April 1896.

Madagascar Island.

As early as 1893, the French government increased its efforts to invade the Imerina Kingdom, and at that time forced the Imerina Kingdom to cede Dias Suler Bay to France.

Then, in 1895, the French government decided to annex the entire Imerina Kingdom, launching another war, capturing its Antananarivo, and finally achieving full military occupation of the Imerina Kingdom in April 1896.

Of course, in the French perspective, the Imerina Kingdom, being the main nation on Madagascar Island, was essentially equivalent to the island itself.

However, after the French fully defeated the British and controlled the Imerina Kingdom, they finally discovered that the Imerina Kingdom had already been divided by East Africa in the northeast direction of Madagascar Island,

from the northern Maevaranu River basin to the southern Mananbasi River basin, becoming the sphere of influence of East Africa. During the pursuit of the remnants of the Imerina Kingdom, the French Army inevitably encountered the East African Defense Army, leading to some minor misunderstandings.

"Colonel Silvis, isn't it? Why have you crossed into our East African territory? As Frenchmen, I suppose you know the Westphalian System, and should thus respect our East African territory and sovereignty."

Lieutenant Masels of East Africa immediately lectured the Frenchmen, pointing out that the Westphalian System is the basis for the concept of modern national territorial sovereignty, and this system was initially led by the French, dismantling Habsburg rule and reducing Germany to merely a geographical concept.

In response to Masels' questioning, Silvis certainly wasn't afraid, thinking to himself, "Oh, you East Africans from some remote corner claim to be civilized now?"

Nevertheless, the East African Defense Army, though not large in number, was clearly well-equipped, not like the primitive civilization of the Imerina Kingdom, and who knew how many East Africans were behind Lieutenant Masels. So Silvis remained relatively restrained; after all, given the fluency of the German language by the opponent, one must still be cautious with these young people.

"Lieutenant Masels, your East Africa is also emerging from colonial benefits; I suppose Madagascar Island wasn't originally yours either? Now that the Imerina Kingdom has become part of our French sphere of influence, and given that the Imerina Kingdom was the original overlord of Madagascar Island, naturally, we French have the right to intervene in controlling the whole of Madagascar Island."

Masels replied, "What does that have to do with us East Africans? East Africa recognizes the Imerina Kingdom as an independent nation and acknowledges that it has effectively become a French colony, but the Imerina Kingdom cannot represent Madagascar Island. Previously, the Imerina Kingdom never unified the whole island in practice, so our East African territory does not include the Imerina Kingdom's lands but extends beyond its borders. Where you stand right now is our East African territory."

Silvis laughed at being countered. If what East Africa claims were true, France might have accepted it, but in reality, when fighting the Imerina Kingdom, can East Africa swear they haven't occupied the Imerina Kingdom's lands?

Certainly East Africa has been doing so, but it's expected that France can invade the Imerina Kingdom while East Africa cannot benefit. East Africa naturally stands its ground, for no one is virtuous here, so why pretend to be saints?

"Lieutenant Masels, is there an inscription with your East Africa's name on this land? We are merely reclaiming the Imerina Kingdom's territory since they indeed fled here."

The remaining forces of the Imerina Kingdom, mentioned by Colonel Silvis, shivered nervously nearby, fearing not only France but also wary of the unfriendly East Africans beside them.

In truth, the Imerina Kingdom understood East Africa's encroachment on its territory, but at that time, dealing with France, the major threat, took precedence, so the invasion by East Africa of those peripheral lands was overlooked; after all, East Africa was just cutting flesh, but France aimed for their life.

Masels glanced at the remnants of the Imerina Kingdom that he had intercepted, who naturally fled to East African territory to escape French sanctions, only to be trapped at the "border" by East African frontier forces and French pursuers.

"Colonel Silvis, this doesn't prove anything. If Belgians cross into German land, can you claim that the place they go becomes Belgian territory? It's pure sophistry. Regarding the land's ownership, we naturally have proof — look at that stone stele in the distance as favorable evidence."

Following Masels' gesture, Silvis indeed spotted a rhombus stone stele embedded in the ground, inscribed in German with: "Heixinggen Kingdom Border."

The Heixinggen Kingdom is the official name for East Africa; however, various countries around the world still refer to it as the East African Kingdom, similar to how the Netherlands is actually referred to as Netherlands, and Germany as both Deutschland and Germanic.

Seeing Masels' so-called evidence, Silvis was speechless. If a stone stele could settle disputes, then the ones France set in Lorraine and Alsace should have been enough to prevent the Prussian War.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Silvis acknowledged that East Africa was the local power, so he stated, "I won't argue this topic with you for now, and we hope to avoid conflict with East Africa. But first, you must hand over these remaining members of the Imerina Kingdom to us."

Masels didn't pay much attention to these so-called remnants of the Imerina Kingdom, as his presence itself aimed to block these remnants from entering East African territory.

"Of course, but only if you first withdraw from our land, then we can hand them over to you."

Upon hearing Masels, Silvis gritted his teeth in frustration but ultimately complied with his demand. The French withdrew behind the stone stele, and Masels then transferred the Imerina Kingdom's remaining forces as agreed to the French.

"Colonel, aren't these East Africans too arrogant! Are we just accepting this?" an upset subordinate inquired on the way back.

Colonel Silvis replied uncomfortably, "What, do you want to fight East Africa? Are you aware of East Africa's troops on Madagascar Island? Although that East African officer brought few men, East Africa's overall military strength on Madagascar Island vastly exceeds ours. Should a conflict arise under such conditions, we'd face another South African War as our fate."

"You expect the homeland to send more troops to this godforsaken place, emulating Britain's 'glory'…?"

During Colonel Silvis' outburst, nobody revisited the earlier conflict.

After a moment of silence, Silvis stated, "Force won't work; this matter can only be handled by the government intervening with these East African country bumpkins, which is beyond our consideration now."

Upon returning, Silvis and his party naturally exaggerated and reported their encounter to the French government.

As a major power, France felt affronted by this ordeal, prompting the government's inevitable decision… to negotiate with East Africa.

Beyond disputes in the Madagascar Island region, France also borders two East African colonies: the Gabon Colony and French Somaliland (Djibouti).

Nonetheless, French Somaliland hardly contacts East Africa, with only a small stretch bordering each other in an unimpressive desert area.

The focus lies on sovereignty division between Gabon Colony and Madagascar Island Colony with East Africa, avoiding rash decisions thanks to the precedent of the South African War. Given East Africa's might during it, France certainly won't blindly challenge East Africa in another major African war.

At that time, Britain rallied with Portugal and tens of thousands of Boer cannon fodder yet gained no advantage over East Africa, so communicating with East Africa must be reasoned and not "brutally" handled.