African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 964

Archduke Ferdinand and Tirpitz had a very pleasant chat. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and as naval officers, they had many common topics to talk about.

"Through large numbers of submarines, we can attack the enemy's sea transport channels. The stealth performance of submarines can perfectly achieve a similar effect, and they can break through closed waters silently..." Tirpitz described to Archduke Ferdinand his prospects for submarines in future wars.

"Submarines! If what you said is true, they do play a role. However, our submarine forces have discovered many problems during training. For example, they cannot clearly distinguish the types of ships, which leads to misjudgment. However, at the last moment of the war, I am afraid no one will pay attention to international morality. In this case, submarines may play a huge role." Archduke Ferdinand said.

Archduke Ferdinand’s prediction was relatively reasonable. A big part of the reason why Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare did not achieve any success in the past was because there were too many “accidental injuries”.

However, it is undeniable that German submarines dealt a heavy blow to the Allies during the war and achieved results that other types of ships could not achieve.

As a relatively traditional naval commander, Archduke Ferdinand did not think highly of submarines. Of course, this did not affect Ernst's emphasis on submarines. Therefore, the East African Navy submarine force was not only established, but also received strong support. It may even become the main combat force in the East African Navy in the future.

This is Ferdinand's opinion, but Ernst will definitely protest his injustice. It is good that Ernst attaches importance to submarines, and there is no problem with the East African Navy submarine force receiving the greatest support in the next few years.

But this is a special treatment measure under the current financial constraints in East Africa. After all, battleships are too expensive. Ernst's point of view is actually a "whole system" naval thinking. Whether it is battleships, submarines, or future aircraft carriers, they cannot do everything.

However, under Ernst's thinking of "no major war in the next ten years", East Africa's current primary goal is to develop its economy, so the resources it can enjoy in the military are relatively limited.

"Your thinking always makes sense. At least it is a good choice for the German Navy. However, the national conditions of East Africa and Germany are different. The two countries have completely different external environments in terms of the ocean," said Archduke Ferdinand.

East Africa faces two oceans, so the East African Navy will basically not encounter a blockade. This can only be achieved if the entire British Royal Navy is deployed, which is impossible.

Therefore, in the view of Archduke Ferdinand, developing a large surface fleet is the future goal of the East African Navy. Also due to geographical reasons, the East African Navy is not easy to be blockaded, which also means that the East African coastline is vulnerable to attacks, and there is a lack of natural protection such as islands and island chains near East Africa.

The most typical example is the Seychelles, which is regarded as a thorn in the side by the East African Navy. This island is to East Africa what the Hawaiian Islands are to the United States.

Of course, these hypothetical conditions also depend on the specific strength of the country's navy. For example, the original maritime conditions of the Far Eastern Empire were very good, with Hainan Island in the south, the Ryukyu Islands in the east, and Korea in the north, all of which were natural barriers. However, due to the neglect of coastal defense in modern times, they did not play a role.

Tirpitz sighed and said, "The situation in East Africa's waters is also quite good in the world. In comparison, the situation in Germany and Austria-Hungary's waters is quite bad. It can even be said that they are surrounded by wolves. Even small countries in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean have similar naval strengths. East Africa is the only dominant country in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic."

Ferdinand waved his hand and said, "That's too much. Although most of the countries around East Africa are uncivilized, the forces of all parties cannot be ignored. Take the Indian Ocean region for example. From Egypt to British Somaliland, then to Yemen, Oman, the Persian Gulf, India, and the Strait of Malacca, there are British warships everywhere. We in East Africa can only show off our power at home. West Africa is now also a major hunting ground for various countries. It is unlikely that we in East Africa will play a role. The British are even more powerful in South America."

The situation of the East African Navy was not very good. At least before the decline of the British Navy, the East African Navy was unlikely to play a big role in the surrounding areas.

Tirpitz smiled and said: "That is why Germany and East Africa should cooperate sincerely, especially in the naval field. Our German industry and technology are the best in the world, and East Africa has huge potential and advantageous geographical location. Only cooperation between the two countries' navies can realize the global hegemony of the German nation."

Archduke Ferdinand was quite moved by the beautiful vision described by Tirpitz, but it was limited to fantasy. "The cooperation between the two countries' navies is an inevitable trend. After all, it is beneficial to both East Africa and Germany. However, I am not in charge of things now, so you still need to communicate with Ernst before you can achieve your goal. If you had come a few months earlier, maybe it wouldn't be so troublesome. At that time, East Africa had not yet moved its capital, and it was very convenient to get to the first town. The new capital, Rhine City, is located in the hinterland, and I am afraid it will take a lot of time just to take the train."

"This is not a big deal for me. After all, it took a long time just to travel by sea for this cooperation. Many domestic affairs could not be handled, and I am afraid I will not be able to get away when I go back." Tirpitz said with a smile.

This also reflects the importance that Tirpitz and Germany attach to this trip to East Africa. If cooperation can be reached with East Africa, it will have a huge boost to Germany's maritime industry. In this case, it is worth spending more time.

To be honest, Germany is actually very envious of East Africa's geographical location and conditions. It would even be better if the two countries could be one country. To put it bluntly, if the two countries could merge, their momentum would be no less than that of the current British Empire.

Under the governance of the Hechingen royal family, the potential shown by East Africa today is no less than that of the United States. Of course, it is only limited to potential. Whether it can become the next United States remains to be seen. After all, there is Brazil as a negative example.

This is a "conservative" estimate of East Africa by the outside world. If the true situation in East Africa is exposed, I am afraid many people will not be able to sleep well.

The population of East Africa alone has reached the standard of a world power, and the population data of East Africa has never been made public. Under this circumstance, other countries optimistically speculate that the population of East Africa may be around 40 to 50 million.

The main reason is that the coastal areas of East Africa cannot reflect the true situation of the whole country of East Africa. Compared with Europe, the United States, and even the Far East Empire, the coastal areas of East Africa are still relatively "desolate". Although there are big cities such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, they cannot be underestimated even on a global scale.

But who knows what the situation is like in the interior of East Africa? It is possible that the population is mainly concentrated on the coast, just like in Brazil.

This is a non-objective conclusion drawn by various countries based on their personal experience in West Africa. Today, West Africa has become a mess, but there is no doubt that the colonial activities of various countries are mainly concentrated in coastal areas. Although the inland areas are vast, countries have invested little.

So put yourself in their shoes. Many people do not believe that the situation in inland East Africa will be better than that in coastal areas. But the actual situation is that inland East Africa is more livable and its total population far exceeds that of coastal areas.

Although East Africa has a long coastline, its population is mainly distributed in clusters in twenty or thirty major cities and their surrounding areas.

Moreover, the climate in coastal areas is more humid and hot, which is more likely to cause diseases such as malaria. This is also the main reason why Europeans' early colonization activities in Africa were hindered.

European colonial activities were mainly carried out along the coast, but the African coast is not very habitable, and the coastal areas of East Africa are relatively lacking in gold and other minerals compared to the West African coast, so early African colonial activities were not active.

An important criterion for the earliest Spanish and Portuguese colonial activities was to determine whether there were gold mines in the area through trade and communication with the locals. The presence or absence of gold mines was also an important criterion for the colonists to judge whether the area had colonial value.

This is the case in India, the United States, and South America, while the gold mines in East Africa are mostly distributed in inland areas. The closest to the coast is probably the Hechingen Province (Transvaal Republic), but it is blocked by the Drakensberg Mountains and is almost uninhabited.

(End of this chapter)