Chapter 1577 Good Days for the Shipbuilding Industry

Given the current development of the world's navy, the size of East Africa's navy is far from sufficient for East Africa to cope with or reap the fruits of war in the future.

"A cannon shot is worth a fortune." The outbreak of war will inevitably consume a large amount of resources and wealth. In addition to the short-term benefits that military-industrial enterprises may receive, the prices of crude oil, gold, metal materials, etc. will also rise.

Especially since East Africa may have to face the Second World War in the future, which is unprecedented in human history. If we do not prepare in advance now, we will only pay a higher cost at that time.

To put it simply, during war it is a seller's market. The prices of all kinds of materials will rise due to the demand created by the war, and many things may not be available even if you have money.

Ernst said, "During the 85 period, East Africa should begin stockpiling strategic materials, especially tungsten, rubber, oil and other resources. Even if they are not used, they can still be resold for a profit."

There is no need to say much about tungsten ore, a resource that is extremely scarce in the world. Even though the current price of tungsten ore in the world is relatively high, if a war really breaks out, the demand will only be greater and the supply will be in short supply.

Tungsten ore resources in East Africa are not abundant, and production areas are concentrated in the mountainous areas between the Great Lakes region and the Congo Basin.

In 1934, the world's major tungsten exporters were the Far East Empire, Portugal, Burma, Bolivia, Spain, and Australia. In addition, only a few of the remaining countries had small outputs and basically met their own needs. For example, East Africa and the United States, although they both had local reserves and mining, still relied mainly on imports.

East Africa is not short of rubber. After all, East Africa is an important rubber producing area. However, rubber itself has always been in short supply internationally. This is due to its wide range of applications and large usage and demand.

As for oil, although East Africa is the world's largest oil producer, a large part of East Africa's oil production is mainly distributed in overseas colonies.

For example, the oil resources in the Persian Gulf and the South Pacific are likely to be affected during wartime. Both regions are areas with complex power structures and are areas where various countries are fiercely competing for power.

For example, the Persian Gulf is bordered by the Soviet Union to the north, East Africa and Britain to the south, and Germany, relying on the Ottoman Empire, also has a hand in the area. Therefore, once a war breaks out, the security of the Persian Gulf is uncertain, not to mention the South Pacific, which brings together forces from Britain, France, the United States, East Africa, the Netherlands, and Japan.

At present, East Africa's overseas oil production is mainly distributed in three places: the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Venezuela.

The first two may be threatened by war, and Venezuela is not necessarily safe either. After all, German submarines were active throughout the Atlantic region in the past.

As for why East Africa now regards Germany as a potential enemy, it is not actually because of East Africa's relationship with Germany, but because of the relationship between Japan and Germany. Japan's fate in the script of East Africa's world strategy has been determined. Therefore, Japan's future collaborators will also be implicated and become enemies of East Africa.

Judging from the current international situation, the country most likely to become an ally of Japan is Germany.

In fact, there is not much conflict of interest between Germany itself and East Africa. Even if Germany conquers Europe, East Africa can actually accept it reluctantly as long as it does not expand further into North Africa and the Middle East.

Therefore, for Germany, East Africa does not necessarily require a war. The future relationship between the two countries depends entirely on Germany's future strategic choices.

However, now under Adolf's leadership, the relationship between Germany and East Africa has become somewhat worse and continues to deteriorate.

You must know that since the end of World War I, Germany has accumulated a lot of hatred towards East Africa, believing that East Africa has stolen Germany's wealth and colonies. Anti-East African sentiment has emerged in Germany. Now this situation is combined with the racial superiority theory advocated by Adolf and has been further expanded.

Adolf clearly stated in his book Struggle: "... there is an incredible cognitive error: the belief that a black or yellow person can become a German because he has learned German and is willing to speak German in the future. We can never clearly see that this process of 'Germanization' is actually a kind of 'de-Germanization'... This process is not 'Germanization', but destroying the vitality of the German nation..."

These words can be said to be stuck in the hearts of East Africans. After all, East Africa itself is a mixed-race country and promotes German cultural identity.

According to him, the so-called Germanization of East Africa has become "de-Germanization", and East Africa has not become a German country at all.

