Chapter 388: Chapter 65: The Security Situation in First Town
After spending two days in Soron City, Ernst finally arrived at First Town City, where Constantine personally led the ministers to welcome him.
Seeing his father safe and even doing quite well in Africa, Ernst immediately felt a sense of belonging: "Father!"
Constantine: "Ernst, you’re finally here!"
Ernst: "Father, how are you doing in Africa?"
Constantine: "Not bad, other than not being able to see old friends from Europe, there’s not much difference."
Ernst: "That’s good. I was always worried that you wouldn’t adapt to East Africa’s environment."
Although the climate in East Africa is quite favorable and even very livable, the issue of acclimatization remains difficult to solve, even in later generations.
In his past life, Ernst had experienced it too. As a native northerner, when he went south for college, the first month was quite challenging for him. Ernst, who rarely got sick, suffered from continuous colds and fevers. Later, once he got used to the south, he realized it was likely what ancient people referred to as acclimatization issues, with humidity being the probable culprit.
However, the experience in the south wasn’t entirely bad for Ernst. The frequent trips between north and south made working in East Africa easier for him, feeling virtually no difficulty. Compared to the climate differences between East Africa and the northern-southern regions of the Far East, East Africa was a breeze.
In his past life in Africa, the biggest concerns were diseases and war. Luckily, East Africa is relatively stable in the African context. Still, diseases are unpredictable. Most Africans scorn hygiene and science, making them carriers of many diseases, especially HIV. The inability to control one’s desires means exposure at any time.
However, thanks to Ernst’s measures, diseases in East Africa have been reduced to a very low level, even more livable than traditionally favored places like Europe and Asia.
Historical patterns tend to follow similar trends. Initially, the most suitable places for human habitation were Egypt, Babylon, the Indus River, and the Yellow River, all slightly arid areas with loose soils, easily accessible irrigation resources.
As productivity increased, habitable areas expanded to moist regions, with developments in Europe, the Ganges plain, and the Yangtze River basin.
By the industrial age, habitable areas further expanded to colder regions: Germany’s Ruhr area, Russia, the Northeast, Canada, and the Great Lakes Region were all high-latitude locations.
In the 21st century, humanity began venturing into tropical regions, developing places like Brazil, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Meanwhile, traditional countries continued expanding southward. The Great Lakes region in the US became the Rust Belt, the Northeast declined, the Ruhr area declined, and Russia saw population loss from the Siberian region...
Overall, humanity expanded from the equator toward polar regions, then returned towards the equator. Yet, the most livable areas remain at mid-low latitudes north and south.
With Africa’s unique plateau topography, East Africa becomes one of the less-traveled, livable tropical areas, and Ernst merely accelerated this trend.
Thus, Ernst was quite concerned about Constantine’s adaptation to the climate in East Africa. From the current perspective, most people can adapt, which is promising for East Africa.
Other important officials in East Africa also came forward to pay their respects. They were quite familiar with the heir who commanded from Europe for years. East Africa’s upper echelon was divided into three: mercenaries who had some encounters with Ernst in Europe, students from Heixinggen Military Academy—Ernst’s loyalists, and employees of Heixinggen Financial Group.
Among these groups, Ernst had minimal direct communication with the mercenaries. Others were quite familiar with him. And since the mercenary group was a minority, after Ernst interacted with East African ministers and officials, he moved into Sweet Palace.
Old butler Kino inquired about his son’s situation: "Your Highness, do you know how Tom is doing in Europe?"
Ernst: "Uncle Kino, rest assured, Tom has always been my capable assistant. Now, he oversees the financial group’s operations in Europe for me."
Kino: "That’s reassuring. I’ve always worried he might cause you trouble."
Ernst: "Of course not. Tom is like half a brother to me. It’s only right to look after him."
Hearing Ernst’s words, Kino felt reassured. Serving the Heixinggen royal family was a generational duty for his family, and also a stable livelihood.
Subsequently, Ernst’s "treasures" and luggage, under Kino’s arrangement, started to be cataloged and were orderly placed within Qivite Palace.
Qivite Royal Palace isn’t much larger than Hohenzollern Castle built on the mountain, with similarities in style. It looks like a military fortress, not forgetting its original purpose.
However, Qivite Palace doesn’t match Ernst’s ideal image of a political center. After all, this isn’t the medieval era, where rulers reside in castles guarding against wars.
Qivite Palace was initially built considering First Town City’s close proximity to the sea, necessitating security concerns. The capital most similar globally to First Town City would be Beiping in the Far East.
Beiping had Tianjin Guard defending against naval threats, while Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula at the ends of Bohai could restrain invading foes, providing significant defensive advantages to Beiping. However, the Far East’s navy was weak, and their land forces were also lacking, rendering such a natural defense line almost useless.
First Town City lies on the southeast bank of Little Rhine River, flanked by Bajamojo City and Dar es Salaam City in the east, forming a mutual defense. An enemy wishing to attack First Town City must capture one of those cities first.
But this is difficult as Zanzibar Island’s military control is in East African hands, and the strait between Zanzibar Island and East Africa is less than fifty kilometers wide.
East African Kingdom deployed coastal artillery on both sides of the strait, effectively sealing it off. Without access to the strait, attacking Bajamojo City and Dar es Salaam City is wishful thinking. Additionally, East African naval base being right in Bajamojo, ready to counterattack at any moment, makes it almost impossible for anyone to launch a naval landing near First Town City.
With the coastal defense system Ernst designed growing more robust, East Africa’s coastlines, especially around Central Province, are almost impregnable. As long as East African troops remain prudent, given the state of warfare in this era, invading First Town City from the sea is nearly impossible. Of course, there might be a chance if the world’s leading navy like Britain risked everything.
This highlights Zanzibar Island’s importance. Without it, East Africa couldn’t achieve this. Therefore, Zanzibar Island must be incorporated into East African territory in the future.
Security-wise, First Town City isn’t much of a concern, but it can only serve as East Africa’s temporary capital. This is the result of East African Kingdom’s continuous expansion. If East Africa only encompassed the lands of the previous East African Federation (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi), then First Town City would suffice as the capital.
However, East African Kingdom has extended beyond to Central Africa, Southern Africa, and even the northern edges. To maintain national unity and foster future development, East Africa must relocate its capital, with Zambia and southern Congo being the most probable choices.
East Africa, unlike the US and the Far East with concentrated economies in the east, or Russia concentrated in the west, doesn’t have narrow territories like the UK mainland. Thus, the future capital must connect most East African regions with convenient transportation. Given East African territory’s consistent climate and evenly distributed resources with similar conditions, only the east boasts maritime advantages. Yet East Africa might become a two-ocean nation, so the future capital built in East Africa’s geometric center area would be most suitable.