Before coming into contact with Gandhi, Roque had great hopes for Gandhi, believing that Gandhi, an Indian with a modern education, might be a little different from other Indians.

After coming into contact with Gandhi, Roque was completely disappointed in the group of Indians, whether it was a high-caste Indian or a low-caste Indian, they all had a mysterious self-confidence that ordinary people could not understand, and their thinking was not on the same channel as normal people, so Roque had to prove it to Owen and think of other ways.

In fact, there are still solutions, Gandhi is not reliable, Roque can get Gandhi a few reliable people to go over, such as those "non-combatants" that the war office is training in Nyasaland.

It's a pity that Roque can't leave now, otherwise Roque can go to Nyasaland to see how Frank's progress is.

Leaving aside the progress on Frank's side, in mid-September, the Yao in Portuguese East Africa, ignoring their Portuguese stronghold in the coastal zone, crossed the Zambezi River, and launched an attack on the Portuguese in southern Portuguese East Africa.

At the end of September, the Ngoni and the Recruits responded to the Yao attack by killing their local Portuguese.

The Portuguese in Lourenço Marques were on pins and needles, and the Portuguese Governor in Portuguese East Africa sent six telegrams to South African companies within a week, ranging from an outcry of protest at the beginning to an almost pleading plea for reconciliation.

The Portuguese have always known that it was the South African company that supported the Yao people, but the Portuguese had no evidence, and the Yao people's resistance had not had much effect, so the Portuguese only protested to London before, and did not point the finger at the South African company.

After Nyasaland intervened, the resistance of the Yao people entered a new stage, and the Portuguese did not react, they lost important cities such as Tete and Mapupa one after another, and London's response at this time was still not painful, but the Portuguese were already anxious, so they had to ask the South African company to intervene and try to make the Yao attack temporarily stopped.

"Why stop? The Portuguese are amassing troops on their own soil, and I heard that they have hired a large number of mercenaries, and what the Portuguese need most now is time, they are not at the end of their rope, this is just a delaying tactic for the Portuguese. "Roque does not give the Portuguese a respite, the Portuguese are now on the edge of a cliff, and if they work harder, the Portuguese will be kicked into the abyss.

"It is very difficult to drive the Portuguese out of Portuguese East Africa, the Yao people do not have the ability to attack head-on, the Portuguese have a very strong foothold on the coast, and they can get supplies through the sea, unless the Yao people can seal the Portuguese port, the Portuguese will not surrender." He is also based in Johannesburg and spends less than three days a month in Salisbury.

"That's not how the accounts are calculated, think about why the expeditionary force wants to negotiate with the Boers-" Roque is not worried about this problem, anyway, it will not be the turn of the Chinese to die, it doesn't matter if the Portuguese do not surrender, play slowly.

"Why?" Xiao Si and Roque have been together for a long time, and they don't bother to use their brains at all.

"Because of military spending, cost, because of the disproportion of input and output, so even with the foundation of the British Empire, it cannot afford to spend a protracted war, do you think Portugal's foundation is thicker than that of Britain?" Roque was dismissive, and compared to the British, Portugal was the younger brother.

"Hehe, I see, Locke, you sinister fellow, you're going to consume the Portuguese." Little Skis laughed, Britain held out in the Boer War for 27 months, how long could the Portuguese hold out?

Counting the time, it's been four months!

Yes, Roque just wants to consume the Portuguese alive, don't look at the Portuguese who are tossing and rejoicing now, they are mercenaries and expeditionary forces, in fact, the Portuguese don't have much confidence.

Britain mobilized 450,000 men in the Boer War, including British troops, Cape servants, and reinforcements from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

How many people can the Portuguese mobilize?

40,000 people are enough!

Look at the opponents of the Portuguese.

Britain's opponents in the Boer War, the Boers, even counting women and children, were only 440,000 people, and the British mobilized more troops than the total population of the Boers.

The opponents of the Portuguese were the Yao, Bantu, Ngoni, Zhaona, and perhaps the Zulu in the four colonies of the Cape, with a total population of at least five or six million, which was already more than the total population of the Portuguese.

