Chapter 1681 Baoji Suburban Airport

While workers were working overtime to produce cotton-padded clothes in the workshop of the Tefu Textile Factory, several trucks were unloading bags of cotton-padded clothes into the back of the trucks in the factory's storage area.

After being loaded onto trucks, these supplies will be transported to the port of Mombasa and then loaded onto ships.

The distance from Nairobi to Mombasa is nearly 500 kilometers. Both rail and road are good modes of transportation in this area. Obviously, the cotton-padded clothes produced by the Tefal Textile Factory would be transported to Mombasa by road.

The reason is quite simple: these war support supplies are time-sensitive, and if rail transport is chosen, it would take much longer.

If the railway is chosen, the goods must first be transported to the station, which obviously still requires transportation by truck. Once at the station, the goods must be unloaded and then loaded into the train carriages.

Once they arrive in Mombasa, they have to go through a similar process to transfer the goods to the port's docks. This adds many unnecessary steps to the process.

Moreover, railways are far less flexible than highways. The departure and dispatch of trains on railways are subject to strict standards. Due to the influence of train schedules, marshalling, transfers, and short-distance connections at both ends, the entire journey may waste more time.

Therefore, this seemingly simple shipment from the Tefu Textile Factory is actually quite significant, even reflecting a major shift in the economic and social production and lifestyle of East Africa today.

That is, highways have become competitors to railways in transportation and economic development, especially in short- and medium-distance passenger and freight transport, where highways have gained an advantage.

This seemingly minor change reflects East Africa's leading position in development compared to other countries in the world.

In 1938, even the United States, another major automobile producer, and Germany, with its relatively developed transportation system, lagged behind East Africa by half a step in the field of road transport.

The reason for this result lies in road transport itself, which can be simply summarized into two parts: vehicles and road construction.

There are many types of vehicles used for road transport, not just automobiles. For example, before automobiles, horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, rickshaws, steam locomotives, and even bicycles can all be considered as vehicles for road transport.

Don't underestimate the small size of a bicycle; its carrying capacity is not to be underestimated. In a certain period of the Far Eastern Empire in the past, bicycles were regarded as an important means of transporting goods, even large items such as televisions and refrigerators.

There are also bicycles used by the postal system, carrying two large mailbags filled with parcels, newspapers, and letters. This mode of transportation is not uncommon in East Africa and Europe today.

Another example is the banana transport workers in Africa in their previous lives, who used bicycles to transport bananas.

In conclusion, there are many types of vehicles on the road, and the aforementioned vehicles were still widely used in countries around the world in the 1930s.

However, there is no doubt that before the automotive industry matures, other road vehicles are completely unable to compete with rail travel.

It can also be said that before the automotive industry matured, railways were recognized as the "dominant force in land transportation," and even when the automotive industry was not yet mature, highways had a hard time competing with them.

When automobiles were first invented, they were toys for the rich. Even though the automobile industry in this world developed faster than in the previous world due to intervention in East Africa, automobiles were still very expensive in the early 20th century and could not be widely popularized.

Moreover, in the early stages of the automotive industry's development, due to technological limitations, automobiles, as a type of vehicle, were inherently less reliable, while steam trains were already quite mature at that time.

Even in East Africa, the world's number one automotive industry country, the automotive industry only fully took off after a long transition period in the 1920s.

Having discussed vehicles, another issue limiting the development of the road transport industry is clearly the roads themselves, or more specifically, the widespread availability of paved roads.

At the beginning of the 20th century, automobiles were a "new thing" to the world, and the construction of roads, especially paved roads, lagged behind.

Therefore, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, even though automobiles had appeared, the road system was extremely poor, with most roads being unpaved dirt roads that became muddy and impassable in the rain, making reliable commercial transportation impossible.

The automotive industry and the construction of modern highways are the main reasons why railways still dominate land transportation in the world today.

Only East Africa is relatively ahead of other countries in the world, having solved the problems of vehicles and roads.

East Africa boasts the world's largest automotive industry in terms of road vehicles, with a high degree of market penetration. Automobiles have become one of the most basic tools for social production and transportation.

