African Nationhood

On November 1909, 11, Xue Youfu came to the naval base in Mapu Port (now Maputo Port, Mozambique) and the naval war room. Some islands in the Mozambique Channel were posted on the walls of the war room.

Among these islands, except for New Hook Island, which belongs to South China, and the three Comoros Islands are independent, the rest are within the sphere of influence of Britain and France. Most of the islands occupied by France are in the Mozambique Channel. Inside.

As the South China Navy becomes more and more powerful, allowing the French to remain in the Mozambique Strait is not conducive to South China's national security or the growth of the South China Navy.

Therefore, the Navy Department plans to launch an operation in the Mozambique Channel and send troops to occupy the three remaining islands of the Comoros Archipelago.

(France only occupied the remaining three islands in 1912)
If the French don't say anything, then the status quo will be maintained for now.

If the French react, then Nanhua will fight hard with the French. This time the troop dispatch plan is called the "Comoros Plan."

……

Today's France is a bit behind in naval construction. At the end of the 19th century, it was influenced by the "green water school" view that became popular after the Franco-Prussian War.

France's national maritime strategy deviates from the traditional offensive strategy with capital ships as the core, and gradually shifts to an active defense posture.

The "Green Water School" advocates the active development of torpedo boats, submarines, diplomatic cruisers, auxiliary cruisers and other light ships to make up for the overwhelming weakness of the main fleet.

Therefore, the French Navy, which had long occupied the second place in the world's naval tonnage rankings, was gradually left behind by the emerging United States and Germany.

When the "Dreadnought" battleship joined the British Navy's combat ship lineup in early 1907, the French Navy's dreadnought plan was still struggling between different departments.

The current French naval fleet is full of old warships, and there are no new warships at all.

With Nanhua's current naval strength, it is fully capable of defending against enemies and outside the country's borders. Important ports along the coast are defended by coastal defense artillery positions.

If the French can't think of attacking the interior of South China, then South China's counterattack will be more fierce this time, and it's time for South China's armored vehicles and air force aircraft to show up.

……

Xue Youfu sat down in the war room. After waiting for a while, Boer General De Wet, Chief of General Staff, also arrived. Now the meeting could finally be held.

The two generals chatted for a while, and then the meeting got down to business. A staff officer from the General Staff stood up and pointed at the map on the wall with a wooden pole and began to explain.

The Comoros Islands are a small island country consisting of four islands: Grande Comoros, Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte (occupied by France).
Comoros means "moon" in Arabic, and is also known as the Moon Country. It is also called the Fragrant Island because of its rich spices.

The Comoros Islands are located at the northern entrance to the Mozambique Channel in southeast Africa, about 500 kilometers east and west from Madagascar and the East African Administrative Region, and 670 kilometers from German Tanga.

Comoros was first settled by Arabs and Madagascars. It was ruled by Arab Sultans from the ninth to the fifteenth century. The total population of the islands is 15.

The French invaded Mayotte in 1841 and occupied the island for a long time.

In terms of natural resources, no valuable mineral resources have been found in the Comoros Islands so far, except for a small amount of olivine.

The forest area is about 2 hectares, accounting for 15% of the total land area.

The archipelago is a mainly agricultural country, with more than 7 hectares of arable land nationwide.

The main food crops are rice, corn and potatoes, and the country is self-sufficient in food.

The high-quality cash crops of vanilla (vanilla), cloves, and orchid are the main economic sources of the archipelago's external exports.

The fishery resources are relatively abundant, and the main fish species are tuna, red fish, parrot fish and lobster. The island has beautiful scenery.

……

After listening to the staff officer's words, most of the naval officers present understood the information about the target location.

De Wet stood up and took the wooden pole from the staff, and continued: "In this battle, the battle cruiser Pingshan will be the flagship, and the Zhang Liao and Dian Wei will be the supplements.

The "Pingshan" attacked the port of Moroni in the Grand Comoros, the "Zhang Liao" attacked the port of Oani on the island of Anjouan, and the "Dianwei" attacked the port of Fongboni on the island of Moheli. After the marines accompanying the ship occupied the islands, they immediately took control of the government agencies on each island.

After the situation on each island is under control, the Sultan on the island will give a speech and declare that the three islands of Comoros will become the South China Protectorate.

After these are completed, wait for the French's reaction.

If they do not respond, then we will let the Overseas Territories Department of the Cabinet take over the follow-up matters.

If the French react violently, we will enter a state of combat readiness and release a battle plan at that time. "

Xue Youfu nodded to Chief of Staff De Wet, and then asked the naval officers below, "Are the combat objectives clear?"

The naval officers present nodded in unison: "It's clear."

"Now that it's clear, let's attack."

Amidst the sound of "Woo-Woo", the three warships weighed anchor one after another and slowly drove out of Mapu Bay towards the northeast of the Mozambique Channel.

……

When the sun rose, a giant white ship appeared in Moroni's port, with the golden dragon and lion flag hanging on the flagpole of the battleship fluttering in the wind.

The Arab fishermen at the port were frightened by the sudden appearance of the 10,000-ton giant ship, and then heard a shout in Arabic from the giant ship: "We are the Navy of the South China Dominion, and we are about to land on the Grand Comoros Island. We hope Don't resist, otherwise we will kill you without mercy."

After playing it several times in succession, the 'Pingshan' slowly docked at the port. When the 10,000-ton giant ship came to a stop and the gangway was lowered, groups of Marines wearing white navy shirts quickly came to the port and assembled into teams.

Facing such a powerful force, the Arabs at the port could no longer think of any resistance. These naval soldiers were armed with steel guns and grenades hanging from their waists.

Anyone who dares to challenge their authority will end badly.

The captain of the "Pingshan" is Cheng Daqi. He is 49 years old this year and is the same as Chairman Shi and Geng.

This classmate studying in the United States had been wasting his time in the military department over the years. After the construction of the navy began, he found Xue Youfu and was transferred to the navy department.

This year's Pingshan was launched. Xue Youfu thought of his old classmate and appointed him as the captain of the new ship.

"Grab a guide and go to the Sultan's Palace first."

"Yes."

The Marines began to take action, and soon they captured the guide, and then under the coercion of the Marines, they agreed to lead the way for the team members.

Then a battalion of Marines marched towards the Sultan's Palace on the island. More than half an hour later, an explosion was heard in the distance.

However, the explosion did not last long and stopped after two hours.

Later, Cheng Daqi received a notification from the Marine Corps that the forwards had captured the Sultan's palace and that Sultan Ahmed Said Ali had been controlled.

Cheng Daqi nodded, "Let's go to the Sultan's Palace to see."

……

On November 1909, 11, the Sultan of the Comoros Islands notified the three islands of their determination to become a protectorate of the South China Dominion.

Countries surrounding the Comoros Islands had mixed reactions, and the British Secretary of State for the Colonies remained silent.

The French government directly sent a note to the British Foreign Secretary Sir Gray, asking why the South China Dominion invaded and occupied French colonies?

The cabinet of the South China Dominion ignored it and left it to France to do anything. (End of chapter)