Chapter 1647 Save Where You Can

In the Middle East and Central Asia, East Africa and the Soviet Union had roughly equal advantages. East Africa, with its maritime advantage, could easily extend its influence to the coastal areas of these regions, while the Soviet Union could do the same by land.

Ernst said, "The Soviet Union is different from Britain. Britain has no chance against us in the Indian Ocean. As long as we blockade the Red Sea and the Cape of Good Hope, Britain's various colonies and military bases in the Indian Ocean will become sitting ducks."

"The Soviet Union had long borders with the Middle East and Central Asia, so the Soviet Union's military, economic and influence could easily penetrate the local area."

"Therefore, in the aforementioned region, the Soviet Union can be said to be our only competitor and the country most likely to threaten our interests in the Indian Ocean."

In its previous existence, the Middle East and Central Asia were the regions where the Soviet Union, and later Russia and the United States, engaged in the most intense power struggles, including during the Cold War.

While the main storyline of the Cold War appears to be in Europe, in reality, the two superpowers supported their respective proxies in the Middle East and engaged in a fierce "hot war."

Behind all four Middle East wars, the US and the Soviet Union provided weapons, funding, intelligence, and political support.

Besides, Egypt, Persia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq... almost every Middle Eastern country that can be named fell into the clutches of the United States and the Soviet Union in the previous life.

If Europe was the biggest beneficiary of the Cold War, then the Middle East was the biggest victim.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "The Soviet Union was indeed one of the only two competitors of East Africa in the Middle East and Central Asia. The other was Germany, which has also made considerable investments in the Middle East in recent years."

At this point, Rudolf chimed in, "It is foreseeable that the Middle East will become the focus of competition among your three countries in the future."

"This is somewhat similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the past, but our Austro-Hungarian Empire was quite strong, while there was no country in the Middle East that could rival it."

Rudolf thought this way because in the past, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also situated between the three major powers of France, Germany, and the Soviet Union.

Ernst stated, "The conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union was clearly far greater than the conflict between us and the Soviet Union."

"Therefore, the conflict between them will be the first to erupt, and it may even manifest itself in the form of war."

"The Ottoman Empire was an ally of Germany and controlled the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, which connect to the Persian Gulf."

"These are all places that the Slavs covet. In addition, the existence of the Ottoman Empire is also a huge hidden danger to the security of the Soviet Union. Besides the Black Sea, the oil-producing areas of the Caspian Sea are not far from the Ottoman Empire."

"Therefore, the struggle for interests between the Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire was no less than that between the Soviet Union and Germany."

"With these two countries still allies, the Soviet Union would only become more uneasy."

Not to mention the Soviet Union, even the alliance between Germany and the Ottoman Empire would put some pressure on East Africa.

To put it bluntly, if relations between Germany and East Africa broke down, and Germany stopped providing aid to the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire could potentially threaten East Africa's interests in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.

This is also why Crown Prince Frederick said that Germany, like the Soviet Union, was East Africa's main competitor in the Middle East.

However, Ernst then added, "We don't necessarily have to confront the Soviet Union in the Middle East and Central Asia; there is a basis for cooperation between the two countries."

"In my view, the ideologies of the Middle East and Central Asia are far more threatening than those of the Soviet Union. The Soviet ideology may seem powerful, but it is unsustainable. It is hard to say whether the Soviet Union itself can maintain it in the future."

"The Soviet government now led by Joseph is no longer as pure as it used to be; a new bureaucratic group has emerged in the Soviet Union."

"Their thinking has changed significantly since the early Soviet (Russian) era, and they now place greater emphasis on practical interests."

This was bound to happen, since the Soviet Union couldn't truly achieve "sainthood" for everyone; they also had their own ulterior motives.

Ernst continued, "In another twenty or thirty years, there will be no essential difference between the Soviet Union and us so-called imperialist countries."

"The only major difference between the Soviet Union and us now is that the Soviet Union still insists on exporting its ideology. If they could give up this, the Soviet Union could also participate in international affairs normally."

"However, even if the Soviet Union abandons its exports, it will only be a return to the Tsarist era and will still not be welcomed by Europe and other countries."

