Chapter 219 The Importance of Relationship Households
Port of Bagamoyo.
Two very majestic-looking sail warships are completing the handover.
"Your Majesty the Grand Duke, this is a warship we have drawn from the active warships to support your cause."
Austro-Hungarian Navy Captain Blair was in charge of this delivery activity. With a smile on his face, he introduced the warship in front of him to Archduke Ferdinand (Maximiliano I).
"Okay, I'm afraid I know them better than you do." Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief of the East African Navy, interrupted Blair unceremoniously.
"When I took office, they were serving in the Austrian Navy. Now they are in East Africa, which is a good place to continue to use their remaining energy."
Speaking, Ferdinand boarded one of them. One, with Blair accompanying him.
“It has not changed much after so many years, but is this paint newly painted?”
“Yes, these two ships were carefully inspected before leaving port. The overall performance It is still in good condition, but has some minor problems accumulated over the years. It was then taken to the Trieste Shipyard for maintenance and some modern facilities were installed.”
"Franz is not bad. When you go back to report, give him this letter." Ferdinand took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Blair.
“Yes, Your Excellency, I will definitely bring the letter.”
The content of the letter is naturally some words of thanks. This time Ferdinand felt sincerely. A good big brother is really good.
After being severely beaten by the Mexicans, Archduke Ferdinand had gone from one extreme to another.
In Mexico, Ferdinand never asked the Austrian royal family for any help. Now Ferdinand said, it smells so good!
With the help of Franz, the East African Navy, two retired warships from the Austro-Hungarian Navy and two antique warships from the Zanzibar Sultanate, instantly looked like it.
"Blair, what do you think the future of the East African Navy will be like?" Ferdinand asked.
"Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I cannot say this favorably. Well... it has great potential. At least the sea conditions are much better than Austria's."
Blair has no hope for the East African Navy. After all, East Africa How can they build a navy if they are so poor? The two antique battleships from the last century in East Africa made Blair feel a little sad for Ferdinand, the so-called Commander-in-Chief of the East African Navy. However, the geographical conditions of East Africa are indeed better than those at the doorstep of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. "Bathtub" is several times stronger.
The conditions of Bagamoyo Port are not bad, but because it is very close to Dar es Salaam, it is often ignored by the East African government.
For example, immigration and commercial exports are diverted by the ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga on both sides, and are not even comparable to the port of Mtwara in the south.
Because Bagamoyo Port has shallow water and Dar es Salaam is a deep water port, it is difficult for Bagamoyo to compete with Dar es Salaam, while Tanga Port and Mute Port Huara is an important port in the region and has no competitors, so it is more important than Bagamoyo, but Bagamoyo also has its advantages.
It is an estuary port, which is on the right bank of the outlet of the Little Rhine (Ruvo River) in East Africa.
However, the shipping value of the rivers along the East African coast is not high. Several larger rivers are only a few hundred kilometers long, and due to the terrain, only a hundred or ten kilometers have shipping conditions.
But the Little Rhine River is strategically important to East Africa. Going upstream from the river mouth can lead directly to the first town and city in the political center of East Africa.
Therefore, the East African Naval Base is located here. It can not only take advantage of the port conditions of Bagamoyo, but also control the outlet of the Little Rhine River. At the same time, it can provide support to the ports on both sides of East Africa. The opposite bank of Bagamoyo is a natural geographical barrier. Gebar Island can withstand some wind and waves from the Indian Ocean. At the same time, if the economy cannot develop, it is better not to develop it. It just serves as a base for the navy. I have to say that East Africa made the right choice in choosing Maximiliano I as the commander-in-chief of the East African Navy.
After taking office, if we cannot get resources from the East African government, we can only turn our attention to Austria. "I am Ferdinand and Franz is giving me money!"
This is also the reason why Franz said that Ferdinand and Ernst had learned bad things, but the Austrian Navy itself had no funds, so how could it provide support to Ferdinand.
