Chapter Summaries

General Glais and an East African fleet arrived at Zhuhai to establish a naval command base for the conflict over the Southern Ryukyu Islands. He learned that construction and supply efforts were hampered by the islands’ scattered geography, lack of labor, and Japanese fishing-boat interference, and vowed to cut off the Miyako Strait.

• Japan’s failed diplomatic scheme left it facing East Africa directly over the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
• East Africa’s fleet arrived at Zhuhai, which would serve as its temporary naval command base.
• Glais questioned local officials and learned that construction was slow because the islands were scattered and had too few workers.
• Officials told Glais that Japanese fishing boats had been obstructing East African transport ships for more than ten days.
• Glais said his forces would close the Miyako Strait and retaliate against Japanese merchant ships if Japan continued its interference.

Japan sent disguised naval forces from Naha City to harass East African ships around the Southern Ryukyu Islands, while East Africa's isolated garrison and workers endured the blockade. Liu Dazhuang explained to fellow laborers how East Africa and the European powers ranked among the world's powers.

• A Japanese naval officer urged armed men disguised as fishermen to fight for the Empire, and the fishing boats sailed south from Naha City.
• East African troops spotted the Japanese boats but lacked ships to challenge them, while coastal artillery deterred any landing.
• Liu Dazhuang and other laborers complained that the blockade had disrupted supplies and reduced their food to rations.
• Liu Dazhuang described Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and East Africa as states founded by Germans and explained that great-power status depended on strength across many areas.

East African platoon leader Andre rewarded the Far Eastern workers with military canned food and described life, nationality, and opportunities in East Africa. He offered to recommend workers who performed well for East African citizenship, leaving them hopeful about a better future.

• Andre announced that Governor Lukar had awarded the workers military canned food for their good work.
• Dazhuang and the other workers praised the canned food, and Andre boasted about the East African Army’s provisions and his own promotion.
• Andre explained that he had East African nationality and warned the workers against using the word “foreigners” as a careless label.
• Andre described people and places he had encountered abroad, making East Africa sound like a prosperous destination.
• Andre promised to write recommendation letters for workers who performed well so they could seek a chance to become East African citizens.

Andre encouraged the Far Eastern laborers to move to East Africa, advising them to marry and arrange their families before immigrating. He explained East African opportunities and laws, leaving the workers grateful and eager to follow his guidance.

• Andre reassured the laborers that East Africa offered plentiful food, housing, and work, and described the army’s ranches and meat supplies.
• While sharing a meal, Andre advised the workers to return to the Far East after the construction project, marry, and then apply to immigrate with their families.
• Andre explained that family immigration was more likely to succeed and said he hoped to marry a white woman to improve his military or future career prospects.
• Andre answered the workers’ questions about mixed-race children and marriage laws, then warned them to obey East African law because their records could affect their descendants.
• The laborers thanked Andre for his advice and regarded him as a benefactor who could help them build better lives.

East African and Far Eastern officials arranged joint naval cooperation while the East African fleet acclimatized near Zhuhai and prepared for its operation against Japan. The chapter ended with Luo Yijun agreeing to future naval cooperation as the Far East weighed the shifting balance between Japan and East Africa.

• East African naval forces began two weeks of acclimatization and combat training in the Zhuhai Trade Zone.
• The chapter described the weakness of the Guangdong Navy compared with East Africa’s three ironclads and the Far East’s other fleets.
• Glais told Captain Luo that East Africa would take full responsibility for its conflict with Japan and would not involve the Far East Empire.
• Luo hoped the conflict would weaken both sides, especially the Imperial Japanese Navy, but agreed to consider future naval cooperation.
• The chapter explained that East African investment and migration had strengthened the Far East’s textile industry while weakening Japan’s competitive position.

Luo Yijun asked General Glais to compare East Africa’s navy with Japan’s, and Glais judged East Africa favored in ships, officers, and sailors but faced uncertainty at sea. The discussion highlighted East Africa’s educated population and Japan’s developmental strengths, leaving their potential naval conflict unresolved.

