Chapter 1646 Consolidating Strategic Advantages Around the Indian Ocean

The situation would be completely different if a highway were built. As long as the Soviet Union agreed, East Africa could use Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as a route, choosing the optimal route, and the highway could be completed in less than two years.

There were actually quite a few routes to choose from between the Far Eastern Empire and Central Asia, but most of them were in extremely poor condition. The better routes were mostly concentrated in the north, which was under Soviet control.

Therefore, although East Africa had intended to build such a land route in the past, it could only exist in theory.

After leaving his office, Crown Prince Frederick went to Ernst to discuss his ideas with his father.

At this time, Ernst and his wife were tending to plants in the garden with former Austro-Hungarian Emperor Rudolf. As Ernst gradually relinquished his political duties, he was now enjoying his retirement.

Rudolf is in good spirits. Having gotten rid of the mess that was the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Habsburg family's political career has now completely shifted to West Africa.

While fiddling with the succulents transplanted from Namibia, Ernst asked, "Rudolf, how is the Habsburg expansion in West Africa going?"

Rudolf, shoveling away at the dirt, said without looking up, "Carl and Ferdinand have done a good job. The framework of the two West African colonies has been established. As long as we continue to build up our strength and recruit immigrants, we should be able to form the rudiments of a nation in a while."

With the continued investment from the Habsburg family, the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom are now quite well-established.

Even some former Habsburg officials chose to "invest".

After Germany annexed Austria-Hungary, Adolf carried out a purge of the former ruling class of Austria-Hungary, which led some nobles to flee to East Africa.

These exiled nobles, upon arriving in East Africa, naturally sought to establish connections and build new relationships, thus re-establishing contact with the Habsburg family.

After learning about the Habsburg family's "investment" in West Africa, some young people who were unwilling to accept their fate wanted to "join the cause of the Habsburgs."

Although the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom are currently a makeshift government, their prospects are quite attractive.

This is thanks to the history of the rise of the two countries, East Africa and the Kingdom of South Germany, which makes them believe that the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of New Austria also have more possibilities in the future.

These "talented individuals" may not have had great abilities, but they have helped fill some of the talent gaps in the two newly established West African countries.

In particular, their management skills are quite good. After all, people who can go to West Africa, a place with harsh conditions, and start a new business with the Habsburg family must have a certain amount of perseverance and knowledge.

Truly hopeless exiled nobles wouldn't go to West Africa to live a miserable life; instead, they would simply stay in East Africa, relying on the wealth they brought with them, and live a life of idleness and waiting to die.

Ernst said, "It seems that the younger generation of Habsburgs is now beginning to show their potential. Although the environment in West Africa is much worse than in Europe, the potential is also great."

"If we can persevere, there is a great chance that the two countries will develop into medium-sized countries like those in South America."

Apart from Brazil, a behemoth and a colony, the countries in South America are quite similar in one respect: they are all relatively large in size, especially compared to European countries.

Even the smallest country, Uruguay, has an area of ​​170,000 square kilometers, which would qualify it as a medium-sized country in Europe.

Therefore, Ernst judged that "it is possible that the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austria will expand their area to tens or hundreds of thousands of square kilometers in the future."

"If we address the shortcomings in population and economy, we won't do too badly on a global scale."

As Rudolf planted a snake plant in the hole he had just dug, he said, "Establishing a country in West Africa is indeed not very difficult, but that depends on how capable Karl and his team are, and it is also contingent on the support from East Africa."

"Otherwise, let alone establishing a country in West Africa, it would be difficult to even gain a foothold. Not to mention Britain and France, even some private armed forces in some colonies could cause all investments to go down the drain."

The Habsburgs established their state in West Africa without much fanfare, but as Rudolf realized, it was all built on the protection of East Africa.

Otherwise, Britain and France would not want to see a new "Kingdom of South Germany" emerge on the African continent, since the emergence of such a new country would inevitably harm the interests of both countries in West Africa in the future.

Unfortunately, they couldn't find any reason to eliminate the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom, two thorns in their side.

