Chapter 152 The Hot Wind in Abyssinia! (I)

Addis Ababa, from the Ethiopian national language Amharic, means "City of Flowers". It is more than 2,400 meters above sea level and is the highest city in Africa.

On November 4, 1887, Ménilic II, the "King of Kings" of Ethiopia (then known as Abyssinia), personally selected Fervoha, located in the central Ethiopian Plateau as the capital of the unified country, and was personally named Addis Ababa by Queen Tetu. The new capital developed rapidly, and by 1908, the permanent population had reached 60,000-70,000. The newly selected capital was more located in the center of the country than any capital in Ethiopian history, especially closer to the southwest and vast southeast regions that had recently conquered since the predecessor "King of Kings of Kings" Johnny IV, which not only facilitates contact with all parts of the country, but also facilitates the expansion of territory.

The city is built on a hillside slanted from south to north, built on the mountain, and the main street is built by the water. The strange flowers are blooming beside the streets: colorful roses, bright and beautiful cannas, geraniums covered with frost and snow, elegant and noble magnolias, refreshing tuberose jade, and bougainvillea that is difficult to distinguish from leaves and flowers... It is a colorful and beautiful flower, worthy of the name of "City of Flowers".

There are newly planted Eucalyptus trees everywhere, slender, lush, with drooping triangular leaves, with a slightly grayish-colored look, and look like bamboo covered with white frost from a distance. This tree from Australia grew rapidly. In order to solve the problem of firewood and building materials in the capital, Emperor Menelik II called on the people to plant widely since 1905. At the same time, the state provided saplings at a low price and exempted from the land tax on planting trees. In just a few years, the tree was planted everywhere inside and outside the city, becoming another unique landscape.

In June 1908, a small team of yellow-skinned and dark-eyed soldiers were leisurely strolling on the beautiful streets of this city of flowers. The dark-skinned locals along the way often cast respectful eyes, and the owner of a shop would greet them enthusiastically.

"It's so comfortable, it's hard to imagine that this place is on the same latitude as Nansha and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). It's not an exaggeration to say that it's like spring all year round."

One of the middle-aged men with the rank of brigadier general of the Chinese Empire sighed enjoyably.

His name is Wen Yu, the head of the Chinese military advisory regiment in Ethiopia. He is now 38 years old. He was the director of the First Brigade of the Imperial Guards and the brigade commander at the time of the Asian-Russian War. He lacks the strength of a warrior and always reveals the temperament of knowing and wise. His boss's comment was "spiritual and steady, with a strong spirit."

"That's true. Because of the plateau, the climate is particularly pleasant, and it is completely different from the plains in the north and south. Thinking about the previous year in Mustahile in the south, I fainted three times in one day."

Colonel Yin Tian, ​​the deputy commander of the advisory regiment, seemed to remember the disgraceful experience. At the age of 35, he served as an intern combat staff member of the Northern Army Command of the North Korean Expeditionary Army and a combat staff member of the Japanese Expeditionary Army during the Sino-Japanese War. He served as the chief staff officer of a certain infantry regiment and the commander of the regiment during the Asian-Russian War. He participated in many major battles and showed his 'lust' and won the fourth-class Qinglong and third-class White Tiger medals. His superior's comment was "sophisticated thinking and a realistic person."

Four other members of the advisory regiment were in parallel with the regiment commander and deputy regiment commander, namely Major Li Ruishi, who was born in the infantry department, Captain Lieutenant Li Xiuping from the artillery department, Lieutenant Huang Yan from the Army Air Force (also served as the deputy captain of the Royal Ethiopian Flight Team), and Lieutenant Gudao sent by the Ginseng Department.

"How about it, which coffee shop to go to today?"

The group member Li Ruishi held his arms and stared at the sky boredly. The vast blue sky on the Ethiopian Plateau was pure and flawless and breathtaking.

In the 18th and 19th century, Europeans introduced coffee trees and the habit of drinking coffee to Ethiopia. Due to the suitable conditions in all aspects, the coffee beans produced are of relatively good quality. Since then, Ethiopia has gradually become the main coffee producing area in Africa, and has also formed its own unique coffee culture. In 1908, there were 20 or 30 coffee shops on the streets of Addis Ababa in 1908, providing various coffee styles to customers at home and abroad.

"Go to 'Aduwa'." The leader Wen Yu made a quick decision.

No one objected.

Aduwa Café is located outside St. George's Cathedral in the upper town, close to the royal palace. It is a high-end place for foreign embassy staff and famous people in Egypt.

After a quarter of an hour walking, six people came outside the European-style cafe. The waiter warmly greeted them and led them to a round table by the window.

"Six cups of freshly ground Abyssinian coffee?" The waiter obviously knew the taste of the regular customers.

"Please be quicker, please." Wen Yu responded fluently in English.

The national language of this country is Amharic in the Semitic language, but English is already common in the upper class at this time. The Aryan flavor of their national blood can be smelled from their national language. In fact, the skin of Ethiopians is not as coke as the pure blacks in Central and South Africa. Historians generally believe that the current Ethiopians are descendants of the ancient Aryan branches and blacks.

