CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 86 SPECULATION

Realizing this, Johnson no longer bothered with the minor issue of East Africa’s invasion of Griqualand, as Griqualand was merely an economically poor enclave. When he was first sent here by the colonial government of Cape Town, it felt like an exile, and now he could just return to Cape Town.

"Your Excellency Merk, let’s put this matter on hold for now. I must return to Cape Town to report the situation. The final handling of Griqualand’s issue will depend on the decisions made by the important figures in the Cape Town government, so I won’t engage in useless arguments with you here," Johnson said to Merk.

Merk: "Of course, nothing is absolute. Sometimes a misunderstanding just needs both parties to sit down, have an open conversation, and the crisis might dissolve invisibly."

"Yes, there’s nothing that we can’t discuss, which benefits both sides. So, I hope your Excellency can be accommodating, and not make things difficult for us on our way back," Johnson responded.

"Naturally." Merk instructed his adjutant: "Arrange a team for Mr. Johnson and escort them across the Orange River."

"Yes, Commander."

Merk then said to Johnson, "By the way, Mr. Johnson, I must clarify beforehand that our people can only escort you and your team to the Orange River. Beyond the Orange River, it’s no longer under our jurisdiction."

"Haha, thank you for the reminder, General, but the other side of the Orange River is definitely a safer place, I am confident in our own people."

Johnson preemptively warned Merk; all of this was for his own safety. Of course, Merk wouldn’t do anything to Johnson, as he was, after all, an official of the British Empire. If anything happened to him on East African soil, it would truly be a provocation to the illustrious British Empire.

Johnson was anxious to return to Cape Town to report the news. In fact, the colonial government of Cape Town understood the situation better than Johnson. The large-scale military actions of the East Africa Kingdom in South Africa could be heard even by the deaf.

More nervous than the British were the Portuguese. Among the white powers, Mozambique Colony of the Portuguese had the most understanding of the East Africa Kingdom.

The sudden appearance of the army led by Felix in the Kingdom of Swaziland indeed startled the Mozambique Colony.

As the capital of the Mozambique Colony, Maputo lies right next to the Kingdom of Swaziland, so any turmoil in the Kingdom of Swaziland naturally couldn’t be hidden from Mozambique Colony.

The government of Mozambique Colony also knew that East Africa had been active inland, but several native countries lay in between, so they only had a general understanding, like the significant event of the Matebel Kingdom being toppled by East Africa.

But the Matebel Kingdom was somewhat distanced from Mozambique Colony, especially with several countries formed after the split of the Monomotapa Kingdom serving as a buffer between East Africa and Mozambique, providing some sense of security to Mozambique.

However, once East Africa Kingdom occupied Swaziland, it meant that southern Mozambique was directly adjacent to East Africa, with East Africa surrounding Mozambique Colony on three sides.

Yet, the Governor of Mozambique, having some insight into East Africa’s military strength, already knew that Mozambique was no match for East Africa Kingdom, and probably even Portugal itself couldn’t do much against the Germans. Therefore, they chose to lie low, as long as East Africa Kingdom didn’t attack Mozambique, they pretended not to see.

To Mozambique, the military strength of East Africa remained a mystery, but it was indeed strong. Mozambique could deduce East Africa Kingdom’s war capability from the military posts set up along their common border. In the north, East Africa had deployed around several thousand to tens of thousands of troops at the eastern border, which was only part of East Africa Kingdom’s troops positioned to guard against Mozambique, so the total force of East Africa remained entirely unknown.

...

Cape Town.

"According to feedback from merchants returned from Transvaal, the number of troops moved by East Africa Kingdom this time should be in the tens of thousands. Moreover, Natal Colony has sent word of a new force combating the Zulu Kingdom, not the Boers previously encountered. Their attire resembles the military forces from the German regions and seems reasonably substantial. If nothing unexpected occurs, the enemy faced by the Zulus is also the army of East Africa Kingdom. Considering this, the troops dispatched by East Africa Kingdom this time could be around twenty to thirty thousand."

After listening to the report from his subordinates, Henry Barkley, the Governor of the Cape Town Colony, said with a grave expression: "As far as I know, this East Africa Kingdom should be in Tanganyika, north of the Portuguese Mozambique Colony, with its territory covering parts of the Zanzibar Sultanate and some inland areas. But now it seems we understand too little about East Africa Kingdom."

Henry Barkley walked over to an abstract map of Africa and said: "Look here, this is Tanganyika, and here is Mozambique. The army of East Africa Kingdom has reached South Africa from the inland areas, meaning they’ve bypassed Mozambique and seized considerable territory in the interior of Africa, enabling them to reach South Africa by land from East Africa."

The panoramic map of Africa held by the Cape Town Colony was very rough, presenting only the general contours of Africa and detailed information on coastal regions, with a vast empty area in the middle.

In the normal historical trajectory, this era would have seen many European explorers venture deep into the African interior, surveying the mountains and rivers to fill in the sparse middle parts, but this process was interrupted by East Africa Kingdom.

From the colonial period, East Africa Kingdom began prohibiting explorers from Europe from entering. As for those bold enough, East Africa satisfied them with passive disappearances, as Africa is a dangerous place where small incidents were not unexpected.

Therefore, the map that Henry Barkley held offered him hardly any useful information, only allowing speculation that East Africa Kingdom had seized substantial territory nearby Mozambique Colony.

Even though Henry Barkley didn’t know how much land East Africa captured or how they conquered it, he knew the length of Mozambique.

Mozambique’s coastline was about 2,600 kilometers long, and the route East Africa took to reach South Africa from East Africa would have been about the same distance.

However, Henry Barkley was more inclined to believe that East Africa Kingdom had used waterways to expand from East Africa straight to South Africa.

"Between East Africa and South Africa, there is very possibly a north-south river allowing the Germans to achieve rapid military deployment and supply through boats, otherwise I refuse to believe they could quickly expand from the coastal regions of East Africa to South Africa."

While Henry Barkley’s assumption wasn’t completely incorrect, there was indeed a river in East Africa that fit his hypothesis, which was the Luangwa River. However, the Luangwa River was only a tributary of the Zambezi River, reaching at most to the Zambezi River and not directly to South Africa. Moreover, although East Africa conducted navigation on the Luangwa River, the routes were not connected continuously but existed independently in segments.