CHAPTER 285: CHAPTER 272 FIRST CONTACT

The Kingdom of Italy was in a mess due to the Austria-Hungary disturbance, and France was not much better off. However, compared to the Italian government, the newly established Third French Republic’s actions were disgraceful.

The French defense government attempted to conspire with Prussia to prevent the revolutionary movement from continuing to develop. They had already begun secret negotiations with Bismarck. At this time, under pressure from the French people, they were forced to strengthen the defenses of Paris, but when the German army advanced toward Paris, it was as if they were entering a land of no defense.

...

Southeastern Botswana.

"Across the river is Boer territory!" Jacob said as he looked at the gently flowing Limpopo River.

The Limpopo River was the destination of this southern expedition. It originates near Johannesburg, South Africa, then loops around in the Botswana region before twisting east into the Indian Ocean.

The entire river is divided into three sections: the upper reaches with small tributaries, mostly intermittent rivers; the middle section cuts through the mountainous edges of the South African plateau, with many waterfalls and rapids and shallows; the lower reaches are river plains.

The lower reaches of Mozambique were not the target of the East African Kingdom. The East African expeditionary force watered their horses by the middle and upper banks, and the Limpopo River could serve as a natural geographical boundary.

In fact, it was the East African Kingdom using the Limpopo River to cut off the former Botswana and Zimbabwe from Boer influences.

"Yes, Boer farms, although much of it is wasteland, the land they’ve marked out is quite large. If not for the Limpopo River blocking their expansion path, it wouldn’t be our turn to occupy here." Staff Officer Boer replied.

"It’s not that they can’t cross this river, but there’s no need. These Boers, their population is too small, and it’s even more arid and barren to the west, coupled with the threat of the British, they can’t really spread out their forces, so most of the population is still concentrated in the east."

"The nation the Boers have set up across the way is the Transvaal Republic, merged from a few small Boer states as recently as 1849. To the south, there’s another Boer nation, the Orange Free State Republic. The two countries are divided by the Val River, the largest tributary of the northern Orange River."

"Though the Boers are mainly descended from the Dutch, there are also quite a few German immigrants, but most are those old Germans."

The so-called old Germans specifically refer to Germans who emigrated from the German regions to various parts of the world before 1865, because the East Africa colonial team landed in Dar es Salaam exactly in 1865.

Since 1865, German region immigrants have gradually become inclined towards East Africa. By now, over eighty percent of German immigrants each year have become East Africans.

The main reason for making this distinction is that East Africa is a country where German culture is mainstream, while Germans who emigrated overseas before 1865 went to non-German countries, excluding colonies.

The Germans of the Transvaal Republic are like this. However, this facilitated the East African Kingdom in obtaining the desired information within the two Boer Republics.

The language of the Boers is primarily Dutch, which is also their only written language. Although Dutch is relatively similar to German like a local dialect, understanding Dutch in East Africa, unless you’re an immigrant from the North German region, is quite challenging. This is because the official language of East Africa is the Southern German dialect, which itself has some differences from the Northern German dialect. Overall, the East African language is closest to Bavarian, and Austria is similar.

Therefore, East Africa’s intelligence personnel in the Transvaal Republic and Orange Free State Republic mainly obtain intelligence from their old German compatriots.

The Boers have not detected this. If the Boers were to reverse the operation to gather intelligence on East Africa, it wouldn’t be impossible. However, they can only obtain limited information from the free ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. The worst part is that the two Boer Republics have no access to the sea.

While Jacob and Boer were talking, suddenly a group of people appeared across the river.

"Are those Germans on the other side, are you sure?" Vincent asked his subordinate.

"Yes, their attire is very similar to the Prussian army’s, except for the hats, I’m sure because I served in the Prussian army." Buckhaus answered.

"That can’t be right! You can’t possibly say the Prussian army is appearing in Africa, especially in our inland western areas. Did they fly over?"

Vincent, being a native Boer, grew up in South Africa and most of his knowledge of Europe came from his parents’ stories or news brought by new immigrants.

And Buckhaus was a Prussian immigrant who came over from the German region to make a living on Vincent’s father’s old farm.

