Chapter 464 Persuasion
Take Ferdinand’s words seriously for the time being, but Franz cannot easily agree to let the Austro-Hungarian Empire protect East Africa, even if East Africa sends his brother here.
“Population is not equal to national strength. Although the land in East Africa is not small, these cannot change the status of East Africa as a small country.” Franz said.
There is no problem in saying this. In the current world, it does not mean that a country can be considered big and powerful just by having a population and land. If so, the Far East and India should be at the forefront.
Franz’s view of East Africa’s territory remains the same as last time. Even if East Africa expands unrestrictedly over the years, it will only cover more than three million square kilometers at most.
This is the stereotype. In Franz's view, there are other players in Africa, such as Portugal, Britain, France and other forces. No matter how much they pull, they will not just watch East Africa eat meat. Moreover, no matter how useless the indigenous people are, East Africa wants to digest them. I'm afraid it will take time for these natives. The United States will not complete the massacre of Indians within ten years. In fact, Americans are still continuing to persecute the remaining Indians in the West.
“East Africa as a whole is indeed not a powerful country, and its geographical location is not too important, but our strategic position in East Africa is very important to the Austro-Hungarian Empire!” Ferdinand said, “The naval power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is The Mediterranean Sea can even be said to only radiate to the Eastern Mediterranean area, and now the Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. The control of the Suez Canal is in the hands of Britain and France. This is also the development dilemma of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but we see it from the map. , East Africa is to the south of the Suez Canal, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is to the north of the Suez Canal. If our two navies join forces, do you know what this means? "
What does it mean? That is, the Suez Canal is sandwiched between the two navies, which is equivalent to indirectly controlling the Suez Canal. But does the East African navy have this strength?
The answer is yes, at least on paper. Others don’t know the strength of the East African Navy. The Austro-Hungarian Navy certainly knows that most orders for ships in East Africa are completed by Austria. In fact, in In the comparison of the strengths of the two countries, the naval power of East Africa is already the indicator closest to the Austrian navy.
There are currently three main ironclads in service in East Africa, which is far less than the Austro-Hungarian Navy. However, there are still three ships under construction and one has already begun design. In addition, this time the East African Navy will order another ship with a displacement of 7,000 With five hundred tons of top-grade ironclads, the number of active ironclads in East Africa will reach six by this time next year. By 1880, East Africa will have an Indian Ocean fleet comparable in size to the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The current number of ironclads in the Austrian Navy is ten, two of which were taken from the Italian Navy. Thanks to the orders from East Africa, the Austro-Hungarian Navy also started building two new ironclads last year, so this number will increase next year. By 1880, the number of ironclad ships in the Austro-Hungarian Empire would probably remain at around fifteen.
The number of ironclads in East Africa will not exceed that of the Austro-Hungarian Navy by 1880. Even under Ferdinand’s proposal, a new ironclad was added to East Africa. With the addition of the ironclad Friedrich, the number of ironclads in East Africa was only The number has reached nine. In recent years, I don’t know if the Austro-Hungarian Empire has any new shipbuilding needs. Of course, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has mostly old ships, and seven of the ironclads were in service before the Lisa Sea War.
However, the paper strength of the East African Navy is not bad, and its core strength is not even a little bit worse than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It lacks a supporting naval training system, and there is an extreme shortage of experienced sailors and senior naval officers.
Although there is support from the Austrian Navy in this regard, the naval officers sent by the Austrian Navy to East Africa are all unpopular newcomers with no experience in commanding naval battles. As for Archduke Ferdinand, he has a full level of naval construction capabilities. I'm afraid no one knows how successful his commanding ability is.
So as an emerging force, the specific combat effectiveness of the East African Navy is unknown. It has invested a lot in equipment in recent years, and its talents cannot keep up. However, it can indeed be compared with the Beiyang Navy based on equipment data alone. People.
"Well, the East African Navy has indeed grown in strength over the years. Even I am a little envious and jealous. If we cooperate with the navy, it will indeed have the strength to match the Imperial Navy."
When I think of the development of the East African Navy, Fu Lantz also had to admit that the Hechingen royal family was really rich and willing to spend a lot of money. I am afraid that only the British Royal Navy can beat the East African Navy.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Navy initially thought of selling its old ships to East Africa and building new ones itself. However, East Africa was a buyer’s market, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not control East Africa’s neck, and Ernst I don’t really want to take over those “antiques” either.
