Recaps

Disease Control Center director Claire oversaw the burning of infected homes in Rovenaad Village after an outbreak was suspected to have come from eating raw wild monkeys. The exposed villagers and response team were quarantined, leaving their safety to be determined by time.

• Police warned Rovenaad villagers to stay away from infected houses and to report any belongings they had taken.
• Claire ordered the infected residents' belongings and houses burned after his staff finished collecting them.
• Disease Control Center staff said villagers' accounts pointed to Tie Li hunting and eating wild monkeys as the likely source of the outbreak, though they could not confirm it.
• Claire learned that people who had contact with the deceased had been quarantined and ordered Rovenaad Village isolated from outside contact for a month.
• Claire reassured his team that East Africa's hygiene rules helped limit disease and said they would remain quarantined for two or three weeks.

Claire reflected on the hardships he faced as an early immigrant while comparing them with the improved transport and living conditions available to newer arrivals. He encouraged his assistant to see Rovenaad Village’s early development and Nile Province’s vast size as signs of the village’s future potential.

• Claire explained that Rovenaad Village lacked roads because it was a new settlement in a sparsely populated region where East Africa had not yet built infrastructure.
• Claire recalled traveling from Mombasa to Kisumu on foot for a month, while his assistant had reached Kisumu by train in about three days.
• Claire described how later immigrants had traveled farther inland and said East Africa had transformed since his arrival.
• Claire told his assistant that Rovenaad Village could grow into a township or regional administrative center because it was one of Nile Province’s earlier settlements.
• Claire cited First Town and Nairobi as examples of East African settlements that had grown into major centers.

Ernst reflected on the mutual dependence between East Africa’s ports and inland regions as Grusseg City’s officials responded to an epidemic in Rovenaad Village. Mayor Mogwell arranged precautions and public education while trusting Director Claire to contain the outbreak.

• Ernst considered how New Hamburg City’s extensive inland hinterland had helped it outpace Maputo Port and stressed the mutual support between ports and interior cities.
• Mogwell read Director Claire’s letter reporting no signs of the epidemic spreading in Rovenaad Village and decided not to seal off the village.
• Mogwell ordered two police officers to watch the road and arranged food and supplies to be delivered through the supply reception station with disinfection precautions.
• Mogwell directed Grusseg City’s other villages to educate residents about the dangers of hunting and eating wild animals.
• Mogwell told his subordinate to report the epidemic honestly to the province after it ended and accepted responsibility for the city’s response.

Archduke Ferdinand prepared to lead the East African Navy to the Southern Ryukyu Islands, while Ernst argued that the islands were of little value and explained his hostility toward Japan. The chapter connected the East-Japan conflict to competition between East African and Jewish capital, leaving Ferdinand and Karina with Ernst’s harsh view of Japan and the Jews.

• After two months of preparations, the East African Navy readied supplies and heavy guns for an expedition to the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
• Karina and Ernst urged Archduke Ferdinand not to command the voyage himself, but Ferdinand said he had decided to go because he thought Ernst valued the islands.
• Ernst claimed the islands had little economic or strategic value, though he would defend them against Japan and anyone else seeking to take them.
• When Ferdinand asked why Ernst disliked Japan, Ernst called the Japanese a scheming nation and compared their methods to those of the Jews.
• Ernst explained that Jewish capital backed Japanese industry through Britain and competed with East African capital in the Far East Empire, including against Hechingen Bank.

East African officer Kristin expelled Japanese residents from the Southern Ryukyu Islands and asserted East Africa’s jurisdiction over the territory. Obara Masashi carried the news to Japan, where the government settled on protests and a naval blockade rather than open war.

• Kristin ordered more than 130 Japanese residents to return to Japan, and a gunshot stopped a samurai-dressed man from resisting.
• Obara Masashi challenged Kristin’s decision and East Africa’s claim, but Kristin said the Far East Empire had transferred authority over the Southern Ryukyu Islands to East Africa.
• Obara Masashi left for the Northern Ryukyu Islands and reported East Africa’s occupation and treatment of the Japanese to the Okinawa Prefecture government.
• The report outraged the Japanese Government, whose officials disagreed over whether to use force or endure the insult for now.
• Japan decided to protest to East Africa and blockade the Southern Ryukyu Islands with its navy, using civilian ships to raise the cost of East African rule while avoiding major casualties.

