After the annexation of Lourenço Marquez, the territory of Southern Africa has reached 3.8 million square kilometers. If Southwest Africa and Tanganyika are added, the territory of Southern Africa will expand to 5.6 million square kilometers.
Becoming the largest country in Africa.
The British government is definitely not willing to see this situation arise. A unified, united, and strong Southern Africa is not in the interests of the United Kingdom. Therefore, even if a world war breaks out, the United Kingdom will not let Southern Africa easily replace Southwest Africa and South Africa.
Tanganyika is all in the pocket. Southwest Africa should be the bottom line of the British government. Tanganyika is expected to be very difficult.
But this is not a problem for Roque. Around Nyasaland, the Kingdom of Mozambique is also an independent country. The Fort Glory area in Tanganyika is in a semi-independent state. The large areas of virgin forest in the Congo Free State near the North Sea, although nominally
It still belongs to Belgium, but it is actually controlled by Yaya. The Anglo-Belgian Rubber Company that leases local land has to cooperate with Yaya to develop plantations.
This cooperation is actually the payment of "protection fees." Although the management of the Congo Free State has now been transferred from the Belgian royal family to the Belgian government, large companies such as the Anglo-Belgian Rubber Company do not pay much tax to the Belgian government.
On the contrary, the "protection fee" given to Yaya accounts for about 10% of the total revenue of Yingbi Rubber Company.
Even if you don't pay "protection fees", the Kasai Company that leases land near Lubumbashi is very stubborn and refuses to cooperate with Yaya. As a result, the Kasai Company's plantations are frequently attacked, and many mercenaries who maintain law and order are shot dead.
Managers kidnapped for ransom——
Kasai Company had been stubborn for less than three months, and then the management was completely changed. The first thing the new general manager did when he took office was to ask Yaya for protection fees. As a result, the protection fee Kasai Company had to pay was equivalent to Kasai.
Fifteen percent of the company's total revenue.
The strength and potential displayed in southern Africa are enough to make the British government wary.
If Southern Africa further develops and grows, Britain's influence in Southern Africa will be further weakened.
The key to the problem is that, unlike Australia and Canada, Southern Africa is not a country purely composed of white people. In addition to white people, Southern Africa also has Chinese and Africans, especially the Chinese. This is the reason why the British government wants to win over Rock.
The essential.
Rock is no stranger to the British government. Since the British government is willing to support Rock, Rock will certainly not refuse. When the time comes, Rock will certainly give the British government due rewards. This can prove that Rock
value to the British Empire.
When the convoy set off again, it was much larger. After Xiaosi knew that Rock and Viscount Glaston were "attacked", he personally led the convoy to area 1065 for reinforcements overnight. As a result, Xiaosi, Rock, and Viscount Glaston boarded.
In the same armored command vehicle, three old men were smoking in the vehicle, creating a mess.
At this time, if there were three Chinese people, they would have probably taken out a deck of playing cards and started fighting the landlord.
Stoudemire doesn't play cards, and the topic between him and Rock revolves around the military industry.
"No, all the weapons and ammunition we used in this military exercise are self-produced weapons and ammunition. The arms left over from the Boer War were all sold to the Japanese and Russians a few years ago. This time we sold them to the Italians and the Ottomans.
Human weapons have only been produced in the past few years." The information revealed intentionally or unintentionally in Rock's words made Viscount Glaston secretly frightened.
"The Matilda Reservoir is more than half built, when are you going to move the factory here?" Xiao Si has already tasted the benefits of building a city, and now his attitude is very positive.
The Ministry of National Defense built a garrison for the newly formed First Division and the Northern Rhodesia Division, which directly spawned a large city in Rhodesia. Now Roque is planning to move the arsenal in Nyasaland to Rhodesia. This will
A large city was born.
The name of the previous city was Milna, and the name of the new city is Matilda. Roque is also impartial and evenly treats a bowl of water. This kind of favor is not in vain.
The new factory, or the new military industrial base, is located about 250 kilometers west of Salisbury. In the future, there will be the Kariba Reservoir, the largest artificial lake in the world.
It is definitely not called that now. The name of the reservoir is Matilda Reservoir, which can provide enough power for the factory.
"We'll wait until the reservoir is fully built. Nyasaland's power supply is getting more and more scarce. Little Rock has already begun power rationing. It won't work unless the factory is moved." Roque really misses the nuclear power plant. If there were a nuclear power plant, Roque wouldn't have to go out of his way to build it.
reservoir.
"How many weapons and ammunition can you produce each year now?" Viscount Glaston finally asked the key question.
Britain is also stockpiling arms, but it is not going smoothly. British steel must first meet the needs of the navy, and then it is the army's turn.
In addition, Britain is lacking in local resources, and the raw materials needed for smelting steel have to be imported from the colonies. In the past, southern Africa was the main source of iron ore for Britain.