Oh, it is no longer right to call the Austrian Navy now. It should be called the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In 1867, when the Austrian Empire was renamed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the navy also changed its name.
Facing His Majesty the Emperor's inquiry, the Austro-Hungarian Navy stated that we are willing to support Ferdinand's two brig warships free of charge, and at the same time, we can send a group of young heroes as consultants to help Archduke Ferdinand build an East African naval force.
A ketch is a sailing ship with two masts and a square sail. In the age of sail, brigs were widely used as warships and commercial ships due to their fast speed and maneuverability.
19th-century pine brigs were generally designed to last 20 years, and many actually lasted even longer.
The two ships given to East Africa by the Austro-Hungarian Navy were built around 1840. The Austro-Hungarian Navy had long wanted to decommission these two old ships, and they didn’t even know where to throw them. East Africa happened to be there. In this takeover, since the emperor has to take care of his younger brother, then our navy will give these two warships to East Africa, and we can be tougher when it comes to military spending next time.
As for the young heroes, they are naturally young officers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy who have little experience or have been marginalized. For them, being sent to East Africa is no different from being exiled.
All in all, the attitude of the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the East African government is the same. It is easy to talk about money, and we can give away ships and talents for free.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was squeezed into the narrow Adriatic Gulf. Such a geographical location meant that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not very interested in the navy. However, Italy next door helped the Austro-Hungarian Navy. , in order to deal with the unified Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has had a relatively better life in recent years. Starting from 1861, the Austrian Navy entered the ironclad era, and now it is the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
"You are right, but potential is just potential after all. Without the support of a strong country, no matter how good the conditions are, they will be wasted." Ferdinand said.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency, personally, I am still optimistic about East Africa. In the future, with the help of Austria, East Africa may not be able to catch up with Europe, but it should still be able to develop well in Africa." Blair said cautiously.
In this era, Europeans have been deepening their impression of Europe as the center of the world, and the only overseas country that can be compared with Europe is the United States, which is why Blair added the word Africa before developing well. Therefore, development in Africa is not bad because there is also a semi-modern country in Africa-Egypt.
The Egyptian naval strength during Ali's era was considerable even in Europe. At its peak, it had 32 warships. Although Egypt has declined now, it is not the number one military power in Africa that can be compared with East Africa.
In terms of the army alone, the number of armies in East Africa before the reform was very close to that of Egypt. However, after the reform, the number of armies was basically cut in half, and the size of the army alone cannot be compared with Egypt.
Furthermore, Egypt has the ability to produce its own equipment. Although it has now become mainly imported due to British and French colonization, the military industry system still exists.
Blair escorted the warships along the way through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and finally arrived in East Africa.
He has seen some cities in Egypt, but in East Africa he only went to Mombasa once to replenish supplies, and then arrived at Bagamoyo. Mombasa was quite prosperous, but Bagamoyo was too lonely.
Therefore, Blair concluded that there is a significant gap between East Africa and Egypt, so it may be difficult to become the number one in Africa.
Blair has never heard of any civilized countries in Africa other than Egypt. The Ottoman Empire does not count. After all, the main ones are in the Middle East and Europe.
In fact, this is not to blame Bagamoyo. After all, immigration and exports are in the free port of Dar es Salaam next door, so it seems to be very popular.
Historically, Bagamoyo was glorious for a period of time when Germany colonized here, but later the Germans also found that the conditions in Dar es Salaam were better, and they turned their attention to the development of Dar es Salaam. Well, it’s already twenty years since Bagamoyo was mentioned again In the first century, a big country launched the Belt and Road Initiative, which seemed to be a bit hungry. The credit of African countries was not very high, and the conditions of Bagamoyo Port could only be considered average, but there was no other choice. After all, the excellent ports along the Indian Ocean were all used by the West or Controlled by pro-Western forces.
(End of this chapter)