Recaps

The East African government resettled Yablon Village’s residents in Anton Leo Town, where new urban-standard housing and employment had been arranged. The chapter explained that the settlement work was part of the long-planned Xingguo Reservoir project, whose construction preparations had begun during the Third Five-Year Plan.

• Tarolin led the Yablon Village residents to Anton Leo Town, where he said they would likely become citizens of Jinga City.
• Town staff assigned each household a newly built home with water and electricity and explained that residents would work on the remaining farmland, at the Anton Leo Town state farm, or in Jinga City.
• The chapter explained that Xingguo Reservoir was modeled on the Owen Reservoir and would raise Lake Victoria’s water level by nearly three meters.
• East Africa had begun Xingguo Reservoir preparations during the Third Five-Year Plan, including new embankments, resettlement sites, and hydrological observation stations.

The chapter explained East Africa’s Nile River strategy, centered on the Xingguo Hydroelectric Power Station and a network of dams that would capture water for East African development. It left Egypt and Sudan facing greater dry-season shortages, with Egypt’s future dependent on limiting population growth and securing the Blue Nile’s supply.

• East Africa planned Xingguo Reservoir, which would add 200 billion cubic meters of usable freshwater and generate electricity for Jinga City.
• East Africa launched more than twenty related water projects, including the Jezira City water-retaining dam and the Kagera Hydroelectric Power Station.
• The chapter described how East Africa’s dams and diversions would reduce White Nile flows downstream, worsening dry-season shortages in Egypt and Sudan.
• The narrator explained that East Africa aimed to use the captured water for farms, cities, industry, and improved Nile navigation within its borders.
• Ernst wanted Egypt to control population growth and stabilize the Abyssinian Empire to protect its Blue Nile supply, rather than grow rapidly and send refugees toward Europe or East Africa.

In April 1916, engineer Robkets supervised plans to expand and modernize Kampala’s Bell Port ahead of rising lake levels from Xingguo Reservoir. The chapter described East Africa’s ambitions for Great Lakes shipping and the heavy machinery that made its construction projects possible, while noting the immense human cost of the canal and waterworks programs.

• Robkets directed workers to clear silt and deepen Bell Port before Xingguo Reservoir began storing water.
• Robkets outlined plans to expand Bell Port, add container cranes, and upgrade its logistics system to serve Kampala for decades.
• East Africa’s National Canal Plan was described as linking the Great Lakes to the Indian Ocean and eventually the Atlantic.
• The chapter stated that millions of black slaves had died in East Africa’s water-construction projects and that future projects would increasingly rely on citizens.
• Robkets’s team used heavy equipment, including hydraulic excavators, which had become practical after years of development.

Robkets and his student observed hydraulic excavators and other machinery transforming construction at Bell Port. Robkets then discussed the competition among Great Lakes cities as provinces planned to develop ports, energy resources, and industrial centers.

• Robkets watched workers pump water from the construction area and use excavators and transport vehicles to remove silt and soil at Bell Port.
• Robkets and his student reflected on East Africa’s rapid industrial growth and how machinery had changed engineering work.
• Robkets urged his student to gain practical experience and said completing Bell Port’s expansion was their priority.
• Robkets wondered whether North Great Lakes Province could use the Great Lakes Economic Belt policy to challenge Kisumu’s regional dominance.
• North Great Lakes Province planned to develop Kampala and Entebbe as a twin-city center and build an oil, gas, and chemical industry cluster.
• Prussia Province planned to develop Kisumu, while Great Lake Province backed Mwanza and Kagera, intensifying competition among Great Lakes cities.

Svit reported on infrastructure and water projects in the Great Lakes Region, and Ernst discussed how using water from the Ethiopian and East African Highlands could support development in the northern provinces. The chapter left East Africa poised to use its control of major rivers and water sources to shape relations with neighboring countries.

• The chapter described the central region’s economic importance and the government’s plans to diversify Bohemia and Lorraine beyond heavy industry.
• Svit told Ernst that thirteen ports were under construction or renovation and that transport routes and hydropower projects were progressing in the Great Lakes Region.
• Svit explained that water projects would ease shortages in Nile Province and Turkana Province and make northern agricultural and industrial development more feasible.
• Ernst approved using water from the Ethiopian and East African Highlands to establish ecological zones and develop Nile Province and Turkana Province.
• The chapter outlined how East Africa’s control of upstream water sources could affect Egypt, the Kingdom of Southern Germany, and future neighboring states.

