Chapter 672 Crisis and Opportunity
"Ernst, according to the latest information about the war between France and the Far Eastern Empire in Keelung, the French have failed again this time!" Ferdinand said with gloating.
The news came back from the Pacific Fleet, which is very close to the military base in the Southern Ryukyu Islands, so the East African Navy got first-hand information.
The war between the Far Eastern Empire and France actually started last year, but the Far Eastern Empire did not officially go to war with France until August this year. And according to Ernst’s prediction, the outcome of this war will remain the same. It will end anticlimactically.
This is not because the Far Eastern Empire has poor combat effectiveness, but because the desire to fight is low and the top government is hesitant. In recent years, the weapons and equipment of the Far Eastern Empire government have been greatly improved, and they have made great achievements in conflicts and wars against Tsarist Russia, Japan, and the United States. Advantages, but in the final stage of negotiation, the outcome will be a compromise, so there is no way to support Adou.
Ernst already knew the outcome of this war, so he was not interested in what happened to the Far Eastern Empire.
"Has the war affected our trade routes with the Far Eastern Empire?" Ernst asked.
"Of course not, and even if the main battlefield at sea occurs in the Taiwan Strait, the British will be the first to be anxious. Besides, we can bypass the Taiwan route from the east." Ferdinand continued: "And the Pacific Fleet It can also provide escort services for our merchant ships at any time.”
At this time, the role of the Southern Ryukyu Islands has been reflected, and the only ones with ambitions in this area are Japan and East Africa. East Africa was in the last competition. Completely defeated Japan, whose naval power was just beginning.
"Although the Pacific Fleet has some strength in the Far East waters, it lacks the support of large ships. According to internal negotiations within our navy, we plan to allocate two ironclad ships to the Pacific Fleet." Archduke Ferdinand said his Intend.
"Does the Southern Ryukyu Islands have the ability to host large ironclad ships?" Ernst asked.
The Southern Ryukyu Islands are too remote in the territory of East Africa, so Ernst did not pay attention to the construction progress of the Southern Ryukyu Islands for a long time.
“We have built the homeport of the Pacific Fleet on the two islands of Miyakojima and Ishigakijima, especially Miyakojima. All construction work has been completed, and the relevant infrastructure construction on the island has also been completed, so It is urgent to enhance the strength of the fleet in the Far East."
Ernst: "The Lanfang Overseas Province in Nanyang should also be allocated one. I remember that the conditions of Pontianak Port should be very good, so it can be better. Connecting the security between the mainland and the Eastern Route."
Ferdinand: "This is not impossible, but we have to re-formulate the plan, and the three ironclads are quite taxing for the mainland fleet. ”
Although he said this, Ferdinand did not feel distressed at all. Because of Ernst's promise, the navy has been building new warships in recent years to supplement it. It is a bit hard for his daughter. Karina is pregnant again this year, so next year We also need to launch new warships in Malaysia, and the most important thing is that the navy does not have to pay any money.
And to be honest, some of the ships in East Africa are about to be decommissioned, so it is good to just take them to the Far East and Southeast Asia and continue to serve. Even if they sink, it is not too distressing.
“The navy’s funding has increased rapidly in recent years. We should also decommission some old ships to make room for new warships, so we should find a time to take advantage of the warships that are approaching their end of life. It’s still useful, let’s sell it at a good price!” Ernst said directly.
The speed of building warships in East Africa is still too fast, so it is better to dispose of many old ships. The maintenance cost alone is somewhat beyond the pressure of the East African Navy.
"It shouldn't be the case! Our warships are generally no more than twenty years old. With daily maintenance, it is normal to serve for another thirty or forty years, and now they also have good destinations, such as Nanyang. The Pacific, and even our Atlantic coast. ""The navy needs continuous accumulation and innovation in technology, and East Africa's finances are not as abundant as those of several other powers. Naturally, they cannot afford such a large fleet, and recently East Africa's military expenditures have been tilted towards the army. , so the Navy should not take advantage of it and act like a good boy. Compared with you, the Army has hardly developed in the past ten years.”
The army has not developed much, which is naturally an exaggeration. In fact, the world's armies have not changed much in recent years. On the contrary, the competition among the navies has become increasingly fierce, especially from the United States, the Far Eastern Empire, Japan and other countries. It also began to exert its efforts on the navy, mainly to deal with the increasingly tense international situation in the 1880s.
The European powers are quite peaceful, but this is also the time when it is most dangerous for backward countries and regions, including East Africa.
In addition to Germany and Austria-Hungary due to geographical restrictions, the United Kingdom, Tsarist Russia, France, and even the United States successively made trouble for the Far Eastern Empire. This was a significant feature of the 1980s.
East Africa cannot be taken lightly, because East Africa ate too much in the 1970s, and now East Africa can be considered a piece of fat. However, other countries are not sure about the quality of East Africa.
As for Portugal, which has had competition with East Africa, it cannot be used as a reference standard. After all, Portugal is a colony and fights against East Africa itself.
Just like the British invasion of Afghanistan, it was actually the Indian colonial army fighting in Afghanistan. Even if it failed, no one would despise Britain.
Because it is a colony after all, its military strength cannot be compared with that of the mainland. The Portuguese colonial army sometimes cannot even defeat the indigenous people from all over the world. It has failed in the Indians, the Far East, Africa, Arabia, etc. Somersault, so being bullied by East Africa is considered normal.
East Africa is now just waiting to see when Portugal and Britain will test the strength of the East African Army. After all, the East African Army has indeed not fought in some years, and its previous records cannot be used as a reference. At that time, all East African opponents were Aboriginals have no value. After all, the British suppressed the aborigines in their colonies, such as India, Canada, and Australia.
“Then who are you going to sell the warship to?”
"Ask the Far Eastern Empire if they are interested! After all, this time the French should make them more aware of the importance of the navy, and the Far Eastern Empire has too many enemies, and the threats it will have to deal with in the future are heavier than ours, so the demand is also "Big."
Second-hand ironclads are not that easy to sell. If you can find customers and take over East Africa, it is not a loss. After all, the great powers can basically produce them themselves, and small countries cannot afford them. Only the Far East Empire has such a system. Countries with large quantities of ships need such ironclad ships.
Currently, the Far Eastern Empire mainly relies on a bunch of gunboats to support the scene. Ironclad ships are completely blank. In fact, as long as the Far Eastern Empire is willing to work hard, it can also build its own ironclad ships.
After the Mawei Naval War, the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau learned from the painful experience and relied on self-reliance. Finally, in the late 1980s, the Pingyuan, the first domestically produced ironclad ship in the Far Eastern Empire, was built.
So in this era, the military industry of the Far Eastern Empire can actually catch up with the great powers. It is not difficult to imitate various Western weapons. For example, the level of the "Pingyuan" is not worse than that of its European counterparts.
This can also be seen from the military shipbuilding industry in East Africa and Japan. Both countries’ navies started relatively late. However, at the end of the 19th century, crises and opportunities coexisted. Countries that seized the opportunity were able to take advantage of the general trend of the second industrial revolution and quickly develop In terms of national strength, it has caught up with those established powers.
(End of this chapter)