First, both countries were wary of East Africa's strength. From the late 19th century until before World War I, Britain might have been able to engage in dialogue with East Africa on an equal footing. But now, Britain has absolutely no confidence when facing East Africa.

Moreover, East Africa also held many of Britain's weaknesses, which was unavoidable, as almost all of Britain's major colonies, except for Canada, were adjacent to its sphere of influence in East Africa.

When Britain was more powerful than East Africa, these colonies were pawns used by Britain to contain East Africa's development and threaten its national security.

Conversely, these colonies became "hostages" in the hands of East Africa; killing any one of them would be disastrous for Britain.

France fared somewhat better than Britain, but its situation was still limited. France's colonies were concentrated in West and North Africa, but these areas were easily within reach of East Africa.

Secondly, Britain and France could not legally accuse the two Habsburg states, since both were carved out from the Togolan colony in East Africa.

As former East African territory, East Africa's fate was not up to Britain and France to decide how it should be dealt with, so they could only watch helplessly as these two countries emerged.

Moreover, Britain itself is not clean; they did the same thing in Palestine in the Middle East.

Finally, Britain and France no longer have much energy to keep an eye on these two small West African countries. Faced with the increasingly tense situation in Europe, their own home security cannot be guaranteed, and their attention to overseas interests has inevitably declined.

Ernst said, "The relationship between Germany and France is not easy to resolve, so war between the two countries is inevitable. Once France is involved in the war, the two Habsburg states can take the opportunity to erode French colonies in West Africa."

"The French colonial forces in West Africa will be utterly insignificant once they lose contact with their homeland. Of course, you can't do that under our banner then."

"You can't get involved with Germany either. It's best not to make this public. Even if France still exists in the future, they can't do anything to you. If you get involved with Germany, there will be no room for maneuver."

Ernst gave this warning because he feared the Habsburgs might act recklessly, since at the same time the Habsburg monarchy and the new Austrian kingdom would also wage "war" against French colonies when Germany went to war against France.

This in itself is likely to arouse speculation in the international community. If the Habsburgs seize the opportunity to claim that they are in league with Germany, then the situation will be completely out of control.

How will East Africa explain itself to the international community? Currently, East Africa and Germany are actually at odds with each other, and they cannot be ruled out that they will become direct competitors or even enemies. Therefore, the Habsburg family must not be associated with Germany.

Rudolf laughed at Ernst's reminder, saying, "Even if we were ignorant, we could not cooperate with Germany, after all, East Africa is our supporter."

"Not to mention that the relationship between Adolf's government and our Habsburg family was not good either. Their annexation of Austria-Hungary was an act of taking advantage of a crisis."

Ernst nodded and said, "It's good that you know what's going on. Wars in the colonies are different from those in Europe. You can pretend to be oblivious when it comes to colonial expansion. That's how we got through East Africa."

Just like East Africa back then, West Africa was a mess. Although various colonial powers claimed certain areas as their spheres of influence, it was all a murky affair.

For example, after East Africa occupied the East African Plateau, it continuously encroached on the territory of the Portuguese in Mozambique, which was difficult for them to detect because the Portuguese had very few people on the border.

The colonial forces in East Africa may have expanded hundreds of kilometers southward without the Portuguese noticing. In addition, there were no telegraphs at the time, so by the time the news reached Portugal, it was too late.

The Habsburg family could easily replicate this model in West Africa. Take French Dahomey as an example: there were only a few hundred French people in total, and they couldn't possibly keep an eye on the Habsburg monarchy's actions at the border all the time.

Therefore, the Habsburg monarchy could have easily moved its boundary markers towards Dahomey without the French noticing.

Of course, once Germany and France actually go to war, the Habsburg monarchy could go even further and swallow up Dahomey directly, at which point France would be powerless against the Habsburgs.

Just as Ernst and Rudolf were chatting about some matters in West Africa, Crown Prince Frederick finally arrived.

After greeting Rudolf, Crown Prince Friedrich said to Ernst, "Father, I've come here to discuss something with you, something related to the Soviet Union."

