"On March 2, 1498, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama led his fleet to India. Passing through Port of Mozambique, he received a friendly welcome from the local sultan. The sultan was named Muza al-Bik, but the Portuguese heard it as 'Mozambique,' which was how Mozambique later got its name. Mozambique still exists today, but Port of Mozambique, the birthplace of the Mozambique colony, is in our hands. I wonder what the Portuguese in the city think of that."
East African Navy Major Roald spoke smugly to his subordinates. Like the Sultanate of Zanzibar, Port of Mozambique was actually an offshore island. Mombasa and Port of Mozambique in East Africa were quite similar.
Ernst did not quite understand this. The Arabs seemed especially fond of occupying islands along the East African coast, so why had they not pushed further inland?
To say that these islands were more livable than the mainland would have been utter nonsense. Virtually all the islands along the East African coast were hotter and more humid, hardly ideal places for settlement. Yet in the past, they had indeed made it convenient to control the Indian Ocean trade routes.
However, Port of Mozambique had already entered a period of rapid decline. The fading slave trade and the opening of the Suez Canal were to blame, causing its economic value to plummet. The navy, however, had taken a liking to the place, and it was converted into a new naval base.
The Dutch had once fought Portugal over this place, so Mozambique Island had been built up with exceptionally sturdy military defenses. The East African Navy could move in with its bags without much cleanup.
Ernst had little interest in developing Mozambique Island. In northern Mozambique, which East Africa had occupied this time, there were several bays with