African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1291 Indian Temptation
When it comes to East Africa itself, there is also evidence to support this. For example, when the East African Air Force was first established, it was merely an aviation unit to cooperate with the Army. It was only in recent years that it officially became an independent military branch, on par with the East African Army and Navy.

In short, the East African Navy has been tasked with becoming an important naval force in the world since its inception and is an indispensable and important part of the development strategy of East African countries.

However, what such an important naval force that aims to compete for world maritime hegemony obviously lacks most is historical heritage and overseas bases.

Freer said: "During the South African naval battle, the British Navy crossed the Socotra Islands and attacked Mogadishu, the northernmost port in my country at that time."

"Later, the British Navy withdrew to India through the Seychelles Islands as a transit point. At that time, the East African Navy was still weak, so we had to stop and retreat to the mainland. However, the existence of the Seychelles Islands still put great pressure on the Imperial Navy."

How can I allow others to sleep beside my bed? The British, who controlled these strategic locations in the Indian Ocean, had the power to make it difficult for the East African Indian Ocean Fleet to sleep peacefully.

Of course, Ambassador Thomson naturally did not believe Freer's one-sided statement. East Africa was wary of Britain, and in turn, Britain regarded East Africa as its biggest rival in the Indian Ocean. East Africa was worried that Britain would attack the east coast of East Africa, and Britain was also afraid that East Africa would attack the Port of Mumbai!
After all, in the eyes of the British, India is the apple of their eye. It is totally unnecessary and unworthy to trade the safety of India for East Africa.

Ambassador Thomson said: "I still remember the East African naval battle vividly. The battle between your country and Britain shocked the whole world."

Although the outcome of the East African naval battle was a draw, the fact that the newly established East African Navy was able to tie with the Royal Navy did surprise many countries and media.

After all, there is almost no country in the world that can tie with the British Royal Navy, and there is no country that can defeat the British Royal Navy or even dares to say that it has defeated the British Royal Navy.

Even a strong navy like the German Navy, currently the second largest naval force in the world, does not dare to challenge the British Royal Navy and is still blocked in the Baltic Sea. It is very difficult for other countries to catch up with the strength of the German Navy, let alone compare with the British Royal Navy.

Although the German Navy has not had any outstanding combat achievements so far, the fact that it can compete with the British Royal Navy in the Atlantic is enough to make other countries look up to it.

As for the East African naval battle, that was a record of the ironclad ship era of the last century. There is no objective standard for the combat effectiveness of the East African navy today.

There is a big difference between naval strength and combat effectiveness. For example, the U.S. Navy is very strong on paper, with more than a dozen battleships, but the U.S. Navy lacks advanced cruisers.

I don't know what the US Navy's thinking is. Although battleships are the main combat ships of the navy today, it is impossible for them to do everything by themselves. It would be a waste to use battleships for tasks such as reconnaissance, cruising, escort, and expulsion in naval battles.

The current battle between Britain and Germany is a mutual test between reconnaissance fleets led by battlecruisers, with the main force being light cruisers.

This also led to the poor performance of the US Navy in the early days of World War I, but it was overshadowed by the victory of the war.

The development of the East African Navy is relatively conservative. Apart from attempts and explorations in submarine and aircraft carrier operations, East Africa is currently keeping a close eye on the United Kingdom and Germany in the development of conventional ships, so the East African Navy is large and comprehensive.

However, it is difficult to assess the combat effectiveness of the East African Navy. From the East African naval battle to the present, the East African Navy has had no actual combat experience for more than 20 years.

Thomson went on to say: "We in France obviously have no way to solve the difficulties your country faces in the Indian Ocean. After all, Mr. Freer, the strategic locations you mentioned are all under the control of the British."

Freer sighed and said, "This is natural. After all, Britain's influence in the Indian Ocean is deeply rooted. We in East Africa are just a late-developing country. We naturally have some shortcomings, and they are difficult to solve, especially the lack of a stable naval base in the Indian Ocean."

Ambassador Thomson: "In that case, although we in France do not have much power in the Indian Ocean, we still have a few pieces of barren land. I don't know if we can help your country."

With this statement, Ambassador Thomson really revealed his cards. He had been talking to Freer for so long just to pave the way for the next deal. Freer also cooperated and asked, "I wonder if your country can help East Africa? If you can solve our problem, East Africa will definitely give you something in return."

Ambassador Thomson said: "Mr. Freer also knows that France has little presence in the Indian Ocean today, and because our country has shifted its attention to other regions, such as Europe, West Africa and Indochina, the empire's attention to the Indian Ocean is even weaker."

"We have several colonies in India and are willing to trade our eastern Indian outposts with your country. We are also willing to sell Rodrigues Island in Mauritius to your country."

"The empire has three pieces of land in India, namely, Pondicherry, Yanam and Kaligar. I think your country should be interested in these three places."

"As for Rodrigues Island, I think you should be quite familiar with it. It is located to the east of the main island of Mauritius."

France fought with Britain in India for more than 50 years, but in the end only five colonies were left. In addition to the three mentioned by Ambassador Thomson, there is another one, Mahé on the west coast of India and Chandarnagor in northeast India.

Obviously, even if the French wanted to bring East Africans into India and bring them into conflict with Britain, they did not forget to keep a hand in India and left a colonial outpost on the east and west coasts respectively.

After all, the French are also envious of India! But they don't have the strength to compete with the British. In this case, it is better to let East Africa disrupt the situation in India, and France may be able to fish in troubled waters in the future.

The two colonies left were the last hope for French India. Of course, there was another consideration for giving the other three colonies to East Africa, which was that these three places were relatively close to each other.

After all, Britain has been operating in India for a long time, and France is afraid that East Africa will not be able to play a role in India. These three relatively close colonies will make it easier for East Africa, which has just entered India, to confront Britain.

As for Rodrigues Island, it is a volcanic island about 500 kilometers away from Mauritius. However, there are still conditions for development here. In the past, nearly 40,000 people lived on this island, and there were conditions for building a port on the island.

It’s just that in the past France paid more attention to the development of the two islands of Reunion and Mauritius, so it neglected Rodrigues Island.

Judging from the chips thrown by the French, Rodrigues Island was the most attractive to Freer. If this island was controlled, it would mean that East Africa would have a stable foothold in the waters east of Madagascar.

In fact, France did not want to give this island to East Africa at first. Instead, they wanted to negotiate with several islands where the French southern and Antarctic territories were located in the past.

However, the French government eventually gave up this idea, because France knew very well that these islands had no value at all. They were close to Antarctica, completely uninhabited areas, and impossible to live in for a long time.

Therefore, it would be better to take Rodrigues Island, which has development conditions and is not too important, to show more sincerity.

Freer was secretly delighted with the generosity of the French government. Although he knew that the bait thrown by France was poisoned, Freer was not worried at all.

The trap set by the French was mainly the three colonial outposts in India, hoping to create trouble for the British in the future. Naturally, East Africa would not be afraid of Britain, especially within the Indian Ocean.

Therefore, Freer believed that the French conditions could be accepted. Of course, Freer would not use rhetoric such as "guarantee of non-participation in the war" that concerns the core interests of East African countries to achieve these conditions.

(End of this chapter)