African Entrepreneurship Record

However, Robert’s plans were thwarted because he discovered that those Americans had been ’invited’ by the East Africans as ’guests’. Seeing the stern-faced East African militia on the streets of Lihu’e, Robert could only return home somewhat dejected.

At this time, out on the sea, Rog and his companions also noticed something was amiss.

Charles frowned and said, ”Mr. Rog, have you noticed anything unusual?”

Rog pretended to agree, saying, ”I also feel there’s something strange about the sea today, but I can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong.”

”It’s the ships. Although Kauai and the other islands aren’t usually closely connected, ships can still be seen. Yet, we haven’t seen a single vessel so far today,” Charles said.

As they got closer to Kauai, Charles’s mood worsened because there were no fishing boats even, which was very suspicious.

”Mr. Rog, was there anything unusual on the island before you left Kauai?” Charles asked.

Rog did not answer directly but asked, ”Unusual? Mr. Charles, have you noticed something wrong?”

Charles said, ”So far, we haven’t seen even a single fishing boat. It’s too strange. I’m worried that something might have happened on Kauai that we are unaware of.”

Rog said ”worriedly,” ”Before I left, I didn’t notice anything unusual. Maybe it’s just overthinking.”

Charles thought for a moment and said, ”Perhaps, but given Kauai’s situation, even if something major happened, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

Charles believed that in Hawaii, especially on Kauai, which is so close to Honolulu on Oahu Island, no one would dare cause trouble right under the noses of the Americans.

Soon after, the ship finally reached a point where the outline of Kauai could be seen. Although no outgoing ships were observed, there seemed to be no significant changes on the shore, so Charles had the ship continue towards Lihu’e Harbor.

On the island, the East Africans naturally noticed the conspicuous ship. Since the port had been sealed, Lihu’e only allowed ships to enter, not leave. However, only small boats usually came and went, and this ship was large.

Most eye-catching was the flag on the ship, which looked like the British Union Jack. In 1795, Kamehameha I unified the Hawaiian Islands and established the Hawaiian Kingdom, and, admiring the United Kingdom, opted to use the Union Jack as the national flag.

The Union Jack continued to be the national flag of the Hawaiian Kingdom and, in the past, this flag was also the state flag of Hawaii, USA, used for over three hundred years.

Therefore, the Hawaii Republic also adopted the Hawaiian Kingdom’s flag, but the East Africans were naturally unaware of these details.

Seeing the Hawaiian Kingdom’s flag, they instinctively felt a bit guilty, as they were staging a coup and causing a split on foreign territory. But then they quickly realized, wait a minute! Wasn’t the Hawaiian Kingdom already overthrown by the Americans? So, this should be an American ship.

Soon, when the ship docked, it further confirmed the East African officers’ thoughts. A group of burly men disembarked, with red ribbons tied around their necks, marking them as American militia of the Hawaiian Islands.

Charles and his group swaggered ashore, but they were soon dumbfounded when, from all directions, a large number of people and horses emerged and surrounded them.

”Drop your weapons!”

Faced with the fierce East African Defense Army, the American militia dared not resist. Obviously, the other side looked like regular troops, whereas they themselves could not even be considered part of the National Guard. The sharp-eyed among them even saw the dark machine guns already aimed at their side.

The disguised Rog was also on the side, exclaiming in surprise, ”We are American citizens, don’t kill us.”

Watching Rog, who was timid as a mouse, Charles’s mouth twitched. Really, what a disgrace for Americans. Although surrendering was not honorable, the circumstances were overpowering. The other side not only had more numbers but also superior weapons. Naturally, they could only disarm first to see what was going on. Yet, Rog, this ”American disgrace,” was almost wetting his pants, which made Charles extremely disgusted with this ”American businessman.”

But this was exactly what Rog wanted. Now that he was the victim, he naturally couldn’t side with the East Africans, as that would end his career.

...

The next day.

Along with Rog, who was a spy, over nine hundred Americans were deported from Kauai back to Honolulu.

”What’s going on?”

Charles replied with a bitter expression, ”During our coup, the East Africans invaded Kauai and established the so-called North Hawaiian Kingdom.”

”What?”

”How dare the East Africans!”

”...”

Charles’s reply caused an uproar among everyone. Originally, the Hawaii Republic had already considered the entire archipelago to be in their pocket, only for someone to snatch it away—this was infuriating.

”What’s the strength of the East Africans on the island? Are they a colonial group or military? How many are there?” asked Hawaii Republic President Sandford.

Charles: ”It’s the East African Defense Army. I couldn’t mistake that ugly uniform.”

In this era, military uniforms of various countries were quite bright, but the unadorned dark gray uniforms of the East Africans were considered by Charles to be synonymous with ugliness.

”How many of them are there!”

Charles shook his head and said, ”Not very clear, but just what I saw, there were probably over a thousand, equipped with machine guns and other weapons. Clearly elite East African troops, obviously carrying a murderous aura.”

At this moment, Sanders suddenly remembered Rog, who was from Kauai. He hurriedly asked, ”Mr. Rog, with this sudden East African invasion of Kauai, why didn’t you notice anything beforehand?”

Rog replied with a mournful face, ”Mr. President, I’m just a small businessman. Who would have thought East Africa would be interested in a small island thousands of miles away? You can ask everyone about that.”

The everyone Rog referred to were the American merchants expelled by East Africa. They were released together with Charles’s team by the East Africans.

”Mr. Rog is right. Previously, there were indeed many yellow-skinned people on the island, but since Hawaii has so many Chinese and Japanese, including native locals of similar skin color, who would have thought East Africans were among them? And the East Africans seemed to have come from other parts of the island. They probably landed on some part of the island and then took Kauai in one fell swoop.”

”Mr. President, now that we’ve been driven out by the East Africans, you must stand up for us! Our properties are still in East African hands!” Rog loudly complained from the side.

Other American merchants also hurriedly sought assistance. Hearing the chattering, Sandford felt a headache. Just after taking office as Hawaii’s president, such bad luck befell him—who could he reason with?

As for helping them regain their properties, Sandford could only find excuses to delay, as there were East African troops on Kauai, and no one knew if the East Africans might take the opportunity to move south and seize the entire Hawaiian Islands.

Therefore, at this time, Sandford first considered his own safety issue: ”Quickly seek assistance from the mainland, we must have the government negotiate with East Africa, as this is beyond what we can handle.”

The government Sandford referred to was obviously the U.S. government, which confirmed the fact that he was merely a puppet president of the Hawaii Republic.