African Entrepreneurship Record

After all, although East Africa’s development is strenuous, once its population and land area grow, its economic scale will naturally multiply. Moreover, East Africa has early deployments in various industries, seizing the initiative in multiple fields, and its national financial situation is not worse than many established countries.

The advantage of established countries lies in their long history of development and wealth accumulation. Although East Africa hasn’t had time to accumulate wealth, it has its own advantage, which is that much of the African continent was previously undeveloped, so these resources haven’t flowed out of East Africa. These resources, especially high-value mineral resources like gold and diamonds, naturally benefit East Africa directly.

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In early spring, the weather in Jiaozhou alternates between warm and cold. Although parts of the region are already blossoming, for the Jiaozhou sailors, this kind of weather is even more torturous than winter.

During the change of seasons, many locals find it hard to bear, let alone the military instructors from East Africa, Claire herself fell victim.

”Achoo…”

Liu Fulong asked worriedly, ”Lieutenant Claire, you seem to have caught a cold. Can your body handle it?”

Claire wrapped her cotton coat around herself and said somewhat listlessly, ”It’s not a big deal. The weather in your Far East is unpredictable, so I didn’t adapt quickly. Actually, when I was a child in Württemberg (Germany), we had similar weather, but later my family moved to East Africa, where winter isn’t harsh and summers aren’t scorching. Going to a high latitude area is a bit hard to adapt to.”

In other words, East Africa’s climate is so comfortable. Take the various bases of the East African Navy, none are in high latitudes. The northernmost North Hawaii and Ryukyu Islands are tropical.

Moreover, these two places aren’t friendly to the navy, including Lan Fang Overseas Province and the eastern islands of East Africa, which have typical tropical rainforest climates and are quite hot. Coastal port bases like the mother port Bajamojo are more comfortable due to the overall climate influence of the African continent.

Of course, although Alaska is a typical frigid region, its army system is independent and unrelated to the East African Defense Army, having its own system akin to a domestic Guard Division, but the Guard Division at least nominally belongs to the East African Defense Army system.

Therefore, the Alaska Navy can only be said to share origins with the East African Navy. As for when they’ll merge, it would have to wait until Alaska formally becomes a colony or overseas province of East Africa.

Furthermore, the Alaska Navy only has a few fishing boats, which are insignificant. After all, it’s hard for East Africa to support Alaska, so it’s better to develop more army units, which would at least have some self-protection capability.

”Haha, East Africa is quite similar to the southernmost part of our continent, where there’s also no winter. Occasionally, we’ll have the opportunity to go south for military exercises or exchanges.”

Liu Fulong has some understanding of East Africa, but it’s not comprehensive. In this era, East Africa is like a bamboo shoot just emerging from the ground, not many people know about it. If not for the influence of the South African war, East Africa might not be as well-known as some small countries among the world populace.

As for East Africans, even Claire doesn’t fully understand East Africa, since the East African Government has never publicly disclosed much important data. Up to now, countries rely on speculation for East African statistics, like land area, population, city numbers, railway mileage, etc.

To many countries, the suddenly rising East Africa is both familiar and unfamiliar. Even the East African Government needs to adapt. In ten or twenty years, East Africa might undergo significant changes again.

Claire said, ”Anyway, this won’t delay military training. Once I get moving, my body will warm up.”

Liu Fulong reminded her, ”Are you still going to lead the team personally? Don’t push yourself. If something happens to you instructors, we won’t be able to explain to the East African Government.”

Claire waved her hand and said, ”Our government has a good relationship with your country, plus this is our own decision, so even if something goes wrong, it’s not your fault. Moreover, if we can’t overcome such small issues, why be in the navy? The military is inherently a place for hardship.”

This is why Liu Fulong admires Claire and other East African military instructors. They lead by example, creating unity. If our country’s people had this awareness, there’s no doubt the Far East Empire could rise again.

Therefore, he straightened his posture and solemnly said, ”Lieutenant Claire, you truly embody what it means to be a soldier, and as a commander, I can’t lag behind. I’ll personally drill the soldiers to build a strong Imperial Navy.”

In the Far East Empire Navy, a commander is equivalent to a ship’s captain. Being an ancient civilization, the Far East Empire’s military system carries a distinctive historical legacy.

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Despite the good intentions of Claire and Liu Fulong, their efforts rarely resonated with the lower-ranking sailors.

”What on earth did that White-faced Yama say to the captain today? Training in this cursed weather, it seems we have the heaviest training load in the whole fleet, right?”

White-faced Yama is Claire’s nickname among the Far East sailors. Her training is rigorous, without favoritism, and all officers and men under the Wuwei Ship have suffered under her ”torture,” similar to the Living Yama. Because Claire is white, she’s dubbed White-faced Yama.

”Sigh, don’t even mention it. Being a soldier is all about serving the officials, but this Lieutenant Claire sometimes makes a good point: only our own strength can ensure our survival on the battlefield. Though it seems peaceful these recent years, things are actually in upheaval internationally. Great Britain and France have been conquering lands worldwide, and even Lieutenant Claire’s country had a conflict with Great Britain. Great Britain and France invaded Zijing City back in the day, so they might come back. Just like Lieutenant Claire said, more sweat in peacetime, less blood in wartime.”

”Wang Fugui, flattering Lieutenant Claire won’t earn you White-faced Yama’s favor. The hardship remains the same.”

”I’m just stating facts. Lieutenant Claire may not be savvy in social nuances, but at least he trains with us, which is better than those officials who only talk. No wonder the soldiers trained by foreign instructors win battles. With such instructors, they may not be favored, but they earn respect.”

Wang Fugui expressed what was truly in the hearts of the Jiaozhou sailors. To lead troops in battle, officers need to command respect. It’s not reasonable for them to hide in the rear, indulging in wine and music, while these soldiers fight bloody battles against foreign enemies!

Look at those European armies. Though aristocratic officers have their flaws, most lead the charge in battle. A bear leads a den; even if poorly equipped, they wouldn’t lose completely.

Amidst the various voices of Jiaozhou sailors, Claire didn’t relent, believing that this kind of weather training on a ship is utterly necessary. The weather is unpredictable, and the waves are quite rough today. Adapting to this environment will help better handle unexpected situations on the battlefield.

Therefore, under Claire’s suggestion, Jiaozhou Fleet went to sea for training ”again.” The reason for ”again” is that the Jiaozhou Fleet has the highest rate of activity in the entire Beiyang system, despite being the latest formed fleet in the system.

This has led to the formation of a unique ”East African” faction within the Far East Empire Navy, with other factions like the ”UK” and ”Germany” factions based on instructors’ nationalities.

Compared to the UK and Germany instructors, East African instructors hold a significant advantage in that many East Africans speak Chinese. At least the current dispatched military personnel can communicate without barriers, allowing a better understanding of the Far East Navy’s personnel circumstances and developing more scientifically-based training targets according to the Far East Empire’s national conditions.