CHAPTER 543: CHAPTER 221 JUBA COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING BASE

Capital of the Nile River province, Juba City.

Recently, Juba City has evidently been bustling with activity, marked by the massive influx of workers and Black slaves. The most noticeable feature, however, is the military presence, as the East Africa 311th Division has moved into the area.

To the uninformed, it might seem like a major battle is imminent. However, it’s clear this is a routine deployment, considering Juba is at the rear, and if a battle were to occur, it should be in the north or east. The north is Egypt, and the east is the Abysinnia Empire. But even if East Africa were at war with these two countries, there’s no need to station troops in Juba.

The so-called Nile River province is essentially what’s known as South Sudan plus parts of Sudan in the past. Over the past years, the development of the Nile River province has been rather unremarkable.

The first issue is the geography. As a basin within the highlands of East Africa, the Nile River province is not a particularly hospitable location.

Situated in the tropics, the livable areas in the tropics are contrary to those in temperate or cold regions, where mountainous and highland areas with cooler climates are more suitable for human habitation.

The most typical example from the past is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In this timeline, due to the presence of East Africa, it’s naturally not possible for Brazil to stand alone, but this doesn’t prevent the Brazilian Highlands from being an excellent place.

Therefore, East Africa, a tropical country mainly characterized by highland terrain, is a rare good place. In fact, it is exactly so. Reflecting on major tropical countries in past geographies, they are all highland nations like Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico...

Indonesia might be somewhat special, but its population is definitely concentrated in highland and mountainous areas. This can be seen in the population disparity between Java Island and Kalimantan Island.

The Nile River province, located in the tropics, is a basin and thus quite humid and hot. Such a steamy "cooking pot" environment might not necessarily be better than its northern desert regions.

Although the northern desert is hot, it’s dry. The southern part of the Nile River province is like a big pot filled with water, steaming buns, much like a sauna. An occasional visit to a sauna might be fine, but living in it is naturally unbearable.

Ernst even believes that the northern part of the Nile River province might have a greater development advantage over the south in the future. The first reason is oil, and the second is the Jezira Plain which East Africa eyeing from Sudan for free. It’s as fertile as the land along the Nile River in Egypt, albeit small in area, but it’s easy to develop, saving effort and worry. Currently, most of the population of the Nile River province is distributed in the Jezira Plain in the far north.

Of course, most of the Jezira Plain is located within Sudan (Egypt), and East Africa is not about eradicating everything. After all, they have captured the oilfield areas, and there’s no need to annex Sudan, provided Egypt does not harbor ill intentions towards East Africa. However, given Egypt’s current feeble state, it doesn’t dare to provoke East Africa.

Actually, Egypt used to be quite a robust country, especially during the era of Ali, almost inheriting the position of overlord of the Ottoman Empire in the Arab world. If it weren’t for the meddling of the British and French from behind the scenes, the spokesperson for the Arab world would have changed hands by now.

The fertile Jezira Plain is naturally used for growing grain. Ernst’s agricultural blueprint here consists of two crops: wheat and Egypt’s long-staple cotton.

Wheat is traditionally an Arab product, and although the Jezira Plain falls under East Africa, its climate doesn’t differ significantly from the majority of the Arab regions.

The long-staple cotton business is quite lucrative as the quality of cotton in the German regions isn’t comparable to that in East Africa. East Africa, which has such "soft gold" as long-staple cotton, faces overwhelming demand. Therefore, the cotton planting area in East Africa is expanding, mostly sold to the German regions.

Otherwise, the city of Bulawayo in Matebel province wouldn’t take an interest in this business. The textile industry is very promising, with immense potential, which happens to be both East Africa and the German regions’ shortfall.

The cotton textile industry in the German regions is restricted by raw materials, leading to a focus on heavy industry and railways, whereas East Africa, in need of developing military and heavy industries, aligns its policies with those of the German regions.