Europeans have never concealed their animosity towards Slavs, regardless of whether it was the Soviet Union or Tsarist Russia, since the two groups were fundamentally different in terms of ethnicity, religion, and culture.

This is actually Europe's view of East Africa, except that East Africa, unlike the Slavs, does not have a strong desire to gain European recognition. In this respect, East Africa is more similar to the United States.

"The ideological threat posed by the Soviet Union to us will at most last for a few decades. By then, even the Soviets themselves will probably find it difficult to believe in this ideology as purely as the Soviet people do today."

"But the Arab religion is different. This religion has lasted for thousands of years and is still very stubborn today. It is very likely to continue to exist for a long time in the future."

"It is never too much to be cautious and attentive to the Arab world in the Middle East, Central Asia, and even South Asia and Southeast Asia."

"Actually, I am not worried about the emergence of large and powerful countries in the Arab region. On the contrary, I am afraid that the region will not be able to accept modern civilized ideas."

To put it more bluntly, Ernst did not believe in the wisdom of posterity, and by posterity he meant not only East Africa, but the whole world.

Ernst was well aware that as the world develops, the more civilized a country or group is, the more its thinking will change, and then a large number of naive saints and double-standard fools will emerge.

This situation will inevitably occur in East Africa in the future, and such people will find it difficult to compete with those who still hold primitive ideas, just as barbaric Germanic tribes seized control of the ancient Roman Empire.

Ernst worried that the Arab world in the Middle East and Central Asia would take over East Africa's future. Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, East Africa needed to support some equally "backward" birth pools to compete with the Arab world.

In Ernst's vision, the Philippines in his previous life was such a "model".

Of course, Ernst's main strategy at this stage is to take a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, to transform more Arab regions into non-Arab regions like the East African colonies; on the other hand, to continuously shrink the soil and space for the survival of this religion.

Therefore, Ernst said, "We could even have the Soviet Union do this work; they were quite effective in dealing with religion in Central Asia."

"Therefore, we can allow the Soviet Union to gain more spheres of influence in the Middle East."

The Middle East, as part of the world, is naturally a piece of cake, but this cake is also mixed with "poison".

The most nutritious part of the Middle East pie is its local oil and gas resources. However, East Africa doesn't pay much attention to the Middle East's oil and gas resources because the main oil-producing areas have long been controlled by East Africa and have even been localized.

Aside from oil resources, the Middle East's only advantage is its geographical location, but apart from the Suez Canal, East Africa doesn't have much need for other places.

Without considering the advantages of oil and geography, Ernst viewed the Middle East as a complete wasteland.

If the Soviet Union were willing to take over the region, it might indeed pose a certain threat to East Africa, but more importantly, it would be carrying a heavy burden.

Just like many of the policies the Soviet Union is implementing in Central Asia today, they are not much different from "poverty alleviation"—a lot of effort for little reward.

Ernst said, "We can make concessions to the Soviet Union in the Middle East and Central Asia. Economic interests should be our priority, rather than political and military ones."

"Within our sphere of influence, we should further promote secularization, such as in countries and regions like Oman. Friedrich, the Central Asian land route you mentioned can also be developed using this mindset."

The topic eventually returned to the land route through Central Asia, and Crown Prince Frederick asked, "Father, what are your specific thoughts?"

Ernst stated, "We have absolutely no need to be deeply involved in Afghanistan or Soviet-controlled Central Asia."

"Because this place can bring us very limited benefits, and because of the harsh environment and complex geopolitics, it is difficult to achieve results no matter how much we invest in military and political matters."

"At the end of the 19th century, Britain suffered two defeats, one against us and the other against Afghanistan."

"Given Afghanistan's terrain and social structure, I dare say that even in another hundred years, this place will not be able to develop on its own."

Afghanistan did indeed enjoy a period of prosperity in its previous life, but that was the result of the United States and the Soviet Union vying to win it over. In order to win over Afghanistan, the United States and the Soviet Union invested a lot of resources in Afghanistan, helping Afghanistan build a large amount of infrastructure and providing various kinds of economic assistance.

