Mbeya Station is a large station, so the stopover is longer. At Tirpitz's strong request, after applying through the station phone, the East African Government allowed him to observe the development of Mbeya City around the station.

Looking at the East African security personnel guarding against him like a thief, Tirpitz said helplessly, "I heard before that East Africa is relatively closed, and now it seems true. Just wanting to stroll around this East African city requires so many restrictions."

Aaron, the East African reception personnel, naturally couldn't let Tirpitz freely "slander" his country, and explained, "Count, East Africa is actually also a relatively free country, but we are indeed much stricter in screening and examining foreign personnel. After all, East Africa has a short history, and in order to maintain regional stability, we must organize third-party forces to pose threats to the national security of East Africa, but these have little impact on ordinary East African people."

"Well! Do I look like a spy to you? Or someone with ill-intentions towards East Africa?" Tirpitz sarcastically remarked. Anyone subjected to such treatment would not take it well, so Tirpitz deliberately said so.

"Haha, Count, you are certainly not an outsider. We East Africans consider Germany as a brother nation, but East Africa upholds the principle of governance by law, so such procedures are unavoidable. You must know that the East African population is not native, so we must guard against those who have had conflicts with East Africa using natives to disrupt the social order of East Africa."

Aaron spoke with reason and evidence, and as for countries that have had conflicts with East Africa, undoubtedly in outsiders' eyes, it is only the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Naturally, Tirpitz, the old fox, did not believe Aaron's words. After all, East Africa was more closed before the South African War, at that time East Africa even had only Dar es Salaam and Mombasa as the open cities, identical to the Far East Empire before the Opium Wars, which previously only had Guangzhou as a legally open port.

Of course, there are many speculations about East Africa executing a closed-door policy, but none have garnered excessive attention. After all, the African continent is not a hot region, except during the South African War, it is hardly reported by Europe. After the South African War ended, although the situation improved somewhat, it was better than nothing.

Tirpitz couldn't be bothered to argue so much, now he is only interested in Mbeya, this large inland city of East Africa.

It's already past three in the afternoon, but Mbeya's streets are very prosperous, with bustling crowds and vehicles, and factory chimneys in the industrial zone are emitting exhaust into the sky.

Mbeya City's buildings are numerous, roads are clean and tidy, and all street lights are electric, showing East Africa's relentless development in electricity.

Along the way, Tirpitz also passed through many cities, those East African cities also have factories and electric facilities, which fits East Africa's national conditions as a major exporter of electric equipment and products in the international market.

"What is the population of Mbeya City?" Tirpitz asked Aaron.

"I'm not clear on the exact number, but there should be fifty thousand, after all, it is one of East Africa's few major cities." Aaron answered honestly.

Currently, the actual total population of Mbeya City is indeed over fifty thousand, ranking fourth among East African cities.

"In that case, this city is indeed notable. At first glance, I knew it is more prosperous than Dodoma City, if placed in Germany it might rank in the top five," Tirpitz said.

Regarding population alone, Germany has only Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne ahead of Mbeya City, while Munich and Mbeya City are comparable, both having over fifty thousand, so Mbeya City's population could also rank in Germany's top five.

"Mbeya City is East Africa's earliest heavy industrial base, so it has a first-mover advantage. Early East African military industry and heavy industry were concentrated in Mbeya City, and with the construction of the Central Railway, Mbeya City has maintained its tremendous advantage." Aaron said.

The Central Railway and the support of the East African national policy are important reasons why Mbeya City can maintain rapid development.

In the past life, Mbeya City ranked sixth to eighth among Tanzania's cities, fluctuating up and down. Nowadays, Mbeya City ranks in the top five nationally in East Africa, naturally closely related to the East African Government's emphasis on Mbeya City.

"So, East Africa has been paying great attention to industrial development for many years, and it is located in the hinterland. No wonder East Africa could hold its own against the two great powers, the United Kingdom and Portugal, during the South African War. If Portugal had invested in its colonies like you did, it wouldn't have been driven back to its homeland." Tirpitz remarked.

The biggest difference between conventional colonizers and East Africa is that their extraction exceeds construction. Previously, Portugal only focused on developing the coastal areas of its two colonies, while the inland was left wild. Under such circumstances, how could they compete with the ambitious and striving East Africa?

Tirpitz continued, "The urban planning, architectural level, and industrial development of Mbeya City are all adequate. Though I've only seen a glimpse, I can assert if other East African cities are like Mbeya, then East Africa's future would be the next United States."

"Originally, I thought East Africa had only effectively developed the coast, but after seeing along the way, I realized East Africa's development is far from what the outside portrays. It's hard for Europeans to imagine that on the African continent, almost a thousand kilometers from the coastline, there is a city not in the least inferior to major cities in Europe."

"In the past, I also held such thoughts, but after seeing Mbeya City, I found my previous perceptions were somewhat laughable."

What was Tirpitz's original thought? The answer is similar to many undeveloped regions, especially like South America, where the inland has almost no civilization, the East African savannah is teeming with lions and other wild animals, with only sparse colonial outposts scattered across East Africa's inland.

However, the towns and villages along the Central Railway, stretches of farmland, and plantations all narrate the pioneering history of East Africans, similar to America's Westward Movement, they endlessly expanded into the depths of the African continent, continually transforming conquered land into habitable areas.

Mbeya, Dodoma, Iringa, and other cities attest that East Africa is not only developing agriculture inland, but also has the capability to construct cities not in the least inferior to Europe. If in the future, East Africa's land of more than ten million square kilometers were like the sight along the Central Railway, it would be terrifying!

Understand that Tsarist Russia, as such a colossal country, has a strong sense of oppression, but there are many great powers surrounding it, like the Far East Empire, Iran, Ottoman, Austria-Hungary, even Germany itself can check Tsarist Russia, the United States is isolated overseas, Brazil and Australia are undeveloped areas with sparse populations.

Although East Africa's population relative to the national land area is also not very high, Tirpitz thinks perhaps it has forty to fifty million, which is already comparable to Germany. But Germany's land is small, and the per capita resources available can't compare to East Africa.

"Count, thank you for your praise, but the gap between our East Africa and Germany is still big. Although we have a few major cities, most are piled up with population. As you see, our East Africa is actually a mixed system country dominated by German culture, and Chinese immigrants have played a huge role in East Africa's construction, especially in the early development of East Africa."

"And as the Far East Empire is the world's largest in population, its resources are virtually limitless. As a navy personnel, I suppose you're familiar with the coastal cities of the Far East Empire. Although the Far East Empire is overall relatively poor and backward, its coastal cities are quite well-developed, so our several major East African cities should be a similar situation."