In Ernst's eyes, the Great Zimbabwe ruins are just piles of stones without any technical value, like the pyramids of Egypt; discussing cultural value is nonsense.

Because these civilizations have been completely severed, ancient Egypt's civilization was first wiped out by Rome and later completely erased by the Arabs.

As for the Great Zimbabwe ruins, there are no traces left in the long river of history. A similar example in the world is Machu Picchu in South America, but Machu Picchu can be confirmed as the masterpiece of the Indians.

Whether Great Zimbabwe was the work of the African natives has been questioned by Europeans, because the surrounding natives have no skills inherited from these ruins and don't even know their origins.

As a result, early Europeans went insane, connecting the Great Zimbabwe ruins with Solomon's treasure. By the 21st century, with no evidence to prove who built it, it was classified as built by the natives according to proximity.

Actually, from Ernst's perspective, it doesn't matter who built it; all stone-built relics in the world are the result of brute force miracles, belonging to the category of wonders, and ancient slave monarchs certainly loved creating wonders.

Because Ernst also likes wonders, but given the current limited conditions in East Africa, he hasn't implemented anything. Ernst wonders whether most boys liked playing with mud when they were young, as he enjoyed it quite a bit as a child.

...

The Great Zimbabwe ruins, as a transit station, are a microcosm of East Africa's invasion of the Matebele Plateau, without much interaction with the local natives.

The army's advancement followed its own rhythm entirely. The Southern Road Army's destination was the Limpopo River, not to clash with the local natives, but if any unseeing natives blocked the way, that was another matter.

The Southern Road Army's vanguard regiment had just casually wiped out a native tribe seeking its own destruction. After the battle, the regiment's staff officer, Linde, pointed to the map and said, "The Limpopo River is on the southern edge of the Matebele Plateau. Beyond the Limpopo River to the south, the Boer people's sphere of influence isn't far. The task above is to control the Limpopo River line, blocking the Boers' northward possibility."

Looking at the map, the regiment leader, Habur, said somewhat perplexedly, "Why does the kingdom want to keep Mozambique? If we count Angola, East Africa is sandwiched by them, especially since Mozambique is practically embedded in Spain like Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula."

Linde said, "This should be the kingdom's strategic consideration. Last year, the British had a conflict with the Portuguese in southern Mozambique, trying to seize the land but failed. So the Portuguese still have some utility value for the kingdom. If we crush the Portuguese right now, it might allow the British to take advantage of the situation. I also support this point. Mozambique is too long and narrow, and if we attack from south to north, the front line is too long, taking a lot of time. The British might take advantage of the fire in Mozambique from the south. In the future, when we have a foothold on the Matebele Plateau, we can support from the west, exclusively occupying Mozambique instead of sharing it with the British."

"These Brits are indeed greedy; they have so many colonies already and won't share a bit!" Habur said indignantly.

Linde just smiled slightly, people are greedy, including East Africa, otherwise there wouldn't be a third conquest war. These militarily occupied territories will be a burden for the kingdom for a long time, providing nothing but military expenditure without any effective development.

The southwest (Zambia) has just entered the development stage, other newly occupied areas will definitely take more time.

In Africa, land claims are virtually equivalent to a piece of waste paper; anyone can shout slogans, like the previous life of Congo (Gold), Britain, Portugal, and France all claimed it within their sphere of influence. Ultimately, Belgium picked up the scraps because none of the Three Kingdoms invested practically in the area.

Effective occupation is the right path, just like the Portuguese kingdom, not even qualified to offer shoes to the British, but in Mozambique, the British are powerless against the Portuguese colony, and the basic condition for effective occupation is the presence of military force.

...

Italian region.

Thanks to Venice's city defenses, the Italians truly held off the Austro-Hungarian Empire's offensive, which is actually how war should normally be.

Because the first two lines of defense were too playful, even the Italians themselves felt unreliable, fighting half-heartedly. The Austro-Hungarian Empire just applied a bit of force, and the Italian army let go.

This also led to most of the Italian troops on the east line all converging on the Venice defense line. Currently, out of the 250,000 troops on the east line of the Italian kingdom, 180,000 are concentrated in Venice and surrounding areas.

The army is concentrated, and many are defeated soldiers retreating from the first two lines of defense, so the security inside Venice, is imaginable.

"Mr. Leon, what is the purpose of your visit?" the highest commander in the Italian command, Raffaele Cadorna, asked the head of the delegation sent by the Venice city government.

"General Cadorna, I represent the Venice city government to express our solemn protest. Can you restrain your soldiers? They've already caused several serious security incidents within the city, not to mention countless minor cases, which have aroused public outrage among Venice citizens!"

After hearing Leon's purpose, Raffaele Cadorna personally brought Leon a chair, saying, "Mr. Leon, please sit down and speak slowly. You, go brew a cup of coffee for Mr. Leon," he told his adjutant.

After calming Leon, Raffaele Cadorna leisurely said, "Mr. Leon, I will issue orders to have them implemented, and strict control will be enacted city-wide immediately. However, it's best for citizens not to go out, because the current situation of the army is quite complicated. Due to the hasty retreat in the past two days, many units are quite chaotic. We are still reorganizing and cannot effectively restrain the troops during this period."

Military control actually means a cut-off, forcibly separating the army and civilians, which is the only good idea that Raffaele Cadorna can think of.

Raffaele Cadorna is also quite helpless; the front-line troops retreated too quickly, causing chaos in many units because the corps and division commanders ran too fast, resulting in lower-ranked units following suit, causing many units with platoon leaders unable to find company commanders, company commanders unable to find battalion commanders...

This is also due to the Italian kingdom's establishment too short and the temporary expansion resulting in many unqualified military officers; the military leaders and nobles of annexed kingdoms also blended into the Italian kingdom's army. Although the army's scale is significantly larger than in the Sardinian kingdom era, its combat and command capabilities have actually dropped a level.

"If that's the case, will it affect the normal operation of factories?" Leon asked.

"Of course not, businesses can operate as usual, but it's best to manage workers within the factory area."

"Then what about other business activities? For instance, food procurement and other citizen activities, they can't just stay home and starve without going out, right!"

"That's left to your city government to manage. You can organize temporary armed forces to maintain the city's operation, with resident water and food distribution temporarily managed by you. If this doesn't work out..."

Just as Raffaele Cadorna was about to say that if the Venice city government did not agree, then military control would have to be canceled, but it would inevitably result in some soldier crime problems with residents mingling, his words were interrupted by Leon.

"No problem, leave it to our Venice city government! General Raffaele Cadorna, you truly are a brave and resourceful, responsible leader."

"Ah! You agreed!"

"Of course, we community servants will pacify the citizens, and it's only understandable to temporarily stay home. The citizens will understand, after all, it's all because of those damned Austro-Hungarian aggressors," Leon said righteously.

"Thank you very much for your understanding!" Still unaware of the trouble he stirred up, Raffaele Cadorna exclaimed.

The Venice government is indeed reasonable, willing to fully cooperate with the kingdom to resist Austro-Hungarian aggressors, truly reliable.

And Raffaele Cadorna is completely unaware that Leon, while serving as the Venice city hall deputy mayor, is also one of Venice's largest suppliers of salt products.