Chapter 92: Poaching Talent
South America, Paraguay.
Allied-occupied territory (Triple Alliance of South America).
Devon Gilhart watched as George Swindon led a large group of children out of the village.
"Mr. Swindon, if the Lord Almighty knew of your good deeds, He would surely bless you with good health and flourishing business," said Gilhart.
George Swindon replied, "General Gilhart, you jest. We simply don't want to see these children suffer. War should never involve innocent children."
"As a soldier, my duty is to obey orders," Gilhart responded. "This war may not be about good and evil, but I am still a participant. Their parents may have been innocent victims of the fighting, and there's nothing I can do. My conscience compels me to support your company's mission even more."
Gilhart was an Argentine officer in the Paraguayan War, currently resting in Paraguay.
George was an employee of the Hohenzollern Consortium, sent to South America to take in orphans left behind by the war.
Population has always been the greatest challenge facing the East African colony—but it's not a problem that can be rushed.
If Ernst had wanted to solve it hastily, he could've just brought in massive numbers of low-quality migrants—or even relied solely on the native population.
But that's not what Ernst wanted. He needed stable, governable immigrants.
The Far East had long been the main source of East African immigrants, but Ernst's strict regulations meant the flow of immigrants from that region didn't reflect its population potential.
On one hand, he welcomed large numbers of illiterate people to ensure cultural assimilation.
On the other hand, he sought balance, preventing any single group from gaining numerical dominance.
Take the recent wave of Austro-Hungarian immigrants—Ernst was starting to worry there were too many South Slavs, especially Croats and Serbs, and the number of Serbs was still rising.
So Ernst tried everything to diversify his sources of immigration.
He didn't have to wait long for an opportunity.
By chance, while reading the newspaper, Ernst stumbled across an obscure news story from South America—a rarity in European newspapers at the time.
It reported on one of South America's most brutal wars: the Paraguayan War.
Just how brutal was it?
In 1865, Paraguay's population was 525,000. By 1871, it had dropped to just 221,079.
Among them: 106,254 women, 86,079 children, and only 28,746 adult men.
The war utterly devastated Paraguay's demographic base, leaving behind countless widows and orphans—and creating the unusual polygamous culture of Paraguay in Ernst's previous life.
Though the war wasn't over yet, Paraguay had already reached the point of no return.
More than half of its army, now over 10,000 strong, consisted of elderly men and children.
And their enemy wasn't just Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay—the so-called Triple Alliance—but also Britain, the financial backer behind them.
This year, the alliance had just expanded its military once again, and Paraguay was set to face an even more brutal onslaught. That was what the article described.
When Ernst read about Paraguay's severe gender imbalance after the war, he immediately realized how it contrasted with his East African colony—where there were far more men than women.
Even setting that issue aside, Ernst was especially interested in the orphans produced by war.
They were young, yes—but that only made it easier to reshape their thoughts and cultural identity.
Most Paraguayans were of Spanish descent, making them ideal for balancing the colony's demographic structure—especially since they were mainly women and children. In short, high-quality immigrants.
So Ernst began working on his South American recruitment plan. Using financial incentives, the Hohenzollern Consortium quickly established contact with Argentine officials.
Claiming humanitarian concern for the orphaned children, the Consortium proposed to adopt those left behind by war.
Not only that—widows and single mothers who had lost their husbands could also relocate to East Africa with their children.
Currently, most Paraguayan men had been conscripted and died in combat, leaving behind many single-parent families—women raising children alone.
There were also many single women who had never married, as nearly all young men had been wiped out.
This wasn't an exaggeration.
Almost every able-bodied Paraguayan man was in the army, and the draft age range kept widening.
In Paraguay's military, one could find everyone from elderly men with white hair to underage boys.
By the war's end, even children as young as 7 or 8 and female soldiers were on the battlefield.
At present, Paraguay's leader Francisco Solano López was still alive and resisting, so a government still functioned.
But Ernst's efforts to poach orphans and citizens from Paraguay would only worsen the country's postwar recovery.
Already suffering from a demographic collapse, Paraguay couldn't afford to lose any more people.
But Ernst didn't care about Paraguay's fate.
If he could secure these immigrants, it would strengthen and stabilize East Africa's development and political structure.
A large number of single—or forced-single—women, many with children, would face hardships even with government subsidies and free education.
They weren't machines; they had emotional needs.
And those single men from the Far East? They weren't picky. Even a widow with kids was welcome.
Most didn't mind adopting another man's children.
After all, in the Far East, it was common for families to have 7–8 kids. They could raise more without issue.
Chinese immigrants, driven by traditional values, just wanted to pass on the family line.
Adopting a late husband's children? No problem. They'd continue having their own anyway.
Whatever Ernst thought didn't matter. No one could guess his true intentions.
And if someone in the Paraguayan government was smart enough to see through his plan? So what?
Paraguay was already hanging by a thread.
Ernst didn't even bother speaking with Francisco Solano López. Instead, he directly bribed officials from the Triple Alliance—if he wanted to move people, nothing could stop him.
...
Gilhart asked, "Pardon me, but does your company really plan to adopt that many orphans? We're not talking about dozens or hundreds—there could be tens of thousands across Paraguay."
George replied, "No need to worry. Our company's owner is a noble of the Prussian Kingdom, a prince from the Hohenzollern-Hexingen family. His reputation is impeccable. He regularly adopts orphans from the Far East and Germany and sponsors their education. These children will have a bright future."
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