• Luo Yijun asked Glais how confident East Africa would be if Japan went to war with it, and Glais estimated East Africa had a six-to-four advantage.
• Glais said Japan could still challenge East Africa’s navy and noted that East Africa lacked familiarity with the local waters.
• Glais explained that East Africa had stronger ships, officers trained in the Austro-Hungarian naval tradition, and better-educated sailors.
• Ernst reflected that German immigrants and East Africa’s education programs had supplied millions of educated people to the country.
• Ernst acknowledged that Black workers produced much of East Africa’s agricultural wealth, but he vetoed the government’s idea of importing more Black people.

Mbeya city celebrated the completion of its Electrical Engineering School, and designer Karls explained how he had designed the campus for the equatorial climate. Ministry of Industry officials urged Mayor Enler to protect the school and its European instructors, while warning that Matabele Province could eventually overtake Mbeya city as East Africa’s leading heavy-industrial base.

• Karls showed guests the new school and explained how its bright materials, large windows, and openwork designs improved lighting and ventilation near the equator.
• Karls led the visitors through the school’s classrooms, dormitories, laboratories, and sports field, and they admired the campus.
• Director Hearn told Mayor Enler that Mbeya city had to prioritize the Electrical Engineering School and treat its instructors from Hechingen Electric Company as valuable national assets.
• Mayor Enler assured Hearn that Mbeya city supported the power industry and described its expanding copper smelter and cable factory.
• Hearn explained why the central government had chosen Mbeya city for the school, then cautioned that Matabele Province’s greater coal and iron resources could make it East Africa’s future heavy-industrial center.

Rodman introduced newly arrived European electricians to life in Mbeya city as they prepared to teach at its Electrical Engineering School. The teachers learned about the city's limited lodging and nightlife, along with its sports, Lake Malawi vacations, and reputation as a safe, livable place.

• Rodman told the electricians that the school would open in a few months and advised them to stay in city housing until then.
• Adri Ross asked to live in the empty school dormitories because his assigned home was far away and he had come to East Africa without his family.
• Kaffi joked that his wife had accompanied him to keep him from fooling around, prompting Rodman and the others to laugh.
• Rodman invited the teachers and their families to a banquet at Mbeya city's only hotel and explained that travelers usually lodged at post stations.
• The electricians asked about East African entertainment, and Rodman described football, the Horse Club, and vacations at Lake Malawi.
• Rodman praised Mbeya city's pleasant climate, scenery, and low crime rate.

East African warships confronted Japanese vessels near Miyako Island and forced Ozawa Seiji to order a retreat. As most Japanese ships withdrew, Takashō Morita defied the order with more than twenty ships still under his command.

• Glais ordered warning shots at the Japanese vessels, and the explosions nearly capsized a small boat.
• Glais concluded that the apparent fishermen were Japanese soldiers in disguise and threatened to sink them if they refused to leave.
• Ozawa Seiji recognized the East African fleet’s superior strength and ordered the Japanese flotilla to retreat to Naha City.
• Glais noticed that ships on the Japanese left flank were not withdrawing as ordered.
• Ozawa Seiji learned that Takashō Morita was defying him, ordered Morita’s men to retreat without obeying him, and left Morita with more than twenty ships.

Takashō Morita rejected Ozawa Seiji’s withdrawal and planned to use a feigned surrender to bring his remaining ships close to the East African Fleet. He ordered his twenty-three ships to raise white flags, leaving the East African Navy to question their intentions.

• Takashō Morita raged at Ozawa Seiji for surrendering and withdrawing without consulting him.
• Takashō Morita told his subordinates that he planned to feign surrender, approach the East African Fleet, and attack it at close range.
• Takashō Morita admitted his force had only twenty-three ships, nearly half of them small fishing boats, but decided to risk an attack and escape through the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
• Takashō Morita gave his subordinates their orders, and his ships raised white flags as the East African Navy tried to determine their intentions.

General Glais suspected that the Japanese boats were faking surrender to launch a close-range attack, and East Africa prepared for the possibility. The Japanese flotilla’s assault failed against the gunboats, and Glais ordered the Miyako Strait blockaded.