However, Adolf's ideas have gained a lot of recognition in Germany. Before him, William II also had many complaints about East Africa. Germany has always looked down on the "mixed blood" of East Africa.

Now, Germany's attitude towards East Africa is more similar to its attitude towards the Soviet Union before the war. East Africa is just a tool that can be used.

In the past, from the defeat in World War I to Operation Barbarossa, Germany and the Soviet Union were almost in cahoots. Many German research projects were placed in the Soviet Union, and even German soldiers were trained in the Soviet Union. After the outbreak of World War II, the two countries divided Poland.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this special historical origin that in his previous life, Soviet leader Joseph mistakenly believed that after the signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, it would be impossible for Germany to turn against the Soviet Union until the two countries went to war.

Ernst must therefore regard a German invasion of East Africa as a low-probability event that could occur, especially in North Africa and the Middle East.

The Soviet Union has oil, and so does the Middle East, not to mention that the Middle East also has the Suez Canal, the world's major maritime trade artery.

In the past, Germany actually extended its reach to North Africa and the Middle East, especially North Africa, and even made a name for itself as a world-famous general, the "Desert Fox".

In short, the relationship between East Africa and Germany is maintained in a fragile balance. As long as Germany touches the sensitive nerves of East Africa, the relationship between the two countries may undergo earth-shaking changes.

In comparison, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was more interested in East Africa. Unfortunately, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was now in a difficult situation, and East Africa's most important ally in Europe was likely to be completely overthrown in the near future.

Before, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was stable, it could actually play a role in easing the relationship between East Africa and Germany. Now, without this middleman, the relationship between East Africa and Germany will only deteriorate further.

Of course, Ernst doesn't care about this deterioration now. He has already sentenced Germany to death in his mind.

Therefore, East Africa’s two current research focuses in war preparation are Japan and Germany. The East African Defense Force should have the strength to suppress the two countries in the future.

Ernst said: "The research and development of the Wehrmacht's weapons and equipment, as well as the development of military technology, must focus on Europe and the South China Sea."

"If World War II breaks out in Europe, East Africa will be the final and decisive force. We must minimize our casualties and losses as much as possible."

"Europe's terrain is primarily plains, so large-scale mechanized warfare is the Imperial Army's key research direction."

"In the South Pacific, expanding to the entire Pacific, island and jungle warfare are our main research directions."

"Of these two regions, the former places more emphasis on military size, large-scale coordination, and armored unit mobility, while the latter focuses more on the adaptability and creativity of weapons."

Wars in Europe are more suitable for conventional warfare, while wars in the South Pacific are more suitable for specialized operations. Due to the terrain and climate of the South Pacific, conventional armies lack a suitable environment for them to play a role.

Ernst went on to say, "However, for the Empire, the most fundamental issue is the development of the Navy. Without a strong navy, it will be difficult for the Empire to project its military power."

"East Africa is, after all, a maritime empire, separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean and its affiliated Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, the preparation of naval forces is the key direction of the empire's military expansion."

"However, the current naval expansion in East Africa is not suitable for public display. Instead, it should be carried out quietly to avoid causing tension in the international community, disrupting the geopolitical balance, and becoming an easy target of public criticism."

Friedrich frowned and asked, "If we want to quietly expand the size of our navy, it won't be easy for us to do so. After all, there are too many countries eyeing East Africa, and East Africa itself is not easy to conceal due to its national conditions."

Here, the national conditions that Friedrich refers to are the East African coastline and port conditions. If one wants to build warships secretly and without being detected by the enemy, it must be concealed.

The Japanese navy expanded secretly, and in this regard it had geographical advantages. First, Japan's coastline was tortuous, with many excellent ports and fjords. Second, Japan had many mountains, which made the Japanese naval shipyards highly concealed.

Japan's advantage is East Africa's disadvantage. There are relatively few ports in East Africa, and coastal ports lack shelter. Some East African shipyards can be discovered from the sea.

Ernst said: "It is not easy for us to build large warships openly, but the London Treaty restricts capital ships, and the navy is not just composed of capital warships."

"Especially auxiliary warships, I think this can be a major area for us to intervene, such as oil tankers, hospital ships, refrigerated ships, repair ships, supply ships, etc."