So, Buckhaus was considered an old German by East Africans. He arrived in South Africa ten years ago. Not only the East African Kingdom but also the glorious achievements of Prussia’s invasion of France were not very clear to him.

"While that may be true, those clothes don’t lie. It’s really unlikely that the British would be dressed like that here." Buckhaus said.

"It would be better to go over and ask. Since they might be Germans, I’ll leave it to you." Vincent said to Buckhaus.

"No problem." Buckhaus replied.

Soon.

Buckhaus spurred his horse to the riverside and began to cross the river under the watchful eyes of East African soldiers. Because there were only a few people in Vincent’s group and Buckhaus carried no weapons, they let him across.

Botswana typically doesn’t get much rainfall, especially since it was the dry season, and the upstream water of the Limpopo was shallow. Thus, it was easy for Buckhaus and his horse to cross the river.

"May I ask where you come from?" Buckhaus asked in German.

"The East African Kingdom Army, Fifteenth Division, Twenty-third Regiment, Third Cavalry Company. I am Staff Officer Boer."

"I haven’t heard of the East African Kingdom, but judging by your attire and your accent, you should be from the German region. Do you have any relation to Prussia?" Buckhaus asked.

"The East African Kingdom, like Prussia, is an independent country. We are not Prussians, but we all belong to German states."

Hearing this, Buckhaus was somewhat relieved. He dismounted and walked forward a bit, saying, "Hello, I’m German too, from Prussia. However, I’ve been in South Africa since 1851, so I’m not very well-informed about the current European situation. Could you tell me more about the East African Kingdom?"

Buckhaus couldn’t fathom how the East African Kingdom could be related to Germany. However, given the fragmented state of Germany, it’s not impossible for a new state to emerge. It’s just unclear why, as a German state, they are appearing in South Africa, and the name East Africa surely implies it’s East Africa, again seemingly unrelated to Germany. Buckhaus’s mind was full of questions.

"You’re a Prussian? Very well. I used to be from the Kingdom of Württemberg. My name is Jacob, and I’m the commander of this unit."

"So we are indeed compatriots. That’s excellent. Commander Jacob, I’m curious as to how you’ve come to be here?"

At this point, Boer spoke up, "You must be from the Transvaal Republic across the way!"

"Yes, geographically speaking, the land across the river belongs to our boss’s ranch. Today we went hunting there and saw you, so they sent me over to ask."

"Well, then it’s simple. You can go back and tell your boss that the land on this side of the river now belongs to the East African Kingdom. It would be best to inform your acquaintances across the river to avoid any misunderstandings in the future."

"What!" Buckhaus was completely bewildered. Wasn’t this the Land of No Master? When he crossed the river, it suddenly became claimed as territory by the so-called East African Kingdom!

"The East African Kingdom means exactly what it says. Due to geographical reasons, our country uses this name. Also, you should tell people in the Transvaal Republic not to try anything sneaky, we’ve deployed tens of thousands of troops along the Limpopo River line. Of course, the East African Kingdom has no intention of offending the Transvaal Republic. You can regard us as border guard troops," Jacob explained.

"But, this is South Africa!" Buckhaus understood this was a new country and it’s likely a German colonial establishment, but he still couldn’t see the connection between East Africa and this region.

"Haha, when you heard about the East African Kingdom, it should have become clear. We have incorporated this place into East African territories, so whether it’s South Africa or anywhere else, it’s now part of East African land," said Jacob.

Just then, Buckhaus, Vincent’s father, returned and Vincent asked eagerly, "Did you find out?"

"Yes, they’re from a new country called the East African Kingdom. They claim that the land across the river is now part of their territory."

"What! What right do they have?" Vincent demanded, perplexed. He hadn’t developed the western lands due to a lack of manpower and now couldn’t believe they were claimed by an entirely new country.

"Yes, they said so just now. I don’t know how else to explain it. They’ve supposedly got tens of thousands of troops along the Limpopo River. It’s better not to act impulsively!"

"Thousands of troops? That’s hard to believe!"

"It may not be, but those few hundred cavalrymen across the river aren’t fooling around, so it’s better not to act rashly," answered Buckhaus.

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