Svit and Ernst discussed East Africa’s nationwide hydropower expansion under the Fourth Five-Year Plan, which aimed to make hydroelectricity at least a quarter of the country’s power supply by 1920. Ernst described how new dams would reduce reliance on coal and support East Africa’s growing industry, while the chapter ended with the challenges and importance of industrializing the densely populated Great Lakes Region.

• Svit said the Fourth Five-Year Plan would expand hydropower and reduce coal consumption, while Ernst’s plan targeted hydroelectricity at least 25 percent of national power output by 1920.
• East Africa began more than a hundred large hydropower projects, including the Xingguo, Lebo, and Selamu Hydroelectric Power Stations.
• Ernst said East Africa generated more than 60 billion kilowatt-hours annually, but demand from industry, transport, military, and civilian life continued to grow.
• Ernst argued that hydropower would reduce costly coal imports and free coal for steel, metallurgy, and chemical production.
• The chapter described how East Africa’s rivers offered extensive hydropower potential, while the middle Congo River’s gentle terrain favored shipping between Kinshasa and Kisangani city.
• East Africa’s population was concentrated along the coast and in central regions, and industrializing the Great Lakes Region remained a major challenge that could bring the country close to the industrialization levels of Britain and Germany.

In June 1916, a Kingdom of Dalmatia patrol searched the Macedonian border for Serbian forces while Tarolin sensed they were being watched. After the patrol moved on, a Serbian scout emerged from hiding and headed north to gather intelligence for the Kingdom’s planned counterattack.

• Makarić complained about the summer heat as Taros recalled the hardships of clearing forests in Neretva.
• Tarolin heard a suspicious sound, ordered his soldiers to prepare for battle, and warned them not to lower their guard.
• A hidden Serbian scout watched the Dalmatian patrol leave and narrowly avoided being discovered.
• The scout concluded that the Austro-Hungarian Empire might have sent its main forces to the Russian front and continued north to confirm his suspicion.

Tarolin noticed signs that a Serbian scout had crossed into the forest and led his squad in pursuit. The Dalmatian soldiers caught the scout and began taking him back toward camp.

• Tarolin ordered his squad to return to the earlier stopping point and spotted grass and a fresh leaf that suggested someone had passed through.
• Tarolin followed the tracks south to north along an overgrown path and led his squad downhill after the intruder.
• Tarolin heard the scout ahead and split his soldiers into three groups to surround him.
• The Serbian scout fled when the Dalmatian soldiers came within thirty meters, but they caught and pinned him down after a five-minute chase.
• Tarolin identified the scout by his Mosin-Nagant, ordered him tied up, and assigned Makarić and Wiesen to guard him.

Moss interrogated Serbian operative Gerlovski and concluded that Serbia was preparing a new offensive against the Austro-Hungarian forces. He ordered increased patrols around Bitola as the Serbian threat grew amid uncertain loyalties across the Balkans.

• Antalier told Moss that Gerlovski was a Serbian former company commander who had likely been probing Austro-Hungarian strength.
• Moss discussed the continuing Serbian guerrilla threat and ordered patrols to watch the Greek and Albanian borders for infiltrators or attacks.
• Moss judged that the Serbian government-in-exile was likely preparing a major move after months of rearming with foreign support.
• The chapter described how Bulgaria's entry into the war and supplies from East Africa and the United States had strengthened the Central Powers' position.

At Edineț, Austro-Hungarian General Klee urged Bulgarian General Maklov to commit more troops to the campaign against Russia, arguing that Russian unrest and military decline could bring the country down. Maklov acknowledged the danger of a war of attrition, while East Africa continued to wait for the United States to enter the war before choosing a side.

• Klee told Maklov that the Central Powers held the advantage against Russia and should seize all of Moldova and intensify their offensive into Ukraine.
• Maklov cautioned that Russia’s vast territory and population could sustain a prolonged war, and he explained that Bulgaria had joined the campaign in hopes of gaining southern Moldova.
• Klee cited anti-war unrest in Russia and urged Bulgaria to strike before Russia recovered, warning that Bulgaria shared the Central Powers’ fate.
• Maklov admitted that a prolonged eastern war would leave the Central Powers in a difficult position against Britain and France.
• The narrator noted that East Africa’s choice depended on the United States’ entry into the war, since both nations joining the same camp could decide the conflict.

