African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 942 Declaration of War

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen into a vicious cycle militarily. This is not an economic problem, but a political problem. The East African Navy feels this the most deeply. In its cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it can be clearly felt. The quality of the soldiers has declined seriously, and the speed of equipment update is not as fast as that of East Africa. The East African Navy just 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 is really not optimistic. Without Italy, the second half of the country, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is lagging behind militarily. Even if Germany wants to launch a war like in its previous life, it must first find its allies. Now it looks like There is no question whether the historical Allied Powers group can be established.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Looking for allies again means that you can avoid encountering scammers like Italy in the previous life who jumped back before the war.

Of course, the possibility of the outbreak of World War I is still more than 80%. After all, Germany's national power has grown faster than in previous generations. With the help of the British, East Africa will naturally avoid the United Kingdom in economic cooperation, and East Africa's huge market And most of the raw materials are cheaper than Germany and other industrial countries.

 However, East Africa also had ambiguous relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Tsarist Russia, Spain and other countries, so Ernst himself was curious about how the historical direction would change.

 …

 April 28, 1898.

　　Port of Pontianak.

 As East Africa's most important port in the Southeast Asia region, East Africa's investment in Pontianak Port is relatively huge, and it can be ranked high even in China.

At 8 o'clock this morning, the two main battleships of the Spanish mainland were resting at the Pontianak Port. From the Spanish mainland to the Pontianak Port, it was still quite difficult for the Spanish navy.

People in Lan Fang Overseas Province were not surprised at all by the warships flying the Spanish flag. After all, the Nanyang region is now a natural testing ground for warships from various countries. The world's major powers have deployed navies there, or have ocean-going ships. Navigation History.

"The ironclad Zaragoza was originally used as a training ship, but due to the rescue mission to the Philippines, it was re-improved locally. The total tonnage is around 5,000 tons. It seems to have been built in the 1860s and 1970s, in 1873. Returning to the homeland because of the internal war.”

"The ironclad Sagunto, the experience of this warship is even more legendary. It was originally designed as a wooden-hulled steamship, but the emergence of the ironclad forced it to stop and redesign it. It finally took fourteen years to build, but just now It was completely behind the times when it left the factory, but it was larger than the Zaragoza in terms of tonnage, reaching more than 7,000 tons. "

The person in charge of the Pontianak Port of the East African Navy is not very interested in the Spanish warships arriving this time, because the two ironclad ships arriving by the Spanish Navy this time are both products of the 1960s and 1970s and have completely fallen behind.

The East African Navy may be disgusted, but for the Spanish government, this is already a great support for the Asian Fleet stationed in the Philippines.

Spain’s Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines is a typical colonial navy with a considerable scale, but it cannot participate in ocean hegemony and can only passively defend.

Previously, the main flagship of the Spanish Asian Fleet was the Cristina, with a total tonnage of just over 3,000 tons, less than 40% of the Zhenyuan ship of the Far Eastern Empire. Compared with the gunboats in East Africa, it was not much larger. Currently, the largest gunboat in East Africa has been upgraded. At more than 2,000 tons, the boundary with ordinary warships is actually no longer obvious, and the six main guns of the Christina are only a mere 120 millimeters in caliber, which is not as good as the East African gunboat, and the armor is also extremely weak.

And the Cristina is already the top battleship of Spain's Asian fleet. For example, the second-ranked Castile is still a wooden-hulled cruiser, not to mention other battleships.

 So, although the Zaragoza and the Sagunto are not ranked high in the Spanish navy, placing them in the Philippines is already a sign of great sincerity.

 It must be known that the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War was Cuba. At the same time, the Spanish government also wanted to prevent the United States from attacking the Spanish mainland. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for the Spanish Navy to send two classic ships to the Philippines. "Rear Admiral Kherson, the Sagunto had some problems with a boiler on its way to Pontianak. I wonder if you can solve it." Captain Yal of the Sagunto asked Rear Admiral Kherson very embarrassedly. asked.

In his heart, he murmured at the decline of the Spanish Navy, but Kherson said without changing his face: "Of course there is no problem. The ship repair yard in Pontianak is still very strong. If some of our merchant ships and warships in East Africa encounter problems, they will also repair them in Pontianak." Pontianak undergoes major renovations.”

According to the agreement between East Africa and Spain, East Africa will open Pontianak Port as a resting place for the Spanish navy during 1898.

Although Pontianak Port is close to the estuary, it is a river port, so it is not afraid of threats from warships from other countries. Seven 300mm coastal defense guns and several The small-caliber main gun makes the entire Pontianak Port naval distribution not afraid of any threats.

Captain Yal complained: "That's great. Alas, if the infrastructure conditions of Pontianak Port are not perfect, it may be difficult for the Sagunto to participate in subsequent wars. The ship repair yards in Manila Bay can only solve some minor problems." problem because the local navy is dominated by wooden-hulled ships.”

In fact, Yal was quite resistant to being sent to the Philippines. First of all, the Sagunto itself had great problems. The design was changed midway, and the wooden shell was replaced by an ironclad ship. It would be strange if there were no problems.

Secondly, the crew of the Sagunto are also improvised. Fortunately, the Sagunto is used as a training ship all year round, so even though the crew is complex, it is relatively easy for most of them to get started. After all, it is the first time for many recruits to get on board the ship. Probably on the Sagunto.

Finally, although the Sagunto is larger than the U.S. Asian Fleet in scale, with a total tonnage of up to 7,000 tons, while the main warship of the U.S. Asian Fleet is only more than 5,000 tons, in terms of equipment and technology, it is the other way around. Although the main gun of the Sagunto far exceeded that of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet's battleship Cristina, it only reached a caliber of more than 200 millimeters, and the armor thickness reached the standard by then, three times thicker than Cristina.

The ironclad USS Zaragoza, which was sent to the Philippines this time, is only more than 5,000 tons, but its main battery has four more 280mm cannons. It is the only warship that can compete with the U.S. Asian fleet in terms of firepower. .

 So, according to East African standards, both the Zaragoza and the Sagunto should be decommissioned or sent to colonial service.

This is also true in history. The Zaragoza and Sagunto should have been decommissioned and declared scrapped during this period, but they were pulled out by the Spanish Navy for waste utilization, which shows the dilemma of the Spanish Navy at this time.

Of course, this dilemma is faced by other powers. In fact, the Spanish navy is not weak, especially many of the warships of the Home Fleet, which are not lagging behind in the world. However, it is impossible for the Spanish Home Fleet to fully participate. into a "gambling" war with the U.S. Navy.

And relying on the Spanish colonial navy, it is naturally impossible to defeat the emerging U.S. Navy, including the bombed USS Maine, which is not weak in the Spanish navy.

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

At Pontianak Port, East Africa provided meticulous services to the two warships, including catering and medical treatment, so that Spanish local soldiers could adapt to the tropical sea environment as soon as possible.

The time in Pontianak Port was probably the last "vacation" for the two warships in the Nanyang region. After arriving in Manila Bay, they not only had to face a more complex and harsh environment, but also had to bear the haze of war.

On May 27, 1898, the Spanish government and the United States government formally declared war on each other, and the Spanish-American War officially began.

 (End of this chapter)