Chapter 312 The Sword Points at the Abyssinian Empire

Chapter 312 The Sword Points at the Abyssinian Empire

The road to the unification of the Kingdom of Italy was completely blocked, and a lot of territory was folded in, but the population did not decrease accordingly. Therefore, the Kingdom of Italy must find a way out, and now the only way left is colonization.

Emmanuel II was inspired by the East African Kingdom and was also preparing to open a colony in Africa, mainly to solve the food gap problem in the Italian Kingdom.

Although it was temporarily hampered by financial constraints and could not be carried out immediately, Emmanuel II still asked people to start collecting information on Africa.

There was only so much information on Africa, and his men quickly collected the general information and reported it to Emmanuel II.

"Your Majesty, there are almost scattered forces from various countries along the entire coast of Africa. Among them, West Africa has the most advantageous conditions. The British, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch countries are all distributed here. North Africa is the closest to us, but most of them are desert areas and there is no large-scale suitable area. The cultivated land and some oasis areas are controlled by France and the Ottoman Empire. East Africa is dominated by the Kingdom of East Africa and Portuguese Mozambique. South Africa is the British colony of Cape Town. The climate is most similar to mainland Italy, but we can provoke the British. Sorry."

Emmanuel II listened to the report of his men, frowned and said: "It seems that the competition in Africa is also very fierce! I thought it was really a barren land? I didn't expect that there are already so many European forces. "

"Your Majesty, the main reason is that other countries have a great first-mover advantage. Even the small Prince of Hechingen in Prussia can go to Africa to seize large areas of territory. Therefore, the strength of the African indigenous people is evident. Moreover, although these countries have strongholds in Africa , but except for the East African Kingdom and Portugal, the Boers have almost no power to develop the African interior on a large scale, and we still have many opportunities."

Emmanuel II also felt relieved after hearing this: "Do you have any general direction?"

"Your Majesty, after we reviewed the information in Africa and the intelligence of the past two years, after careful analysis, we believe that the Abyssinian Empire on the coast of the Red Sea is a better place that is more suitable for the constitution of our Kingdom of Italy."

Emmanuel II asked: "The Abyssinian Empire? What advantages does it have?"

"Your Majesty, first of all, Abyssinia is located on the coast of the Red Sea and is connected to the Suez Canal, which makes it convenient for us to attack this place."

Emmanuel II: "Isn't North Africa closer to us?"

"Alas! Your Majesty, if it were the original Kingdom of Italy, we would still be able to expand in North Africa, but now we have been greatly weakened. The weakest one in North Africa is the Ottoman Empire, and it has become an existence that we cannot afford to offend. Although the Ottoman Empire Weak, but huge in size. When we were still strong in the past, we might not be afraid of the Ottomans. Now that we have lost nearly half of our country, how can we compete with the Ottomans for national strength? Moreover, if we really conflict with the Ottomans now, I am afraid that Franz of Austria will I will wake up laughing from my dreams at night. Both our countries are facing the mortal enemy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the two sides should maintain good relations and jointly deal with the threat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

The Kingdom of Italy was in danger of subjugation when faced with the ambitious Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire's European territories were threatened by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two countries were in the same boat. Although the Ottomans still have a lifelong enemy - Tsarist Russia, France also exists to the west of the Kingdom of Italy. Historically, France is also a great threat to Italy.

"Secondly, this is the second point I want to make. The Abyssinian Empire has a large amount of cultivated land. In this regard, North Africa is far inferior to the Abyssinian Empire. What our Kingdom of Italy needs most now is Cultivated land, and the cultivated land of the Abyssinian Empire is all ready-made. Their land has been developed for thousands of years. Unlike other parts of Africa, there is uncertainty. As long as we can suppress the Abyssinian Empire with force, That will definitely allow us to continuously import food to the local area.”

The agricultural conditions of the Ethiopian Plateau are indeed good. If the altitude were not too high, it is nearly a thousand meters higher than the East African Plateau, and the level of civilization is too high. Ernst would be moved. High altitude also has the benefits of high altitude. The terrain of the Ethiopian Plateau blocks rain. , with average annual precipitation between 1200mm and 1600mm, it is known as the Water Tower of East Africa.

Especially in the southwest of the Ethiopian Plateau occupied by the East African Kingdom, precipitation remains above 1,300mm all year round, forming a unique rainy alpine plateau climate area.

Of course, it is worth noting that in this time and space, the Abyssinian Empire cannot be equated with the Ethiopian Plateau. In the previous life, Ethiopia as an independent country exclusively occupied the Ethiopian Plateau. Now it is jointly owned by the Abyssinian Empire and the Kingdom of East Africa, but Ethiopia The main body of the plateau is still within the Abyssinian Empire. East Africa only occupies the southwest, and the southeast is a relatively dry plain area.

The agricultural areas of the Abyssinian Empire are concentrated in the northwest area of ​​the Ethiopian Plateau, which is also the foundation of the Abyssinian Empire, making it an agricultural country like Egypt. The Sudan area in the middle is mainly nomadic, and there is only a small area. The agricultural zone depends on the intersection of the Blue and White Nile rivers, and its water volume happens to depend on the water from the Blue Nile River originating from the Ethiopian plateau.

Emmanuel II: "In this case, the national strength of the Abyssinian Empire should not be bad. Are you sure it won't be a hard nut to crack?"

"Don't worry, your majesty. We selected this area naturally with this aspect in mind. This is also the last point we want to emphasize. The national strength of the Abyssinian Empire is not worth mentioning. Three years ago, the British defeated us with very few troops. After breaking the capital of the Abyssinian Empire, its emperor committed suicide due to defeat. The Abyssinian Empire fell into a state of disintegration. At the same time, Egypt in the north was also in conflict with the Abyssinian Empire. The two sides were fighting in the Sudan. Now It was the weakest period in the history of the Abyssinian Empire.”

As a local power, the Abyssinian Empire had several vassal states in the Sudan. This was also the reason for the conflict between Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire. However, Egypt's rule over Sudan was relatively weak and transportation was poor, which affected Egypt's national strength. Strong but there was nothing that could be done against the fragmented Abyssinian Empire.

During Ali's era, Egypt's expedition to Sudan was limited to northern Sudan because of the harsh desert environment. Ali's conquest of Sudan was limited to northern Sudan, and he implemented a restrictive rule over Sudan similar to the Ottoman rule over Egypt.

After hearing this, Emmanuel II was very satisfied: "Sure enough, the natives are the natives. We can't defeat Austria. If you don't believe it, there is nothing we can do against the Abyssinian Empire. What the British can do, we can also do. "

Then Emmanuel II began to prepare the plan for the Kingdom of Italy to invade and colonize Abyssinia, and the Colonial Department of the Kingdom of Italy also began to prepare. Abyssinia was an opponent that was large enough, had a large population, and had superior agricultural conditions. All this is needed by the Kingdom of Italy. Now that the domestic industry and commerce are independent from the Kingdom of Naples, they need markets, and because the surplus population caused by the war also needs land, there is nothing more tempting than invading the Abyssinian Empire.

All forces in the kingdom also actively supported Emmanuel II's decision. After experiencing the disastrous defeat of the second Italian-Austrian War, whoever likes the great ideal of unifying Italy can come. The Kingdom of Italy is afraid of being beaten anyway. Weak opponents like Abyssinia are the preferred target of our Kingdom of Italy.