African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1085: Transaction between the Two Countries
Assuming that a war breaks out between Britain and East Africa, the consequences will naturally be felt at the two levels of naval warfare and land warfare. The British Army can be said to be the weakest among the major powers in the world, so the war between the two countries will inevitably be dominated by naval warfare.

Although on the surface, the British Royal Navy is far more powerful than East Africa, the Royal Navy's strength is five times that of East Africa, and the total tonnage of its ships has reached an astonishing two million tons, while the total tonnage of East African Navy ships has just exceeded 400,000 tons.

Currently, the East African Navy ranks sixth in the world in terms of total tonnage of naval ships, following in order: Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, and East Africa.

After Japan benefited from the warships sent by Russia, the total tonnage of its navy reached more than 400,000 tons, currently ranking above East Africa, while the United States, Germany and France are all above 800,000 tons, and there is no gap between the three countries yet.

From this perspective, the East African Navy's position among the world's naval powers is not prominent, but considering the quality of the East African Navy's warships, the East African Navy should be ranked fifth in the world.

Although the Japanese Navy was larger than that of the East African Navy, many of its warships were second-hand warships captured from Russia, and the East African Navy also had an advantage in dreadnoughts and submarines.

Even so, the gap between the East African Navy and the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France is still quite large, which also reflects the urgent need for East Africa to restart the naval arms race.

If East Africa lags far behind other countries, although it will not become a prey to other powers, it will not be easy for it to benefit from international changes in the future.

On this basis, the United States, Germany and France were originally pursuing Britain relentlessly, and Britain was forced to adopt the two-power standard to ensure the superiority of its own navy. The more countries participated, the more powerless Britain became. This is also the main reason why Britain urgently hopes that East Africa will stop the arms race at the naval level.

As for forcing the East African Navy to end the arms race through war, Britain cannot afford this risk. The Russo-Japanese Navy has only been around for a few years. The Japanese Navy was able to defeat the strong with the weak, and the East African Navy may not be able to achieve this effect, although the probability is very small.

If Britain suffered a disastrous defeat like Russia and faced naval competition from Germany and France in Europe, the consequences would be disastrous.

Of course, Britain did not want to go to war with East Africa, and East Africa also did not want to be a wedding dress for others. In addition, Russell had just surrendered, so Ernst naturally would not give up this opportunity to blackmail the British government.

Ernst deliberately said: "Becoming a world naval power has always been an important goal for East Africa. Although we cannot build a maritime force as strong as your Royal Navy, we cannot be much worse than the United States, Germany and France. Therefore, it is unrealistic for your country to ask us to take the initiative to stop the naval competition. The changes in the world's naval landscape now require us in East Africa to have a strong maritime force to ensure East Africa's status and interests."

Ernst's words did not surprise Russell. As a world power, it was understandable that East Africa wanted to develop its maritime power. After all, a country like Japan could temporarily rank above East Africa. If he put himself in her shoes, I'm afraid Russell would not be able to accept it.

However, Ernst's words just now clearly had a hidden message. He did not make a final statement. It is unrealistic to stop the naval competition, but there is room for flexibility in the extent of participation in the naval competition.

Assuming that, as Ernst said, the East African Navy targets the United States, Germany and France, it would obviously be extremely disadvantageous to Britain, because the total tonnage of the navies of the three countries is now close to one million tons, which is far from the limit of the three countries.

The United States, Germany, and France are all actively expanding their navies, which means that East Africa's goal is also floating. What if the navies of the United States, Germany, and France exceed two million tons in the future? Will East Africa also follow suit to reach two million tons, or even exceed this level?

After all, Japan is a country that has gone so crazy as to increase its naval tonnage to more than 400,000 tons, and East Africa is obviously much stronger than Japan. If the East African government also adopts the Japanese naval development model, it is not impossible to establish a navy that has always been inconsistent with its national strength.

Apart from other things, the British government positions East Africa as a world power on the same level as France, so the lower limit of the East African Navy should be based on France, and the upper limit is difficult to judge. However, no matter which model the East African Navy chooses in the future, it is not good news for Britain, as it means that a powerful naval force that is not weaker than the United States, Germany, and France will rise in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic, and it is not easy to be interfered with by Britain.

If East Africa uses this navy to dominate the Indian Ocean, it will not be difficult. After all, it is impossible to concentrate the British naval forces. For example, the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean cannot be easily changed.

Assuming that it really comes to this, then India and other British colonies along the Indian Ocean coast and colonies in the Far East will be at great risk, which is something Britain absolutely cannot accept.

After realizing this, Russell became more determined to limit the size of the East African navy. If the East African navy rose, it might lead to the collapse of the entire British hegemony.

Russell, who was frightened and sweating, hurriedly said to Ernst: "Britain has absolutely no intention of threatening or restricting the development of East Africa. Our essence is to maintain regional stability. In order to show the sincerity of the empire, we can make huge concessions to East Africa on the issues of the Persian Gulf and South America, but the premise is that East Africa must control the size of its navy within a low-risk range."

Russell's guarantee can be said to represent Britain's bottom line. If East Africa refuses to respond, then Britain can only nip the danger in the bud. Although the danger in East Africa is somewhat strong, it is a matter of British hegemony, and Britain is absolutely determined to do so.

At this point, Ernst's goal has been achieved. In Ernst's view, East Africa does not have the ability to challenge Britain at this stage, nor is there any need to do so, so quitting while the going is good is the best option.

Ernst said: "Our demands in East Africa are actually very simple. One is to ensure that our country has a fairer competitive environment in the international market, which is not limited to South America. The other is that we in East Africa should obtain corresponding interests in the Indian Ocean region, especially a stable overseas fulcrum, as the basic support for East Africa to guarantee its own interests."

Ernst's words can be simply summed up in five words: we need market and we need land.

The market is easy to understand. Since the completion of the Second Five-Year Plan, East Africa's industrial development has reached a bottleneck, especially the demand for overseas markets has become more urgent. Although Ernst mentioned before that East Africa represents 100 million people, there is still a vast market of 2 billion in the world.

The world market was mainly controlled by the British. With British colonies and the international order they dominated, Britain was the actual controller of the world market, and the external expansion of East African industry could not bypass Britain.

Therefore, if the UK can take the initiative to give up part of its market, even if it is just to create a fair competition environment in East Africa, it will be of great benefit to the current industrial development in East Africa.

As for the key locations, Ernst's description was rather vague. Along the Indian Ocean coast, except for its own territory, East Africa almost lacks any strategic fulcrums that can be utilized. Specifically, they are along the Red Sea coast, the Arabian Sea coast, the Persian Gulf coast and the eastern Indian Ocean region.

Therefore, East Africa urgently needs to build its own sphere of influence in the above-mentioned regions so that its influence along the Indian Ocean coast can be further expanded, and this cannot be achieved without the British.

Just as Russell thought, if East Africa could not be acquired through other means, then East Africa could only be taken from Britain through war, but the prerequisite was to wait until the East African navy became strong.

Ernst added: "Of course, there are differences, but as long as the two countries are willing to negotiate, there will be no problem that cannot be solved. As for the discussion on the details, it will be analyzed bit by bit by the East African government and your country."

(End of this chapter)