Kader confronted a Japanese diplomat over East Africa’s occupation of the Southern Ryukyu Islands and rejected Japan’s claims of ownership. After Kader challenged him to produce evidence and accused Japan of destroying the Ryukyu Kingdom, the diplomat spat blood and fainted.

• The Japanese diplomat lodged a protest against East Africa’s occupation of the Southern Ryukyu Islands, and Kader dismissed Japan’s claim to the islands.
• Kader agreed to discuss the dispute and asked the diplomat to provide evidence that the Ryukyu Islands belonged to Japan.
• The diplomat cited the Ryukyu Kingdom’s past tribute and state letters but failed to produce any documents.
• Kader accused Japan of destroying the Ryukyu Kingdom and making a shameless territorial claim, and the diplomat spat blood and fainted.

After Tsuruta Ichiro was carried from the East African Embassy, Japanese public anger grew, and East African National Security Bureau agents warned Minister Kader that the embassy could face an attack. Kader agreed to consider strengthening its defenses and contacting the homeland.

• Japanese onlookers outside the East African Embassy blamed East Africa for Tsuruta Ichiro’s collapse, while others watched with indifference.
• Several disguised East African agents observed the crowd and decided to act ahead of the rising hostility.
• That night, East African National Security Bureau agents visited Kader and explained that they had entered to warn him about Japanese public sentiment.
• The agents told Kader that Japanese civilians might attack the embassy and advised him to strengthen its defenses.
• Kader said he would consider the warning and communicate with the homeland.

Kader strengthened security at the East African Embassy as Japanese students organized protests over the Sakishima Islands. East African agents redirected the surging crowd into the Russian Legation, where rioting and looting broke out.

• Kader ordered Yuri to recruit mercenaries to protect the legation, excluding locals.
• Matsushita settled a dispute between Higashihonda Yano and Gui'er Tengting by planning to let other schools provoke trouble while his group joined afterward.
• Students from more than a dozen Edo middle schools marched to the East African Embassy, and the crowd pressed against its gates.
• East African National Security Bureau agents entered the crowd and urged civilians toward other countries' legations.
• Karl and a teammate shouted that people should rush into the Russian Legation, and the crowd followed them inside.
• The crowd looted the Russian Legation and beat Russian staff amid the chaos.

Japanese rioters attacked the Russian Legation instead of the East African Legation, leaving a Russian minister injured and a Japanese man dead. The Edo police arrested tens of thousands and decided to frame student leaders to divert blame from themselves.

• A Russian Embassy soldier shot a Japanese rioter during the attack, while the crowd wrongly shouted that Germans had killed someone.
• Japanese police arrived and found the Russian Legation wrecked, with a dead Japanese rioter and Minister Chersky unconscious.
• Aidanoyezo ordered officers to rescue Chersky and clear a path through the crowd to take him to the hospital.
• Japanese police arrested more than fifty thousand people, and the Edo Police Commissioner learned Chersky was bruised but not seriously injured.
• The Edo Police Commissioner ordered his subordinates to blame the disturbance’s student leaders and frame more wealthy or noble students as accomplices.

East African officials used Japan’s attack on the Russian Embassy to rally other nations against the Japanese Government and increase pressure over the Southern Ryukyu Islands. At a press conference, Edo Police Commissioner Nabe Masayoshi’s conflicting explanations drew laughter from reporters.

• East African National Security Bureau agents reviewed the operation and discussed joining other countries in demanding joint supervision of the embassy district.
• Minister Kader condemned Japan and agreed that East Africa would use the embassy incident to pressure the Japanese Government while its fleet headed for the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
• Edo Police Commissioner Nabe Masayoshi apologized, offered to cover the injured parties’ medical costs, and announced he would resign after handling the incident.
• Nabe denied that the Japanese Government had targeted East Africa, blamed student accomplices who had been misled, and said the suspects would be identified through Minister Chersky.
• A reporter pointed out that Nabe’s claims about an instigated plot contradicted his claim that the public had acted spontaneously, prompting laughter from the press conference audience.

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.