CHAPTER 410: CHAPTER 87: PRUSSIA IS PLAYING A BIG GAME

The speed of human migration is quite rapid, and East Africa merely accelerates this process, provided there is a sufficient population for East Africa to allocate, which is something Henry Barkley could hardly imagine. Thus, Henry Barkley proposed the north-south river hypothesis.

Without knowing the population size of the East Africa Kingdom, he referred to the migration speed of the Cape Town colony and concluded that the population of the East Africa Kingdom wouldn’t be too large. After all, the East Africa Kingdom had been established for just under two years. Even counting the colonial period, it’s only been a few years. In such a short time, having a population of several hundred thousand in East Africa would be considered quite good.

In this respect, Henry Barkley couldn’t imagine or understand the immense help a national system provides for immigration. East Africa has been operating at a loss for many years, indiscriminately funneling people from Europe and the Far East into East Africa.

This type of government-led immigration strategy is unique in the history of the Western world. Of course, the great migration to East Africa cannot be said to be unprecedented. For example, in the Far East, this has been a tradition from ancient times. A typical example is the Hongwu Migration in the early Ming dynasty and the migration of people from Huguang to Sichuan in the early Qing dynasty. The difference is that East Africa employed maritime migration, while the Far East utilized land migration.

The immigration speed in the United States is also terrifying, but that is built on the unique advantageous conditions of the United States. Moreover, the U.S. currently practices a typical small government approach, with matters like immigration entirely driven by private capital.

As for whether East Africa can assemble tens of thousands of troops from a population of several hundred thousand, it is entirely possible. Most of the immigrants are single adult males, naturally excellent soldiers. Coupled with the conscription capabilities traditionally present in German regions, this is not difficult for the East Africa Kingdom.

Henry Barkley: "No matter how you look at it, the appearance of Germans in South Africa is bad news for us. If they are in the north, they’ll obstruct our future expansion northward."

"Governor, should we stop the East Africa Kingdom?" a subordinate suggested.

Henry Barkley: "Stop them? How? By fighting a war with the East Africa Kingdom?"

"That’s not impossible."

"Hmph, utterly foolish!" Henry Barkley cursed angrily, "Do you think the Germans established their foothold in Africa and expanded into South Africa by relying on force? I ask you, could our Cape Town colony eliminate the Transvaal Republic as easily as the Germans?"

This question left the subordinate speechless.

Henry Barkley continued, "Among the Germans of the East Africa Kingdom, there are likely many retired professional soldiers from Prussia. Otherwise, they would not be able to form a regular army similar to the Prussian one. When it comes to the navy, we British are undefeatable worldwide, but Prussia is presently the world’s number one in land forces. The East Africa Kingdom must also have quite a few retired soldiers from various German states. Their army is likely a reconstruction of the German military forces in Africa."

Henry Barkley even suspected that all of this was secretly orchestrated by Prussia. Prussia had unified Germany and joined the ranks of the world’s top powers. As a world power, how could Germany not be tempted to possess vast colonies?

Henry Barkley continued to speculate about when the Germans in the East Africa Kingdom began colonial activities in Africa, coincidentally right after William I and Bismarck became the new state leaders!

"The East Africa Kingdom didn’t appear out of thin air. Its emergence as a colony coincides exactly with the ascension of William I and Bismarck..."

"Governor! Are you suggesting that the East Africa Kingdom was a pawn planted in Africa by William I and Bismarck years ago?"

"It’s not impossible! Think about it, a political genius like Bismarck is best at planning ahead. Looking back, Prussia’s unification of Germany was inseparable from Bismarck’s strategies at every step. The nonexistence of a German colony does not match Germany’s current status and position, and the East Africa Kingdom was established by the Hohenzollern family. Are all these just coincidences? If the East Africa Kingdom was truly a pawn placed by Bismarck in Africa years ago, it would be terrifying."

Henry Barkley’s speculation was met with agreement from his subordinate: "Governor, I think so too. Colonial costs are extremely high, especially for colonies like East Africa, which have large-scale military setups. To maintain such a military scale, they would need not only gold mines but also backing from a major power. At present, there are no reports of large gold mines in Africa, so the establishment of the East Africa Kingdom must have something to do with Prussia."

Henry Barkley: "It seems William I and Bismarck are playing a grand strategic game. From the moment they took office, they had already set Prussia’s development path and steadily implemented it. The East Africa Kingdom is a crucial move in this grand strategy. Imagine, if the East Africa Kingdom is really Prussia’s proxy in Africa, combined with Austria-Hungary, all of Germany could extend from Europe to the African continent, possibly even severing East-West trade routes."

With mounting anxiety, Henry Barkley could no longer remain calm: "We must contact London and have them probe into Germany. If our speculations are proven true, it would be terrifying."

Henry Barkley was now less concerned about the East Africa Kingdom itself. He believed the East Africa Kingdom was just a pawn in Bismarck’s hands. Any action should be directed at Prussia, the orchestrator.

While Henry Barkley and his men discussed the relationship between the East Africa Kingdom and Prussia, Johnson had already crossed the Orange River and was heading towards Cape Town.

He needed to deliver the news of Griqualand’s annexation by East Africa swiftly to the Governor. The incorporation of Griqualand into Cape Town was one of Henry Barkley’s major achievements during his tenure as Governor of South Africa.

Henry Barkley always aimed to integrate South Africa and include several Boer Republics into the Cape Town colony as a key goal during his office. Griqualand Republic was the first step in this plan; however, now the Transvaal Republic was gone, and Griqualand, which had already been annexed by Cape Town, was swallowed up by the East Africa Kingdom.

One can imagine Henry Barkley’s mood, especially given the disreputable relationship between the East Africa Kingdom and Prussia. Henry Barkley had reason to believe this was an early sign of Germany pushing the British Empire’s influence out of the African continent.

A dozen days later, Johnson finally arrived in Cape Town and described the situation in Griqualand to Henry Barkley, darkening Henry Barkley’s face even more.

Henry Barkley: "This is definitely a provocation against our British Empire. I must immediately report to London, demanding Prussia abandon such provocative acts and withdraw from Griqualand and other places while compensating us for our losses."

This time Henry Barkley was truly outraged. Griqualand was one of his achievements, yet it was so casually disrupted by the German barbarians. When had the officials of the British Empire ever suffered such indignation?

No matter how one sees it, the Griqualand Republic was part of the Cape Town colony, which is British territory. The loss of territory was something that had never occurred in British history.

Therefore, Henry Barkley would never allow such an incident to happen under his watch. However, given the German support behind the East Africa Kingdom, with its formidable military capabilities, this issue was beyond what the Cape Town colony could handle, prompting Henry Barkley to decide to escalate the matter directly to London for resolution.