August 19, 1914.
Black Point City.
The outbreak of the European War and Germany's invasion brought enormous trouble to Belgium, while Belgian Congo, as a Belgian colony, also welcomed a rare opportunity.
Belgian Congo's circumstances could be said to be vastly different from those of Congo under Belgian colonial rule in Ernst's previous life.
By now, Leopold II had long since ridden the crane westward, and control of the Congo Colony had passed into the hands of the Belgian government. It had changed from Leopold II's personal cash cow into a colony that had undergone preliminary development.
On one hand, Belgian Congo had a small population, with the Black natives having been practically "wiped out" by the devastation of Leopold II's rule. On the other hand, conditions here were far better than those in the Congo of Ernst's previous life.
Although Congo was much larger than the Congo Free State, it had only one seaport that could not be fully utilized. Moreover, Congo lay deep inland, and its vast area made development difficult. For a small European country like Belgium, developing a colony of over two million square kilometers and one of only a little over two hundred thousand square kilometers were difficulties on entirely different levels.
Furthermore, the discovery and development of local iron mines raised the Belgian government's regard for the Congo Colony by another level. Belgium was already renowned for its steel industry and was one of Europe's few great steel powers. The development of Belgian Congo held immense significance for the growth of Belgium's steel industry.
Besides iron ore, the Congo Colony possessed abundant other resources as well, at least from the perspective of the Belgian homeland. The potash exports of the Congo Colony alone could bring the Belgian government enormous returns.
Mineral exports had become