Chapter 627 - 296: The Portuguese-British Crisis

As time reached 1884, the Spanish had gradually achieved results in their colonization of Southern Congo.

The Portuguese successively occupied the Lunda Kingdom and the Bwonda Kingdom, and pushed their sphere of influence into the Baloselan Kingdom with their own strength.

From the perspective of distance, there was less than 500 kilometers between Portugal’s West Africa Colony and the Mozambique Colony, and the Great African Colony Portugal envisioned seemed to be on the verge of realization.

Just as the Portuguese were imagining their success, reality quickly dealt them a blow.

Portugal’s colonial actions in Southern Congo had long attracted the attention of the British, and the impending merger of Portugal’s West and East African colonies gave the British a sense of threat.

If Portugal successfully merged the West Africa Colony with the Mozambique Colony, the planned connection between the Cairo and Cape Town colonies by the British Government would be interrupted.

In the face of the Portuguese actions that nearly directly disrupted their colonial plans, even though they knew Portugal was their ally, the British couldn’t remain indifferent.

On February 22, 1884, the British Government officially announced their Cairo-Cape Town line plan and contacted the Portuguese ambassador in the United Kingdom, asking Portugal to abandon its colonization of the Baloselan Kingdom and Mwata Kazemb Kingdom, leaving a 500-kilometer-wide corridor to help Britain complete the north-south Africa colonial line.

When the Portuguese Government received the British Government’s request, King Louis I of Portugal was directly dumbfounded.

He hadn’t expected that the Spaniards, whom he had been wary of, didn’t obstruct his colonial plans, but rather his ally, the British, stood in his way at the crucial moment of the impending merger of Portugal’s West and East African colonies.

The same sentiment was shared by the Portuguese officials who had worked hard for a long time towards this goal.

It must be understood that the Great African Colony plan was an achievement for King Louis, and it was also an achievement for the Portuguese Cabinet Government.

To achieve the best effect of this so-called achievement, Portugal had already promoted the Pink Map plan and the Great African Colony plan multiple times years ago, and the merger of the West and East African colonies was not unfamiliar to the Portuguese.

If at this moment, they had to tell all the Portuguese that the Great African Colony plan was ultimately just a fantasy and completely impossible to achieve, the emotions that would erupt among the Portuguese would need no further description.

At that time, let alone gaining some achievements, even keeping their current positions would be difficult.

Agreeing to the British demands meant facing the anger of Portuguese people at home. Refusing the British demands meant facing the anger of the British Government.

How to choose made Louis I and the Portuguese government extremely troubled. Louis I convened multiple Cabinet meetings to discuss solutions, but ultimately could not come to a resolution.

In a state of helplessness, the Portuguese Government finally decided to employ stalling tactics.

If they could stall the British Government on one hand while accelerating colonization in Southern Congo on the other.

Whether it was the Baloselan Kingdom or the Mwata Kazemb Kingdom, occupying either one could connect Portugal’s West African Colony with the Mozambique Colony.

Once the connection between the two colonies was completed, Louis I and the Portuguese Government would have fulfilled their initial promise to the people.

As for being forced to transfer the sovereignty of the Baloselan Kingdom and Mwata Kazemb Kingdom subsequently, that would be due to the pressure from the British Government, not because the Portuguese Government was making empty promises.

At that time, even if the Portuguese were angry, their anger would be directed at the British. After all, it was the British who crushed Portugal’s Great African Colony plan, and the Portuguese Government couldn’t contend with the British.

The stalling tactics adopted by the Portuguese Government indeed had some effect. Because the Portuguese Government instructed their ambassador in the United Kingdom to negotiate with the British Government, the British Government thought that Portugal was merely seeking compensation.

But what the British didn’t expect was that while the Portuguese were negotiating with them, they were also accelerating their colonization in the Southern Congo region.

By the time the British realized they had been stalled, more than a week had already passed.

During this week, the Portuguese hadn’t stopped their attack on the Baloselan Kingdom.

They succeeded in pushing their occupied territory forward by over a hundred kilometers, which meant that the Portuguese Army was now less than 400 kilometers away from the Mozambique Colony on the East African Coast.

At this rate, it would take at most a month for Portugal to penetrate the entire Baloselan Kingdom and reach the Mozambique Colony.

On the British side, when the delay extended past a week, the British realized something was wrong.

The Baloselan Kingdom wasn’t far from Britain’s Cape Colony, and news of Portugal’s continuous attack on the Baloselan Kingdom had reached Cape Colony.

The British, realizing they had been deceived, were shocked and angry. They couldn’t believe that a small Portugal actually dared to defy their demands.

The British Government contacted the Portuguese ambassador in the United Kingdom again, demanding an explanation from the Portuguese ambassador.

But unexpectedly, the Portuguese ambassador continued to equivocate, seemingly trying to stall for more time through this method.

At this point, the British Government’s patience wore thin. Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone personally summoned the Portuguese ambassador and issued his final ultimatum.