African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1319: Military Expansion Topic
Within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as long as there were no problems with the Habsburg family, the normal operation of the empire could basically be maintained. As long as Austria and Hungary reached an agreement, 90% of the empire's strength could basically be exerted.

What's more, now that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's greatest enemy, Tsarist Russia, has disappeared, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military strength and political influence in the region have been unprecedentedly enhanced.

As for the few remaining countries on the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria was its ally, while Romania, Greece, Montenegro and Albania were no match for the complete Austro-Hungarian Empire.

If Britain cannot stop the Austro-Hungarian Empire's offensive in the Balkans, then the next step will most likely be for Austro-Hungarian Empire to assist the Ottoman Empire in reopening the Indian Ocean trade route.

In this way, the Allied Powers' attempt to blockade the Central Powers was declared bankrupt, and the Central Powers, who regained material support from East Africa, would bring the war situation back to the state before 1918.

Therefore, the impact of the United States joining the Allies on the current European situation is far less effective than in the past. It is even possible that the confrontation between the two major camps will continue, which is also what East Africa welcomes.

If the situation had really developed in this order, then among the major powers at that time, only East Africa, Spain and Japan would have been able to stay out of the matter and reap the benefits.

The topic returned to the military meeting in East Africa. Pripyat said: "Now, the imperial army is second only to Britain, France, Germany, and Austria in terms of quantity. At the same time, we have not joined the war in Europe, but we are still in a dilemma of insufficient manpower."

"The number of troops stationed in overseas colonies far exceeds the target, exceeding 400,000, while the number of domestic troops is only over 200,000, and we are also increasing our forces in the Horn of Africa."

"You can imagine that if the army is not expanded, our country's land area of ​​tens of millions of square kilometers is only maintained with about 100,000 ground forces. This is a very dangerous signal."

"As for the navy, the manpower is also stretched. East Africa is different from other countries. my country plays an important role in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and even the Pacific Ocean."

"But the size of our navy is only slightly larger than Germany's. At the same time, the construction of overseas military bases and colonial combat missions also require a large number of naval personnel."

"At the same time, our air force is developing rapidly and urgently needs to increase research and development funds, personnel and pilot numbers."

Pripyat's analysis triggered thinking among senior officials in East Africa.

Prime Minister of the National Planning Committee, Siewert, asked: "Now we are indeed slightly short of troops, but more of the reason is due to frequent overseas wars, especially the current Kra Isthmus Territory, but the colonial war is only a short-term process. Do we need to expand the army for this?"

Chief of the General Staff Cristiano said: "Your Excellency the Duke, the reason why our military proposed to expand the army is not short-sighted, but it is proposed from the perspective of the long-term interests of the empire."

"First, as General Pripyat said, our country's current military strength is seriously insufficient to cope with colonial expansion, overseas interests protection, as well as domestic security and regional wars."

"This is an urgent problem that the national defense forces need to solve. At the same time, the insufficient number of troops has also affected the long-term development of our country's military industry system."

"Especially as our military's equipment level continues to improve, the combat system changes, and the exploration of combat experience, we must maintain a certain number of troops to achieve this goal, especially for the army."

"Unlike the United States, the Empire attaches great importance to the construction of the Army. Only by maintaining a certain number of troops can our Army's military industry develop stably and healthily."

"In the past, the number of our army has always been maintained below 500,000. This level, corresponding to our current population size and economic development level, is far below the world average."

"Even though the number of troops has increased significantly in recent years, the increase has mainly been in infantry units, especially in overseas colonial operations. The development of high-quality military branches such as armored units, mobile units, artillery, and information units has slowed down." "After all, we can't expect these troops to be deployed in colonial operations. That would be a waste of effort."

"Of course, this is not the key issue. The key issue is that if our country wants to protect Europe's post-war interests, it must have a strong army as a guarantee of strength."

"Today, the overseas markets we have opened up are all seized from other powers, especially South America and the Indian Ocean coast. The markets in these places were dominated by the British in the past."

"So after the war in Europe, we will face the risk of losing these overseas markets, and the only way to ensure the security of overseas markets is to build a strong military."

"Therefore, I suggest expanding the national defense force to more than one million, especially focusing on developing the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet to safeguard our country's core interests in the two oceans."

"Expanding the total tonnage of the navy to 1.6 million tons will prevent our country from being in a passive state in terms of maritime strategy. The number of the army, especially the local army, should also be no less than 500,000. This will help our country deal with any risks and conflicts on the mainland."

"Especially in the case of a possible blockade of East Africa in response to external threats such as Europe, assuming the navy cannot play a role, breaking the blockade from land will be the only option."

The method of breaking the blockade from land is very simple, that is to push Egypt horizontally, thereby pushing the East African sphere of influence directly to the Mediterranean coast.

Of course, this happened when the European powers imposed a blockade on East Africa, and the East African Navy was unable to play a role.

As for why Cristiano would have such considerations, we have to talk about the Atlantic situation. The blockade of East Africa by European countries is nothing more than cutting off important channels such as the Suez Canal, which is very simple to do.

Due to its vast area, it is difficult to blockade East Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, but it also has its disadvantages, which is that it is not conducive to the defense of the western coast of East Africa.

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After all, among the Atlantic countries, East Africa's naval strength is difficult to compete with that of the United Kingdom. At present, the total tonnage of the British fleet in the Atlantic exceeds two million tons, and there is another one million tons in the Indian Ocean and other regions.

From the distribution of the British Navy, it can be seen that if a naval war breaks out between East Africa and Britain, East Africa’s chances of winning are not great, unless the East African Navy expands to the same size as the British Navy. The fact is that the size of the East African Navy is only about half of that of the British Navy.

However, since East Africa is not participating in the war now, there is no reason for the East African Navy to expand its armaments so frantically. Maintaining it at a level of more than one million tons is enough to increase the financial pressure on East Africa.

Looking back at the last century, the navies of various countries were maintained at a scale of several hundred thousand tons, and East Africa had to take into account the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so on this basis, a naval scale of 1.5 million tons was a reasonable range.

Pripyat said: "Based on our country's area, population, finances and other comprehensive factors, we will increase the army to more than one million, which is almost the level of pre-war Russia."

"This will not have a negative impact on the national economic production and operation, and at the same time ensure our country's core interests in the turbulent world situation, so it is imperative to maintain a strong military."

No matter how the European war develops, it will have a significant impact on the final world pattern. If East Africa wants to get a share of this change in the pattern, it must have a convincing army. This is not only aimed at East Africa’s competitors, that is, other powerful countries, but also to boost the confidence of countries with friendly relations with East Africa.

Of course, the friendly relations here mainly refer to countries that have important trade relations with East Africa, that is, the distribution area of ​​newly opened overseas markets in East Africa.

(End of this chapter)