The strongest fortress was always breached from within. Naturally, Governor Delphi understood this simple truth. From the beginning, he was not prepared to fight the Austrians in Africa.
Perhaps the Royal Navy could suppress the Austrian Navy and even block most ports, but they still had no chance of winning.
Although the total population of South Africa exceeded 2.5 million, most of them were black. In the mid-19th century, there were more than 100,000 white people in the Cape Town area, including the Boers.
Under the pressure of mass immigration from Austria, the Government of London also accelerated the pace of immigration. Unfortunately, the British population was limited and there were too many colonies.
They had to take care of too many places at the same time. First, Australia and Canada, where gold had been discovered, followed by New Zealand, India, and other areas. By the time it was South Africa's turn, there were not many immigrants.
This was also why Governor Delphi was worried. Whether he liked it or not, the lack of immigration had become the main factor limiting the development of South Africa.
The original South Africa developed in the late 19th century, when the world's largest gold mine was discovered, which attracted a large number of immigrants.
At this time, South Africa did not have much advantage over other parts of Africa, at least in the minds of the people.
Delphi asked eagerly, "Blair, how is the plan going? Are they willing to cooperate with us?"
Facing the expectant Governor Delphi, Blair lowered his head and replied after a while, "Unfortunately, Your Excellency, our plan failed.
Austria's infiltration of Transvaal and Orange is deeper than we thought. Shortly after we contacted them, the news appeared in the newspapers.
You know, the grievances between us and the Boers cannot be resolved in a few words. After the news leaked, the few friends we contacted did not dare to act rashly. "
Where there were people, there were people, and there were many Boers who opposed cooperation with Austria. But this did not mean that they could cooperate with the British.
Originally, these Boers did not want to be British, so they were forced to move inland. Naturally, they would not have a good impression of the British who had occupied their homeland.
The anti-British sentiment among the people was already strong, and with the intervention of Austria, anti-British had become politically correct in Transvaal and Orange.
After the news leaked, those who were ready to cooperate with the British were caught in the vortex of public opinion. They could not protect themselves, so naturally, they did not dare to continue.
As for the threat of the British, unfortunately, Austria was the leader on the African continent. Transvaal and Orange were both landlocked countries. No matter how powerful the Royal Navy was, it could not go ashore.
The question of who was threatening who among the British in the Cape Town area needed to be carefully considered.
This result was not what the governor of Delphi had expected. He had intended to buy over the anti-Austrian faction among the Boers, provoke conflict between the two sides, and force the Transvaal and Orange countries to side with them.
With the Boers as a buffer, the British rule in South Africa was stable. Austria was also too full to retaliate in a short period of time.
Governor Delphi didn't think he needed to think too much about the future. Stabilizing the situation with the least cost was the most important thing.
Governor Delphi complained, "Looks like we're in big trouble. We won't be able to sleep well if we don't get rid of the two threats, Transvaal and Orange.
Those damned Boers. Why didn't they just serve as a buffer state? Why did they have to side with Austria? Do they really think we're easy to bully? "
If the Boers knew what he was thinking, they would definitely feel wronged. They had always been neutral!
It was normal to be close to Austria. In addition to the feelings of the people, they also needed trade.
As a small landlocked country surrounded by Britain, Austria, and Portugal, if they didn't get close to Austria, would they run to the Portuguese?
It was useless to explain. If they sided with Austria, they would threaten the British rule in Cape Town. This reality was more convincing than any reason.
Blair suggested, "Sir Governor, the relationship between the Boers and Austria has failed. Now we can only start the backup plan as soon as possible.
Before Austria annexes the Boers, we can take action to break the cooperation between them. Now is an opportunity. "
It was indeed an opportunity. The African continent was too big. Although the Austrians were working hard to build railways, they still couldn't solve the traffic problem.
In Zimbabwe and Botswana, the forces that the Austrians could use were also very limited. It wasn't that they didn't have an army, but the bad traffic limited the number of troops that could be sent.
This was the real reason why Austria had expanded to the limit. Although Austria had a lot of immigrants on the African continent, once they were scattered, there wouldn't be many in a region.
If they wanted to find these settlements, they just had to set off along the river. Areas without rivers were basically not developed.
Before Austria solved the traffic problem, pulling out the nails in Transvaal and Orange was the backup plan of the British.
"Sigh!"
Delphi sighed and said, "Start preparing. The cabinet has agreed to our plan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will cooperate with us."
…
In Portugal, King Louis was panicking. People sat at home, and disaster came from heaven.
Britain and Austria were fighting for the South African region, and now they needed to take sides.
Portugal was only a small country, and its influence in Europe was very limited. But when it came to the African continent, especially the South African region, the Portuguese also had a say.
They were able to protect Mozambique and Angola not only by flexible diplomatic means, but also by their own strength.
Perhaps this strength was nothing in the European continent, but in the African continent, it couldn't be underestimated. If they didn't have strength, no matter how good their diplomatic work was, it would be taken away.
They knew their own strength. Now, Portugal was no longer able to compete with the British Fao for overseas colonies. All these years, Louis I had been in a state of defense.
With good relations with Britain and Austria, the Portuguese colonies on the African continent hadn't been invaded.
Now the British wanted them to take sides. The Government of London wanted to get the support of Portugal's power in Africa to drive Austria out of South Africa.
Not to mention whether they could do it, just to go directly against Austria, Louis I was terrified.
As for their pink map plan, connecting Angola and Mozambique, he had long given up. Now was not the era of Portugal, and it was good to be able to keep the existing foundation.
Being sandwiched between two empires, this kind of life was not easy. Otherwise, with Louis I's strong heart, he might have directly collapsed.
Louis had no interest in the promises given by the British.
Perhaps Britain and Portugal could work together to suppress the Austrians in South Africa, but what if they retaliated afterwards?
Wasn't it like sending sheep into a tiger's mouth to rely on the protection of the British? In the original timeline, Portugal was forced to turn to the British, and as a result, a large amount of wealth in the colony was seized by the British.
Now the consequences were even more serious. Once they joined forces with the British, the Angola region would immediately be finished. The Congo region, which had been managed by Austria for many years, was now capable of supporting a war of 100,000 people.
The Mozambique region would not be good either. There were too many areas bordering Portugal and Austria. Once there was a conflict, Portugal would never have a peaceful day.
Louis I didn't think that the British, who promised to protect the safety of their colonies, would really go to war with Austria for them.
Even with such a serious conflict of interest in South Africa, both sides maintained restraint and didn't directly start a war, which was enough to explain everything.
Moreover, Portugal and Austria also had friendly relations. When Austria took the step of colonization, they obtained the support of Portugal. Franz publicly made a promise: he would not plot any of Portugal's colonies.
This declaration, Louis I could still believe. After so many years, Austria really didn't extend their hands to their colonies.
To break this favorable situation for the promise of the British, in Louis I's view, it was completely not worth it.
Moreover, even if Portugal really obtained the Zambia region, it might not be a good thing to connect Angola and Mozambique.
It was not easy to be a buffer between the great powers, especially those who had stood on the same side. They could only be tied to the British and suffer Austria's revenge.
This was not what Louis I wanted, but it was also not easy to refuse the British. With John Bull's style, how could he easily let go of a chess piece?
…
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