Chapter 632 Heading to Europe
After arranging the affairs in East Africa, Ernst was ready to go to Europe. Before that, he also specially investigated the unstable factors. Now all the internal affairs in East Africa are stable and orderly. The only thing worthy of attention is the freedom of Orange. State civil war.
Although the Civil War in the Orange Free State did not affect East Africa, the Orange Free State is a neighbor of East Africa after all. Adhering to the concept of the previous life, neighbor relations are a very difficult issue. Just like a group of countries surrounding the Far Eastern Empire, there will be no fighting for three days. Although the house is covered with tiles, it does not cause much damage, but disgusting methods emerge in endlessly.
The same goes for Russia, but Russia has never been good at dealing with neighbor relations, or is good at dealing with neighbor relations with violence. The use of force is indeed the simplest and most effective method, but Russia is prone to capsize in the gutter. Fortunately, its size as a big country prevents it from suffering too much loss. Big, if Russia had shown a little weakness, those neighbors would have joined forces to eat it alive.
East Africa deals with neighbor relations mainly from two aspects, one is the north and the other is the south.
The neighbors to the north get along relatively well with East Africa. Three colonial regimes (the Congo-Brazzaville colony under Belgian colonization, the Italian East African colony, that is, parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the royal domain of Sigmaringen) all have East Africa behind them. Two Traditional regime states (Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire).
Although Egypt is a semi-colony of the United Kingdom, it still has some autonomy. At least it does not dare to take chestnuts from the fire for the United Kingdom, because East Africa is really capable of taking the Sudan region away from Egypt.
In the south, that is, the British and Boer forces, except for the Orangemen, were basically hostile.
As for the east and west directions, that is, the remaining Portuguese colonies that were cut off large areas of land by East Africa are now completely ignored by East Africa and belong to the piece of land that East Africa will eat at any time.
As for the Portuguese government's large-scale military investment in Mozambique and Angola in recent years, Ernst is not worried, but is happy to see the results, because the East African Army also needs a whetstone to keep it sharp, especially if the army does not blindly maintain its combat effectiveness. After expansion, actual combat is needed to baptize.
"Ernst, when you go to Europe this time, you must call back and take good care of my granddaughter." Constantine reluctantly hugged Princess Jena and said.
Little Friedrich stood beside his grandfather, neither crying nor fussing, not knowing that his parents were about to leave him and go to a country thousands of miles away.
Austria is really far away from East Africa. Even the straight-line distance is more than 3,000 kilometers, and the closest East African land to Austria is the province of New Bavaria (east of the Azande Plateau).
If we consider sea routes, the closest European country to East Africa is Greece. As for Cyprus, it is the territory of the Ottoman Empire, but it has been leased to the United Kingdom by the Ottoman Empire as a base. It is an important node in maintaining the main sea route between Britain and India.
"Father, when I arrive in Austria, I can ask any questions on the phone. Information transmission in Europe is still very developed now, and this trip to Europe is mainly to visit the Queen Mother Sophie and visit friendly countries by the way. We will soon Can come back."
Ernst did not intend to stay in Europe for long. After all, he had to deal with such a big mess in East Africa by himself, so it would not be good to be away for a long time.
"Okay, I won't say any more. This time you go to Europe and take a look at the situation in Hechingen. After all, that is our foundation."
Constantine was still very affectionate towards the Princely Kingdom of Hechingen. After all, he spent most of his life in Hechingen, and Hechingen was also the home of the entire Hohenzollern family. After the Prussian royal family developed, They will also invest in renovating Hohenzollern Castle, and the Hechingen lineage will naturally pay more attention to it.
"Father, let's go then!"
"Go ahead."
Karina took the sleeping Princess Jena from Constantine's arms. Ernst knelt down and said to his son: "Friedrich, stay at home and listen to grandpa."
I don’t know if this silly boy understood it, but Ernst enjoyed the communication process between father and son, but his nose felt sore at the thought of temporarily leaving his father and son.
"Go, I will take care of East Africa and Friedrich for you!" Constantine said.
"Goodbye, father, take care of yourself."
Then Ernst took Karina and Jena on board the boat. This time they went from the First Town Port (Little Rhine Port) to Bagamoyo City, and then transferred directly to Bagamoyo City. The Navy arranged for warships to travel to Europe.
There is another detail in this, that is, the Little Rhine belongs to the Guards Division, and the Guards Division mainly consists of the Army. Therefore, after arriving in Bagamoyo City, the safety of Ernst and his party was taken over by the Navy, but the Guards The naval forces under the division will also send people to board the ship.
The benefit of this arrangement is also obvious, that is, it adds a safety valve to the first town. There are many examples of mutiny in history, most of which were armies. However, after the rise of the ocean, the naval strength of some countries also expanded.
Especially countries such as Britain, Tsarist Russia, and Japan that built their capitals on the coast.
The capital of East Africa is not far from the sea, and is connected by the Little Rhine Channel, so control of the Little Rhine belongs to neither the army nor the navy.
Although the Guards Division belongs to the Army in terms of organization, it is actually a self-contained royal army. After all, the Navy and Army under the Guards Division are fully equipped and have independent command systems and logistics systems.
In this way, the defense of the Central Province was prevented from being interfered by the navy and army, and a stable balance was formed between them and the Guards Division.
…
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, your ship this time is the Friedrich. In addition, you are also escorted by the Otto and Archduke Ferdinand."
"Where is my father-in-law?" Ernst asked. This time Ferdinand and Princess Charlotte also returned to Europe.
"Archduke Ferdinand and his wife are on the Archduke Ferdinand. Archduke Ferdinand usually likes to use the Archduke Ferdinand as a command ship, and this time is no exception."
Compared with the last time from Europe to East Africa, the scale of Ernst's fleet this time was much smaller, but the quality was not the same. Last time, Ernst's fleet still had many armed merchant ships, but this time it was Returning to Europe and directly using ironclad ships as escort formations greatly improves safety and also illustrates the development of East Africa's national strength.
"Karina, please pay more attention to the temperature changes. Our East African sea is in the tropics, so it will be hotter. But in Europe, winter has just passed. It must still be very cold, and Europe is also in a state of seasonal change. After we went there, The temperature will still change," Ernst reminded his wife.
"Well, I understand. The clothes we brought this time are quite complete, so there will be no problem for us all year round." Karina said.
This is the difference between East Africa and the Eurasian continent. If it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it will be fine. Traveling from East Africa to the Eurasian continent will be easy. On the contrary, if it is winter, it will be a bit painful. In the first town, the temperature is still in the 20s. Many degrees, closer to thirty degrees, while temperatures in Vienna may be in the single digits.