Chapter 1125 Breaking the restrictions on naval development
“At present, the penetration rate of our country’s army armored units and motorized units is as high as 40%, but it still retains a large number of traditional infantry and cavalry, which saves a lot of expenses for our army. ." Merk said.
Without defense pressure, it would be difficult for East Africa to achieve comprehensive military reform. After all, relying on traditional military forms, East Africa can suppress surrounding small countries or colonies.
East Africa’s military operations in the Persian Gulf the year before last relied on traditional armies. However, the Arabs in the Beibu Gulf territory were very short of even rifle bullets, so unless they were dealing with a military power like Germany, East Africa It is necessary to use our most advanced military to deal with it.
“Our army is currently equipped with about 4,300 artillery pieces, covering a variety of calibers and uses. In the world, it is second only to Germany and Russia, about the same as France, and more than The Austro-Hungarian Empire, dominated by 75mm artillery, accounted for about 47%. ”
The East African army once equipped the 75mm artillery on a large scale. This situation lasted until the end of the last century. The main reason was that the performance of this artillery was indeed excellent and it was easy to move. After entering the 20th century, with the development of the East African automobile industry, the 75mm artillery The 15mm artillery is still favored by the army. As a light field gun, the 75mm artillery is moderate in weight and is more convenient to be towed by cars.
Of course, compared to the French army’s superstition of 75mm artillery, East Africa is still much worse. France’s main artillery is almost all 75mm artillery, and the caliber is larger than the 75mm artillery. The number of artillery pieces in China is less than 300, while East Africa is equipped with more than 1,400 large-caliber artillery pieces.
With the implementation of the first two five-year plans, the defense industry in East Africa has been qualitatively improved. The difficulty of manufacturing larger-caliber artillery has been greatly reduced, and artillery research and development has also reached a higher level. As a major metal and mineral country, East Africa has Being able to obtain many rare metals that are lacking in Europe provides excellent conditions for the research and development of East African artillery.
If we look at the penetration rate of artillery among East African troops, East Africa is even higher than that of European countries. Take Germany as an example. The number of German artillery pieces is second only to Russia, with nearly 7,000 pieces. However, the number of German troops There are hundreds of thousands more than in East Africa, and East Africa also has armored forces. The tanks in East Africa are actually a mobile artillery support force, but they are not included in the ranks of East African artillery.
Overall, the artillery penetration rate in East Africa is about the same as that of Germany, and is greater than that of other countries. Although Russia has the largest number of artillery, its penetration rate and artillery quality are far behind those of Germany and East Africa. It is not even as good as France and France. Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Our country's artillery quantity ranks in the second echelon in the world, and its quality is between Germany and France. The concept adopted by artillery also focuses on the characteristics of Germany, France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to deal with both traditional warfare and trench warfare. Operational concept. ”
Among the world’s artillery forces, Europe Africa ranks first in the world as a whole, and among them Germany, France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are the most prominent. The armies of other countries generally use the artillery of these three countries as a reference standard. This is also the reason why the East African Army has a large-scale equipment of 75 The main reason why millimeter artillery is equipped with a large number of large-caliber heavy artillery at the same time.
Because at the beginning of the construction of artillery power in East Africa, two combat modes were considered. During the South African War in East Africa, both sides had already switched to relatively primitive trench warfare, but this does not mean that the 75mm Artillery, which is aimed at line infantry mode, has no place in East Africa. After all, Egypt has the strongest military strength among the countries surrounding East Africa. To deal with a country like Egypt, using large-caliber heavy artillery is a waste of time. Feel.
As for other countries and colonies, there is no need to say more. Artillery is considered a rarity. For example, the Abyssinian Empire only has more than 20 artillery pieces in the whole country.
Merck continued: "Our army, especially the non-armored forces, implements the concept of firepower superiority, which makes our basic infantry also equipped with a large number of easy-to-carry mortars and grenades. The entire army has formed a Multi-level artillery strike coverage force can adapt to various battlefield situations.”
"In addition to artillery, we also equip a large number of other light weapons such as rifles, machine guns, grenades, and landmines."
"In addition to weapons, another highlight of the army's construction is informatization, which is currently being actively promoted. Radio equipment has been popularized throughout the military, and at the same time, the miniaturization of radio equipment, as well as telephones, wired telegraphs, etc., have also been greatly developed in recent years, forming a strong information network in our country to specifically serve the military.”
< br>Sometimes wars are about intelligence, so the militaries of various countries attach great importance to information collection. East Africa, with its advantages as a world power in the power field, is considered a top-notch presence in this regard, especially with the popularity of radio, it can be said that East Africa will be included. The inclusion of world armies has been taken to a new level. "At the naval level, the total tonnage of our country's navy has now reached 680,000 tons, which can be considered to have made great progress. In the past three years, more than 100,000 tons have been added."
East Africa The total tonnage of the navy still exceeds the minimum standard of 650,000 tons originally agreed with the United Kingdom, and now exceeds 30,000 tons.
Of course, this is also in line with the agreement between the two countries. After all, the East African navy is based on the French navy, and France has never stopped military competition in naval affairs. Now the total tonnage of the French navy is close to 900,000 tons. Therefore, according to the original agreement between East Africa and the British With the agreement reached, East Africa can naturally increase the corresponding size of its navy.
In addition, there is another unstable factor that interferes with the construction of the East African Navy, and that is the Japanese Navy. In the original agreement between East Africa and the United Kingdom, it was clearly stated that the Japanese Navy cannot exceed the East African Navy, otherwise the East African Navy has the right to make changes on its own plan.
Today, the total tonnage of the Japanese navy has reached more than 600,000 tons. Therefore, the East African navy is expanding, and the UK has no reason to interfere unless the UK calms down Japan and convinces the Japanese navy not to expand.
But Japan has long ceased to be under Wu Xia Amon. If it were before the Russo-Japanese War, Japan might still obey the British because of the gap in strength. But now Japan has become one of the world's recognized powers, replacing Spain has become the goalkeeper of the great powers, so naturally it will not be obedient.
In fact, from a military perspective alone, Japan should be above Spain. Even from an economic perspective, Japan and Spain are on par with each other. They even have a slight advantage over Spain because of their population advantage. Therefore, saying that Japan is the goalkeeper of great powers is a bit underestimating Japan.
However, this is the view of most Western countries. As an Asian country, it is very rare for Japan to be regarded as an equal existence by the great powers. It will be difficult for them to further recognize Japan's international status.
Today, Japan has defined itself as the talker in East Asia, so it does not obey the words of its former master, Britain. Even if Britain declines further, Japan is likely to try its best to remove Britain from East Asia. After all, it is Japan's traditional skill to kick out the region and commit the following crimes. In fact, Japan did this in its previous life, and taught Britain a lesson in Southeast Asia.
So the British asked the Japanese government to stop its naval expansion, but the Japanese government adopted a completely obedient attitude.
As long as Japan does not stop its naval military competition, East Africa will naturally not be far behind. Therefore, although East Africa's naval development has stagnated for a period of time due to the influence of the East-British Settlement Treaty, it is now catching up again.
This was actually the trap Ernst set from the beginning. Out of his understanding of Japan, Ernst had long known that Japan would not act according to British instructions, so he used the total tonnage of the Japanese navy as a condition included in the treaty.
Even if Britain is unhappy now, there is no way. This hatred can only be passed on to the "disobedient" Japanese government, and East Africa has used Japan's ambitions to avoid the naval development restrictions of the East-British Settlement Treaty.
(End of this chapter)