• Glais and Morse discussed whether the Japanese boats were surrendering and realized they might be using the offer to get close to East African warships.
• Glais accepted the surrender but ordered the Japanese to remain five hundred meters away, while Takashō Morita requested a meeting with the supreme commander.
• Takashō Morita boarded an East African communications boat and signaled Nakata Jirō to carry out the plan.
• East African ships repositioned, and Nakata Jirō’s flotilla advanced toward the Partridge and shifted its attack toward the gunboats.
• The East African gunboats intercepted the Japanese vessels, and their artillery overwhelmed the attack as Takashō Morita watched.
• Glais declared that Japan had launched a sneak attack and ordered the Miyako Strait blockaded against Japanese vessels.

East Africa blockaded the Miyako Strait after accusing Japan of using disguised sailors to attack its ships, while Japanese prisoners were put to work building a prison on Miyako Island. Minister Kader rejected Japan’s protests and proposed dividing the Ryukyu Islands at the strait, leaving it as a temporary ceasefire line.

• The East African Navy patrolled the Miyako Strait, detaining Japanese vessels and escorting construction work on Miyako Island.
• East African sailors made Japanese captives build a new prison to hold the more than a hundred prisoners.
• The Japanese Government confronted Kader over the blockade, but he accused Japan of attacking East African ships and demanded an apology and compensation.
• Kader mocked Japan’s claims to the Ryukyu Islands and proposed using the Miyako Strait to divide the islands between East Africa and Japan.
• The Japanese diplomat rejected East Africa’s terms as too harsh but asked Kader what arrangement it would accept.

Kader pressed Japan to relinquish its claim to the Southern Ryukyu Islands, while Japanese officials weighed the danger of confronting East Africa. Japan’s government debated the islands but reached no resolution, as the army and navy instead traded accusations over military spending and responsibility.

• Kader rejected the Japanese diplomat’s request for more time and demanded that Japan provide an answer soon.
• The Japanese Government began discussing whether to surrender the Sakishima Islands, with officials disagreeing over the risks of yielding to East Africa.
• Yamamoto and a naval representative argued that Japan was too weak to stake the nation’s fate on a war with East Africa.
• Tsuruo Ichiro criticized the navy’s spending, and a naval official answered by attacking the army and demanding more funds for warships.

Ernst considered the rivalry between Japan’s army and navy and how East Africa’s growing power had weakened Japan’s economy and military position. Faced with East Africa’s hard-line stance over the Sakishima Islands and unable to risk war, the Japanese Government chose to back down.

• Japanese army and navy representatives argued over funding, military priorities, and whether the army could build its own warships.
• Ernst reflected on Japan’s naval dependence on Britain and how East Africa’s expansion had constrained Japan’s economy and ambitions in the West Pacific.
• Japanese officials discussed East Africa’s resolve to hold the Sakishima Islands and the failure of Japan’s threats to change its position.
• The Japanese Government decided to compromise over the Sakishima Islands rather than risk a war it could not afford.

Minister Kader and Japanese diplomat Kudo Yasuyoshi negotiated Japan’s concessions over the Southern Ryukyu Islands. They reached agreement on the islands’ names and the Miyako Strait, while Kader rejected Japan’s demand to leave sovereignty unresolved.

• Kudo Yasuyoshi told Kader that Japan would concede the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but said the decision would damage his career and demanded conditions.
• Kudo demanded that Japan retain the name Sakishima Islands, and Kader proposed that both names be used in the agreement.
• Kudo demanded Japanese sovereignty over the Miyako Strait, and Kader secured East Africa’s rights of free passage and development; Kudo agreed.
• Kudo proposed shelving the Southern Ryukyu Islands’ sovereignty, but Kader said the Far East Empire held sovereignty and East Africa administered the islands on its behalf.

East Africa pursued traditional Chinese medicine by cultivating medicinal herbs to reduce its reliance on imported supplies. After discussing ginseng trials, the dean assigned Kells to lead preliminary cultivation work in Swaziland with a new intern’s help.