This largely depends on Ernst’s perspective, as he favors heavy industry and manufacturing. These two industries are closely linked with military industry, so East Africa’s Central Government also leans towards these sectors in its policies.

As the Central Government has limited resources, local governments have more leeway in light industries, so if Bulawayo City can seize the opportunity, Ernst is also willing to give them a push.

This also correlates with Ernst’s industrial layout. Located inland, if Bulawayo can develop well, it will benefit the balanced development of East African industries.

Admittedly, Bulawayo was already renowned in Africa for flourishing in the textile industry in the past, due inextricably to the local quality of cotton. Although it doesn’t match the finest cotton, it’s still considered premium, especially suitable for making jeans. Zimbabwean cotton-made jeans are also highly sought after in the past, with most of its cotton exported to Europe and America. Hence, its strength is undeniable.

Returning to the Nile River province, the northern climate is markedly different from the south, which leads to distinctly different crops in the southern tropical savannah regions.

Previously mentioned, the Nile River province is a basin surrounded by the Azande Highlands, East African Highlands, and Ethiopian Highlands. These highlands are regions with abundant rainfall, hence various rivers flow from the highlands into the Nile River province. However, the only outflowing river is the Nile River, causing poor drainage and widespread swamps and wetlands throughout the province.

The main cereal crop in the Nile River province is naturally rice, along with various plantation agriculture, though the area isn’t as expansive as in the highlands.

This mainly stems from the mess caused by the numerous rivers and swamps. Any large-scale development of South Sudan would inevitably have to navigate the rivers and wetlands, but East Africa has no such plans because land in East Africa is completely sufficient and rather ample, with no need to tussle with the swamps.

After the 311th Division was stationed, Juba underwent tremendous changes, primarily the construction of numerous military facilities. The most noticeable change for Juba residents has been the establishment of extensive military restricted zones.

Many areas have signs erected with bold characters painted in oil saying, "Military Zone, Unauthorized Entry Prohibited."

Additionally, prohibition signs are thoughtfully drawn on the placards, with the blood-red cross symbol being well-known to East Africans.

The large-scale actions by East Africa here are primarily aimed at constructing an extensive training ground centered on Juba City.

The concept of a training ground is certainly not unfamiliar, with well-known ones like the US Army Fort Irwin National Training Center, Russia’s 42nd Anti-Aircraft Combat Training Center, and the Far East Empire’s Zhurihe.

The Juba Comprehensive Training Base under construction in East Africa is essentially no different from these training fields.

Except, the conditions here are more complex, featuring highlands, mountains, plains (basins), rivers, lakes, swamps, deserts (sandy areas), jungles, savannahs... basically all-encompassing.

Moreover, the Nile River province is a broad yet sparsely populated area typical of East Africa, at least before oil development with limited potential, making it highly suitable for military training.

East Africa places great emphasis on warfare in tropical regions, where you can’t avoid encountering various tropical climate types. It’s rare for such diverse tropical climates to converge in areas like Juba, and even if they do elsewhere, they are not as large. Here, the entire national army of East Africa can train unimpeded.

The most crucial training subjects East Africa focuses on here are tropical jungle warfare, amphibious operations, and mountain training.

These are said to be the three most common types of tropical warfare, and East Africa focuses on developing these combat modes with a straightforward agenda: targeting the Nanyang region.

East Africa has already secured its position in the Lan Fang overseas province. Ernst envisions the future of Nanyang as an essential part of East Africa’s global strategy.

Moreover, warfare in tropical regions is notoriously challenging, harkening back to America’s earlier experiences in the Vietnamese jungles, a lesson always on Ernst’s mind. East Africa naturally must acclimate its forces to this combat mode ahead.

Plus, East Africa itself is a tropical country, with vast national territory, a diverse range of climates, and complex terrain. The defense needs are likewise varied, which is why Ernst is establishing the Juba Comprehensive Training Base.