xymnovel Chapter 1102 - 111: Final Plot—The Persian Gulf
Chapter 1102 - 111: Final Plot—The Persian Gulf
In short, the area near the Red Sea route is one where the United Kingdom will never allow East Africa any chance of expansion, as this is one of the United Kingdom's bottom lines. Because East Africa already has certain advantages due to its proximity to the Red Sea, if East Africa advances further, the British-controlled Red Sea route would indeed be in danger.Thus, India and Australia are certainly untouchable, Nanyang cannot be moved due to the Malacca Strait, the surroundings of the Red Sea even more so, leaving the only operable area as the coast of the Persian Gulf.
Ernst affirmed Sivert's judgment: "Correct, if the United Kingdom were to truly abandon a region, the large probability would be near the Persian Gulf. Of course, if the United Kingdom would indeed give us such 'useless land', we wouldn't necessarily have to accept it."
Although the Persian Gulf holds an extremely important strategic position for the United Kingdom, the situation is stronger than men right now. The current idea of the British government is not solely to expand its hegemony but also to consider how to delay its decline.
This point is not aimed at East Africa, but at the current economic powerhouse of the world, the United States. The development of the United States has already made the British government realize that the idea of monopolizing world hegemony is not realistic, and given the size and industrial capability of the United States, the United Kingdom really has no means to handle the United States as time progresses.
And now, with Japan and East Africa joining in, the United Kingdom's situation is even more difficult. The reason why the United Kingdom supports Japan is essentially a reflection of declining hegemony. Japan's role is not only to balance Russia and the Far East Empire; the United States and East Africa are also reasons for the United Kingdom to support Japan.
This, to a certain extent, has already shown that in the competition in the Far East, the United Kingdom cannot hold up alone and must find proxies and allies to share the pressure, after all. The United Kingdom is naturally aware of the wolf ambitions of Japan, but besides Japan, the United Kingdom has no other choice.
And, just like the United States, East Africa is a component that's hard to shake off. In the past, the United Kingdom didn't refrain from implementing oppression against East Africa, but just like the newly independent United States, due to geographical reasons, the United Kingdom simply couldn't find a leverage point to curb East Africa.
For this reason, the United Kingdom even entered the fray in the eighties to fight a battle against East Africa, the result of which was naturally less than satisfactory. In collaboration with Portugal and the Boer, they were eventually defeated by East Africa.
However, the greatest advantage of the United Kingdom lies in knowing how to make trade-offs, which is the most important distinction from many irrational countries. This also allowed the British hegemony to extend until after the end of World War II.
Now, the United Kingdom practically adopts similar methods with East Africa, Japan, and the United States, which is to be willing to compromise. For the United Kingdom, still a world overlord, this is undoubtedly a wise choice. A general government simply cannot achieve this, which is why the United Kingdom could remain in the position of world overlord for so long.
Ernst said: "For us, if the British government can offer a piece of land as our operational area along the Indian Ocean Coast, it would count as a pleasant surprise. So no matter the value of this land, even if it is desert, we can accept it, of course, provided that this desert is located along the Persian Gulf coast."
Ernst finally expressed his thoughts, also alerting the East African government officials that the Crown Prince has a favorable view of the land along the Persian Gulf coast.
In the eyes of East African officials, although the land near the Persian Gulf, except for the Two Rivers region, is almost all useless, the Persian Gulf is indeed a relatively important strategic point in the world. If East Africa can secure a foothold near the Persian Gulf, it would already count as a pretty good start.
During this Era, more people have yet to recognize the value of the land along the Persian Gulf coast. Of course, for countries like the United Kingdom and Russia, the existence of huge strategic value in the Persian Gulf would not be wrong. While Russia needs an outlet to the sea, the United Kingdom aims to open the land passage to India.
As for its economic value, it can practically be ignored. Those oil-rich countries of the past simply didn't exist. Locally, it almost revolved around nomadic tribes, with eating being a significant problem.
This is the point Ernst leverages in plotting for the land along the Persian Gulf coast. While the oil and gas resources along the coast have not yet been discovered on a large scale, finding a stable "oil barrel" for East Africa is particularly important for the future development of East Africa's economy and industry.
With the current development of the automotive and oil industries, East Africa's oil consumption has reached a rather astonishing level, while the domestic oil and gas resources development in East Africa has not progressed smoothly. Though it can meet domestic needs, East Africa must find a stable, large, and low-cost oil-producing region to face the rapidly growing consumption.
And the coast of the Persian Gulf is undoubtedly the easiest area for East Africa to plot for, which is why Ernst previously made great efforts to disrupt the local situation, all for paving the way for East Africa's industrial development.
Ernst said: "Currently concerning the Persian Gulf Region, my idea is to acquire a piece of land from the British. If the British only give us desert-type useless land, it's not unacceptable, but the area must not be too small, and it should come with a corresponding coastline. Of course, during the negotiation, we must not reveal our bottom line."
"It's impossible for the United Kingdom to offer us land of great value, so let's not have high hopes for this. We can interfere with the British's sight by making some excessive demands, then guide the final result to what we want."
"Simply put, our bottom line is to obtain a large area of land along the Persian Gulf coast, even if it's desert, it must be big enough. As for which part the British are willing to give, that's not our consideration but looking at the British's sincerity."
For Ernst, no matter where finally obtained along the Persian Gulf coast, it would greatly benefit East Africa. As the region richest in world oil resources, possessing a sufficiently large area there necessarily entails the existence of oil resources, even at the seabed of the Persian Gulf.
And, regarding Ernst's words, East African officials did not feel abrupt. As Ernst stated, unless the British are out of their minds, they would never allocate good land to East Africa. The British would undoubtedly only give the useless land to East Africa; on this foundation, it is not excessive for East Africa to ask for a larger area.
Regarding the coastline issue, it's well explained, without a coastline, according to the surrounding environment of the Persian Gulf, even if East Africa receives these regions, not invading grains from the homeland means only able to consume sand.
"Let's do it this way! In the negotiation, we pick some areas the British would never agree to, like the surroundings of the Red Sea or places near the Malacca Strait as a test. The final result will certainly circle back to the Persian Gulf coast, after all, only there the British can barely accept."
Although important to India, compared to the Red Sea route, the Persian Gulf pales utterly in significance. The Persian Gulf is merely a segment in the concept of controlling India via land proposed by the United Kingdom, whereas the Red Sea route and the Cape of Good Hope route are fundamental to the United Kingdom's control over India.
Apart from preventing East Africa from moving north along the Red Sea, the United Kingdom also has a huge demand for the Red Sea route itself. Taking the experience of World War I in the past, the United Kingdom needed to source troops and massive supplies from India to respond to the European battlefields, and most of these supplies were implemented via the Red Sea route and the Cape of Good Hope route. After all, the Ottoman Empire was part of the Allies camp back then, so the supposed land passage was unimaginable, and the land transport costs were overly expensive.
As for the Malacca Strait, one could say that Malacca monopolized most of the trade between the Far East and Europe, and the United Kingdom could not joke about it, so ultimately only the coast along the Persian Gulf falls within the bearable range of the British psyche.
Of course, if the United Kingdom really agrees to relinquish part of the sphere of influence along the Persian Gulf coast to East Africa, it would be exactly what Ernst desires. Years later, when East Africa exploits the oil of the Persian Gulf, the British during a review might even pound their own thighs to blue.