African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 505: Chapter 183: Silent Sitting Battle

Kerry had no way to deal with the Songgo fortress, as the entire fortress was like a turtle shell, and the East African army was like a turtle hiding in it, unwilling to come out and fight, causing a stalemate between the two sides.

This frustrated Kerry, who had only fought profitable battles in the French army. He had never faced such a predicament, but he was even more resentful towards the Portuguese in Mozambique. A colony is just a colony, unable to make a mark.

The inexperienced Kerry finally understood why colonial countries and regions could be so easily defeated by Westerners. It wasn’t just an issue of equipment; the problems with people and systems were also significant.

The Portuguese were so incompetent, yet they could still firmly control such a large area of land. One could only imagine how pathetic the original local native regimes must have been.

However, the performance of the East African army was indeed impressive, especially in terms of fortresses and military equipment. Despite being a colony, they were far superior to the Portuguese in front of him.

So Kerry muttered to himself: ’Colonies are also divided into ranks. The United States, which has already gained independence and developed rapidly, should belong to the first rank. After all, its size and economy firmly mark it as a world power. India should belong to the second rank because, without India, the British couldn’t have overshadowed the French. Similarly, Brazil is in this tier because without losing Brazil, Portugal wouldn’t be considered outside the scope of the major powers in Kerry’s eyes. Australia, Canada, and Algeria in France should belong to the third rank. East Africa should also belong to this tier, and as for the enduring colony of Cape Town, it should barely count, although Cape Town is suppressed by East Africa, so it can’t fully exert itself.’

Kerry’s categorization was quite interesting because the United States, Brazil, and East Africa were already independent countries. So in Kerry’s view, all regions outside Europe were synonymous with colonies, which was the arrogance of old Europe.

Of course, if Ernst knew Kerry’s thoughts, he would quite agree. Although these three countries have gained independence, they haven’t achieved economic independence. They still rely on old Europe to live. Only the United States and East Africa can look to develop themselves, but once they are kicked out by old Europe, their development will be far from satisfactory.

After two days of unsuccessful attacks, Kerry was quite depressed, but Luo De was unbothered, watching the drama unfold.

Kerry: ”Captain, I’m afraid that I can’t break through the Songgo stronghold alone. Do you have any good ideas?”

Luo De: ”What? Are we not going to fight anymore! If you ask me, I’ll say just let these Black people keep charging. We and the Germans will keep consuming each other. Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to lose Black people.”

Kerry was speechless: ”If our forces were ten times that of the opposite, maybe this could work. And although Black people’s lives are cheap, they can’t be squandered randomly. We must recognize that it wasn’t easy to train these Black people with dedication. It’s easy to send them to the front, but making up for them later will be difficult. We don’t have that much time to train another batch of Black people.”

In the eyes of the Portuguese, the Black soldiers they trained hard were just cannon fodder, which frustrated Kerry somewhat.

While this view isn’t entirely wrong, Kerry believed that the Black soldiers trained by the French were high-grade cannon fodder and couldn’t be compared to untrained Black people, indicating that France’s training shouldn’t be dismissed as ineffective.

Luo De was unfazed: ”As long as our reasons are sufficient, it’s understandable not to achieve results without heavy weapons to capture the Songgo fortress. Who knew East Africa would build a turtle shell in such an uninhabited land? Without heavy weapons, we can only rely on manpower to fill the gap. Black people are inherently an inferior race. They can’t learn the skills of European soldiers. The Germans on the other side have many white people, so the war dragging on to this point is understandable, and it’s understandable that we can’t produce results.”

Luo De’s rhetoric clearly showed an intention to slack off, but upon a closer look, it seems Luo De, the Portuguese, hadn’t done anything but slack off since the war broke out.

Curious, Kerry asked, ”Captain Luo De, you are Portuguese, and Mozambique is your Portuguese colony. If we lose Mozambique in this war, won’t you be upset?”

When Kerry, who had always looked down upon him, suddenly posed an honest question, Luo De waved his hand and said: ”What does this have to do with me? I was just a local security officer in Maputo before, doing the usual police work. Suddenly promoted to an officer, I’m naturally not as professional as a career soldier like Mr. Kerry. Besides, being a soldier in Portugal is just a job for me. Since it’s a job, it can be replaced. If Mozambique is lost, so be it. I’ll just find another place to work. I was a cobbler back home, handy skills won’t let me starve. In fact, all these years in Mozambique, I haven’t earned much more than when I was a cobbler in the homeland. I was just deceived into coming to Mozambique.”

Luo De: ”In Mozambique, I could be a landowner, couldn’t I? Your land is seized from the Black people, so even if I can’t be a big landowner, I should at least manage to be a small one.”

Luo De: ”What’s the use? As I said before, my family has been cobblers for generations, and I can’t farm. Moreover, can Mozambique’s land compare to Europe’s? Where would I sell the crops grown? And without capital or technology, I can’t develop the land.”

Much of Europe’s land was developed, fertile soil, while Mozambique’s land was mostly undeveloped. The first couple of years of farming could yield some good produce on naturally fertile land formed over millennia, but it wouldn’t last long, and developing new land poses significant challenges.

Moreover, Mozambique has a long history as one of the earliest African colonies, so most land there is already owned. Especially after East Africa cut off Mozambique’s expansion routes, new immigrants to Mozambique in recent years have had no chance to benefit and get a bite of the action.

Kerry: ”I heard that wages in the colonies are relatively high. You shouldn’t be struggling like this, should you?”

Luo De: ”Whether someone’s struggling, you don’t get to decide. It’s the colonial higher-ups who decide that. Although our income is somewhat higher, it’s not much above the factory wage in Europe. And don’t you spend money? Prices here are much higher than in Europe. Earning money in the colonies also means risking your life.”

Though Luo De’s salary was relatively small, accumulated among tens of thousands of similar salaries, it became quite significant. This sum is also a major expenditure for the Mozambique colonial government. So, although going to the colonies is about making money, there are always people finding ways to empty the wallets of folks like Luo De.

Of course, not everyone waiting around like Luo De is like that, but there are quite a few similar individuals. Especially sailors, who are willing to spend money the most. The economic prosperity of the open districts in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa relied precisely on the consumption of passing merchant ships and sailors. There really isn’t anywhere to spend money when you’re not spending it. The sea is an ultimately perilous place, and along with the broad horizons of sailors, their extensive experiences make them more indifferent. Spending money, an external possession, becomes pragmatic.

After hearing about Luo De’s personal experiences, Kerry didn’t find the Portuguese, who had been digging pitfalls for him all along, as an annoying character anymore.

Kerry: ”You’re right. Anyway, we’ve got enough reason to shirk responsibility, so let’s not do futile work. We’ll slowly wear down with East Africa.”

Luo De was quite gratified as a young person was being led onto the right path by him. Fighting and killing aren’t good.

Thus, Portugal and East Africa at Songgo entered into garbage time. The two sides tacitly fired a few shots without any other ado, just to hear the sound. Later, when the Portuguese saw East Africa fully content just remaining in the Songgo fortress, they even stopped firing. Instead, they stared at each other wide-eyed, starting a sit-in battle.

However, the East African army wasn’t learning from the Portuguese to slack off. They were holding back anger inside. If not for the commander restraining them, they would have already charged out to annihilate the opposing side.