Chapter 493 Naval Confrontation
While East Africa and Mozambique were initially fighting, the waters of the Western Indian Ocean were not calm either. Although the four countries had a tacit understanding to limit the outbreak of naval battles, warships from various countries still gathered here.
The main reason is that Britain and France want to suppress the Portuguese. If a sea war really breaks out, the Portuguese will definitely be blasted by the East African Navy.
As for the two sides' promise not to have a naval war, it's hard to tell if they are really anxious. Britain and France must monitor the East African navy, so Britain and France sent five ironclad ships to cruise in the Western Indian Ocean.
Among them, the United Kingdom dispatched four ships at once, and France also sent one. Of course, this number is not large for Britain and France, but it does have a certain deterrent effect on East Africa. Big countries sometimes Just show your attitude.
"Portugal has not acquired new ships in the past few years, and its only ironclad ship has just been commissioned. I am afraid that there is not enough time for training. The fleets in remote colonies like Mozambique use backward sailing warships. Although they are more numerous than in East Africa, their combat effectiveness is It’s much worse than East Africa, the quality is not good,” said French Navy Commodore Veron.
British Navy Rear Admiral Frank: "That's what I say, but the overall quality of the Portuguese sailors should be better than that of East Africa. Many of them are old sailors who have been at sea all year round. The East African Navy has only been established for a few years. In this regard Definitely not as good as traditional maritime powers.”
This is the conclusion drawn by Britain and France after observing the Portuguese and East African surface fleets. Although the Portuguese navy is poorly equipped, it is indeed skilled in ship operation and has experience in dealing with crises. The gap between ironclads and sailing battleships is far from being filled by personnel experience, so no one would think that the Portuguese Navy is an opponent of the young East African navy.
Since the 1930s, ironclads have often been used as destroyers when they first appeared, but their original and primary purpose of building them was still to fight with the same type of ship. This situation continued until the arms race to build ironclads In the end, many countries used ironclads to protect large merchant fleets, or to control colonies far away from the mainland, or perhaps both.
But currently, only the British and French navies can reach this level. The other countries are barely adequate. Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire lack power for development due to restricted sea conditions, and Germany has not yet left. On the road of crazy shipbuilding, the U.S. and Far East navies are evenly matched.
The U.S. Navy is so miserable now. The U.S. will not really pay attention to naval development until after 1881. The current strength of the U.S. Navy is not even comparable to that of the Far Eastern Empire, and two small countries like Denmark and Chile are also above the U.S. Navy.
In fact, the U.S. Navy had a short-term outbreak during the Civil War. The North built large-scale ships to block the South's sea lanes, and the South engaged in armed smuggling in order to break the sea blockade. By the end of the war, the U.S. Navy had various sail warships. It has reached more than 700 ships, and the number of ironclad ships has also reached the top asset of 5 ships.
However, this huge fleet disappeared with the end of the war. The Americans sold most of their more than 700 warships to merchants, who converted them into merchant ships. Although some ironclads and fast battleships were retained during this disarmament, due to the long-term lack of maintenance and upkeep, these battleships could only be allowed to gradually corrode as the years passed.
This cannot be circumvented by the geographical advantage of the United States. There is no national defense pressure, so the United States has no motivation to develop its navy. Compared with the navy, the U.S. Army is even more pitiful, with only tens of thousands of troops.
So it’s understandable that in previous lives the U.S. Navy and Army always changed the law to ask Congress for funding. Peacetime was too tight.
Opposite to the U.S. route is East Africa, which is also a large country with a large territory. East Africa has a much stronger sense of danger than the United States, so the number of troops has always been maintained at a high level.
For example, when expanding its territory, the United States mainly relied on the militia to exterminate Indians, while the army was the main force to capture black people in East Africa, supplemented by the militia. Especially after the size of the East African Army reached the scale, the more important it was for the militia. The dependence is basically negligible.
Industries including East Africa also give priority to the development of military industry. The navy and army have achieved self-sufficiency in equipment to a certain extent, and the defense industry does not rely on manpower. In recent years, the East African Navy has been special, because the shipbuilding industry in East Africa cannot meet the needs of the local navy, and it mainly purchases from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, as the technology of the Bagamoyo Shipyard becomes increasingly mature, it will not be long before the East African Navy will also transition to independent development. state.
Of course, the most important reason is that the current scale of the navy is completely sufficient. This is the real reason. If we develop it vigorously, the British will jump on it.
Moreover, the speed of warship technology replacement is not slow. In this special period, East Africa purchases warships on a large scale. At some point in the future, the East African Navy will decommission these warships at the same time. After all, the lifespan of ironclad ships is not too long. Maybe by the end of this century These main naval warships will be replaced, so the current East African navy can develop step by step.
Anyway, East Africa is currently focusing on homeland defense and does not have much demand for sea power. Defending the doorstep is victory. Even so, East Africa is considered to be extremely talented and its navy is developing rapidly. But for East Africa’s maritime borders That's not much to say.
In response to the joint military exercises of the three navies of Britain, France and Portugal, East Africa could not pretend to be deaf and dumb. It also held a trilateral joint maritime exercise with Austria-Hungary and Germany.
After all, in the Four-Nation Conference, Austria-Hungary and Germany favored East Africa, so as the eldest and second brothers, the navies of the two countries also had to support East Africa. East Africa dispatched five ironclads, and Austria-Hungary dispatched two. Germany has one ship. Currently, there is not much difference in naval strength between the three countries. Austria-Hungary ranks first, East Africa ranks second, and Germany ranks third.
So the Prussian naval general who came to East Africa for the exercise this time was quite embarrassed. According to the national strength of the three countries, it is obvious that Germany should be ranked first, but it does not matter if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is strong. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has the first move. Advantage, as a result, the East African navy is also stronger than the German navy, which is unreasonable.
In fact, whether the German navy can be vigorously developed is entirely a matter of whether the current German government wants to invest in it. It is obvious that Germany's demand in this area is still not high.
Spee said with some envy to his Austro-Hungarian and East African colleagues: "The empire still attaches too little importance to the navy, so much so that even East Africa has surpassed Germany. The status of the imperial navy is obviously equal to that of Germany. No match.”
Austria-Hungary Vice Admiral Claire of the Imperial Navy comforted: "Actually, the Austro-Hungarian Navy is the most pitiful among the three. You have developed rapidly in the past few years. New warships are launched almost every year. The number of new ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy is obviously not as good as yours. . ”
Austro-Hungary and Germany The words of the Chinese Navy made Archduke Ferdinand a little proud, but he also said modestly: "The geographical location of East Africa is very bad. Although the importance of the Western Indian Ocean route has declined due to the opening of the Suez Canal, the navies of various countries still Areas to focus on and you have the land The physical advantage is that we have the ocean to the east, so we are under great pressure to face maritime threats.”
Archduke Ferdinand’s words are true Versailles. The poor geographical location of East Africa makes people very uncomfortable. Is it true? Is it difficult for Germany and Austria to be sandwiched in the middle of the European continent? Moreover, facing the ocean directly is an advantage for the development of the navy.
But not all the land in East Africa faces the ocean! For example, Pemba Island, Zanzibar Island, Mafia Island, the Comoros Islands and a bunch of small islands and reefs can play a role in defending the country. These are much stronger than Germany and Austria.
(End of this chapter)