much of an impression of the Congo, but he knew about the country because its territory was quite unique, almost embedded in East Africa.

This is very eye-catching on the world map, which is vastly different from the world map of the past.

That's because of the existence of East Africa. Almost half of Africa is East Africa, a single color block that stands out very much.

In the vast expanse of East Africa, Belgium's Congo Territory stands out, which means it is likely to attract the attention of other countries.

It can be compared to the United States. If a piece of land were carved out on the east or west coast of the United States and turned into an independent country, that place would also be quite "abrupt".

Livinov said, "The Congo Dominion is located in the middle of the west coast of East Africa, and I remember that it is also part of the Congo rainforest."

Spiridonov nodded and said, "That's true, but the Congo Territory is actually quite large, almost the same size as Poland. Its population is probably only a few million, probably because of the rainforest environment."

"However, the Congo Autonomous Territory is developing quite well. The Belgian government attaches great importance to local development, the Congo Autonomous Territory itself has abundant resources, and it is also backed by East Africa, the world's largest industrial country."

"Therefore, the overall development level of the Congo Dominion is in the middle to upper range in the world, which is significantly different from that of ordinary colonies."

“This should be like the colonies of Britain, Australia, and Canada, which have great autonomy and high political status, rather than like India, which is completely exploited and has no human rights.”

"So the Congo region is still very closely aligned with Belgium. However, there are also some unique aspects. For example, the Congo region is greatly influenced by East Africa, much like the relationship between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada."

After listening to Spiridonov's explanation, Livinov said, "In any case, the more trouble we cause Germany, the better for us. The stronger the Congo Dominion's contribution to Belgium's strength, the better."

Afterwards, Livinov continued to read the East African newspapers with great interest. Recently, the East African newspapers were attracting attention not only from the war in Europe, but also from the development of the war in the Far East.

Before Germany declared war on Britain and France, the Far East wars were almost a regular feature on the front pages of East African political news.

Livinov clearly noticed that East African news reports about Japan were too "realistic." This wasn't to say that East Africa was deliberately exaggerating, but rather that East African reports on the Far East war were too objective, to the point that some of the bloody and violent crimes committed by the Japanese invaders were made public.

Western and Soviet news outlets also reported on the Far Eastern empires in a relatively objective manner, but they mostly chose to gloss over them.

Livinov said, "It seems that East Africa's attitude toward Japan is indeed not very good?"

Spiridonov said, "That's not surprising, after all, East Africa is almost a country pieced together by immigrants from Germany and the Far Eastern Empire."

"Many East African officials themselves have immigrant blood from the Far Eastern Empire. Now that the Far Eastern Empire is being persecuted by the Japanese, how could they possibly have a good attitude towards Japan?"

"However, this is obviously a good thing for us, after all, Japan is also a potential threat to our country."

"The worse East Africa's attitude toward Japan is, the better it is for us. As Japan is an ally of Germany, the conflict between East Africa and Germany will also deepen. If East Africa really breaks ties with Germany, that would be even better."

Livinov agreed, saying, "Looking at it this way, the poor relationship between East Africa and Japan is actually a good thing. No wonder East Africa is so enthusiastic about the construction of the Central Asian Highway."

"Comrade Joseph used the Central Asia Highway as a bargaining chip to win over East Africa on the one hand and create obstacles for Japan on the other. In hindsight, it was indeed a brilliant move."

After discussing the situation in the Far East, Livinov and the others paid little attention to other news from East Africa, focusing mainly on domestic news within the region.

At that moment, Livinov suddenly saw an inconspicuous news item in a corner of the newspaper. It contained only a sentence and the time and place: "Our country's first nuclear test was successfully completed in the Kalahari Desert."

This news article was written in German technical terms, and Soviet bureaucrats like Livinov had absolutely no idea what a so-called nuclear test was.

The word "nucleus" is an evolved term for the atomic nucleus, which originated in East Africa from the term "atomic nucleus." Therefore, Livinov subconsciously thought that this might just be a routine scientific research experiment.

If East Africa were described as having conducted "atomic bomb experiments," it would likely attract the attention of those interested, since "bomb" is clearly a weapon.

This vague and sparse news report was thus ignored by the Soviets, and even the people of East Africa themselves were unaware of its value.

Covered up by the war in Europe, news of nuclear tests in East Africa went completely unnoticed.

After all, Denmark being occupied and a cutting-edge scientific experiment that most people in the world have never heard of are obviously more eye-catching.

Even physicists, unless they participated in this secret experiment in East Africa, probably couldn't guess the "value" of this news.

After all, the term "nuclear test" was first coined in East Africa, at least in this time and space. Even if someone could connect the word "nuclear" with the original word for atomic nucleus, they would find it hard to imagine that the so-called nuclear test was related to nuclear weapons.

After all, nuclear tests are not necessarily used for military purposes. They could also be used for civilian research and development, such as nuclear power generation, or even simply for the study of physical properties.

This news also explains why Ernst himself was not in the capital, but rather on an inspection tour in the south, when the Soviet negotiating team arrived in East Africa.

Apart from a very small number of high-ranking officials in East Africa, no one knew that Ernst had traveled to the heart of the Kalahari Desert to witness an experiment that was crucial to the future of humanity and the world order.

Even the news editor of the East African official newspaper in Livinov's hands, namely the editor of Rhine News Agency, felt somewhat baffled by this "incomprehensible" news.

They were only doing this at the behest of their superiors, temporarily reserving an inconspicuous space in the newspaper and adding this ambiguous news item.

(End of this chapter)