• East Africa developed medicinal herb cultivation as a way to support traditional Chinese medicine and lower treatment costs.
• Researchers discussed ginseng trial sites and noted that Hesse Province had produced the best-growing plants so far.
• Kells proposed testing ginseng in Swaziland, citing its rainfall and tablelands, while others questioned its suitability and their knowledge of the region.
• The dean asked Kells to lead preliminary ginseng trials in Swaziland and promised to assign him a new intern as an assistant.
• Kells reluctantly accepted the assignment.

Ernst approved the secret agreement dividing the Southern Ryukyu Islands and ordered the territory fortified and connected by telegraph. He left the gunboats there as the foundation of a future Pacific Fleet, while keeping Lanfang Overseas Province under a separate, more important strategic command.

• Ernst reviewed and approved the two hundred and twenty-three-article agreement establishing East Africa's territorial gains in the Southern Ryukyu Islands and the Miyako Strait.
• Ernst ordered the military to build defenses and stockpile at least three months of food and ammunition, and directed experts to improve freshwater supplies.
• Ernst ordered a telegraph connection from the Southern Ryukyu Islands to Fuzhou through an undersea cable, with links onward through Zhuhai and Guangzhou.
• Ernst told his subordinates to leave the gunboats in the Southern Ryukyu Islands as the base of a future East African Pacific Fleet.
• Ernst rejected combining Lanfang Overseas Province with the Southern Ryukyu Islands, declaring Nanyang a separate and more important strategic region.

After resolving the Southern Ryukyu Islands dispute, Ernst addressed problems caused by East Africa’s nationwide water conservancy projects. He ordered the Ministry of Water Conservancy to keep construction moving while accommodating displaced residents and delaying settlement plans for newly habitable areas.

• East Africa withdrew its ironclads from the Southern Ryukyu Islands but left a small gunboat fleet to protect the islands and its merchant ships.
• Loire told Ernst that reservoir projects would displace residents and consume existing farmland, and Ernst ordered the government to relocate or compensate those affected while continuing construction.
• Loire reported that water projects had made previously uninhabited areas suitable for settlement, and Ernst said officials should complete construction before deciding whether to send immigrants.
• Ernst warned that large-scale immigration would strain East Africa’s administration and urged the ministry to avoid adding pressure while government departments faced heavy workloads.
• Loire explained that the nationwide projects affected millions of people and that the Ministry of Water Conservancy lacked enough specialized personnel to manage the work easily.

Ernst discussed directing immigrants toward inland Matabele Province while weighing East Africa’s limited funds, infrastructure needs, and industrial priorities. He planned to prioritize productivity and infrastructure while preparing Europe-based automobile production and reserving East Africa’s place as the first site of a commercial car’s assembly.

• Ernst said the government should assign workers to Matabele Province and spread the population inland despite its transportation challenges.
• Ernst viewed slower railway construction as sustainable, noting that East Africa had many competing demands for limited funds.
• Ernst kept the Hohenzollern Conglomerate focused on investment, trade channels, and transferring technology, capital, and talent to East Africa.
• Ernst prioritized infrastructure and productivity over rapid automobile development, while continuing to improve vehicle technology in Europe.
• Ernst planned for the first commercial automobile to be assembled in East Africa, even though European factories would lead automobile production.
• Ernst described East Africa’s trade-focused, multipolar diplomacy and insisted that the government collect what it was owed from partners.

Waltz visited Dar es Salaam City State-Owned Cable Factory No. 1 and learned from Factory Director Mori about its growing production, machinery, and need for educated workers. After hearing Mori’s background, Waltz told him that the Ministry of Foreign Trade wanted the factory to produce a large, high-quality batch of submarine cables for a Far East project.

• Waltz asked Mori how the factory had performed, and Mori reported rising production and foreign trade orders.
• Mori explained that recruiting middle school graduates had eased labor shortages and helped workers operate the factory’s specialized machinery.
• Waltz and Mori discussed practical education, their backgrounds, and Mori’s path from army battalion commander to factory director.
• Waltz revealed that the Ministry of Foreign Trade had received a major Far East submarine cable order and said the factory would face a heavy production task next year.