March 22, 1867.
Upon the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.
An oceangoing submarine cable-laying ship flying the German flag was about to depart from Mombasa Port and head north toward the Red Sea.
The sudden outbreak and conclusion of the East Sang War had made Ernst realize that communications between the East African colony and Europe were far too backward.
From the outbreak of the East Sang War to its end, the colony had made its own decisions independently. After all, messages carried back and forth by ship could not reach Europe in time for reports, which was understandable.
The colony lay far from Europe, so it possessed relatively strong independence and broad authority. Under certain special circumstances, it could decide its own countermeasures.
However, the East Sang War had still sounded an alarm for the inherently cautious Ernst. The East African Colonial Government could not be allowed to gain any more autonomous power.
Thus, in order to strengthen communication with and control over the East African colony, Ernst was willing to spend a fortune to lay a telegraph line from East Africa to Europe, using it to direct the colony's development.
As early as 1858, the world had seen its first transoceanic submarine cable—the Atlantic submarine cable laid by Britain and America between Newfoundland and Ireland.
After so many years of development, the technical side of laying submarine cables was no longer the main problem. This time, Ernst chose Siemens Company from the German territories as his partner.
Siemens Company had laid an underground telegraph line from Berlin to Frankfurt as early as 1848, which had also been the world's first telegraph line.
Its experience was therefore quite extensive. However, most of Siemens' business lay on land, and Ernst did not know whether it truly had what it