African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 754 The Dilemma of the East African Navy

  The city of New Hamburg.

As the East African Defense Forces retreated here, with the urban area as the center, East Africa established multiple lines of defense to fight against the coalition forces after the merger of the Natal Colony and Mozambique.

"Currently, with the material reserves in the New Hamburg Port, we can still persist for more than two months. At the same time, maintaining production in the New Hamburg Port is the main problem currently facing our army, especially the insufficient steel reserves. Now the New Hamburg Port The only thing the city has no shortage of is coal. Before the British army blocked New Hamburg Port City, New Hamburg Port City was one of the coal export centers in East Africa, with a large amount of coal stored at the dock and in the city."

“But coal alone can only maintain the operation of factories and electricity in the city. The lack of iron ore and other raw materials makes it impossible for the arsenal to maintain the production of weapons. Now our weapons and equipment can only be maintained with a small number of parts.”

 In layman's terms, it means repairing and barely maintaining the losses incurred during the war. However, the New Hamburg Port City is not a key deployment area for military industry in East Africa, so its production capacity is very limited.

Furthermore, the military pressure faced by the New Hamburg Port City is greater than any other city in East Africa. The war has never stopped, so even the supply of spare parts has been stretched.

"Now we can obtain some supplies from the enemy by seizing them, but it is only a drop in the bucket. We have even begun to dismantle some equipment to obtain raw materials for the arsenal. I am afraid that this kind of loss cannot last even half a month, unless we only rely on rifles as weapons. And have to endure a lack of ammunition.”

 This is a situation that has never been encountered by the East African Defense Forces, which is used to fighting rich wars.

"But there is also good news. The General Staff has decided to open up sea transportation channels. The details will depend on the performance of the navy. Regarding this, Major General Bruce, what are your navy's plans?"

Up to now, the New Hamburg Navy has not made any major moves during the war. As the top military officer of the New Hamburg Squadron, Major General Bruce has adopted the strategy of "avoiding war".

"The Navy has indeed received news from the headquarters. Next week, the Navy will take action against the coalition navy in the Mozambique Strait. By then, our New Hamburg Port City fleet will definitely cooperate. If nothing else, the New Hamburg Port City and the eastern sea The channel will be reopened soon," Major General Bruce said to Aridotus.

Major General Bruce's words can be regarded as easing the pressure on the Army. Before the war, the Army relied most on the railway and highway systems, but currently the railways and roads connecting the New Hamburg Port City to the outside world have been cut off by the coalition forces.

As a port city, the shipping conditions of New Hamburg Port City are among the best in East Africa, and it is also the key point where it is easiest to break through the enemy's blockade.

Although the East African navy is under great defense pressure, it is also the strongest in the Western Indian Ocean. It only needs to spread its power slightly, and the problem can be solved quickly.

 In the final analysis, East Africa currently lacks a stable military base in the Indian Ocean, so it has fallen into this characteristic of being strong but having nowhere to exert force.

The islands in the Indian Ocean are mainly concentrated in the east. There are very few islands available in the center and east. The most critical ones for East Africa are the Seychelles Islands and Socotra Island.

 These two islands are under the control of the British, which puts the East African navy directly under pressure from the north and east.

Taking these two islands as a starting point, we can directly approach the coast of East Africa. This is very similar to the United States, but the United States is far away from other continents and is difficult to intervene militaryly.

However, East Africa is very close to the traditional major powers in Eurasia. If the military levels of various countries are ignored, there is actually no security in the East African waters.

Of course, as a late-developing country, East Africa’s current ocean management strategy is already very advanced. Unfortunately, East Africa was established too late and did not have time to control the islands closest to East Africa.

For example, Socotra Island controls the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and also controls the East African shipping routes. The British intervened in the local political power as early as the mid-18th century, and in the 1970s, Socotra Island was included in its protection. . There is nothing much to say about the Seychelles. It is a trophy obtained by the British from the French, and it is also one of the important pillars of British Indian Ocean security.

The only strategic pillar island in East Africa that can be taken action is the Comoros Islands, but the main role of the Comoros Islands is to contain the Mozambique Channel and Madagascar Island.

 But south of East Africa, there is no major power that poses a serious threat, unless regional powers appear on the islands of South Africa and Madagascar.

This is basically impossible. Madagascar is, to say the least, an isolated island in a quiet corner. It has nothing to covet except its rich mineral resources.

Only countries with global naval strategies, such as Britain and France, have some interest in Madagascar. South Africa, now Cape Town, is famous for controlling the Cape of Good Hope.

However, since the opening of the Suez Canal, its strategic position in the world has been severely weakened. In its previous life, Cape Town occupied an important position in world shipping. The main reason was that some large ocean-going ships, mainly oil tankers, were unable to pass through the narrow Suez Canal.

 But in the 19th century, when the oil industry was just getting started, there was no such big thing to support Cape Town's economic value.

Of course, the British will definitely not let go of Cape Town. After all, the Suez Canal is only the best option, but it is not the only option. Powers in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and even the Indian Ocean may threaten the security of the Red Sea routes. At this time, Cape Town The value of Dun's spare tire is reflected.

Of course, this shipping value is for maritime transportation between the Eurasian continent. If the perspective is transformed to the east and west sides of the African continent, Cape Town's strategic positioning is different.

 In the early days, there was only one sea channel for cross-strait communication on the African continent, and that was Cape Town. After the opening of the Suez Canal, there were two.

But the shape of the African continent is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Not to mention other things, the East African coast alone gradually extends from south to north. This can be intuitively reflected from the topography of Somalia. The Somali coastline is a straight line extending to the northeast, so Even from East Africa to the port of Trieste in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the distance is actually very far, almost as far as the western coast of India.

 Hence, you can take a detour from the north and take sea transport, but the cost is too high and the mileage will be doubled or tripled.

 The south is a good example of Cape Town's importance to African shipping. For example, the distance from the port city of New Hamburg to Orangemond in East Africa is only more than 2,000 kilometers.

More than two thousand kilometers may seem like a lot, but in the north it is only the distance from Mogadishu to Djibouti. The Red Sea itself is more than two thousand kilometers, and to the Austro-Hungarian Empire it is six thousand kilometers upwards.

But Mogadishu is also a northerly port for East Africa, and the distance to the Austro-Hungarian Empire from Mombasa or Dar es Salaam is longer.

This is only the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If you go to a further area, the detour will be even more exaggerated. For the African continent itself, Cape Town's status is evident.

Of course, if East Africa builds a "road bridge" connecting east and west in the future, the situation may be very different. The only pity is that the water transportation conditions in East Africa are too poor. Otherwise, Cape Town can be completely replaced by networking between inland rivers. most of the economic value.

 (End of this chapter)