This knowledge may not be important to the advisory group members, but what's wrong with having a little more understanding of the country?

"I didn't see that Dr. Wu today. Did you go to some corner to dig bones?" Deputy Commander Yin Tian murmured.

Dr. Wu is an advisor to the embassy, ​​specializing in Asian and African history, and from time to time he gives lectures to the advisory group to introduce the history and culture of Ethiopia and other surrounding areas. The advisory group's understanding of this country is largely due to him - a fat, enthusiastic scholar who often wears British adventure shorts and a tropical wide-brimmed hat.

While waiting for coffee, the six people chatted casually, and stopped from time to time to enjoy the scenery outside the window.

The famous St. George's Cathedral stands on the front of the open windows. It was built in 1896 to celebrate the Battle of Aduwa, which defeated the Italian invaders. It is a traditional octagonal shape, with a unique shape and a grand momentum. The top of the church tower is tall and glittering in the sun.

To the east of the cathedral is a wooden and stone palace, with red and majestic stone walls, condescending and majestic. However, in the eyes of the Chinese advisory group, a palace of this size may not be as good as some royal palaces in China.

These two buildings standing on the commanding heights can be said to be the symbol of Addis Ababa. In fact, the initially determined urban layout was built in the form of a military camp: every noble and military leader loyal to the royal family received a piece of land of reward on the surrounding hills. The noble and military leader lived in the center of the land, surrounded by their servants and slaves. This formed the earliest community in the city.

The Chinese Advisory Group's residence is on a small hill east of the palace. It is not only the residence of the "Hero of Aduwa" Duke Ma Kangnan in the capital, but also the residence of the First Royal Guard Brigade, which is completely equipped with Chinese weapons and practiced in Chinese style. It only takes half an hour to walk from the Advisory Group's residence to the palace.

It took about 5 minutes to serve the coffee, which was quite fast. This cafe, named after the glorious name of "Aduwa", has been booming since its opening. It even had to wait a quarter of an hour to drink authentic Abyssinian traditional coffee.

The real freshly ground coffee in Abyssinian coffee is to pick freshly ripe coffee beans directly from the coffee tree, and then grind them into powder with a stone mortar. The members of the consulting group have indeed witnessed the coffee tree garden behind the cafe with their own eyes.

The advisory members who tasted the mellow coffee did not rest idle. They all subconsciously paid attention to the people coming and going in the cafe. Addis Ababa not only has the Chinese Embassy and the China National Affairs Advisory Group, but also the permanent embassies of more than a dozen European and American countries and dozens of religious, military and commercial missions every year, which has caused the residents of this beautiful city to lose their minimum curiosity for foreigners with different skin "colors".

"Look at that, the Italian minister and the German minister." Deputy Head Yin Tian reminded the leader Wen Yu.

Wen Yu narrowed his eyes: "Those two guys have been so close lately."

"Two years ago, I was fighting for the ownership of southern Somalia, but now the ministers of the two countries are so close and famous," Yin Tian added.

Lieutenant Gu Dao, wearing a pair of small glasses, said calmly: "I still believe that the intelligence judgment about Germany and Italy's attempt to jointly attack Ethiopia is correct."

Wen Yu spread his hands: "We have to wait for instructions, and we also need further information to convince the Emperor Ethiopian and his General Staff. Lieutenant Gu, you need to work harder in terms of intelligence."

"The problem is," Li Ruishi picked up his arms, "If Germany and Italy really attacked Ethiopia in the near future, can Ethiopia defend?"

"That depends on how many troops they can use. According to the updated situation report two weeks ago, Italy assembled 40,000 Italian troops and 25,000 indigenous troops in Elitrea, 28,000 Italian troops and 17,000 indigenous troops in Italian Somalia, and Germany assembled 9,000 German troops and 12,000 indigenous troops in German Somalia. With these forces, if you want to capture Ethiopia, which has 130,000 modern regular troops, you will have to risk 120% failure." Yin Tian analyzed.

Li Ruishi sneered: "But you don't think why so many troops were gathered if it weren't for the purpose of launching an attack? Obviously, whether in Italy or Germany, the troops gathered far exceed the needs of defending those colonies. Moreover, the German and Italian ministers have fought so fiercely recently, and other information also shows that there was no friction or dispute in Britain, France, Germany and Italy in East Africa, which ruled out that Germany and Italy gathered together in order to fight against each other or prevent Britain and France."

"My personal idea, that is, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, may have regarded us as speculators who attempt to monopolize Ethiopia, so they secretly conspired to solve the problem "sexually" at one time."

"Did we really do it too much?" Commander Wen Yu said with a wry smile.

Coffee smells fragrant and tastes bitter. People who are used to drinking will not care about this, because fragrance exists above bitterness, and bitterness penetrates between fragrance. The two are inseparable and eternal.
Chapter completed!