In July 1916, the Greek merchant vessel Rollingen arrived in Odessa, where surging trade reflected Russia’s growing pressure on the Eastern Front and its increased orders from East Africa. The chapter leaves East Africa using neutral middlemen to sustain European trade while expanding into markets beyond Europe.

• The Rollingen entered Odessa as shipping traffic and trade with East Africa reached record levels.
• Captain Rollingen and First Mate Carola discussed Russia’s battlefield setbacks and Greece’s ambitions in the Balkans.
• The chapter explained that Greece’s wartime economic recovery relied on neutrality and its role as a middleman for East African trade.
• East Africa welcomed neutral carriers and redirected trade toward Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reduce its dependence on Europe.

Cary and Captain Rollingen waited for a berth in Odessa and discussed Russia’s mounting military crisis and the Ottoman Empire’s growing strength. The Ottoman Empire had not yet entered the fighting, but it was preparing its army and waiting for an opportunity to strike Russia.

• Cary asked Captain Rollingen when the Rollingen could dock, and Rollingen estimated they would wait another six hours because Odessa’s port was congested.
• Cary and Rollingen discussed how outdated cargo handling and limited port equipment slowed trade, while East Africa’s container system worked best within its own upgraded ports and transport network.
• Rollingen described how the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian offensive had threatened Odessa and Kyiv and strained Russian supply lines.
• Cary and Rollingen suspected corruption had kept imported military supplies from reaching the Russian front, and Cary cited Russia’s shortage of rifles despite its mass mobilization.
• Cary warned that the Ottoman Empire might attack if Russia weakened further, while the Ottoman Empire continued expanding its forces, hiring East African instructors, and buying weapons.

At the Russian Army’s southern front near Vinnytsia, Roavsky urged his fellow soldier Karltichev to join an organization opposing the war and the commanders who wasted soldiers’ lives. Karltichev rejected the plan as a certain path to death, leaving Roavsky’s attempt to recruit him unresolved.

• Karltichev and Roavsky discussed their dwindling chances of surviving the war and returning to Buryat Village.
• Roavsky condemned the war, the Russian Empire’s leaders, and the soldiers’ sacrifices, while Karltichev warned him to stop speaking treasonously at the front.
• Roavsky revealed that he wanted Karltichev to take his fate into his own hands and join the organization he supported.
• Karltichev acknowledged Roavsky’s grievances but refused to risk joining, arguing that the organization’s plan would lead to certain death.

Roavsky joined Ilya’s plan to lead a mutiny against the Russian Army in Vinnytsia, despite failing to persuade his fellow townsman Karltichev. After three shots signaled the operation, Ilya’s troops entered the city and clashed with loyalist soldiers, plunging Vinnytsia into chaos.

• Roavsky failed to persuade Karltichev to join the mutiny and warned him to stay safe.
• Ilya told Roavsky that the operation would begin at six the next evening and assigned him Third Company.
• Roavsky gathered more than thirty supporters and informed them of the plan.
• Three gunshots signaled the operation, and Ilya led over a thousand Russian soldiers carrying a Red Flag into Vinnytsia.
• A Russian officer ordered his troops to fire, and the mutineers returned fire as street fighting erupted.
• Ilya’s forces swept through the city toward its center, while frightened citizens hid in their homes.

Ernst discussed Russia’s growing instability and arranged plans to invite members of the Russian Royal Family to East Africa, then considered East Kalimantan’s development and the future of the Hohenzollern family overseas. He left the royal invitation postponed until the end of the year and proposed establishing a Hohenzollern kingdom in the Nanyang region as a safeguard for the dynasty.

• The Russian government executed Ilya and twenty-five others for treason after suppressing the Vinnytsia mutiny, while Nicholas II ordered investigations and increased front-line supplies.
• Ernst warned Friedrich that Russia’s war and social tensions could drive the empire toward revolution, and he asked him to invite Crown Prince Alexei or several of Nicholas II’s princesses to East Africa.
• Ernst stopped Friedrich from arranging the invitation immediately and told him to wait until the end of the year.
• Friedrich reported that unrest in East Kalimantan had largely ended and that East Africa was developing the region while relocating settlers there.
• Ernst proposed that his younger son inherit East Kalimantan and that East Africa establish overseas Hohenzollern kingdoms to secure the family’s influence and provide a dynastic escape route.

