East Africa, Togoland Colony.
While the Habsburg Monarchy was busy conquering Dahomey, a French warship lay anchored in Lomé Port, the capital of Togoland. The warship had come from Cotonou Port in Dahomey.
The atmosphere inside the Governor's Mansion of East Africa's Togoland Colony was far from cordial.
"Governor Wajel, you must give us an explanation for the Habsburg Monarchy's invasion of Dahomey!" demanded Colonel Tapriye, commander of the French Dahomey Colony's naval detachment.
Tapriye was the highest-ranking commander of the French Navy in the French Dahomey Colony.
After the Habsburg Monarchy invaded Dahomey, on the eve of Porto-Novo's fall, the naval colonel received the Governor's Mansion's final order: hold East Africa's Togoland Colony accountable.
Unlike the French Dahomey Colony's army, the French Dahomey naval detachment was stationed at Cotonou Port.
However, the main force of France's colonial rule in Dahomey was its colonial army. Compared to it, the so-called naval detachment was far weaker.
Therefore, the Dahomey Colonial Government had never expected to turn the tide through the navy. It would be better to let them flee the area and trouble East Africa instead. Perhaps diplomatic pressure could preserve France's colonial rule over Dahomey.
The French Dahomey governor knew perfectly well that the so-called Habsburg Monarchy had East Africans behind it. As long as the East Africans could be made to change their minds, the Habsburg Monarchy's scheme would fail.
As for why he had sent Tapriye to Togoland to "file a complaint" rather than to the East African mainland, it was simply because Dahomey was much closer to Togoland.
From Cotonou Port to Lomé Port, the capital of Togoland Colony, the distance along the coast was only a little over a hundred kilometers.
If the destination were changed to the East African mainland, then forget Rhine City, East