In order to deal with the great powers, Ernst used money to build the East African Navy in a short period of time. The quality of the navy was not high in the first place, and the equipment was poor, so the East African Navy was in an embarrassing situation.
And Ernst mainly wanted to use this batch of purchased warships to cope with the situation for twenty or thirty years, delaying the time until the twentieth century. Only new ships can satisfy this.
East Africa can place orders with Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Italy, and even Germany and Tsarist Russia.
In fact, Ernst's own shipyards can build ironclads even if they put more effort into it. After so many years of heavy investment and the Hechingen Ocean Trading Company, the four major shipyards have accumulated a lot of money. With rich experience in building large ships, the local Bagamoyo Shipyard has begun to test the waters and try to build East Africa's first domestic ironclad ship, although the displacement is only a mere 2,500 tons.
“However, our desire for the ocean is not strong. The position of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is naturally unfavorable for the fight for maritime hegemony. Because you are my brother, I am not afraid of your jokes. It is the fight for European hegemony. In fact, the empire has also given up. Because we lost Germany, we will never have this opportunity again. Now the empire is like a big ship drifting on the sea, but as the helmsman of this big ship, I don’t know where to sail. , I can only try my best to appease the sailors and let the ship continue to move forward."
This was the first time that Ferdinand heard Franz's pessimistic mood. He said: "Franz, you can't do anything! It's already very good. In fact, the problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have been buried by the empire's predecessors. They could not imagine the impact of such strong national sentiment on the empire today. It can only be said that the times have abandoned the empire. By the time you take control of this country, it will be difficult to turn around." Franz was very happy to hear Ferdinand's comfort. This brother who once caused him headaches and worries is now beginning to understand him!
However, Ferdinand changed his tone and said: "However, it is precisely because of this that the empire should join forces with East Africa, especially Austria. We have made too many compromises with Hungary in recent years, and other nations have seen that After Hungary's successful experience, if it follows suit, the fate of the future empire will only be fragmented, and when the empire does not exist, this means that the Habsburg family is also in danger."
“Can we solve this dilemma by forming an alliance with East Africa?”
“Of course not!” Archduke Ferdinand affirmed: “But we have the ability to digest the empire. Some unstable factors."
Ferdinand took a sip of tea and continued: " In fact, East Africa has been implementing a plan to avoid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The focus is to weaken the risk of independence in some important areas around Austria through East Africa's immigration strategy. "
Ferdinand's words. Sure enough, Franz's interest was aroused. East Africa interfered in the internal affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? It feels like a fantasy.
"This plan does not have a written document, but the effect has been reflected. It is to improve the population of Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Starting from the economic crisis in 1873, we have planned immigration from the above areas, focusing on the Slavs in the three areas. , mainly unemployed workers and farmers, and introduced them to East Africa, weakening the nationalist sentiment and foundation in the three regions. "
"In fact, there was the previous Italian-Austrian War. Do you still remember who the culprit was? "
"Ernst!"
"That's him, his fundamental purpose is to strengthen the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially to stabilize the people of the empire."
"But the Empire took the risk, and Ernst also made a lot of money during the war."
"But the final choice is in your hands, isn't it? You were tempted, and you won the bet. Italy had no time to digest its own national power. Just as France was entangled by Prussia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire regained its lost territory, and the glory of the empire seemed to have returned. It’s the same!”
The Italian-Austrian War was a boost to the self-confidence of the people of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, proving that the ancient empire’s sword is still young.
Ferdinand continued: "Including this economic crisis, I need not say more about the role played by the Hechingen Consortium in stabilizing the empire's economy. The steel orders alone ensured that the empire's economy did not completely collapse. "
Franz only realized after Archduke Ferdinand said this that he seemed to have received a lot of care from Ernst.
"Why Austria-Hungary? Germany is obviously more powerful!" Franz asked his last question.
This made Archduke Ferdinand a little embarrassed: "Ahem, you have already said that Germany is very strong now, but this is not a desirable partner for cooperation in East Africa, because the basis of cooperation is mutual need, and more importantly, strength On the other hand, it is obvious that the German government is too strong, and such a country in East Africa will definitely not feel at ease with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The subtext is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not a threat to East Africa.
Franz's face turned dark after hearing this: "Leave immediately after drinking tea!"
"That matter about the alliance!"
"Wait for my news. ”
(End of this chapter)