African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1327 Agreeing to Send Troops
Only with enough overseas military bases can the East African government allocate more warships and funds to the Third Fleet. This is a very simple logic. After all, if there are not enough military bases, no matter how many warships are allocated, there will be no place to dock and maintain them.

From this perspective, the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet should envy the Pacific Fleet. Apart from the lack of warships, the last thing the Pacific Fleet lacks is land for building overseas military bases.

Of course, the reality is that the Pacific Fleet is far away from the East African mainland and its position in the East African maritime strategy is far inferior to that of the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet. This has led to the embarrassing situation of "islands but no ships" in the Pacific.

Commander Lomage said: "Using Qatar as a springboard, we can seek support from the central government to expand the size of the Third Fleet. If we have Qatar and Gwadar Port, our Third Fleet can double its original size."

"More importantly, with the deepwater ports of Qatar and Gwadar, we will be able to receive several battleships and get rid of the reality that our fleet is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean."

Vice Admiral Prato was also fascinated by the scene described by Lomazzi, mainly because the situation of the Third Fleet was too bad.

The Third Fleet's main battleships are only cruisers, but not a single battleship, not even a battlecruiser or a pre-dreadnought. You should know that even the Seventh Fleet in charge of the Pacific has its own battleships. The Third Fleet is the only East African naval fleet without battleships.

In terms of numbering, the configuration of the Third Fleet is obviously inconsistent with its number. Generally speaking, in East Africa, the fleet with a higher number should be given more attention.

The First and Second Fleets before the Third Fleet were like this. The First Fleet is the core of the Indian Ocean Fleet and is also the most powerful fleet in East Africa with the most diverse warships. It is responsible for the defense of the east coast of East Africa.

The only active aircraft carrier formation in East Africa is commanded by the First Fleet, and most of East Africa's submarines are also in the First Fleet.

In addition to guarding the security of the eastern territorial waters of East Africa, the First Fleet is also the navy's general reserve force and can allocate forces at any time to support naval operations in other regions.

The Second Fleet is the core of the East African Atlantic Fleet, second only to the First Fleet in strength. Its home port is Alexandria on the west coast of East Africa. It is responsible for the national defense west of Cabinda and maritime missions in the South Atlantic.

Although the Third Fleet has a higher number, it is not outstanding in the East African Navy either in terms of its responsible area or strength. This naturally makes the officers and soldiers of the Third Fleet feel disappointed.

And this is not the worst. The area where the Third Fleet is located makes the living environment of the Third Fleet one of the worst in the East African Navy. After all, the jurisdiction is basically desert and there are few people.

Therefore, Vice Admiral Prato said: "This is our last chance. Whether the status and treatment of the Third Fleet can be improved in the future depends on this. Otherwise, given the situation in the Persian Gulf, we will never be able to make a breakthrough."

It is no wonder that Lieutenant General Prato thought so. The Persian Gulf today is very different from the 21st century. The impression it leaves on people is negative things such as "desert", "drought", "backwardness", "poverty", "dispute", and "war".

The only meaningful estimate is the strategic value of the Persian Gulf. If it doesn’t even have basic strategic value, Lomage and other officers and soldiers of the Third Fleet will probably really doubt the value of the Third Fleet’s existence.

Only Ernst himself knew that the Persian Gulf region was of great importance to East Africa, not only strategically, but also the lifeline of East Africa's future energy security and even the world's energy.

But at this time, Ernst couldn't openly say that there were huge amounts of oil and natural gas in the Persian Gulf.

Ernst named the fleet stationed in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea as the Third Fleet, which shows his importance to the local area, which is something that many East African senior officials are not aware of.

……

After deciding on the plan to annex Qatar, Romachi and Prato quickly compiled a series of combat and construction plans and sent them to the mainland. This report soon arrived on Ernst's desk.

Rhine City.

After Ernst read the report carefully, he said to Crown Prince Friedrich: "The idea of ​​the Third Fleet is quite feasible. Qatar is currently a no-man's land, and it is right next to our Beibu Gulf territory."

"Although it is a British protectorate, Britain should not have the time to meddle in other people's affairs, so my thoughts coincide with those of the officers of the Third Fleet."

"Taking Qatar during this period of time can greatly increase our territory in the Persian Gulf, especially the area of ​​sea controlled, and further enhance the influence of the Third Fleet."

Friedrich also agreed and said: "Not only that, Qatar's military strength is weak and its population is not large. We should be able to control Qatar smoothly with only a small number of troops."

"It just so happens that the troops in the Beibu Gulf Territory cannot be withdrawn now. Why not let them organize this military operation and take down Qatar in one fell swoop? At the same time, organize personnel to plan and build Qatar on the spot."

The East African troops in the Beibu Gulf territory cannot return home easily now, so it is most appropriate to let them organize an attack on Qatar.

Of course, in this case, the role of the navy will be relatively small, but as long as Qatar can be taken, it is best to use the army as the main force to enter Qatar.

After all, the East African Navy is not familiar with the situation in the waters around Qatar. At the same time, the Third Fleet is also responsible for maritime escort in the Persian Gulf. There should not be large-scale operations at this time, which may easily cause regional conflicts.

This regional conflict is certainly not aimed at the countries along the Persian Gulf, but only at the British. The British are now fighting the Ottoman Empire along the Persian Gulf. If the East African Navy is mobilized on a large scale, it will easily provoke the British's fragile nerves.

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Even if East Africa explained that it had no intention of interfering in the war between the two major camps, the British would most likely not believe it. Of course, the most important thing was that Britain could not afford the risk.

After all, from the British perspective, what if the East African Navy uses the excuse of attacking Qatar to block the Strait of Hormuz, the lifeline of Britain's war?
This is just like the Americans deploying an anti-missile system on the peninsula in the past. It is impossible for the United States to make up a random excuse and for our great Eastern country to allow such a risk that threatens our strategic security to exist.

Similarly, the series of promises in East Africa are almost no different from farts in the ears of the British. If you say that your navy is heading towards Qatar, I will believe it. If countries really abide by the rules in international exchanges, then Britain will not be able to become the world hegemon.

Therefore, using the army as the main force and attacking Qatar is the best option for East Africa now. Moreover, Qatar has a population of only 20,000, and East Africa can occupy it with ease by sending a brigade of troops.

Qatar is not like the Beibu Gulf territory. It not only has a small population, but also has no strategic depth. The Arab tribes in the Beibu Gulf territory can be scattered across nearly 100,000 square kilometers of desert and deal with East Africa. If they cannot win, they can flee to neighboring countries.

Qatar does not have so many choices. As long as East Africa blocks the land connecting Qatar and the Arabian Peninsula, the Qataris will be unable to escape, and they will not be able to find an area to launch guerrilla warfare against the East African army.

In the eyes of the East African government, Qatar posed no threat at all, so after a brief consideration, Ernst formally agreed to the Third Fleet's plan.

Ernst also agreed with the idea of ​​expanding the Third Fleet, and agreed with the idea of ​​building the East African Navy's military presence in the Persian Gulf around Qatar. After all, Ernst originally set up the Third Fleet for the oil and gas fields in the Persian Gulf. Although Qatar is only a small country, it was an absolute oil resource power in its previous life. For this reason alone, Ernst could not resist the temptation to occupy Qatar.

(End of this chapter)