Ernst discussed how rising powers and declining European homelands would undermine the colonial order. In East Kalimantan, Governor Kabe reviewed the colony’s population, resources, and security while confronting the Empire’s demanding plans for rapid growth and German-language adoption.

• Ernst argued that European colonial empires would become harder to maintain as their homelands declined, while the United States relied on economic influence and rising powers challenged the old order.
• East Kalimantan’s governor heard that the colony had about 200,000 people, held valuable coal and oil resources, and had classified around 20,000 indigenous people as slaves.
• Officials reported that the campaign against local forces had ended, though some people had fled north into the British colony; Kabe dismissed them as a limited security threat.
• Kabe said East Kalimantan had to exceed one million people within five years and make German universal, describing both goals as a major challenge.
• Kabe’s assistant noted that the Empire’s ambitious orders showed its regard for East Kalimantan, while the discussion contrasted the colony with Alaska, Mindanao, New Guinea, and Togoland.

On August 12, 1916, Lin Jiawen opened Jiawen Chinese School in Bangkok despite Siam’s ban on spreading Far East Empire culture. Chief Nasarala learned of the school and planned to wait until classes began before raiding it.

• Lin Jiawen unveiled the Jiawen Chinese School sign and invited Chinatown residents to enroll their children.
• An elderly man warned Lin Jiawen that Siam prohibited Chinese schools and that authorities would shut his school down.
• Lin Jiawen ignored the warnings and advertised the school’s staff and courses, but residents were reluctant to enroll.
• An informant reported the school to Chief Nasarala, who decided to wait until it began teaching before raiding it.

East Africa staged a confrontation at Jiawen Chinese School to provoke a diplomatic crisis with Siam. After Siamese police killed one of the school’s East African operatives, Rama VI faced East Africa’s protest and a Pacific Fleet prepared to sail.

• Director Nasarala raided Jiawen Chinese School, where Principal Lin Jiawen and the teachers and students resisted arrest; Nasarala shot Lin dead.
• On August 15, 1916, King Rama VI learned that the school’s people were likely East Africans and that the clash had left thirteen injured and one dead.
• Siam’s Foreign Minister warned Rama VI that East Africa had lodged a protest and that the incident could spark a diplomatic dispute.
• The chapter revealed that the East African National Security Bureau had used the 1907 Bangkok Treaty to establish the school and stage the confrontation as a pretext for war.
• The East African Pacific Fleet at Pontianak Port prepared to enter Siamese waters as Siam found Britain and France occupied and the United States unable to intervene.

Rama VI asked Britain and France to mediate Siam’s dispute with East Africa, but East Africa’s demands and the death of one of its citizens made compensation unavoidable. Britain and France agreed to negotiate while warning Siam to prepare for military conflict if talks failed.

• On August 16, Rama VI told Sir Claire and Minister Kriab that East Africa had opened Chinese-language schools in Bangkok and deliberately provoked Siam.
• Rama VI said East Africa demanded eighty million Rheinland Shields, territory near Bangkok, and expanded privileges under a revised Bangkok Treaty.
• Minister Kriab and Sir Claire condemned East Africa’s demands but agreed Siam would have to pay compensation for the East African who died.
• Rama VI said Siam could offer at most three million Rheinland Shields, while Sir Claire warned that negotiations might fail and lead to war.

British Minister Sir Claire and French Minister Kriab mediated between East Africa and Siam over East Africa’s demands for reparations and territory. After three days of negotiations and a threat of war, Siam accepted East Africa’s terms.

• Sir Claire and Kriab visited East African Minister Weir to negotiate on Rama VI’s behalf.
• Weir rejected the mediators’ objections and defended East Africa’s demands for reparations and coastal territory.
• Sir Claire proposed reducing the reparations and changing which land Siam would cede, but the talks stalled over both issues.
• After three days, Weir demanded sixty million Rheinland Shields and Siam’s territory on the southern Malay Peninsula, threatening to settle the dispute at sea.
• Sir Claire and Kriab accepted Weir’s final terms, and Rama VI’s government agreed to them.

Ande and Rama VI negotiated East Africa’s territorial demands in southern Siam, with East Africa insisting on the Malay Peninsula lands south of Chumphon Province. Rama VI rejected ceding the Tapi River Plains, the region he considered southern Siam’s most valuable territory, leaving the boundary dispute unresolved.

