Chapter 929 The Navy’s Thoughts
As Ernst’s order was issued, it was the East African Defense Forces that ultimately bore all the burden. The armored forces that had originally decided to experiment before 1900 were delayed until the next century. In fact, Three years later.
For the Army, the delay of the armored forces will not have a big impact, because there is no generational difference between the East African Army and the European and American Army.
Of course, East Africa is not as good as the European and American powers in terms of military size. This is mainly from the combined navy and army. Although the U.S. Army and the East African National Defense Force are confident that one can defeat ten, the U.S. Navy has expanded too much in recent years. Quickly, it widened the gap with the East African army.
"Ernst, why has the Navy's funding been reduced again? According to the original agreement, the Navy will not expand, but I can't reduce it!"
Soon, Archduke Ferdinand aggressively went to his son-in-law to ask for an explanation. After the South African War, the navy entered an era of slow development. Although the East African navy was still among the top ten in the world, other countries in the world were busy expanding their navies crazily. .
East Africa is already alien enough, and now it has to reduce naval military expenditures, which makes Archduke Ferdinand unable to sit still.
"After the end of the South African War, in 1892, the British built the world's first battleship with an all-steel hull, the Royal Sovereign. Now is a period of change for the navy. How can we take military expenditures from the navy! I think it is better to let the army pay more. Let alone the armored force that has not yet disappeared, just reduce the number of fast mobile units. "
This is the answer. The main reason for Ferdinand's anxiety was that the Royal Sovereign, a new generation of main battleship developed by the British, was born as early as 1892.
Warships of this level had a famous name in the previous life, and that was the pre-dreadnought battleship. Of course, this name corresponds to the later dreadnoughts, and the even crazier super-dreadnoughts.
The East African Navy is naturally following the trend, and is rushing with other countries to develop or import pre-dreadnought ships to fill its own navy. Currently, the East African Navy's first pre-dreadnought ship, the Sea Wolf, has been completed at the Bagamoyo Shipyard. Most of the progress.
As the head of the East African Navy, Archduke Ferdinand naturally wanted to increase construction efforts on this basis, so that all East African navies would enter the battleship era in the future. However, Ernst’s reduction in military expenditures this time would not be a big one. The stick hit the navy on the head.
"Father-in-law, don't be anxious. I naturally understand what you just said, and this military expenditure reduction is not aimed at the navy, but also the army. As for the reduction of the army's mobility force you mentioned, this is impossible. Yes, the biggest feature of the Army's mobility force is the use of automobiles to replace livestock such as mules and horses, and the current development of the automobile industry in East Africa cannot be separated from the support of orders from the military," Ernst reassured.
It is true that the output of civilian automobiles in East Africa is not low, but military orders are equally important. In the previous life, the early development of the German automobile industry was inseparable from the support of the military.
“The automobile industry is indeed important, but our navy’s new warships are not bad either. No, they are more important. After all, the main military pressure in East Africa now comes from the sea. Didn’t we just get Mindanao a while ago? Plus North Africa In the Kingdom of Hawaii, as well as along the coasts of Mozambique and Angola, the size of the East African navy has long been insufficient. It is simply unreasonable for you to reduce naval military expenditures!" Ferdinand said loudly.
The defensive pressure on the East African Navy is indeed great from the perspective of territorial expansion in East Africa. However, after the South African War, no country dared to tease the East African tiger's beard at the doorstep of East Africa, unless the British came back, but the British obviously do not want another South African War. , after all, it had only been seven years since the South African War.
Behind the British are Germany and the United States, whose navies are expanding wildly. Under such circumstances, it is even less possible to focus on East Africa and cause trouble. Therefore, it is a good thing that the East African navy does not expand.
After all, Germany and the United States are enough headaches for the British. If East Africa intervenes again, it will only make the situation more chaotic. Of course, as the main military service, the navy must not be too stretched, so Ernst said: "What you said makes sense. The sea area we control in East Africa now extends to the Pacific Ocean. According to the current size of the navy, it is indeed powerless. , so of course the Navy's new shipbuilding plan cannot be delayed, so it should be enough for us to build four additional battleships before 1905."
"Four is too few. ! At least seven are enough, otherwise our number of battleships will not even reach half of that of other countries." Constantine said.
In fact, Ernst's psychological expectation was that before 1905, building two or three ships would be enough. However, East Africa was not a small country after all, and two or three ships were indeed too cold, so he reluctantly raised the number to four.
As for the future, after 1906, the dreadnoughts will appear on the scene as expected. At that time, just increase the number of warships.
Of course, Constantine certainly doesn’t know anything about this. He knows that the pre-dreadnoughts are already powerful enough, and the big naval plans of other countries are too crazy. Even Japan, a small island country in East Asia, is ambitious. , it would be too embarrassing for East Africa to be surpassed by this small country in the future.
“Isn’t the Navy also working hard to field its submarine force? So battleships are indeed useful, but we also have other options. Anyway, after two or three years, East Africa’s financial situation will improve. I will definitely give priority to the development of the navy. The funds for the ships.”
Ernst chose to delay the decision. After all, the East African government’s expenditures are too large. After this period of time has passed, it will naturally be possible to loosen the restrictions on the East African army.
"Submarines are just turtles on the bottom of the sea. They do not have the momentum and deterrence of battleships, and the importance of deterrence to the navies of major powers is self-evident." Ferdinand said.
Ernst doesn’t think so. Compared with today’s mainstream ironclads and battleships, submarines have huge potential. Even in the 21st century, they are still an important deterrent force for the navy. This was Ernst’s early The reason why it started investing in submarine research and development in East Africa in the 1970s.
Moreover, submarines are cheap to build, which is the main reason why Ernst wants the Navy to temporarily use submarines to replenish its inventory. Although the current submarines are relatively expensive to build due to technical and other reasons, they are not as good as the gold-eating beasts like battleships. , the cost of one battleship is enough to build twenty or thirty submarines.
“Don’t worry! Father-in-law, the country’s economy is currently in dire straits. If the economic situation improves over time, opportunities will come for the navy. In the first ten years of the 20th century, the scale of our East African navy will definitely increase. Big expansion." Ernst reassured Constantine.
Of course, this reassurance is full of pitfalls, because Ernst did not specify the specific time. If there are no accidents in history and the time of World War I remains unchanged, East Africa must have started preparations in advance before 1914.
Therefore, after 1905, the army and navy in East Africa had to prepare, because Ernst did not know whether the war would be fought earlier or later. After all, the gunfire in Serbia might have disappeared due to historical interference. Now that kid Rudolph is still alive and kicking!
The assassinated Crown Prince Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in his previous life now does not even have the chance to become the imperial crown prince, so the future is full of variables, and Ernst is also dancing on the tightrope, wanting to realize the interests of East Africa. maximize.
(End of this chapter)