Demanding an Exorbitant Price, Bargaining on the Spot

"Count Hermann, this is nothing less than a lion opening its jaws. Even if we sold the Portuguese Government, we could never repay such an astronomical sum. And given the economic conditions of Angola and Mozambique, to be frank, we have operated them at a loss for years, like bottomless pits. Their debt problems alone are difficult enough to resolve. Do you really think we would bow to East Africa for the sake of those two places?" the Portuguese representative said, his face flushed red.

Hermann said shamelessly, "Of course not, Mr. Gers. We do not care in the slightest how Portugal manages Angola and Mozambique. After all, East Africa is a peace-loving nation. But that does not mean we are easy to bully. The outcome of this war itself was the result of Portugal overestimating its own strength. You learned absolutely nothing from the previous war. In both wars, the Portuguese Government was the initiator. That fully proves the South African War was a calamity of your own making."

"And do not rush to deny it. It is only reasonable that you compensate us for the enormous losses East Africa suffered because of your acts of war. If you want to settle the accounts, the total will only grow larger. After all, we have already struck off a substantial portion of the compensation for you."

Hermann's words were a case of the thief crying thief, but Gers, already in the wrong, had no way to refute that point. Still, what he felt more than anything was grievance and suffocation. Portugal's defeat was a fact, but the matter of compensation should not have reached the point of East Africa opening its jaws like a lion.

So Gers shot back, "East Africa's western territories are nothing but a pile of worthless