Chapter 1247 Fifty Thousand Square Kilometers

Chapter 1247 Fifty Thousand Square Kilometers

In terms of population, the residents of the Tabernacle are authentic Siamese, which is obviously different from the people in the south who believe in Arabic.

As for trade, although the rise of the Strait of Malacca has greatly reduced the value of the Tabernacle, its importance is still very great.

After all, it is in the hands of Siam, which means that no one can cut off Siam's trade with the East and the West.

At this point, the strategic value of the Tabernacle is very obvious. It is actually an important part of the concept of the "Kra Isthmus Canal" in the previous life.

King Rama VI said: "It is impossible to give the Tabernacle Plain to your country. Except here, other areas in the south can be negotiated."

At this time, Sir Clare of the United Kingdom, who had been "watching the war", also jumped out and said: "Except for the Tabernacle Plain, other places can be given to East Africa. Sir Ande, I think East Africa should also be more considerate of the Siamese government. After all, this is the core area of ​​Siam, and Siam still owes East Africa a large sum of money. If it loses this place, the amount of compensation will also be calculated separately."

Siam owes East Africa 60 million Rhine guilders, and the Tabernacle Plain is the country's financial and taxation center, so Sir Clare's words seem to make some sense.

But this is obviously not his real purpose. The reason why Sir Clare jumped out in a hurry to obstruct Ande.

That's because after analyzing the negotiations between the two, a bold idea popped out from the bottom of his heart.

That's why East Africans are staring at this piece of land. Combined with the terrain of Siam and some rumors, he suddenly thought of a project.

That is the "Panama Canal". The opening of the Panama Canal can be said to be a major historical event, but the time of the opening of this canal was not wonderful. After all, the Panama Canal was officially opened in 1914. So at that time, the world's attention was attracted by the European war of the same period.

And East Africa's aggressive demand for the Bihe Plain this time reminded Sir Claire of the "almost forgotten" Panama Canal.

And the structure of the Isthmus of Kra is very similar to the Isthmus of Panama where the Panama Canal is located.

Does this mean that East Africa also wants to build a sea channel similar to the Panama Canal in the Isthmus of Kra, so as to open up the connection between East Africa and the South China Sea.

Although, just looking at the map of the Isthmus of Kra, it is known that if a canal connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is to be built there, it is no less difficult than the Panama Canal, but what if East Africa really does it!

Sir Claire's idea is definitely not unrealistic, but well-founded.

The reason why Britain can maintain its maritime hegemony, in addition to the strong strength of the Royal Navy, is that it occupies many strategic maritime channels in the world.

The Strait of Malacca is one of them. It can be said without hesitation that as long as the Strait of Malacca is firmly controlled, all trade between Europe, the Indian Ocean coastal countries and the Far East will be subject to the British eye.

And as a new power, will East Africa be willing to be controlled by Britain?

The Strait of Malacca, like the Suez Canal, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Cape of Good Hope, is a strategic fulcrum for Britain to contain East Africa.

So Sir Clare has every reason to believe that East Africa's attempt to touch Siam is for the Isthmus of Kra.

So in order to ensure the interests of the British Empire in the region, Sir Clare is determined not to let the East Africans succeed in their evil plan.

Ander looked at Sir Claire who suddenly jumped out to obstruct and said with some displeasure: "Sir Claire, you promised us not to interfere with this negotiation."

Sir Claire said righteously: "But what I said also has a premise, that is, it cannot threaten the interests of the British Empire."

"And the Bihe Plain is like this. It concerns the security of the Empire's Indian colonies, so I can't stand idly by."

The Indian colonies mentioned by Claire here obviously include the Burmese region. After all, the Bihe Plain borders Burma, and Claire can still make the two related. This naturally caused Ander to complain in his heart. When discussing the Pattani area just now, why didn't you jump out and say that it threatens the security of the British colonies on the Malay Peninsula. After all, Britain also occupies a part of Pattani.

And Ander will naturally not give up his demands because of the so-called security of the British Empire. After all, you have the British Empire behind you, and I still have the Rhine Empire behind me!

Ander said: "Our demands for the local area will never threaten your country's interests in Myanmar. After all, from the perspective of terrain, this place cannot pose a threat to Myanmar."

"The area bordering Myanmar and Siam is obviously higher than the plain area of ​​the Thabi River. You have an advantage in military terms."

As for why Myanmar did not compete with Thailand in ancient times, it was because the core area of ​​Myanmar was too far away from here. Even if it occupied the local area, it would be disunited and difficult to control, and it would be inconvenient to transport materials. In the era of sea power, it was not worried about this, but Myanmar had no chance, after all, Westerners came.

But how could Claire let the Strait of Malacca, the key to threatening Britain's hegemony in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, fall into the hands of East Africans.

Even if there was a possibility of the Isthmus of Kra Canal, Claire would never allow East Africa to occupy it.

After all, the Panama Canal proved that the Isthmus of Kra Canal was not a castle in the air. As long as East Africa was willing to pay the price, the Isthmus of Kra could threaten the status of the Strait of Malacca.

Although Rama VI did not know why Sir Clare suddenly changed his mind at this time, he actively cooperated. In this way, the negotiations came to a deadlock.

In fact, it is easy to understand if you think about it simply. Although East Africa has many colonies in the Pacific region, these colonies have a colonial disadvantage, that is, they are not closely connected with the East African mainland.

And it is the Strait of Malacca that blocks the communication between the East African mainland and the Pacific Fleet. At present, East Africa is unwilling to be hostile to Britain.

And the Kra Isthmus is a very good choice for measures that can avoid Britain and connect the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

In the face of Sir Claire's firm opposition, Ander said: "Your Majesty Rama VI, we can take a step back, but since his Bihe Plain cannot be controlled by us, then other areas, including Wanlun, Phang Nga, Pattani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket... all southern areas, must be handed over to us in East Africa."

"Sir Claire, this is my final compromise. If this "point" demand is not met, then we can only see the outcome on the battlefield."

Ander still made concessions, and this finally made Sir Claire relieved. As long as it is not his Bihe Plain, everything is easy to say.

After all, if the Kra Canal is to be built, it cannot be separated from the Tabi River. Otherwise, the project will be huge and the cost will be too high. At least Claire can't think of any other solution to this problem.

Rama VI wanted to fight for it, but was stopped by Claire with his eyes.

Rama VI certainly felt distressed. After all, although East Africa had modified the plan, they still took too much. That was the land of eleven provinces in Siam in the previous life, a full 50,000 square kilometers, almost equivalent to about 10% of the country's area.

But Claire had no psychological burden at all. After all, as long as he achieved his goal and ensured that the Kra Canal would not be built, it would be enough.

As for the territory ceded by Siam, Claire, as a British, naturally did not feel distressed at all. To be honest, except for the most suitable place for the construction of the Kra Canal, other places were not of much value in Claire's eyes.

Otherwise, Britain would have occupied these areas many years ago, and it would not be so cheap for East Africans now.

This is also true. The 50,000 square kilometers of land acquired by East Africa is not highly developed. There are large areas of mountains, swamps and rainforests. After all, it is in the tropics and the terrain is not high, so it will take time for East Africa to develop the area.

Take the local population for example. The total population of this 50,000 square kilometers of land is probably less than 500,000. This is the highest Ander has guessed.