The "total population" here is the total population including Portuguese East African whites and Portuguese West African whites, and the population of Portugal itself is not worth mentioning, and it will only exceed 10 million in the 21st century.

Therefore, the Portuguese have no chance of winning this war at all, and if Portugal negotiates now, then maybe Portugal will have a decent result, and if the Portuguese are obsessed with it-

Hehe, I'm afraid that the Kingdom of Portugal will be destroyed in one fell swoop, not to mention Portuguese East Africa, whether it can keep Portuguese West Africa has to be said twice.

"Why don't you consume energy to death, it's better than bulldozing the crowd tactics-" If it was someone else, maybe the Yao people would be mobilized to carry out the crowd tactics.

Luo Ke doesn't do the thing of killing chickens and taking eggs, the Yao people are still quite obedient now, Luo Ke will not let the Yao people line up to die, and the Yao people will have a greater role in the future.

In Roque's vision, Portuguese East Africa is just a small test, and in the future, Roque will inevitably have to face the Germans if he wants to complete the "Two Cs Plan".

Compared to the Portuguese, the Germans are undoubtedly a tough one, and if they don't do it, they will lose their teeth.

The total population of Portugal is only 5.12 million, while the total population of Germany is 56.36 million, so Roque wants to preserve the vitality of the Yao people, and even when necessary, Roque will strengthen the power of the Yao people, use the Yao people to attack the German-controlled Tanganyika, and finally help Roque complete the "Two C Plan".

Taking 10,000 steps back, even if Roque does not seek German Tanganyika, it is necessary for Roque to keep a force to deal with these Africans in southern Africa, and to deal with these Africans, whether Roque does it or the whites in Europe, it will leave an indelible historical stain.

The Yao people don't have this worry, after all, the Yao people are also Africans, so no matter what happens between the Yao people and other Africans, it is an internal contradiction between the African people, and it has nothing to do with other people.

"The arsenal has already started production, what's next?" Xiao Si is very interested in Roque's plan, although it seems that Nyasaland and Rhodesia are no longer related, but Xiao Si has witnessed the changes in Nyasaland, and he has a sense of satisfaction in participating in it and having honor.

"Now we can only produce bullets, there is nothing to be proud of, we have to build rifles, artillery, and even design our own rifle artillery, the future is still a long way, don't be satisfied." Roque is not in a hurry, the development of the military industry also needs a background, and you can't become a fat man by eating one bite.

Last month, the arsenal in Nyasaland began production.

It's a bit embarrassing to say, and there is nothing to be proud of when it is put into production, because the machines are bought from the Royal Light Weapons Factory, the workers are hired from Europe, and even the raw materials are imported in bulk from Europe, that is, the production area is in Nyasaland, which is really nothing to be proud of.

However, in Xiao Si's opinion, even if it is just a bullet, it is already remarkable to be able to produce it in Nyasaland.

After all, before that, Africa's significance to Europe was basically a raw material source and a dumping place for industrial products, and Africa basically had nothing to export to Europe except for agricultural products and industrial raw materials, and Nyasaland was able to produce bullets, which was already a huge progress.

"Hahahaha-Locke, don't dream, we can't produce our own butts now, and you still want to produce rifles?" Xiao Si laughed, he didn't expect Roque's ideal to be so big.

Roque didn't smile, leaned back comfortably in the chair, and watched the smile fade from Xiao Si's face.

"Locke, aren't you serious?" Xiao Si felt unusual.

"Why not seriously? Like you just said, Nyasaland can't even produce its own butts, is that really the case? I'm afraid you don't believe it yourself, I won't say how rich the wood is here, Oak Town has built two woodworking factories, you want to have as many butts, you can produce them now. "Roque didn't brag, the butt of the gun, it really doesn't have much technical content.

"And what about the rifle-" Xiao Si felt his face a little numb, referring to Roque's previous performance, Xiao Si knew that if Roque wanted to do something, he would definitely be able to do it.

"Rifles are also very simple, don't look at the steel we don't even have to make rifles now, but that's not a problem, we can't produce gunpowder and thunder mercury yet, but we can also make bullets - no, next month we can produce gunpowder, in fact, I'm curious, there are so many mines in Johannesburg, a lot of gunpowder is needed every day, why doesn't anyone set up a gunpowder factory in Johannesburg?" Roque really couldn't figure it out, compared to the gold mines, the profitability of the arsenal was not inferior.

