African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 942 Declaration of War
The Austro-Hungarian Empire had fallen into a vicious circle in the military. This was not an economic problem, but a political problem, and the East African Navy felt it the most deeply. In its cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it could be clearly felt that the quality of its troops had seriously declined, and the speed of equipment renewal was not as fast as that of the East African Navy. The East African Navy simply did not expand in size, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy was completely crawling on the spot and slowly moving forward.

Under such circumstances, Germany's situation in Europe was not optimistic. Without Italy, the traitor, and with the Austro-Hungarian Empire lagging behind militarily, even if Germany wanted to start a war like in its previous life, it had to find its allies first. Now it seemed doubtful whether the Allied Powers group in the original history could be established.

Of course, there are pros and cons. Finding allies again means avoiding encountering the scammers like Italy in the previous life who jumped back before the war.

Of course, the possibility of World War I breaking out is still more than 80%. After all, Germany's national strength is growing faster than in its previous life. With the help of the British, East Africa will naturally avoid Britain in economic cooperation, and most of East Africa's huge market and raw materials are cheaper to industrial countries such as Germany.

However, East Africa also had ambiguous relations with countries such as Austria-Hungary, France, Tsarist Russia, and Spain, so Ernst himself was curious about what changes would occur in the course of history.

……

1898 4 Month 28 Day.

Pontianak Port.

As East Africa's most important port in the Southeast Asian region, East Africa's investment in Pontianak Port is relatively huge, and it ranks among the top even in the country.

At eight o'clock this morning, two main warships of Spain were resting in Pontianak Port. The journey from Spain to Pontianak Port was quite strenuous for the Spanish navy.

The people in the overseas province of Lan Fang were not surprised at all by the warships flying the Spanish flag. After all, the South Seas region was now in turmoil, and it could be said to be a natural testing ground for warships from various countries. The major powers in the world had deployed navies there or had a history of ocean voyages.

"The Zaragoza ironclad ship was originally used as a training ship, but because of the rescue mission to the Philippines, it was renovated in the mainland. The total tonnage is around 1873 tons. It seems to have been built in the s or s. In , it returned to the mainland due to the internal war."

"The Sagunto ironclad ship, this warship's story is even more legendary. It was originally designed as a wooden steamship, but the emergence of ironclad ships forced it to stop and redesign. It took fourteen years to build it, but it was completely behind the times when it was first shipped. However, its tonnage was larger than that of the Zaragoza, reaching more than 7,000 tons."

The person in charge of the East African Navy's Pontianak Port was not very interested in the arrival of the Spanish warships this time, because the two ironclad ships that arrived this time from the Spanish Navy were products of the 1960s and 1970s and were completely outdated.

The East African Navy might dislike it, but for the Spanish government, this is already a great support for the Asian fleet stationed in the Philippines.

Spain's Asian fleet in the Philippines was a typical colonial navy of considerable size, but it was unable to participate in the ocean domination and could only passively defend.

Before this, the main flagship of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet was the Cristina, with a total tonnage of just over 3,000 tons, less than 40% of the Zhenyuan ship of the Far East Empire. Compared with the East African gunboats, it was not much bigger. Currently, the largest gunboat in East Africa has been upgraded to more than 2,000 tons. In fact, the boundary between it and ordinary warships is no longer obvious. The caliber of the Christina's six main guns is only 120 mm, which is less than that of the East African gunboat, and its armor is extremely weak.

The Cristina was already the top battleship of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet. For example, the second-ranked Castilla was still a wooden cruiser, not to mention the other battleships.

Therefore, although the Zaragoza and Sagunto do not rank high in the Spanish navy, placing them in the Philippines is a sign of great sincerity.

You have to know that the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War was still Cuba, and the Spanish government also had to guard against the United States attacking the Spanish mainland, so it was extremely difficult for the Spanish Navy to send two old ships to the Philippines. "Major General Kherson, there was a problem with a boiler on the Sagunto on the way to Pontianak. I wonder if you can fix it." Captain Yar of the Sagunto asked Major General Kherson embarrassedly.

Although he was secretly complaining about the decline of the Spanish Navy, Kherson said calmly, "Of course there is no problem. The shipyard in Pontianak is still very strong. If some of our merchant ships and warships in East Africa encounter problems, they will also be overhauled in Pontianak."

According to the agreement between East Africa and Spain, East Africa will open the port of Pontianak as a resting place for the Spanish Navy during this period in 1898.

Although Pontianak Port is close to the seaport, it is a river port, so there is no need to worry about threats from warships of other countries. Seven 300mm coastal defense guns and several small-caliber main guns are deployed on both sides of the waterway leading to the seaport from Pontianak Port, which makes the entire Pontianak Port naval distribution not afraid of any threats.

Captain Yar complained, "That's great. Alas, if the infrastructure conditions in Pontianak Port are not perfect, the Sagunto will have a hard time participating in the subsequent wars. The shipyard in Manila Bay can only solve some minor problems because the local navy mainly uses wooden hulled ships."

In fact, Yar was psychologically quite resistant to being sent to the Philippines. First of all, the Sagunto itself had a lot of problems. Its design was changed midway, and it was changed from a wooden hull to an ironclad ship. It would be strange if there were no problems.

Secondly, the personnel of the Sagunto were also temporarily assembled. Fortunately, the Sagunto was used as a training ship all year round, so even though the personnel were complex, it was relatively easy for most of the personnel to get started. After all, the first shipboard training that many recruits might have encountered was on the Sagunto.

Finally, although the Sagunto is larger than the US Asiatic Fleet in scale, after all, its total tonnage is as high as 7,000 tons, while the main warships of the US Asiatic Fleet are only more than 5,000 tons, but in terms of equipment and technology, it is the opposite. Although the main gun of the Sagunto far exceeds that of the main ship of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet, the caliber is only more than 200 mm, and the armor thickness meets the standard, which is three times thicker than Cristina.

The USS Zaragoza, which was also sent to the Philippines this time, was only over 5,000 tons, but its main guns had four more 280mm guns, making it the only warship that could compete with the US Asiatic Fleet in terms of firepower.

Therefore, if we follow East African standards, the Zaragoza and Sagunto should be retired or sent to colonial service.

The same was true in history. The Zaragoza and Sagunto should have been retired and declared scrapped during this period, but they were pulled out and recycled by the Spanish Navy, which shows the predicament of the Spanish Navy at that time.

Of course, this dilemma is faced with other powers. In fact, the Spanish Navy is not weak, especially many warships of the native fleet are battleships that are not inferior in the world. However, it is impossible for the Spanish native fleet to fully participate in the "gambling" war with the US Navy.

It was naturally impossible to defeat the emerging US Navy by relying on the Spanish colonial navy, including the bombed Maine, which was not weak in the Spanish navy.

After staying in Pontianak Port for more than ten days, the Zaragoza and Sagunto officially headed for Manila Bay with a fearless attitude.

In Pontianak Port, East Africa provided meticulous services for the two warships, including catering and medical care, so that the Spanish soldiers could adapt to the tropical waters as quickly as possible.

The time in Pontianak Port is probably the last "vacation" of the two warships in the South China Sea. After arriving in Manila Bay, they will not only face a more complex and harsh environment, but also have to endure the shadow of war.

On May 1898, 5, the Spanish and American governments, whose negotiations had failed, officially declared war on each other, and the Spanish-American War officially began.

(End of this chapter)