Chapter 942 Declaration of War
The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen into a vicious cycle militarily. This is not an economic problem, but a political problem, and the East African Navy feels it the deepest. In the empire's cooperation, it can be clearly felt that the quality of its soldiers has declined seriously, and the equipment update speed is not as fast as that of East Africa. The East African Navy just did not expand in size, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy was completely crawling in place and slowly crawling forward.
Under such circumstances, Germany's situation in Europe is really not optimistic. Without Italy, a second-tier kid, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is lagging behind militarily, even if Germany wants to launch a war like in its previous life, it must first put its own After finding allies, it seems that it is unclear whether the original historical Allied Powers group can be established.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Looking for allies again means that you can avoid encountering scammers like Italy in the previous life who jumped back before the war.
Of course, the possibility of the outbreak of World War I is still more than 80%. After all, Germany’s national power is growing faster than in previous generations. With the help of the British, East Africa will naturally avoid the British in economic cooperation. , and most of East Africa’s huge markets and raw materials are cheaper than those in industrial countries such as Germany.
However, East Africa also had ambiguous relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Tsarist Russia, Spain and other countries, so Ernst himself was curious about how the historical direction would change.
……
April 28, 1898.
Pontianak Port.
As East Africa's most important port in the Southeast Asia region, East Africa's investment in Pontianak Port is relatively huge, and it can be ranked high even in China.
At 8 o'clock this morning, the two main warships of Spain were resting in Pontianak Port. From Spain to Pontianak Port, it was quite difficult for the Spanish navy.
People in Lan Fang Overseas Province were not surprised at all by the warships flying the Spanish flag. After all, the current Nanyang region is a natural testing ground for warships from various countries. The world's major powers are here. Deployed in the Navy, or has a history of ocean voyages.
"The ironclad Zaragoza was originally used as a training ship. However, due to the rescue mission to the Philippines, it was re-improved locally. The total tonnage is around 5,000 tons. Its construction time seems to be six years. In the 1970s, he returned to the mainland in 1873 due to the internal war. "
"The ironclad Sagunto, the experience of this warship is even more legendary. It was originally designed as a wooden hull steamship, but it was an ironclad. The emergence of the ship forced it to be stopped midway and redesigned. It finally took fourteen years to build. However, it was completely behind the times as soon as it left the factory. However, it was larger than the Zaragoza in terms of tonnage, reaching more than 7,000 tons. ”
The person in charge of the Pontianak Port of the East African Navy is not very interested in the Spanish warships arriving this time, because the two ironclad ships arriving from the Spanish Navy this time are both products of the 1960s and 1970s and have completely fallen behind.
The East African navy may be disgusted, but for the Spanish government, this is already a great support for the Asian fleet stationed in the Philippines.
Spain's Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines is a typical colonial navy with a considerable scale, but it cannot participate in the ocean hegemony and can only passively defend.
Previously, the main flagship of the Spanish Asian Fleet was the Cristina, with a total tonnage of just over 3,000 tons, which was less than 40% of the Zhenyuan ship of the Far Eastern Empire. Compared with the gunboats in East Africa, it was not much larger. At present, The largest gunboat in East Africa has been upgraded to more than 2,000 tons. In fact, the boundary with ordinary warships is no longer clear. The six main guns of the Christina only have a caliber of 120 mm, which is not as good as that of the East African gunboat. The armor is also extremely weak.
The Cristina is already the top battleship of Spain's Asian fleet. For example, the second-ranked Castile is a wooden-hulled cruiser, not to mention other battleships.
So although the Zaragoza and the Sagunto are not ranked high in the Spanish navy, it is a great sincerity to put them in the Philippines.
You must know that the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War was Cuba. At the same time, the Spanish government also wanted to prevent the United States from attacking the Spanish mainland. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for the Spanish Navy to send two classic ships to the Philippines. "Rear Admiral Kherson, the Sagunto had some problems with a boiler on its way to Pontianak. I wonder if you can solve it." Captain Yal of the Sagunto asked Rear Admiral Kherson very embarrassedly. asked.
He was muttering about the decline of the Spanish Navy, but Kherson said without changing his expression: "Of course there is no problem. The ship repair yard in Pontianak is still very strong. Our East African shipyard If some merchant ships and warships encounter problems, they will also be overhauled in Pontianak. ”
According to the agreement between East Africa and Spain, East Africa will open Pontianak Port as a resting place for the Spanish navy during 1898. Place.
Although Pontianak Port is close to the outlet, it is a river port, so it is not afraid of threats from warships of other countries to Pontianak Port. Seven 300mm gates are arranged on both sides of the channel leading to the outlet of Pontianak Port. Coastal defense guns, and several small-caliber main guns, make the entire Pontianak Port naval distribution not afraid of any threats.
Captain Yal complained: "That's great. Alas, if the infrastructure conditions of Pontianak Port are not perfect, it may be difficult for the Sagunto to participate in subsequent wars. The ship repair yards in Manila Bay can only solve some minor problems." Problem, because the local navy is dominated by wooden-hulled ships. "
In fact, Yal was quite resistant to being sent to the Philippines. First of all, the Sagunto itself had great problems and was changed midway. The design, and the wooden shell was replaced by an ironclad ship, it would be strange if there were no problems.
Secondly, the crew of the Sagunto are also improvised. Fortunately, the Sagunto is used as a training ship all year round, so even though the crew is complex, it is relatively easy for most of them to get started. After all, many recruits have been exposed to The first shipboard training may have been on the Sagunto.
Finally, although the Sagunto is larger in scale than the U.S. Asian Fleet, with a total tonnage of up to 7,000 tons, while the main warship of the U.S. Asian Fleet is only more than 5,000 tons, in terms of equipment and technology, The opposite is true. Although the Sagunto's main gun far exceeds that of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet's battleship Cristina, it only reaches a caliber of more than 200 millimeters. The armor thickness reaches the standard by then, which is three times thicker than Cristina.
The ironclad USS Zaragoza, which was sent to the Philippines this time, is only more than 5,000 tons, but its main gun has four more 280mm cannons. It is the only one capable of defeating the US fleet in Asia. Warships confronting each other in terms of firepower.
Therefore, according to East African standards, both the Zaragoza and the Sagunto should be decommissioned or sent to serve in the colonies.
This is also true in history. The Zaragoza and Sagunto should have been decommissioned and declared scrapped during this period, but they were pulled out by the Spanish Navy for waste utilization, which shows the dilemma of the Spanish Navy at this time.
Of course, this dilemma is faced by other powers. In fact, the Spanish navy is not weak, especially the many warships of the home fleet that are not lagging behind in the world. However, Spain itself It is simply impossible for the fleet to fully participate in a "gambling" war with the US Navy.
Relying on the Spanish colonial navy, it is naturally impossible to defeat the emerging US Navy, including the bombed USS Maine, which is not weak in the Spanish navy.
After staying in Pontianak Port for more than ten days, the Zaragoza and the Sagunto officially headed for Manila Bay with a mentality of resignation.
In Pontianak Port, East Africa provided meticulous services to the two warships, including catering and medical care, so that Spanish local soldiers could adapt to the tropical sea environment as soon as possible.
The time in Pontianak Port was probably the last "vacation" for the two warships in the Nanyang region. After arriving in Manila Bay, they not only had to face a more complex and harsh environment, but also had to bear the haze of war.
On May 27, 1898, the Spanish government and the United States government, which had failed to negotiate, officially declared war on each other, and the Spanish-American War officially began.
(End of this chapter)