Chapter 149 Target: Gate of Hell

Austrian Empire, Vienna.

After staying for a month, Palmerston finally understood the so-called sincerity of Count Korolov.

Palmerston reluctantly bought a "work of art" from a Jewish businessman for 50,000 pounds.

Count Korolov said that since everyone knew so much about art, he didn't mind doing Palmerston a small favor.

He promised Palmerston that the Austrian Empire would withdraw its troops within half a year, which made Palmerston so angry that he wanted to return the "work of art" on the spot, but he couldn't find the Jewish businessman.

In desperation, Palmerston had to ask Count Korolov to do it as soon as possible, and the latter laughed at the former's stinginess and recklessness.

There was no way to return the goods, and Palmerston had no evidence. In order not to further intensify the conflict, he could only leave Vienna first, hoping that Count Korolov would keep his promise.

In fact, Count Korolov did keep his promise, but what Palmerston didn't expect was that the Austrian army was just transferred from Bukovina to Nordsavi.

Bukovina is an important border town in Transylvania, and Nordsavi is also an important border town in Vojvodina.

Graben Street, in the attic of Old Jack's Watch Shop.

Baron Bunoru looked at Talia with some doubts, holding the letter in his hand.

"Namibia? It's a dead land. Many countries have tried to colonize there, first the Dutch, then the Spanish and the Portuguese, but the land there is barren, the natives are barbaric and warlike, and difficult to tame. In 1824, the British gave up the last foothold in Southwest Africa, and now there is indeed no country colonizing there. But who should we buy land from? Who should we sign a treaty with?"

Explorers in the Age of Discovery called Namibia "the gate of hell". Perhaps because of this name, many people are reluctant to go to Namibia.

In fact, the environment of the eastern plateau of Namibia is not that bad, but it is far from the coastline, and most explorers gave up before they arrived.

There are only a few mission stations in the known gathering places for Westerners, but they are often attacked by indigenous people. The total number of white people in Namibia does not exceed 200, most of whom are missionaries and adventurers.

The most important thing is that the narrow coast of Namibia is covered by desert, and the hot and dry climate and a breath of death are overwhelming, which makes people discouraged.

At the same time, there are many problems in establishing settlements on the coast of Namibia, such as lack of food, water, fuel, and even insufficient building materials, and lack of deep-water ports. There is only Walvis Port, also known as Whale Bay.

Baron Brooke's concerns are very reasonable, but what the world does not know is that the coast of Namibia is also known as the Diamond Coast, with rich diamond reserves and extremely high quality. The largest vein is in Lüderitz.

However, Lüderitz is still a barren desert at this time. If you want to colonize Namibia, you still have to occupy the eastern plateau first and obtain stable supplies. This is the best strategy.

"Does it matter who you sign a treaty with? The total number of the Ovambo, Herero, and Mana people does not exceed 50,000, but they have established more than a dozen countries and hundreds of tribes. Maybe they themselves don't know who the coast of Namibia belongs to." Talia said.

"Are you talking about forging a statement?"

"No, it's the Austrian Empire that needs a statement to obtain permission to colonize Namibia."

"But, what's the point? The Austrian Empire has no supply points in Namibia. If a temporary supply point is established, the cost is very huge, and it may take hundreds of thousands of florins."

"Here you go," Talia took out a contract and handed it to Baron Brooke, "Archduke Franz has already purchased the ownership of Walvis Port from the British government for 12,000 pounds."

In fact, after 1824, Britain was forced to abandon Walvis Port because of insolvency. The reason is that nearby Angola and Cape Colony have better deep-water ports and can provide cheap supplies and goods.

However, this still did not satisfy Baron Brooke, he continued to ask.

"But how can we develop the colony of Namibia?"

"We can explore eastwards and find suitable areas for cultivation on the plateau there, then build settlements, and then send explorers and geologists to explore for resources, so that we can solve the problem of resource shortage in Port Walvis."

"But who can guarantee that there must be areas suitable for cultivation on the eastern plateau? There are barbaric and warlike natives everywhere, and many missionaries and explorers have lost their lives there."

"Lord Brooke, what do you think feeds so many warlike natives?"

"." Brooke was speechless for a moment. He realized the problem. He only heard the legend of the barbaric and warlike natives of Namibia, but forgot that those natives also need to eat.

"Don't worry, Lord Brooke. So many warlike natives must have fertile land, otherwise where would they get the energy to cross the desert to attack ports and mission stations?" Talia asked back.

Baron Brooke continued to ask like a curious baby.

"But Namibia is tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Austrian Empire. You can't just ask people to farm there, right? Besides, life in the empire is getting better and better now. No matter how poor a person is, he doesn't want to leave, let alone go to a death zone like Namibia."

Talia took out another treasure map and a parchment scroll. The treasure map was drawn by Franz, and the parchment scroll was written in Latin by Franz.

"Here is a treasure map that records the treasure of Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra), and this parchment scroll records this history."

Baron Brook looked at the treasure map and could barely see that it was a pattern of southern Africa. There were many Xs drawn near Namibia. The parchment scroll looked like it had indeed gone through many years, but the ink seemed to be new.

Baron Brook certainly knew that these were all forged, but as long as they had these, someone would definitely be willing to go to Namibia, and that was enough.

Baron Brook still admired the vision of "Archduke Franz" very much. He wanted to see what treasures were buried in Namibia.

Forged statements and false propaganda are not difficult. Baron Brook is worried about the local indigenous people.

There are less than 50,000 indigenous people living in Namibia, most of whom make a living by grazing. Although there are not many people, there are ten countries, hundreds of tribes, and dozens of languages.

The reason why the indigenous people attack ports and mission stations at all costs is that those white people often rob the cattle and sheep of the indigenous tribes in order to survive, and they naturally fight desperately to survive.

Vienna, Hall of Mirrors.

"My stupid brother, what are you going to do? Go to a desert to colonize?"

"My poor brother, there is no desert in the Austrian Empire yet. Shouldn't we make up for the regrets of our ancestors?"

"My stupid brother, if I send people to colonize a desert, I will be laughed at."

"My poor brother, are you going to give up becoming the first emperor to colonize a desert just because others laugh at you?"

"Okay, I'll listen to you."