"There are no restrictions on the construction of these ships. We can build them on a large scale."

In the past, the total tonnage of the U.S. Navy's auxiliary ships reached millions of tons, supporting the logistics support work of the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Therefore, East Africa has a lot of room for maneuver in the construction of such auxiliary ships, which can not only provide protection for future wars but also will not arouse the vigilance of other countries.

Ernst said, "We can use the global ocean-going combat capabilities of a navy of three million tons as a reference to formulate the development plan for the Imperial Shipbuilding Industry during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period. This way, even if the Imperial Navy expands threefold in a short period of time, we won't be in a state of panic."

Three million tons is actually a very conservative number, because in the past, until the end of World War II, the total tonnage of the US Navy even exceeded 10 million tons, which is equivalent to more than ten times the current size of the US Navy.

A navy of three million tons was actually a level that the British Navy could reach at its peak during World War I. Comparing the industrial capacity of Britain and East Africa, if East Africa were to be mobilized to the maximum, it could obviously easily reach more than three times that of Britain.

Even in the past, the United States at the same time was much inferior to East Africa in terms of industrial capacity. After all, East Africa alone has a population of 200 million. If 200 million people are mobilized, the explosion of industrial capacity will only be more exaggerated.

Ernst continued, "Secondly, it's about integrating the resources of the Imperial Shipbuilding Industry. This should be done during the Eighth Five-Year Plan. Over the years, the Imperial Shipbuilding Industry has been at a low point, and it's time to restructure it."

East Africa's shipbuilding industry expanded rapidly during World War I. However, after the war, the good days of East Africa's shipbuilding industry came to an end due to the recovery of Europe's shipbuilding industry. Britain alone could put great pressure on East Africa in the shipbuilding industry.

In addition, the reduction in military orders was also the reason why the East African shipbuilding industry entered a long-term depression after World War I. Before World War I, the size of the East African Navy had been continuously expanding, and after the outbreak of World War I, the East African Navy did not stop.

After all, East Africa had to ensure that its navy could remain in the second tier of the world at that time. During World War I, the navies of various countries were frantically building warships. If East Africa wanted to maintain its second tier, it had to choose to follow suit.

As for the first tier, there was only one country, the United Kingdom, at that time, but the second tier, including Germany, the United States and East Africa, were also not to be underestimated in terms of strength.

As for why it is necessary to maintain the second echelon level, this is because the second echelon can become the decisive force in the war in the later stages of the war.

Otherwise, at the end of the war, East Africa's coordination of a ceasefire in Europe would not have been effective without sufficient naval strength to back it up.

Only when the mediating country has a strong fist can other countries sit down at the negotiating table obediently.

Therefore, although East Africa did not participate in the First World War from beginning to end, the size of its navy was increasing in order to maintain East Africa's global influence.

After the Treaty of London, the world's navy entered a period of long-term vacation, and the size of the East African navy was directly aborted. Many shipyards that lost military orders fell into operational difficulties. At the same time, they also had to face the recovery of the European shipbuilding industry, and it was very difficult to transform.

At the same time, in the 1920s, in order to cope with the post-war economic crisis, East African governments were busy with economic transformation and industrial upgrading, which further hit the East African shipbuilding industry.

Many shipyards were eliminated or merged due to the country's economic strategy of industrial upgrading. In the long run, this is naturally a good thing, but in the short term, it did hit the East African shipbuilding industry hard and its production capacity shrank significantly.

This situation has continued to this day. After all, after the pain of transformation was over, the world economic crisis of 1929 occurred again. The East African shipbuilding industry, which should have been booming, had to temporarily remain dormant due to sluggish global demand.

But now, as Ernst intends to restructure the East African shipbuilding industry, it can be foreseen that during the Eighth Five Year period, the good days of East African shipbuilding will return!

This adjustment is obviously fundamentally different from that in the 1920s. In the 1920s, the industrial upgrading was, after all, the government restricting the wild growth of the shipbuilding industry. This time, East Africa intends to support and encourage the overall development of the shipbuilding industry.

For example, the auxiliary ship construction plan mentioned by Ernst before is a big cake, equivalent to an alternative military order. If it can be implemented, it can support a large number of shipyards.

(End of this chapter)