• On September 1, 1916, Ande led an East African delegation to Bangkok to negotiate with Rama VI.
• Ande demanded all Siamese territory south of Chumphon Province, including the islands, while Rama VI said Siam could only cede southeastern provinces.
• Rama VI offered Pattani, then Pattani and Songkhla Province, but Ande rejected both proposals as insufficient.
• Ande said East Africa was determined to obtain the Tapi River Plains and proposed a boundary at Chumphon Province, while allowing Siam to retain land south of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi.
• Rama VI recognized that East Africa sought the densely populated, fertile Tapi River Plains, which he considered too important for Siam to surrender.

Negotiations over Siam’s southern territories stalled when Sir Claire opposed East Africa taking the Tapi River Plains, fearing East Africa would build a canal across the Isthmus of Kra and threaten British control of the Strait of Malacca. Ander offered a final compromise demanding the remaining southern territories, leaving Rama VI facing the loss of fifty thousand square kilometers.

• Rama VI rejected East Africa’s demand for the Tapi River Plains, and Sir Claire intervened to oppose the transfer.
• Sir Claire suspected East Africa wanted the Tapi River Plains for a canal linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans and argued that the plan threatened British interests.
• Ander argued that the territory posed no military threat to Myanmar, but Sir Claire refused to relent and Rama VI supported his opposition.
• Ander offered to abandon the Tapi River Plains in exchange for all other southern territories and threatened to settle the dispute on the battlefield if Siam refused.
• Sir Claire stopped Rama VI from pressing for better terms, and the negotiations remained deadlocked over East Africa’s demand for fifty thousand square kilometers.

East Africa took control of the Kra Isthmus Territory and designated Phuket Island as a centrally administered naval stronghold for its Indian Ocean Fleet. The chapter leaves East Africa planning a major military fortress there to extend its influence across the East Indian Ocean and threaten traffic through the Strait of Malacca.

• On September 7, 1916, East Africa formally prepared to take over the territory ceded by Siam and named it the Kra Isthmus Territory.
• Vice Admiral Kolets announced that Phuket Port would serve as a strategic base for the Indian Ocean Fleet in the East Indies.
• Kolets explained that Phuket Port could help East Africa deter shipping between east and west, although the navy had originally wanted the British-held Lingjiuwei Island.
• The government and navy high command arranged for Phuket Island to be administered directly by the central government rather than included in the Kra Isthmus Territory.
• East Africa planned to build naval ports, airfields, barracks, and other facilities on Phuket Island to strengthen regional influence and secure its Nanyang territories.

East Africa prepared to take control of Phuket Island and the Kra Isthmus Territory, while reports of the handover sparked panic among Pattani’s Arab religious population. As East African forces approached, residents fled north into Siam or south into British colonies, fearing massacres like those in East Kalimantan.

• General Kolets led the Fourth Fleet to Phuket Island, and East Africa planned to move the fleet’s home port from Lamu to Phuket Port.
• East Africa’s Pacific Fleet planned a base at Songkhla to monitor Siam Bay but lacked ships and funding.
• Pattani residents heard that Siam had agreed to hand their region to East Africa and feared persecution because of East Africa’s record of massacres.
• People in Pattani urged the Siam government to explain the negotiations, though they distrusted Bangkok after earlier territorial concessions to Britain.
• As the East African Navy sailed toward Siam, Siamese residents and Arab religious followers fled the Kra Isthmus Territory, spreading fear of East Africa throughout the region.

Delagong and his wife debated fleeing Krabi Province for Nakhon Si Thammarat as rumors of East African brutality spread, and Pani confirmed that many villagers were preparing to leave. The chapter revealed that East African military intelligence had deliberately spread the frightening rumors while local forces prepared to resist.

• Delagong and his wife argued over whether their family should flee north, weighing the dangers of staying against the hardship of moving without relatives or resources in Siam.
• Pani visited Delagong and said villagers, including the village chief's family, were planning to travel together to Nakhon Si Thammarat.
• Pani explained that the village's powerful families had fled or planned to flee, hoping to keep their land deeds and return if East Africa proved reasonable.
• Local forces across the Kra Isthmus Territory, especially in Pattani, began stockpiling weapons and coordinating against a possible East African takeover.
• East African Military Intelligence spread rumors portraying East Africans as brutal, ahead of the army's role in controlling the territory.