Overseas colonization had never been an easy undertaking, especially for a rising colonial empire like Austria, which had far too much to learn.
The African Continent of this era was no friendly land. The most terrifying enemies were not the local natives, but the harsh natural environment.
Venomous insects and ferocious beasts lurked everywhere, while disease ran rampant. These were the core factors constraining the nations' colonization of the African Continent; otherwise, that nearby continent would have long since been carved up among them.
Frankly speaking, if breakthroughs had not been made in quinine production technology and the great problem of malaria had not been preliminarily addressed, Franz truly would not have dared set foot on the African Continent rashly.
For the sake of safety, every Austrian soldier was receiving education in basic hygiene. Personal hygiene and camp sanitation alike had to be carried out strictly according to standards.
Franz had even issued face masks to prevent infection by local diseases. The soldiers were warned not to casually come into contact with natives, and were expressly forbidden from having sexual relations with locals—marriage alliances were out of the question entirely.
Franz had no choice but to take it seriously. People with unusual tastes existed in every era, and even more so in military camps. Fortunately, there should be quite a few young women among this batch of immigrants, enough to resolve the issue.
After more than three months of preparation, Austria's first colonial advance party departed from the port of Trieste on April 28, 1854.
Built around two second-rate ships of the line, with five cruisers and more than ten auxiliary vessels of various sizes, it carried the strength of an infantry regiment as it took its first step toward colonization. Its target—Guinea.
This time, the opponents were native tribes.