African Entrepreneurship Record

May 27, 1918.

A fleet composed of two destroyers, a frigate and a supply ship, rolled through the blue waves of the Indian Ocean and rushed towards the hinterland of the ocean under the deep blue sky.

"Reporting to the captain, there are islands found ahead, which should be the Chagos Islands."

A sailor came to report to Captain Hemmert of the East Africa destroyer Kagera.

Hemmert picked up the telescope and looked ahead carefully, and sure enough, a large piece of land appeared in his sight.

Judging from the scene through the telescope, this island is very small, distributed in the north-south direction, and forms a string of islands and reefs, which is particularly desolate. On the shore of the island, in addition to the dark yellow beaches, there are lush villages. Village Tropical Trees.

In addition, there are other islands that can be seen to the south of this green-covered island. There is also a small island that is almost imperceptible to the naked eye between the two, which is blurry because of the distance.

But Hemmert determined that it was an island and reef based on the markings on the navigation chart. Of course, this is only what can be observed currently.

This island reef is actually an island reef to the west of the Egmont Islands on the nautical chart, and the Egmont Islands are an important part of the Chagos Archipelago.

Hemmert said happily: "The Chagos Islands should be ahead. The fleet continues to move thirty degrees south-southeast."

The reason why Hemmert was able to determine that this archipelago is the Chagos Islands, in addition to matching the characteristics of the nautical chart, is also related to the arrival time. The Chagos Islands are nearly 3,000 kilometers away from the east coast of East Africa.

And it is deep in the hinterland of the Indian Ocean, and there are no other large island groups around it, so it can be determined that this is the destination of the fleet.

Of course, although it arrived at the Chagos Islands, the real destination of the East African Fleet is Diego Garcia, the main island in the Chagos Islands.

Diego Garcia is located southeast of the Chagos Islands, which is why Hemmert ordered the fleet to sail southeast.

The name of Diego Garcia comes from the Portuguese navigator Diego Garcia who discovered him. Later, the island was occupied by the French. In the last century, due to the defeat of Napoleon, the island was controlled by the British.

Soon the East African fleet passed a number of islands and reefs to the west of the Chagos Islands. At this time, it was clearly seen that these islands and reefs were not large in size, and many were covered by sea water. Obviously, they could not provide excellent living conditions. .

After driving southeast for an unknown amount of time, Diego Garcia finally appeared in front of the fleet.

The reason why the identity of Diego Garcia can be determined at a glance is also very simple. It is the only populated area in the Chagos Islands.

Hemmert and others could even see the barracks, warehouses, watchtowers, lighthouses and other facilities built by the British on the island.

However, the population of Diego Garcia is obviously not too large. According to Hemmert's visual inspection, there may be only a few dozen to hundreds of British troops on the island.

This is easy to understand, because the entire Diego Garcia area is only more than 20 square kilometers, and this is already the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago.

At the same time that the East African fleet discovered Diego Garcia, the British army on the island also noticed the fleet flying the East African flag.

Soon, all the British people on the island gathered on the pier of the harbor and watched the East African fleet enter the simple port of Diego Garcia. There was no conflict during the period. Instead, as the East Africans came ashore, the British garrison cheered. Voice.

As soon as Hemmert landed, a British commander came up to him and said happily: "God, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you here for more than half a month. It is really painful."

Hemmert looked at the cheering British people with a surprised look on his face, and really couldn't figure out why they were so excited.

Suppressing the weird thoughts in his heart, Hemmert said: "It seems that you have received the notice from the British government, so we don't have to explain anymore and save a lot of trouble."

The British officer said happily: "That's natural. We have been looking forward to leaving this hellish place for a long time. Staying here is almost causing mental problems for me."

"On this island, except for the thirty-one of us, there is nothing. Staying here every day makes me feel like my whole body is going moldy."

"Occasionally, when a ship passes by and someone comes ashore, we can be excited all day long. If it weren't for nothing, I would have wanted to leave this ghost place."

Through the words of this British officer, Hemmert finally understood why the British on the island were so excited after receiving the news that East Africa would take over the island.

The conditions on Diego Garcia are still too difficult. As mentioned before, the Chagos Islands are located in the center of the Indian Ocean, which means that this is a place where birds do not poop in the true sense.

Not only is there no entertainment on the island, there are no residents. The British only sent 31 people to guard the island.

Just think about it and you will know how depressing and lonely it is to stay here. This is why the British on the island were so happy when they knew they were leaving here.

Even if the island was given to East Africa by the British government, it would be difficult to calm their inner excitement. It can be said that staying in this place is more uncomfortable than staying in prison.

The British officer said enthusiastically: "We have had enough of staying in this isolated place. Fortunately, it is because of you that we can be transferred out of this maritime 'prison'."

"If it weren't for you, I have no doubt that we are almost forgotten by the British government. Now that the transfer order has come, we can leave this unfortunate place."

After staying here for a long time, the British officer's desire to talk to outsiders broke out completely, which made Hemmert embarrassed.

The British officer continued to say excitedly: "We didn't move anything on the island at all. After we leave, you can continue to use the facilities here."

"There is nothing valuable here. Except for this port, two warehouses for supplies, a lighthouse, and a barracks, there are no other buildings."

"Stay here, you can't see anything except seabirds every day, but now it's good, we can finally leave, believe me, you will be tortured crazy by the environment here..."

Under the attention of Hemmert and others, the group of British people boarded the departing ship and headed north of the Indian Ocean. According to the British officer, they were transferred to India this time.

When leaving, the British also waved goodbye to the East African officers and soldiers enthusiastically, as if this was a terrible place.

In fact, it is true. Diego Garcia is located in a place where it is almost impossible to communicate with the outside world. There are no entertainment facilities on the island, and the entire Chagos Archipelago is a barren land.

However, Indian Ocean islands such as Seychelles, Mauritius or Maldives have a large permanent population, which shows why Britain is willing to give this island to East Africa.

In fact, Britain still attached great importance to the Chagos Archipelago in the past, especially after its Indian Ocean colonies became independent. For the Chagos Archipelago, the British government and Mauritius often sued each other, and later had to give up under the exclusion of the Americans. However, in this era, the British obviously did not have this sense of crisis. After all, the British Empire was still prosperous.

Compared with the Chagos Archipelago, India, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Aden... the British have plenty of choices in the Indian Ocean.

However, the East African government is very satisfied with the environment of the Chagos Archipelago. Ernst likes this kind of island without "indigenous people" the most. Moreover, the Chagos Archipelago has important strategic value for East Africa to open up the Sunda Strait route. At the same time, it can serve as a transit station for East Africa to influence the South Pacific and Australia and provide a foothold for the East African army.

In the past, the Americans chose this place as the place to build their military base. The planes taking off from here can strike the entire Indian Ocean coastal area. It would be even more convenient if missiles were deployed.