However, the ultimate result was that the Afghan War became an important reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union, and for the United States in the 21st century, the Afghan War was also an important symbol of the decline of American military power from its peak.

Later, the Far Eastern Empire also attempted to make contact with Afghanistan after it broke free from American control, but ultimately gave up on the idea of ​​cooperation.

Ernst said, "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, and any external force that tries to control this region will not fare well."

"So, Friedrich, you must remember this: Afghanistan is a taboo in East Africa. If the Soviets want to cause trouble there in the future, let them do so."

"Under this premise, we have a standard for how to build the Central Asian land route. In addition to being a link between us and the Far Eastern empire, this route can only be an economic route with Central Asian regions such as Afghanistan."

On the issue of Afghanistan, Ernst was convinced that the country was a "mud pit" where if you put both feet in, there was a very high probability that you would get stuck and unable to get out.

Crown Prince Frederick and Emperor Rudolf, seeing Ernst's serious expression, couldn't help but ponder the matter carefully.

Ernst said, "It's like an economic investment. We have limited funds, and it's better to invest them anywhere else than in Afghanistan."

"The construction of the Central Asian land route, or the Central Asian highway, should also keep this in mind."

"So we'll go for whatever's cheapest. Our need for the Central Asian highway is to transport supplies to the Far Eastern Empire, but overall, the demand for this kind of road transport is not actually that large."

The East African route to the Central Asian highway was intended for the future import of military supplies to the Far Eastern empire, and was never a major trade route.

After all, sea transport from East Africa to the Far Eastern Empire is far superior to land transport, with a larger capacity and lower cost. Once Japan is dealt with, control of the Strait of Malacca in the future will greatly improve security, and at the very least, there is the Sunda Strait as a passage.

Moreover, let's not forget that East Africa still holds the Kra Isthmus as a strategic asset. Therefore, as long as East Africa is willing, the sea route between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire can certainly be kept open.

At present, opening up air and land routes to the northwestern region of the Far Eastern Empire is merely to lay mines and traps for Japan, thereby eliminating other colonial forces. Otherwise, Japan would have no chance of entering Southeast Asia at all.

Secondly, the Central Asia Highway itself has little economic value. It connects to the Western Regions Province of the Far Eastern Empire, and frankly speaking, the market in the Western Regions Province of the Far Eastern Empire is simply not worth the attention of East Africa.

At the same time, Ernst also considered that after the change of regime in the Far Eastern Empire, the Far Eastern Empire would probably have little trade with the outside world for a long time.

Secondly, there's the area along the Central Asian Highway, which includes Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and the western region of what was formerly Pakistan. The economies along this route are also weak, with low market consumption capacity. The only thing worth paying attention to is the local mineral resources.

However, East Africa has no shortage of minerals in Central Asia, and the development of these mineral resources is very difficult, with huge upfront investment costs and enormous risks.

Therefore, Ernst did not expect the Central Asia Highway to be of much economic benefit to East Africa.

"The Central Asia Highway will provide almost no economic benefit to us, so if this highway is to be built, we only need to ensure the passage of large vehicles, and even a one-way lane is acceptable."

"There is no need to pay special attention to the quality of this road. It doesn't even need to use cement. Just use sand and gravel to pave the road and maintain a certain level of flatness."

"Most areas along the Central Asia Highway are arid and receive little rain, so we don't need to worry that the highway will become muddy and impassable due to the weather."

In the areas through which the Central Asian Highway passes, it probably doesn't rain more than a few times a year, so even on the simplest gravel roads or even mud roads, vehicles can pass without much trouble.

However, this makes the so-called "highway" very unfriendly to drivers and passengers, but this is obviously not a concern for East Africa.

Crown Prince Friedrich was utterly dumbfounded after hearing Ernst's words.

He said with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, "Father, if we build this highway according to your requirements, it is indeed too economical. In fact, some sections of this highway do not need to be built at all; we can make use of the existing local roads."

Ernst said dismissively, "I think this is fine. After all, we're not doing poverty alleviation along the route, so the Central Asia Highway isn't worth investing too much in. We should save where we can, not to mention it's faster this way."

(End of this chapter)