Having settled the matters concerning the Southern Ryukyu Islands, this affair could more or less be brought to a close. As for whether Japan would go back on its word, there was no need to worry about that for now. East Africa had withdrawn its ironclads and some other vessels from the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but it had left behind a small fleet centered on gunboats.
This fleet did not possess much offensive power, but it could still protect itself in the waters of the West Pacific. The Southern Ryukyu Islands had previously been encircled precisely because they lacked the support of relevant warships.
East Africa had deployed shore batteries on the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but their operational range was limited. They could not take the initiative to strike, nor could they guarantee the safety of East African merchant ships. Now that this small fleet was in place, there was no longer any need to worry about that.
With the Southern Ryukyu Islands matter brought to a close, the Water Conservancy Construction underway across East Africa in full swing stirred up another wave of trouble.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, as our country's large-scale Water Conservancy Construction projects proceed, conditions in many regions have improved greatly. However, they have also created some new problems," Loire, Minister of Water Conservancy, reported to Ernst.
Ernst knew they should not be major problems. Human alteration of nature had both benefits and drawbacks, but overall, the benefits certainly outweighed the drawbacks. Still, that did not mean minor problems could simply be ignored. Some matters had to be taken seriously when they deserved to be.
At the same time, Ernst only kept watch over the broad direction. His subordinates truly needed to keep reporting the progress of the projects and the difficulties encountered during