Chapter 100 Offshore Defense System
In addition to Mtwara Port, other ports are naturally equipped with forts, and due to geographical and historical factors, the forts in other East African ports are of higher specifications than Mtwara Much.
According to the importance of each port, the number of coastal defense guns is also different.
Among them, Dar es Salaam Port and Mombasa Port are the top priorities in East Africa. They have a long history of port construction and optimal natural conditions, ranking first in the East African port hierarchy.
The forts arranged for Dar es Salaam Port and Mombasa Port are initially set to have eight gun emplacements respectively.
Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port are also two key ports, connecting the sea area between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, ranking in the second echelon.
Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port have six gun emplacements each.
Mtwara Port is not only small in scale, but its strategic location is not as prominent as the former ones, so it can only be ranked in the third echelon. In the future, the new ports in Tanzania and Kenya are expected to be in the same category as Mtwara Port. level.
But there are also four gun emplacements in Mtwara Port.
In addition to these ports, some islands seized from the Sultanate of Zanzibar are also the focus of defense. The most typical ones are Pemba Island and Mafia Island. These two islands are on the coast of East Africa. The two islands are second only in area to Zanzibar.
Pemba Island was once an important part of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Mafia Island is also suitable for human settlement.
Both islands play a protective role on the East African coast. If Zanzibar Island is added, a chain of islands will be formed. However, this island chain is relatively close to the East African coast and is not easily controlled by overseas forces. .
For example, if someone wants to use this chain of islands to block the East African coast, it is impossible. First of all, these three islands can only cover the coastal area of northern Tanzania. Secondly, the vast Indian Ocean to the east is not easy for hostile forces to attack. This island chain is replenished with supplies and weapons.
Like the Ryukyu Islands in the island chain in East Asia, although it is relatively far from the United States, the mainland is not close to it. The United States can block and control this island chain by relying on countries such as Japan and the Philippines.
As for this "island chain" along the coast of East Africa, it is no exaggeration to say that it is possible to land with a canoe starting from the coast of the East African continent.
Even so, the strategic position of Pemba Island and Mafia Island is still very prominent, and the economic value of Pemba Island is also very potential, suitable for population settlement. In the previous life, Pemba Island was home to more than 200,000 people. It has everything you need for cities and ports, and is suitable for agriculture.
Mafia Island is located approximately between Tanga Port and Mtwara Port. In its previous life, Mafia Island was an important tourist destination in Tanzania, with a permanent population of about 20,000.
So the East African colonies will not give up these two islands. In order to ensure the development of these two islands and ensure the strategic security of the East African coast, Pemba Island has reserved six artillery positions, and Ma Two gun emplacements are reserved on Fea Island.
In this way, the East African offshore defense system has a rough prototype, with a total of forty large-caliber shore defense artillery pieces.
Forty gates are not too many, but the current port size in East Africa is not large either, so the matching between the two is quite reasonable, especially for defense against large ships, which is more than enough.
This is of course only the first step. The current East African colonies do not have the ability to continue to improve their defense capabilities and can only wait until the future to increase the number of large-caliber artillery.
However, small-caliber artillery can be arranged one after another. After all, the price of large-caliber artillery ammunition alone is not within the reach of ordinary people.
As for the enemies at sea, if they first send small ships to explore and attack, the cost of attacking with large-caliber shore defense artillery will be unbearable. At this time, small-caliber artillery is needed. The advantage of large-caliber coastal defense artillery is that the design parameters of the sea area covered are fixed and calibrated in advance, so the hit rate will be much higher, but the cost is relatively high and it is suitable for dealing with large ships.
Small-caliber artillery is relatively low-cost, mobile, and highly flexible, and has great advantages against small targets.
At present, the East African colonies are not equipped with small-caliber artillery. This is because the Hechingen arsenal in Trieste has not yet been put into production.
The development of large-caliber artillery is relatively difficult. With the strength of the Hechingen Arsenal, it is still too early to develop large-caliber artillery at present.
After all, you cannot learn to run before you learn to walk, so it is very important to accumulate experience starting from the production of small-caliber artillery.
In addition, small-caliber artillery has a wide range of application scenarios, convenient transportation, and low cost, making it very suitable for production at the small-scale Hechingen Arsenal.
The East African colonies are the private territory of the Hechingen Arsenal, and the artillery produced by it will continue to be equipped with the East African colonial armies.
The East African colonies currently face the most indigenous forces. To be honest, a rifle is enough, and a sledgehammer is not enough to kill a chicken, but Ernst just likes the feeling of sufficient firepower.
And Portugal is also a potential enemy. Portugal’s Mozambique colony has a long history of development, and there must be some real players in its hands, so it cannot be taken lightly.
After the Trieste-Hechingen arsenal is put into operation in the future, the two systems that will be supplied with the highest priority are the offshore defense system of the East African colonies and the border system between East Africa and the Portuguese forces.
Talking about the offshore defense system, its construction was designed by professionals from the Austrian Navy. In the last Lissa naval battle, the Austrian Navy was actually on the defensive side, so it has rich experience in this area.
Furthermore, after the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire strengthened its offshore defense, and its decommissioned naval guns were also placed at important strategic locations in the Adriatic Sea like those in East Africa.
Therefore, Ernst got a bargain and could copy off-the-shelf artillery. Except for the insufficient number of small-caliber artillery (second-hand goods left by the Sultanate of Zanzibar), other aspects were exactly the same as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
For example, the fort is built with thicker reinforced concrete protection. Its structure is exactly the same as that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even the coastal defense guns are made by the same company.
So the offshore defense system along the East African coast is equivalent to copying the defense system of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Adriatic Sea, which is first-rate in this era.
As long as the number of small-caliber artillery is reached in the follow-up, the entire East African coast will be an iron bastard that no one can bite, unless it attacks regardless of cost. Ernst looks down on the strength of other countries, including Europe and the United States. The navy has the ability to breach the East African offshore defense system once completed.
But the navies of various countries are not fools. Who would drive an armored ship to East Africa to fight this iron bastard? The shipping fee is not enough to compensate.
That is to say, Portugal has the strength and motivation to attack East Africa by sea and land. Therefore, the single gate of the East African colony strengthens the military presence in the south. The south is the land defense line in East Africa, and the east is the offshore defense system. It is obvious at a glance that these two systems are used. Who to guard against.
In other directions, East African colonies take the initiative to attack and do not need defense. For example, in the southwest, Mbeya leads to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Due west is Lake Tanganyika as a natural barrier, and due north are indigenous forces. .
(End of this chapter)