In terms of road construction, East Africa has built the world's most advanced and comprehensive road network system, and its other "secret weapon" for road transport—highways—is also taking shape.

The main reasons why the United States and Germany lag behind East Africa by half a step are also due to these two points.

Although the United States is the world's second-largest automobile producer and its automobile ownership is in no way inferior to that of East Africa, its highway construction lags behind that of East Africa and Germany, especially the lack of highways, which hinders the efficiency of highway transportation in the United States.

Germany has an advantage in highway construction. After all, Europe, especially the industrialized European countries, leads the world in terms of highway density and construction.

After Adolf came to power, Germany built a comprehensive highway system, which made the German road network more developed and improved its efficiency.

However, Germany also faces the problem of its underdeveloped automotive industry compared to East Africa and the United States, and energy is also an issue that Germany cannot avoid.

If we combine the advantages of Germany and the United States, that's the current state of road transport development in East Africa.

The trucks loaded with goods are parked at the Tefal textile factory. After leaving the factory, they will travel to Mombasa via the highway between the two cities.

The highway from Mombasa to Nairobi runs roughly parallel to the original Northern Railway, which is not surprising at all, since the construction of the highway itself serves the economy of East Africa.

Many cities in East Africa were largely established during the railway era, with populations converging along the railway lines. Therefore, highways prioritize serving these densely populated areas.

...

September 12, 1938.

Located in the eastern part of Shaanxi Province in the Far Eastern Empire, several East African transport planes have entered Shaanxi Province, and the outline of a city of not-too-large size has already appeared in front of the planes.

Pilot He Xin steered the plane toward the city and said to the co-pilot.

"According to the landmark guidance, the Far East Empire's Baoji should be just ahead. We will be landing at the airport in the suburbs of Baoji next."

Baoji Suburban Airport, or Baoji Airport, was an airport built in 1937 at the suggestion of the East African government and began operation at the end of the year.

In the previous life, during the War of Resistance against Japan, the Far Eastern Empire also built an airport in Baoji. However, that airport could not compare with the current Baoji suburban airport in terms of construction time, standards, or scale.

The original Baoji Airport was planned in 1938 and was not officially completed until 1939. This airport, which was built in cooperation with the East African and Far Eastern Empire governments, was built a full year earlier than the Baoji Airport in the previous life.

During the construction of the airport, thanks to technical support provided by East Africa, the airport's standards surpassed those of most airports currently operating in the Far Eastern Empire.

At the same time, East Africa also made demands on the size of the Baoji suburban airport, so the design and construction scale is larger than in the previous generation.

He Xin said to co-pilot Friedrich, "See the German landmark below? That's a navigation beacon we built specifically for this purpose. The name on it is the name of the city below, which is Baoji City."

"This is also an important hub at the end of our air routes between East Africa and the Far East Empire."

Influenced by East Africa, in early 1938, the Jiangcheng government of the Far Eastern Empire upgraded this place to a city based on the original Baoji County.

This is yet another historical shift in East Africa. The Far Eastern Empire government of the previous era did not upgrade Baoji to a city until 1941.

At that time, due to the impact of the war, Baoji's industry and status were greatly improved, so it received attention from the later mountain city government.

Baoji's strategic importance rose sharply after the Longhai Railway opened in 1937.

As the War of Resistance against Japan entered a strategic stalemate, factories, enterprises, government agencies, and schools in the eastern coastal and central plains regions of the Far Eastern Empire relocated inland on a large scale. Baoji, as the terminus of the Longhai Railway and a major rear area, became an important destination for this relocation. Its population and economy expanded rapidly, transforming it from a relatively closed-off small town in the northwest into a new industrial, trade, and transportation hub of the Far Eastern Empire.

It can be said that the war brought Baoji a special prosperity and development.

The development of the Northwest Passage from East Africa has brought new opportunities to this former northwestern town.

For the Far Eastern Empire at present, securing the support of the international community, especially the support of the great powers, is an extremely important strategy.

At the same time, Japan's blockade of the Far Eastern Empire led to the "Northwest Passage" opened in East Africa becoming the main artery for the Far Eastern Empire to obtain external aid.