Before the autonomy of Southern Africa, because of the Fawalt Steel Plant, the products exported from Southern Africa to the British mainland were replaced by pig iron and crude steel. Of course, the price also went up. However, compared with the British buying iron ore directly and then smelting it in the British mainland, it was still better.
Very cost effective.
It was when Rock and Stoudemire were discussing this issue that Viscount Glaston suddenly realized that since Southern Africa also has the ability to produce weapons and ammunition, the British government can purchase weapons and ammunition from Southern Africa without any hassle at all.
The key is that the weapon systems in southern Africa are exactly the same as those in the UK. The rifles use Lee Enfield and the bullet caliber is 0.303 inches. Even the first batch of machines at the Nyasaland Arsenal were purchased directly from the Royal Small Arms Company.
.
And considering the cost issue, because southern Africa can produce its own raw materials, even the weapons and ammunition from southern Africa plus shipping costs are lower than the cost of local production in the UK. This is a good thing for southern Africa and the British government.
.
It is definitely a good thing for southern Africa, but it is hard to say whether it is a good thing for the UK.
Roark would definitely not remind Viscount Glaston that selling arms is always a good business, so Roark was confident: "The output is about the same as the Royal Small Arms Company."
This answer made Viscount Glaston's eyebrows jump wildly.
The Royal Small Arms Company, formerly the Ulsam Abbey Arsenal, has been producing gunpowder since the 16th century. In 1812, it could produce 225,000 musket barrels per year, making it the largest arsenal in the UK.
Nyasaland's military industry has only just begun. When it was first established in 1902, it could only produce bullets. It has only been seven years since it was fully loaded.
In seven years, if this were to be a new arsenal in the UK, the factory building might not have been built yet, but the Nyasaland Arsenal has developed into a behemoth comparable to the Royal Small Arms Company.
In fact, Rock has not told the truth. During this period, the Royal Small Arms Company had only three branches: Royal Artillery, Royal Gunpowder, and Royal Small Arms. They could only meet the needs of the British army for weapons and equipment under small-scale conditions, so World War I
During this period, Britain had to rely on the military industrial capabilities of the United States to continue fighting Germany.
Although Nyasaland's military industry started late, it now has more than a dozen branch factories, which can produce not only light weapons and gunpowder, but also artillery and various types of light and heavy machine guns. The British Royal Small Arms Company also produced
Only then began to build factories to produce machine guns and ammunition.
What Rock did not explain is that compared with the British Royal Small Arms Company, Nyasaland Military Industry has a complete research and development system. In Belgium, Nyasaland Arsenal has cooperated with John Browning and has designed a variety of classics.
Regarding weapons, in the United States, although the Nyasaland Arsenal does not have a direct factory, it cooperates with Winchester to produce weapons and sell them nearby in the United States. Now its sales are hitting new highs.
However, Viscount Glaston did not say anything. Purchasing weapons was a major matter, and it didn't matter what Viscount Glaston said. Now Viscount Glaston's mission is aircraft, and we will talk about weapons and ammunition later.
However, the report submitted by Viscount Glaston to London will definitely mention the military industrial capabilities of southern Africa. As for what London will decide, that has nothing to do with Viscount Glaston.
Rock is not in a hurry. Even if the British government is not in a hurry now, the Nyasaland Arsenal is still working overtime.
The reason why Rock moved the factory from Nyasaland to Matilda was to further increase the output of the arsenal. It doesn't matter if the weapons and ammunition produced now cannot be sold. When the world war breaks out, all participating countries will buy arms from all over the world.
, in another time and space, the United States relied on its war wealth to gradually become the most powerful country in the world after World War II.
Now Rock really wants to try. The United States, the "rebellious son" of the United Kingdom, can eventually become the godfather of the United Kingdom. Southern Africa is now his biological son, so he will also have the opportunity to become his biological father in the future.
Therefore, on the issue of selling aircraft, as long as it does not involve technology, Rock is willing to make another concession. It doesn't matter if the price is lower. It will leave a good impression on the British government that they are working hard to cooperate. Then the British government will think of southern Africa when needed.
.
Play the long game to catch the big fish.
The convoy arrived in Salisbury, Rock and Viscount Glaston, and Xiaosi changed trains to Nyasaland. At Xuanwu City on the shores of Lake Nyasa, Viscount Glaston finally had a deeper understanding of the strength of southern Africa.
understanding.
In order to prove the strength of Nyasaland, Rock placed one hundred and twenty "Strong Wind" fighter jets on the tarmac of the airport on the outskirts of Xuanwu City at one time.
Of course, this is not for the British government, but for sale to the Italians. After showing it to Viscount Glaston, these planes will be shipped to Italy. For these planes and to train pilots, the Italians paid 1.5 million pounds.
