Chapter 1446 - 18: Water-Saving Agriculture

Chapter 1446: Chapter 18: Water-Saving Agriculture

"This Benito appeared out of nowhere, seemingly unremarkable at first glance, but upon closer inspection, his so-called Italian combat team has already surpassed ten thousand members and carries the traits of a political party."

In the corner of the Picher Beer Hall, Lorent, an East African agent, spoke to his colleague Shafu Zhi.

Shafu Zhi took a sip of beer, glanced at the place where Benito was giving a speech, and then said, "Benito’s father was a senior member of the old Italian Labor Party, and Benito himself was a member of the Labor Party before."

"However, regarding Benito’s personal history, he seems more like a maverick. He has been like this since his school days, liking to boast, act as the boss, with excellent eloquence, and many ideas. Not only is he able to speak strongly, but his ability to act is impressive, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to gather such a large team."

"Moreover, in terms of ideology, he advocates centralization and expansion. If the Italian combat team continues to develop, it might become a political force not to be ignored in Italy. It’s worth noting that the so-called Italian combat team was established less than two years ago."

Lorent furrowed his brows after hearing the intelligence on Benito and said, "Sounds like quite a character, but I believe his personality and way of doing things are not sustainable. He hasn’t clashed with the current Italian government; otherwise, it would have been over for him long ago."

Regarding Lorent’s assessment, Shafu Zhi said, "I agree. From his speeches, it is apparent that he is unlike traditional politicians, acting more like an opera performer. With a loud voice and exaggerated gestures, he is highly provocative and can stir emotions."

Lorent said, "Since that’s the case, we don’t need to focus too much on this kind of character."

The attention of East African intelligence personnel in Turin on Benito was purely coincidental.

In Italy, the intelligence organization in Turin primarily aims to grasp government intelligence information and observe the activities of the Italian Labor Party in the locality.

Due to Benito’s previous association with the Labor Party and his family background, the Turin intelligence department thought he might be connected with the Italian Labor Party.

However, after a period of observation and collected intelligence, this Benito is clearly at odds with the Italian Labor Party.

Even the organization he had established was entirely unrelated to the Italian Labor Party.

The reason why earlier the East African intelligence agency suspected his Italian combat team’s connection with the Labor Party lies in the complex scenarios of Labor Party organizations in Europe.

European Labor Parties, and even Labor Parties in various countries, often diverge due to differing political paths, or establish new entities, yet these splits or new organizations are essentially still Labor Parties, only their routes are not unified.

This is not surprising, as seen in the successful Russian Labor Party where the leader Vladimir had different route disputes from the prior European Labor Party.

Vladimir advocated using violent means to seize national power to establish a Labor Party regime, and his path has already proven successful.

Therefore, Benito’s independence after leaving the Labor Party organization drew the attention of the East African intelligence organization, for without contact, who could know that this Benito hadn’t departed due to disagreements with the original Italian Labor Party and established a new Labor Party organization.

However, the result is "good". This Benito is entirely not a Labor Party member.

Otherwise, a character like him flagrantly engaging in political activities in places like Turin would have long been targeted by the Kingdom of Italy’s government.

...

Rhein City.

At the end of 1920.

The European flu outbreak reached its peak nationwide in East Africa, especially illustrating this point in the strictly locked-down Rhein City, where a significant number of cases had already emerged, worsening the already bleak economic situation in East Africa this year.

"Throughout 1920, the nationwide count of infected individuals became untrackable; however, the good news is the virus’s lethality has substantially diminished, currently resulting in only a little over two hundred eighty thousand deaths due to the European flu."

"Among these, over one hundred thousand cases resulted from the European flu within two months in the middle of the year. After July, the flu’s fatality rate considerably reduced."

"Currently, the cumulative number of infected individuals nationwide might exceed thirty million, but the infection rate remains significantly lower compared to European countries in relation to the Empire’s total population."

East Africa’s total population exceeds one hundred sixty million, and thirty million accounts for about twenty percent nationwide, including unfortunate repeat infections.

This implies that East Africa’s pandemic fatality rate is even below two per thousand, mainly benefiting from relatively strict isolation policies and the East African government’s ample "ammunition."

The "ammunition" refers primarily to medical supplies, especially certain special-effect drugs, which significantly reduce the infection-related death risk.

The specific efficacy of these special-effect drugs is unclear, but indeed may enhance the resistance of East African people, mainly because many of these special-effect drugs are East African traditional medicines.

"And this time, India and the Far East Empire suffered the most from the European flu, being densely populated countries with low health and sanitation standards."

"The pandemic in such countries is entirely unpredictable, but visibly disastrous; this year’s immigration applications to the Far East Empire have consequently increased."

The European flu severely strikes backward countries and regions, while in industrialized countries like East Africa, the diminishing power of the flu ensures sufficient supplies to combat the outbreak, facilitating some level of relief.