"What are you thinking, Johannesburg was previously a territory controlled by the Boers, and they must not be allowed to produce their own gunpowder." Xiao Si explained that there is a reason why Johannesburg, and indeed the entire Transvaal, industry is so backward, not that the Boers do not want to engage in industry, but that the British do not let it.

Speaking of industry, it has to do with access to the sea, in the past, Pretoria and Bloemfontein, there was only one railway to Cape Town, so whatever the Boers wanted to buy, they had to be restricted by Cape Town.

In order to get out of this passive situation, the Transvaal built a railway between Lorenço Marques, but it was a pity that the British went to war shortly after the railway was opened.

Therefore, the industrial dream of the Boers was shattered before it was born.

"Well, let's not talk about gunpowder, what do you think are the obstacles to our own production of rifles? In terms of technology, we can hire technicians, and even we have hired a lot of technicians, and now as long as there are raw materials, we can start work immediately; And then there are the raw materials, not only Europe can produce raw materials for making rifles in the world, but the steel of the Americans is better and cheaper, so don't say that you can buy raw materials or not, London will beg us to buy raw materials. "More than politics, Roque believes in the power of capital.

In general, London, in order to limit the productive capacity of the colonies, will certainly limit the possession of advanced technology by the colonies.

But this "restriction" has no effect in the face of a country like the United States, and let's not forget that both the United States and Britain are staunch supporters of "free trade", and Britain does not sell technology and raw materials to Nyasaland, and the United States will take the initiative to send technology and raw materials to Nyasaland.

"So, what's the next step for us to produce rifles? What to produce, Lee Enfield? "Xiao Si can't wait and is very much looking forward to Roque's future.

"Lee Enfield is one of the options, we need to produce Martini Henry to support the Yao people, and we also need a lot of Winchester 1897 and Webley revolvers, as for what we produce in the future, it depends on what we need." Roque is not in a hurry, and solves practical problems first.

At present, Nyasaland and Johannesburg need not Lee Enfield more than anything, but seemingly backward weapons like Winchester 1897 and Webley revolvers.

Winchester 1897 is an improved version of 1883, the biggest improvement is to improve the lever structure to a pump-driven structure, Winchester 1897 is a close-range weapon, close range power, fast firing, can form an effective firepower advantage in a short time.

As for the Webley revolver, Roque didn't like it either, but there was no better option at the moment.

These two weapons are urgently needed by the Chinese in Nyasaland and Johannesburg, for the farmers, they do not need offensive ability, more self-defense, so the farmers do not need high-precision, high-range Lee Enfield, but need Winchester 1897 and Webley, which are cheap, easy to use, and powerful defensive weapons.

"I thought it was Lee Enfield—" Small's immediate lack of interest.

Roque smiled dumbly, Lee Enfield may be an epoch-making weapon in Xiao Si's eyes, but here in Roque, Lee Enfield is really not on the list, Roque has asked Christian to go to Denmark to contact Jean Theodore Skobo to try to buy the drawings of the Madsen machine gun from Madsen, once successful, then the Nyasaland Arsenal will have a powerful fist product.

The Madsen light machine gun was an epoch-making product, and in 1890, Lieutenant Jean-Teodor Skobo of the Danish Army set out to design a semi-automatic rifle that was actually based on the Martini Henry rifle and transformed into a self-firing rifle.

The Madison LMG was designed with a top-down top-down top-feed system, and was originally known as the Cavalry Automatic Rifle.

Production of this rifle has now begun in Denmark, and the company that produced the rifle was the future famous company Madsen, and the Madsen machine gun did not stop mass production until 1950, and its vitality is surprisingly tenacious.

In a few years, Roque would need to buy a production license from Madsen if he wanted to get drawings for the Madsen machine gun.

Now there is no problem, Nyasala is tens of thousands of kilometers away from Denmark, and the Danes would never have thought that someone in Nyasaland would actually fight their idea.

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