African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1235: Chapter 244: Meeting

After a long and weary journey to Fashir, while battling with the Fur people along the way, Johnson was naturally frustrated to find that the East Africans had already seized the fruit of victory.

”Hm, enter the city! I must see what is going on, whether Alidinar’s empty city strategy or if he has defected to the East Africans.”

At this time, Johnson had not yet considered the possibility that Alidinar and his troops had been captured by East Africa, after all, it took him nearly two weeks to travel from Khartoum to Fashir, how could East Africans have possibly finished the battle so swiftly?

Therefore, Johnson presumed that Alidinar, the traitorous scoundrel, had defected to the East Africans, a situation quite common in colonial territories, where weak nations or regions might seek the support of other powers when threatened by one.

Thus, Johnson swaggered towards the city gates of Fashir with his Lobster Soldiers, Headscarf Soldiers, and High Hat Soldiers.

In this timeline, the British Army was slow to change out of the Lobster uniforms, not having the previous history of being humiliated by the Boers, and thus not proactive in reforming.

As for the South African War, East Africa was not to be regarded as the Boers from the previous timeline, and the excuse of non-combat due to East Africa’s overwhelming numbers could easily be made, especially as East Africa’s concessions during the South African War led Britain to develop a misconception similar to past events in India.

The provocative history of India challenging a certain Eastern Great Power and being severely defeated is analogous to the South African War, where East Africa also provided Britain with a graceful exit, leading some in Britain to mistakenly believe the East African Government to be weak and easily bullied.

Such situations are not without precedent; for instance, in the conflicts between France and the Far East Empire in Vietnam last century, France was the militarily defeated party, yet at the time, the Far East Empire chose to submit temporarily.

Of course, that was considered a rather ”pragmatic” approach by the Far East Empire, since France’s military defeat was only temporary and expanding the war could have unpredictable consequences.

However, the South African War was completely different. At that time, East Africa was a thoroughly militaristic country that offered Britain a graceful exit mainly because Ernst wanted a stable development environment, not because East Africa was afraid of war; in fact, the East African military came to relish the prospect of war in the South African War, feeling unsatisfied even when it ended.

Nevertheless, this is something hard for some simple-minded British people to comprehend. This is the arrogance of a Great Power, and while there are clear-headed individuals in the British government, they couldn’t possibly broadcast Britain’s setbacks in the South African War.

After all, Britain, as the world’s leading colonial power, depended on the formidable might of the Royal Navy and the Lobster Soldiers, and as the world overlord, Britain could never allow itself to show weakness.

The other world powers are no sheep; if Britain shows weakness or appears to be in decline, they would only pounce, tear Britain apart, and divide its overseas assets.

Thus, after the South African War, East Africa, and Britain each obtained what they needed; one side wanted to lay low, the other wished to hide the fact of defeat, and both sides tacitly chose not to aggressively publicize the details of the South African War.

This also affected the development progress of the British Army because the South African War did not count as a defeat, and since East Africa wasn’t just any small fry, Britain naturally felt no urgency in taking action.

It would require a defeat by the likes of the small-force Boers from the past to tear off the British Army’s fig leaf, prompting Britain to reconsider army development seriously.

And if the British heart towards domestic army reform was such, then the development of colonial troops was even more sluggish, as the British soldiers led by Johnson were dressed uniformly in last century’s Lobster Soldier attire.

As for the Headscarf Soldiers, they are India’s Sikh people, while those with black cylindrical high hats are Egyptians and Sultanate people, similar in style to the Ottoman Empire, for Egypt and the Sultanate were once part of the Ottoman Empire.

”Stop, who are you!” The East African soldiers at the city gates directly stopped Johnson and his group.

Johnson, a bit perturbed, said, ”You should be East African soldiers, right? This is the Darfur Autonomous Region jointly managed by the British Empire and Egypt, you’ve crossed the line, and this is a provocation against the British Empire.”

Darfur, after all, stood as a nominal British-affiliated power, and the proprietorial attitude of these two East African soldiers certainly irritated Johnson.

What vexed him even more profoundly was that indeed, East Africa had dispatched troops to Darfur. The two East African soldiers at hand could not be underestimated like the worthless subordinates of Alidinar.

The 1910-style desert combat helmet of East Africa is specially developed for desert warfare in East Africa, equipped primarily to the Northeast Military District, with smaller deployments in the Northwest and Southwest Military Districts.

The British Sultanate garrison is already quite familiar with the military helmet used by East Africans, as the East African Border Guards in Jezira City widely use this military helmet, and Jezira City is not far from Khartoum, with frequent interactions among border soldiers of both sides.

The 08-style combat uniform desert version is also a common style for troops deployed in the desert areas of East Africa, equipped to the East African Army in 1908.

The East African military uniform exudes a strong, cheap industrial flavor; one cannot be overly picky about details, but there’s nothing glaringly wrong with the workmanship, and many considerations are made in its design, achieving compromises in price, comfort, and workmanship.

In other words, there are certainly many issues, yet it is undeniably the best desert combat uniform currently in the world.

This is also due to the characteristics of East African territory, with the main threats to East Africa being distributed to the north, where the northern climate, especially in the Northeast, North, and Southwest regions, features numerous deserts, thus East Africa naturally emphasizes desert uniform and equipment design.

Among the world powers, European powers benefit from relatively favorable regional climates; for example, Germany and Austria-Hungary have absolutely no need to consider desert combat needs.

In England and France, only colonial territories might have desert climates, but colonies aren’t the homeland, so it’s acceptable to settle for good enough.

As for the United States, though its west is relatively arid, there are no threats in the western United States; expecting a Mexican invasion would only make Americans laugh.

Japan and Spain need no further elaboration, nor does Russia, which typically treats its soldiers as expendable; thus, even if Russian soldiers have similar needs in Central Asia, the Russian government might choose to ignore them.

This has led to East Africa becoming the world power that emphasizes desert combat the most, and similarly it is most focused on tropical rainforest combat, as both East African homeland and colonies demand such focus.

Aside from clothing and helmets, East African military boots are also specially tailored for desert combat, reflecting the current wealth of the East African military.

There’s not much to say about weapons, after all, the two East African soldiers guarding the gate only have two Mauser rifles, which don’t particularly impress Johnson.

Facing the fierce British officer, the East African soldiers showed no signs of intimidation, even though behind them stood a sizable large contingent.

”From which unit are you, sir?” the East African soldier, Jokic, asked.

Johnson replied, ”I am the Deputy Leader of the British Sudan Corps, Johnson. You probably haven’t heard of me. Call your superior over here, I want to speak directly to him.”

Johnson ranks as the second highest among the British stationed in Sudan, with his superior naturally being the Leader of the Sudanese garrison, also known as the Governor of Khartoum, although the Head of the British Sudan Corps presumably would not personally lead the campaign against the Darfur rebellion.

After all, the Governor must sit in Khartoum to fend off threats from both upstream of the Nile River and East Africa’s Border Guard in Jezira City.

It’s a straightforward logic; the British in the Sudan region pay most attention to and regard as potential enemy only East Africa, for East Africa indeed has the strength to possibly invade Sudan.

Especially when the British mainland is deeply entangled in European affairs, the British colonial government in Sudan should naturally be even more vigilant of threats from East Africa.