Chapter 732: Lose-Lose

After the Battle of Lamu Bay, Archduke Ferdinand was devastated. After more than ten years of hard work, it only took a few hours to destroy it. Naval battles are indeed the most unexpected.

But now it is not his turn to be sad. He has to clean up the mess, including the half-dead ironclad ship in the sea and a large number of people who need to be rescued.

Although East Africa suffered huge losses in this naval battle, the overall result was still good. No one was completely wiped out, and the British expeditionary fleet was also severely damaged.

East Africa should be grateful to the Indian Ocean. The lack of islands here has to some extent prevented the British from resting and continuing the attack. The nearest British naval base to the core waters of East Africa is in the Seychelles, and the British expeditionary fleet should have fled there. However, Seychelles does not have the ability to provide maintenance for the British expeditionary fleet, so Seychelles can only serve as a transit station.

"Report to His Excellency the Grand Duke, so far we have rescued more than 500 of our own sailors, captured more than 700 British soldiers, and captured two British ironclad ships."

Finally, there was good news, which made Archduke Ferdinand feel a little more at ease. The two British ironclad ships were a supplement to the East African Navy. Although they were hit to varying degrees and were stranded on the sea, as long as they did not sink, they could be towed back to East Africa for repairs.

It doesn’t matter even if it cannot be repaired. As the world’s number one naval power, Britain is second to none in shipbuilding technology. These two British warships can fill many gaps in East Africa’s military shipbuilding industry.

Of course, this is all a matter of the future. The East African Navy itself has two ironclad ships that sank into the sea, and the remaining ships are not in very good condition. They may not be able to participate in the battlefield in the short term. With this calculation, the East African Navy still suffered greater losses.

Because it is a time of war, no one can guarantee whether the Royal Navy will make a comeback. The number of warships available in East Africa has been sharply reduced, and Britain has not even suffered any serious damage.

Specifically speaking of the UK's shipbuilding plan this year, the UK has formulated a plan to invest more than 20 million pounds in the next five years to build 10 battleships, 42 cruisers and 18 torpedo boats.

The British shipbuilding capabilities can be imagined, so it only takes one year for Britain to make up for the losses in the Battle of Lamu.

Here we have to mention the differences caused by the national conditions of the East African, Austro-Hungarian and German navies. Although the East African Navy is an emerging naval force that can rival the two countries.

However, the responsibilities of the navy are completely different. Although the German and Austrian navies are very frustrated, one is blocked in the Baltic Sea and the other is blocked in the Adriatic Sea, but similarly, they only need a small number of navies to blockade the waters near their own country.

The defense pressure is not great, and the East African coastline alone is nearly 4,000 kilometers long in the eastern part, facing the Indian Ocean. There are no large islands or island chains nearby to serve as cover, which means that the enemy can attack the East African coast from multiple directions.

Therefore, although East Africa has one of the top ten naval forces in the world, it is indeed not enough for East Africa itself. This is the same as the East African Railway. The total mileage of East African Railways can also be ranked among the top ten in the world, but the East African Railway obviously cannot meet domestic demand.

Moreover, the location of the East African waters, mainly the Indian Ocean, although the location is not very good, is closer to the center of the world than the "remote" continent of the United States.

East Africa also occupies a certain share of the main trade routes in Eurasia, which means that the East African navy faces greater challenges. The good news is that the naval strength of Asian countries is currently relatively weak and cannot pose a challenge to East Africa.

However, Britain has its largest stronghold in India on the South Asian subcontinent, as well as a place of exile in Australia.

Therefore, whether it is from Europe or Asia, the biggest threat to the East African Navy is the British.

In the South Atlantic, where the British navy can directly threaten the south, East Africa has not invested too much maritime military force. If the main navy is placed there, it will be declared scrapped within half a year.

In the Indian Ocean, the East African Navy still has the ability to resist, especially the three major naval bases in East Africa. The core triangle formation formed by Bagamoyo, Pemba Island and Zanzibar Island can effectively ensure the safety of the East African Navy.

This was also an important reason why Archduke Ferdinand left half of the naval force before the Battle of Lamu broke out. Before the location of the British expeditionary fleet was determined, the East African Navy could not be fully deployed. If it was attacked, the East African Navy might be completely wiped out.

However, the overall combat effectiveness of the East African Navy was quite good this time. After all, the East African Navy was the weaker side, and its opponent was the best in the world. So for the Battle of Lamu Bay, the strength of the fledgling East African Navy was more in line with its paper strength.

"All the prisoners will be taken to Bagamoyo, with priority given to rescuing our crew members. As for the British, we will treat them after our people have been treated. However, the treatment process must be strict to avoid emotional problems." Archduke Ferdinand said.

The main reason was that they were afraid that the East African ship's doctor would take the opportunity to retaliate against the British sailors. After all, the war between the two countries was officially over, and after this war, the East African navy was relatively young and easily acted on impulse.

"The soldiers and ships that participated in the battle are currently unable to work. Let them rest in the rear, and assign the sea patrol to other ships. After the Battle of Lamu Bay, the number of our naval ships has been greatly reduced. We must use the remaining naval ships reasonably. The main force will still remain in Bagamoyo. If the British Navy makes a comeback, do not start a war right away. Try to find the nearest port and rely on the coastal defense artillery system to deal with the enemy."

…

In fact, Britain has no intention of making a comeback. Although the British Empire is rich, it cannot be wasted like this.

The reason why the shipbuilding plan for the next five years was proposed in 1888 was essentially to cope with the rapid growth trend of global naval power.

The East African Navy is under great defensive pressure, and this is even more so for the Royal Navy. After all, the world's oceans are the area of ​​activity for the Royal Navy.

The British Royal Navy Expeditionary Force for the Battle of Lamu Bay was drawn from the Mediterranean Fleet. As the second naval force after the local navy, the Mediterranean Fleet was somewhat dissatisfied with the withdrawal of military forces to the south.

After all, there are so many countries in the Mediterranean, France, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Spain, which one is not more important than East Africa? And the naval forces of these countries are not weak.

And this does not include the Tsarist Russian navy that was blocked in the Black Sea, and the navies of some small countries along the Mediterranean, such as Italy, Greece, the Kingdom of Naples, etc.

It would be fine if the Battle of Lamu Bay was won, but now the two sides have ended up in a draw. This is the record, but for the Mediterranean Fleet it is a "crushing defeat."

This is also a very interesting aspect of the Battle of Lamu Bay, as both the East African and British navies believed they had suffered greater losses.

The military force now drawn from the Mediterranean Fleet is enough to overthrow the main naval force of a country in Europe. Using such naval force to deal with an "uncivilized" African country is simply a total loss of money. Moreover, how can the loss of nearly half of the expeditionary fleet's combat effectiveness be compensated?

If an emergency occurs in the Mediterranean, how will the Mediterranean Fleet respond? Therefore, the Mediterranean Fleet is opposed to continuing to directly confront the East African Navy, and should let the Royal Navy in Bombay, the Royal Indian Navy or the Home Fleet do it.

(End of this chapter)