Upon hearing the word "Soviet Union," Ernst's attention was immediately drawn, and he asked, "What about the Soviet Union?"

Crown Prince Friedrich said, "It's nothing major, just some recent changes in the Soviet Union, including the activities of their diplomats and the Cheka, which leads us to conclude that there may have been a change in Soviet foreign policy."

"In conjunction with the Spanish Civil War, it cannot be ruled out that the Soviet Union, due to the threat from Germany, has had to change its previous diplomatic strategies with other countries. This could be a sign that the Soviet Union is taking the initiative to ease relations with us."

Ernst was not surprised to hear Crown Prince Friedrich say this, after all, Germany was indeed a formidable country in Europe at the time.

Germany made no secret of its ambitions and desire for war, so the Soviet Union had to make changes in the face of this powerful enemy, unless the Soviet government believed it could defeat Germany on its own.

However, to put it bluntly, this possibility is unlikely. Not to mention the Soviet Union, even Ernst believed that if Germany were East Africa's neighbor now, Germany would become the biggest threat to East Africa.

Ernst frowned and asked, "Has the Soviet Union now publicly expressed their views?"

Crown Prince Friedrich shook his head: "No, but all indications suggest that the Soviet Union's foreign policy may have changed."

Ernst said knowingly, "In that case, we'll wait until the Soviet Union has completely decided to change the relationship between the two countries before responding. After all, the Soviet Union will only need our help, and they won't be able to hold back."

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Father, that's what I think too. Of course, I didn't call you here just to tell you this."

"Considering that the Soviet Union may undergo a major shift in its foreign policy and may need our help, I think this is an opportunity. We should prepare a list in advance and be ready to negotiate with the Soviet Union to gain benefits for East Africa."

Ernst naturally agreed with his assessment, saying, "No matter what the Soviet Union plans to do next, we are in control. If we can continue to maintain trade with the Soviet Union, that would be a good thing."

Trade between East Africa and the Soviet Union continued, as the Soviet Union still needed to deal with East Africa, the United States, and other countries during the implementation of its Second Five-Year Plan.

The Soviet Union's market size was of paramount importance to any country in the world.

Therefore, if the Soviet Union intended to ease relations with East Africa and open its markets, even just a portion of them, it would be beneficial to the East African economy. Nowadays, competition in the international market is extremely fierce. Although East Africa is the world's leading industrial power, the United States and Germany are not far behind.

This is unlike the situation in the past when the Far Eastern Empire competed with the United States, and the United States' industry had already crippled itself.

Therefore, if East African industry wants to maintain good development, it must compete with industrialized countries such as the United States and Germany. East Africa does not lack raw materials and energy; the market is the most important thing for East Africa.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Father, now that the Soviet Union has the idea of ​​improving relations, it means that some of our past ideas, especially our strategies in the Middle East and Central Asia, may become feasible with the help of this opportunity."

"For example, the land route from Gwadar Port to the Far Eastern Empire, we might be able to achieve this goal through negotiations with the Soviet Union."

Crown Prince Friedrich's words caught Ernst's eye, and he said, "If what you say is true, then our strategy and layout in the Indian Ocean may be able to go a step further."

Whether it's the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, or the northwest of the Far Eastern empire, these regions are all important links in East Africa's strategy in the Indian Ocean.

After all, if East Africa wants to consolidate its hegemony in the Indian Ocean, it must control the Asian coastal areas on the northern shore of the Indian Ocean.

Currently, East Africa's influence on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean is concentrated in places like Oman, the Persian Gulf, and Gwadar, all of which belong to the Middle East. In contrast, East Africa's influence is much weaker in Central Asia, including Afghanistan and South Asia.

In these two regions, the Soviet Union and Britain each held absolute dominance. However, the British were relatively easy to deal with in East Africa, and with Britain's continued decline, their withdrawal from India was only a matter of time.

The Soviet Union, on the other hand, is completely different. The Soviet Union is like the rising sun, a newly emerging world power with great potential for future growth. Therefore, East Africa can gain more advantages from the Soviet Union and thus establish a dominant position in the competition between the two countries.

(End of this chapter)