Chapter 898 Tete City

The Far East War had a huge impact on the regional situation, but the overall impact was much smaller than in the previous life, and Ernst was not optimistic about the Far East Empire's short-term situation.

Take its northern navy as an example. Although it was not completely wiped out this time, the loss was not small. After all, its naval strength was much stronger than the same period in history. On this basis, its naval losses were not much different from those in the previous life. After all, the size was large. In summary, the specific losses of the northern navy this time were 70% of those in the previous life.

As a country, Japan's naval strength was actually a little stronger than in the previous life. After all, its reference was the Far East Empire Navy. When the Far East Empire Navy increased the number of warships, the Japanese government would follow up, but due to financial pressure, it only borrowed three more main battleships from the UK than in the previous life.

After the war, Japan could only make up for this loan from Korea. After all, the compensation of the Far East Empire this time was only one-tenth of that in history, but Ernst was happy to see it happen.

Ernst had no hatred towards North Korea, but he definitely had no good feelings towards it. Moreover, if Japan increased its exploitation and oppression of North Korea, it would inevitably cause fierce resistance from the North Korean people, which would further increase Japan's colonial costs.

Although North Korea's combat power was worrying, it was not comparable to the natives of Africa. The natives of Africa had 40% of the strength of North Korea. Ernst's East African colonization strategy was difficult to implement at the time. Moreover, during this period, North Korea was actually a populous country. In the late 19th century, the population of the Korean Peninsula had exceeded 17 million, which was more than the population of the Abyssinian Empire, but its land area was nearly 100,000 square kilometers less than that of the Abyssinian Empire.

Of course, North Korea was unlikely to overthrow Japan's colonial rule. This was not Ernst's nonsense. In the past, North Korea overthrew Japan's rule mainly by external forces. If it relied on North Korea's own strength, it would probably be difficult for North Korea to be independent by the middle of the next century. Secondly, North Korea was too close to Japan, and the gap in strength between the two was significant, which was also the reason why it was difficult for North Korea to overthrow Japan's rule.

Therefore, Ernst was generally satisfied with the pattern formed by the Far East War. Even if Japan developed, it would not be as rapid as in the past, but Ernst also did not want Japan to be too weak.

If Japan is too weak, East Africa will have to worry about the problem of Tsarist Russia's dominance like Britain, and Japan will still be a pawn to leverage the situation in the South Pacific and the Pacific in the future.

East Africa is quite dissatisfied with the international situation in the South Pacific region. Except for the Lanfang overseas province and a completely non-existent Balabac Island, East Africa's influence in the region is very weak, even less than that of the Netherlands and Spain.

If you don't look at the area of ​​colonies, East Africa's influence in the region is even less than that of Portugal. Although Portugal only has East Timor, a major colony in the South Pacific, Portugal has been rooted in the region for hundreds of years, and the influence left is still considerable.

In addition to these countries, Britain and France have an overwhelming advantage in the South Pacific region, especially Britain, relying on India as its base camp, controls the main areas of the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific except the coast of East Africa.

So Japan is a good fighter, and the United States in the past life also saw this point, but the United States did not expect that Japan's combat effectiveness was so amazing that it could actually push back the US territory.

...

Tete City.

Tete is one of the important cities in East Africa in Mozambique. Its economy and population even rank above Maputo and Beira, making it the fourth largest city in the entire region.

The top three are all port cities, including Pemba, Nacala and Quelimane.

The common point of these four cities, including Tete, is that after the First East-Portuguese War, they were incorporated into the territory of East Africa along with the entire Mozambique north of the Zambezi River, and Tete was the main battlefield between East Africa and Portugal.

After being incorporated into East Africa, Tete has made great progress, evolving from a desolate commercial base to an emerging city in the region.

Although Tete is located inland, it has excellent regional conditions. First of all, it is located on the banks of the Zambezi River and is the shipping demarcation point of the Zambezi River. Tete can directly reach the Indian Ocean.

Secondly, Tete is sandwiched between the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone and the Central Industrial Zone in East Africa, so the economies of Mbeya and Harare can radiate to Tete.

Finally, the most important point is that Tete is rich in natural resources around it, including coal, bauxite, rare metals and iron ore.

In summary, Tete is not only a regional center, but also an important transportation hub, and an important industrial and mining city in East Africa. The only thing Tete lacks at present is the railway, but it will not be a problem after the construction of the Quelimane-New Frankfurt railway is completed.

This is a trunk railway, and on the branch railway, the two major industrial zones headed by Harare and Mbeya intend to build a railway through Tete, so as to realize the linkage of the two major industrial zones in East Africa. Of course, there is also the idea of ​​using Tete's resources to promote the development of the region.

After all, the coal and iron ore resources around Tete are very rich, which may not be valued by Matabele Province, but it is very important for South Salzburg Province.

Of course, as a city with superior conditions, the Tete Municipal Government naturally has its own ideas. Since the natural endowment is superior in the whole of East Africa, why can't it be replaced? Its goal is to become an important national city like Mbeya and Harare.

With such ambitions, in early 1895, the Tete Municipal Government once again sent a team to cities such as Mbeya and Harare.

This time, the Tete Municipal Government planned to build the largest aluminum processing and manufacturing center in East Africa based on the newly discovered bauxite resources in the region. As for its plan to build an aluminum smelter locally, it was rejected by Ernst.

As for the reason why it failed before it succeeded, it was also because aluminum smelting is extremely polluting and industrial, and is generally chosen in the lower reaches of the river and far away from residential areas.

Tete is located on the north bank of the Zambezi River. Although it is also in the lower reaches of the river, the Zambezi River is one of the four major rivers in East Africa, and its lower reaches are not small. Moreover, the lower reaches are the key agricultural development zone reserved in East Africa. If Tete City builds an aluminum smelter locally, the river banks more than 400 kilometers downstream of Tete City will be miserable.

Therefore, the aluminum smelter was finally located in the town of Xinde at the mouth of the Zambezi River. After the aluminum smelting is completed, it will be transported back to Tete City for secondary processing by water, and the sewage will be directly discharged into the Indian Ocean, which will pollute the rivers and coastal soil in East Africa.

Moreover, there is another advantage of deploying industries on the coast, which is to save the cost of imported bauxite in the future.

Of course, aluminum smelting, like steel, relies on local resources, but when the future economic development and the world market or the era of globalization arrive, it must be mainly imported raw materials.

After all, although the bauxite resources in East Africa are also rich, they are still a little worse than those of the world's advantageous production areas. The reserves alone are not at the same level.

At the same time, building an aluminum smelter in Xinde can also drive the development of the Zambezi River Estuary. Although the port conditions of Xinde at the mouth of the Zambezi River are much worse than those of Beira, it has its unique economic value as the intersection of the Zambezi River and the Indian Ocean.

Among the four major rivers in East Africa (Nile, Congo, Orange and Zambezi), it is the only estuary port with certain shipping value.

The Nile River estuary is in Egypt, while the Orange River is a boundary river. The lower reaches are mainly desert and sparsely populated, and the lower reaches of the Congo River are also not navigable.

This highlights the importance of the town of Shindai. There is basically no obstacle to shipping from Shindai to Tete. It flows through the coastal plains of East Africa and is one of the few river sections in East Africa with high shipping value.

Of course, although the East African central government rejected the proposal of Tete City to build an aluminum smelter in the city, Tete City naturally cannot give up completely.

Therefore, the Tete Municipal Government intends to rely on the Zambezi River shipping to bring the aluminum from Shindai back to the city for secondary processing. It is highly feasible and can drive the development of many industries.