African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1019 Choosing a Route
Although it is impossible for East Africa to fully support Russia, it can provide Russia with certain assistance, which is a timely help for the current Russian government.

Next, Maxim and East Africa negotiated on the process of how to provide services to the Russian Navy. It was basically confirmed that East Africa would only provide Russia with some ports in its homeland and the overseas province of Lanfang.

"On the west coast, there are six ports capable of servicing Russian warships, including Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela, Alexandria, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay."

"East Africa can provide Russia with one of its ports as a temporary port of call for the Russian Navy. Among these ports, Luanda and Cabinda have the best conditions, especially in terms of material supply, which can basically meet all the needs of the Russian Navy. Luanda also has the most favorable climate conditions. I'm afraid that the Russians will find it difficult to adapt to Cabinda's tropical rainforest climate."

"Similarly, the ports in the south of the west coast are too dry, but the basic infrastructure is relatively complete. However, the supply of materials in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is relatively tight. The two places are completely surrounded by deserts and lack the supply of fruits and vegetables. Other materials are also relatively tight."

During the First Five-Year Plan, the west coast of East Africa developed rapidly, especially these six port cities, which have already been established in the field of infrastructure and are connected to the inland by railways, so they all have the basic conditions to provide services for the Russian Navy.

Looking at the East Africans wielding great power on the map, Maxim felt only endless envy. Russia has always been a country that yearns for the ocean. Starting from Peter the Great, the core idea of ​​Russia's territorial expansion was to obtain excellent seaports, but things went against expectations. Even today, Russia's territory has reached an astonishing 20 million square kilometers, but it is still controlled by others in terms of the ocean.

Let's look at East Africa. To be honest, this kind of sea and land layout in East Africa is what Russia wants to a certain extent. Of course, Maxim secretly thought that Africa could never be compared with Europe, the center of world civilization. Therefore, Russia's future still lies in expanding towards Western Europe to solve its current predicament.

"In general, we suggest you choose Luanda as your port of call. It was originally the center of the Portuguese colonial period. After it fell into our hands, it has developed rapidly. The infrastructure is very complete. It is also the commercial and trade center of the west coast of Africa. Most of the world's goods can be found in Luanda. Even some Russians do business in Luanda."

On the west coast of Africa, except for East Africa, there are almost no well-developed countries or colonies. Only Morocco in the north and Cape Town in the south are barely economically acceptable, but they are still far behind the west coast of East Africa.

Therefore, it is completely reasonable to say that the city on the west coast of East Africa is the commercial and trade center of the west coast of Africa. This has also led to Luanda attracting more and more businessmen from Africa, Europe, and North and South America to come and do business.

In the past, only some agricultural products could be exported from here. After all, Angola’s agricultural conditions were still good. As the "bread basket" of the Portuguese, it had a long history of development and was one of the few colonies on the west coast of Africa with a relatively high level of agricultural development.

Under the governance of East Africa, local industries have gradually developed since the 1990s. Entering the new century, it has become a key development area during East Africa's First Five-Year Plan. The current development of the west coast is beyond people's imagination.

The development of industry and agriculture has also led to the prosperity of commercial trade in Luanda, which can provide a richer variety of products. At the same time, transportation construction has made it increasingly connected with the inland of East Africa, and is rapidly narrowing the economic gap with the central and eastern regions, becoming the third economic pole of East Africa.

"Then let's choose Luanda!" With the introduction of the East African government, Maxim also determined the port on the west coast of East Africa where the Russian Navy would temporarily stay.

"Don't be anxious, Ambassador Maxim. Your navy may have its own plans. After all, the specific destination must be considered comprehensively. Next, we will briefly introduce the situation of the east coast port cities, and you will report back to the country to decide the final result." Maxim readily accepted the East African government's suggestion, mainly because he did not know much about East Africa's geography and urban development, so the introduction had to be made by East African government personnel.

Although East Africa is developing rapidly, cities in East Africa, except Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, are not well-known. In fact, this is the case in most countries. Even in many economically developed countries, many people may only know their capitals or the most economically developed cities.

"There are far more ports to choose from on the east coast than on the west coast, and most of them have a long history of development and no obvious shortcomings. They can basically provide relatively complete services for the Russian Navy. Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are of course the most developed. In addition to these two ports, the most developed are Beira and New Hamburg. The other ports marked on the map are not bad either."

In Maxim's opinion, there is really nothing to choose from in the ports on the east coast of East Africa. It mainly depends on how the Russian Navy plans the sailing route.

So he said to Ernst: "Your Highness, I will send this information to the country as soon as possible. I believe that our government will come up with a plan soon. Then I will come back to give you feedback on our opinions."

In addition to the east and west coasts, there is another city that has been identified but is no longer under discussion, and that is Pontianak, the capital of Lan Fang Overseas Province.

For Russia, the location of Pontianak is currently the most suitable except for the Strait of Malacca. Moreover, after leaving the East African mainland, the Russian Navy will not be able to rest from the east coast of East Africa to the Strait of Malacca. Therefore, the importance of Pontianak to the Russian Navy is no less than that of some ports in East Africa.

In the past, there was no port like Pontianak in the Southeast Asian region to provide convenience for the Russian Navy. The Strait of Malacca and other ports controlled by the British could not provide services to the Russians at all. Under pressure from the British, the Dutch colonies would most likely not be open to Russia. As for France, for various reasons, it did not provide convenience to Russia. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happened, Pontianak would definitely be a temporary stopover for the Russian Navy.

As for whether this would give Russia an advantage in the next war, Ernst was not worried at all. There was still a long distance from Pontianak to Northeast Asia. Once it reached Northeast Asia, the Russian navy would be completely rootless. At that time, Port Arthur would be besieged or occupied by Japan, and the route to Vladivostok would definitely be under Japanese control. Therefore, even if the Russian Second Pacific Fleet successfully arrived in Northeast Asia, the situation would not improve.

What Maxim said about "as soon as possible" was a bit long for East Africa. The wait lasted until March of this year, because Russia not only had to consider the East African factor, but also the attitudes of other countries along the route, especially Germany and France. Otherwise, the Russian Navy might even find it difficult to get out of the Baltic Sea.

There are two main channels to the Baltic Sea. One is a natural strait controlled by two Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden. At that time, Norway had not yet gained independence from Sweden, and Finland was also under the control of Russia, so there were only two countries in Northern Europe.

The second is Germany’s Kiel Canal. The Kiel Canal was officially completed and put into use as early as 1895. It has become the most important artificial waterway from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Now many merchant ships in the Baltic Sea choose to go to the Atlantic Ocean via the Kiel Canal in Germany. If Germany allows, this is also the most suitable route for the Russian Navy to reach the Far East.

(End of this chapter)