As a result, Baoji gained a more important status than in its original history. To a large extent, it can be regarded as the terminus of the Northwest Route, because most of the transport planes from East Africa to the Far Eastern Empire used Baoji's suburban airport as their final stop.

Because once they arrived in Baoji, the supplies from East Africa to aid the Far Eastern Empire could be transported via highways and the Longhai Railway to rear cities such as Xi'an and Chongqing, and eventually reach the front lines.

Of course, East Africa also has an airport in Xi'an, but it is smaller than that in Baoji and has relatively fewer flights.

Meanwhile, compared to Xi'an, Baoji is located further back and is therefore safer.

Frederick asked, "Captain, is this the kind of city we see in the Far Eastern Empire? Do all their cities have city walls?"

As a "newcomer," Frederick was relatively unfamiliar with the Far Eastern Empire. Of course, he was called a newcomer mainly because it was his first time visiting the Far Eastern Empire, so he was unfamiliar with the Northwest Passage.

In fact, Frederick's piloting experience was quite mature. He Xin's main task was to show him the way so that Frederick could carry out flight missions for the Far Eastern Empire in the future.

He Xin said, "That's right. In my memory, many cities in the Far East Empire are like this, surrounded by square walls. Baoji City is the same, and the scale of this wall is not very large."

The city wall of Baoji City has a circumference of about two kilometers. The wall is made of rammed earth and is covered with blue bricks on the outside. It has four city gates in the east, west, south and north, as well as corner towers and other facilities.

Frederick said, "This city is truly unique!"

As an East African, Frederick had only seen this kind of Eastern-style city wall architecture in history textbooks. In East Africa itself, let alone this kind of Eastern-style city wall architecture, even European-style castles are rare.

East Africa is a country without historical baggage, so most cities have no historical background at all. Frederick was only exposed to modern urban design from childhood. At least for people in 1938, the urban landscape of East Africa was still very modern. Urban design and architectural style like Manhattan in New York City were a bit too advanced.

He Xin said, "Once you've seen more, you won't find it so novel anymore. Of course, if you have the chance to go to Xi'an, the urban construction of the ancient Far Eastern empire is indeed more impressive."

"Compared to the city walls of Xi'an, the city walls of Baoji are like children's toys."

In response, Frederick said, "I know Xi'an. After all, it is one of the eight ancient capitals of the world, and I have always been quite curious about this city."

He Xin said, "You should have opportunities in the future, but this time our destination is not Xi'an. There are only a few planes that will go to Xi'an to carry out the mission."

“From the end of 1937, that place was a major bombing target for the Japanese invasion of the Far East Empire, so except for some particularly important supplies, Imperial Airlines would not allow our people to take the risk of flying to Xi’an.”

In November 1937, Japan launched a bombing campaign against Xi'an, the largest city in the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire, and even now, Japan continues to carry out high-intensity bombing missions against Xi'an from time to time.

Airports, military camps, factories, and railways are among the key targets of the Japanese Air Force.

At the same time, Japan will also attack aircraft that it cannot identify, mainly referring to aircraft from East Africa.

Therefore, most flights from East Africa do not fly to Xi'an Xiguan Airport.

He Xin said, "However, given the current relationship between the Empire and the Far Eastern Empire, we might provide some air support to the Far Eastern Empire in the future."

Here, He Xin is referring to air combat. As is well known, the Far Eastern Empire has a very weak air force due to its poor industrial capacity, and also has a very small number of pilots due to economic reasons.

Therefore, He Xin judged that East Africa would definitely provide corresponding military services to the Far Eastern Empire in the future. Of course, this was just his inference based on the current relationship between the two countries.

The relationship between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire is now clearly one of close cooperation, with both the mountain city government and the northwestern armed forces cooperating with East Africa.

East Africa's support for the Far Eastern Empire was obvious. People in East Africa might not have known this, but the pilots who participated in the Northwest Passage knew it all too well.

After all, this involves providing military aid to the Far Eastern Empire, and currently, only East Africa in the international community can do this.

(End of this chapter)