Chapter 394: Standing Firm
With the war against the Transvaal Republic over, fighting in the South African region continues. First, the 123rd Cavalry Division and the 514th Infantry Division in Pretoria move east to join Felix's troops and launch their campaign against the Zulu Kingdom.
Conquering the Zulu Kingdom not only grants access to abundant coal resources, but more importantly provides an outlet to the sea in the east. In earlier times, South Africa's main coal-export port, Richards Bay, lay abandoned there.
Capturing this port is highly significant for East Africa's security in its southern territories. Once it has seized the Transvaal, the kingdom extends in a long line from north to south. The distance from East Africa's core region (what used to be the East African Federation) down to South Africa is extremely long. But if they manage to defeat the Zulu Kingdom, East Africa can use Richards Bay to transport personnel and supplies by sea.
On the South African lands that East Africa truly controls, Ernst does not plan any large-scale farming. Rather, he intends to promote big ranch-style grazing, similar to northern Kenya.
One difference from northern Kenya is that temperatures here are lower; it's already subtropical, with a cooler climate. It could be East Africa's best grazing land.
At the same time, Ernst also considers developing industry here, relying on the region's rich minerals. Industry depends on water, but annual rainfall in South Africa is lower than in Zimbabwe, especially inland, and fluctuates greatly. In some extreme years it may be only about 400 millimeters.
Water usage is basically for residents, agriculture, and industry. Agriculture consumes the most. If they start large-scale farming in South Africa, agriculture alone might exhaust the water supply.
Moreover, East Africa does not actually need farmland here. First, it's unnecessary right now—East Africa's grain output is already more than enough. Second, East Africa itself has abundant land resources. In Tanzania alone, there are 44 million hectares of arable land (about 660 million mu)—around 30% of India's farmland. Much of it can be double-cropped, so Ernst isn't even planning to open up lands in Tanzania that are of poorer quality or hard to irrigate.
Later on, the southern region can import grain from the north, freeing up water resources in East Africa's southern territory for industry.
Reflecting on the crucial importance of water in industry, consider Shandong Province in earlier times. Shandong was a heavy-industrial province: chemical, steel, coal, and other traditional sectors made up about 70% of its industrial base, with some of the country's highest energy use. Yet Shandong's industrial water consumption was only slightly above 10% of that in Jiangsu, another major industrial province, severely limiting Shandong's industrial expansion. Meanwhile, Shandong was also a large agricultural province, so farming and industry clashed for water, effectively "competing for it." Even the Yellow River's flow had to be rationed.
East Africa's southern territory faces a similar challenge. Ernst's solution is not to develop water-intensive farming there, ensuring there's no water crisis—and possibly some water to spare. Ernst does not believe this region's industry in the future will match the scale of 21st-century Shandong's. Besides, Shandong had a population of 100 million, while the southern territory is unlikely to ever reach that figure. The entire East African Kingdom surpassing 100 million is more plausible.
Since they won't develop extensive farmland locally, they must bring in grain from other parts of East Africa, and maritime transport is cheapest. This highlights the importance of Richards Bay.
Richards Bay's conditions are as good as Durban's, but because of the Zulu Kingdom, it was never developed. The East African Kingdom needs to build it up. Durban is now the political and economic center of Britain's Natal Colony, and East Africa does not yet dare to provoke the British Empire directly.
Besides, while the war against the Zulu Kingdom has just begun, there's also East Africa's campaign south of the Kalahari Desert and north of the Orange River. This area is currently unclaimed and has few native inhabitants, so Mölk's troops advanced smoothly without much trouble early on.
Yet as they neared the Orange River, the East African Army had a small conflict with Britain's Cape Colony.
"Stop! Who are you?"
A group of militiamen blocked the path of the 7th Regiment, vanguard of the 411th Division of East Africa. The 7th Regiment's commander, Naldowicz, was famously hot-tempered. He had no patience for these people.
From his name alone, one can sense a Slavic accent. In truth, Naldowicz was a Croatian from Austria-Hungary. But according to East Africa's policy, Slavs "Germanized" under Austria-Hungary were grouped with Germans, and with his military exploits, Naldowicz rose easily in rank.
Riding his horse, Naldowicz asked, "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"
"This is territory of the Griqualand Republic! If you go one step farther, you'll have crossed our border!" answered a Boer militiaman.
"Damn, how many republics have these Boers set up!" Naldowicz cursed inwardly. He didn't realize the Boers had another "New Griqualand Republic" to the east, meaning they had founded two so-called Griqualand Republics.
He was under orders and had no time to humor them. Instead, he turned it back on them: "Griqualand Republic? I've never heard of it! Everything north of the Orange River belongs to us Germans—why are you on German land?"
That left the Boer militiamen momentarily speechless. Many among them were descendants of German immigrants. If Naldowicz had said this was East African territory, they would have resolutely opposed him. But now he declared it was "German territory." So, were those Boers of German ancestry also considered Germans?
Here we see how Naldowicz's sense of national identity was shaped by East African cultural assimilation. Though originally a Croatian, culturally not far from Austrian life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austrians would never have acknowledged him as German. But after coming to East Africa, he firmly embraced the identity of a "German."
The Boers' confusion over their own identity is understandable. The notion of a "Boer" is not that old. For instance, once the British seized Cape Colony, many Boers of British descent split off and returned to the British fold, making Germans and French a major part of the Boer community.
After hesitating a bit, the Boer militiamen snapped out of it: "We don't care who you are—this is the Griqualand Republic's land!"
Naldowicz snorted: "Griqualand? I doubt anyone in the world has even heard of that 'country.' You're basically stealing the East African Kingdom's land. If you surrender now, we'll forgive your past behavior and ensure your safety."
Hearing mention of some new name "East African Kingdom," the Griqualand militiamen felt unconcerned. They'd never heard of East Africa, so they assumed it was no different from their own Griqualand Republic!
In reality, the two are not the same. The Griqualand Republic didn't loudly announce its founding in Europe, while the East African Kingdom had at least spread the word there. People might not know East Africa well, but at least they'd heard about it. As for the Griqualand Republic, if you asked around in Europe, most would assume it was some tiny tribe or chiefdom in a remote place.
Of course, the militiamen's real confidence was less about whether East Africa was "like them" and more about the fact that last year, the Griqualand Republic had voted to join Britain's Cape Colony. With Britain behind them, who would dare provoke them?
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