Chapter 1565 Northwest Route
After all, these are all issues left over from World War I. What was signed at the end of World War I was only a truce agreement, not an armistice agreement, nor a surrender agreement of one party. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before a new round of European war broke out.
In this context, the binding force of the London Treaty was not strong, and Germany would inevitably embark on the path of expansion again.
Finally, Ernst said, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire is in danger of collapse. We must also help the Habsburgs to prevent them from being liquidated in the future, especially in Vienna. If an incident suddenly breaks out, it will be difficult for them to evacuate."
For the Habsburg royal family, nothing was more dangerous than a coup in the capital. There was still time to react to local rebellions, but if a rebellion broke out in Vienna, it would be difficult to escape.
For example, the overthrow of the Tsarist government was due to the fall of St. Petersburg. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the past, it also started from Moscow. Vienna is obviously also a place of right and wrong now.
…
April 7, 1934, Dihua.
A passenger plane was circling in the air, preparing to land at an airport on the outskirts of Dihua, a northwestern city in the Far Eastern Empire. The plane was a Junkers Ju52, a dual-purpose passenger and cargo aircraft developed by Germany, and was also one of Germany's most advanced transport aircraft.
"Consul Hoffman, we have arrived high above Dihua County and the plane is about to land." The assistant woke up the drowsy Hoffman.
Hoffman was the consul of the East African Consulate in Xi'an. After the First Battle of Shanghai in the Far Eastern Empire, East Africa set up a consulate in Xi'an.
This consulate quickly became the core diplomatic institution of East Africa in the northwest of the Far East Empire. This time, Hoffman took a flight from Xi'an and finally arrived in Dihua.
Hoffman opened his eyes, stretched, and said, "Are we finally at our destination? This is fantastic! I don't want to experience this kind of flight more than once."
Flying in 1934 was obviously not a good experience. Hoffman and his team took two and a half days to finally arrive in Dihua. The plane landed twice for refueling and maintenance.
The route from Xi'an to Dihua is about 2,300 kilometers, but in fact, due to the limitations of navigation technology, aircraft often have to fly around and stop over, so the actual flight distance is actually more than 2,500 kilometers. If you are unlucky, it may exceed 2,800 kilometers.
Hoffman and his companions were lucky this time. They did not encounter bad weather such as sandstorms and strong winds, and they did not have to stop flying to Hami and other places. Otherwise, the flight would have taken even longer, and it might have taken more than three days.
Hoffman's assistant, Brownie, said, "Mr. Consul, we're lucky to have a plane. If we had chosen to walk, it would have taken us half a year. But now, in less than three days, we've arrived at our destination."
"The Far Eastern Empire doesn't have a railway from Xi'an to Dihua. The Longhai Line ends in Xi'an. There's only one unfinished railway to the west, to Baoji."
"That is to say, if there were no Eurasia Airlines flights between Xi'an and Dihua, we would have to rely on horse-drawn carriages or camel caravans, passing through many areas with harsh climates and unsafe conditions."
In 1934, transportation in the northwest region of the Far Eastern Empire was very backward, and it was very unsafe due to the warlord separatist forces and serious banditry along the transportation routes.
In this comparison, although flying is risky, it is safer than walking on land, even for the staff of the East African consulate.
The local warlords may not make things difficult for East African officials for political reasons, but the local bandits and bullies may not be so. For them, there is no concept of "great powers" at all.
After all, the northwest region of the Far East Empire is too closed and backward, and most people don’t know much about the international community. At most, they have seen the Soviet Union and the British. As for East Africa, most people don’t even know the existence of the world’s most powerful country.
Therefore, if Hoffman chose to go to Dihua by land, he would inevitably have to take risks. There might be some ignorant bandits on the road who would open the eyes of the East Africans.
Moreover, the northwest of the Far East Empire is very vast, with backward transportation and complex terrain. If we really die here, we may not even be able to find the murderer.
Hoffman said, "Brownie, you're right. It's really unsafe and more painful on land. It's over 2,000 kilometers. Even taking a train would hurt your butt, let alone there's no train to take."
"If there really were a direct railway to Dihua, I might change my mode of transportation."
Compared to airplanes, railways obviously give Hoffman a greater sense of security, but this option does not exist in the northwest of the Far East Empire.
Brownie said: "We have to thank the Germans and the Far Eastern Empire for building this route. Otherwise, if we really passed through it by land, we would be in trouble."
"Eurasia Airlines is currently the only airline operating in the northwest of the Far East Empire. However, there is obviously still a certain gap between their aircraft and those of local East African airlines."
Eurasia Airlines is actually a civil aviation company jointly built and operated by the Far Eastern Empire and Germany. The Jinling government contributed the majority of the funds, so it is not a problem to regard Eurasia Airlines as a local airline of the Far Eastern Empire, but the pilots, maintenance and operation personnel are basically Germans.
The reason why Germany chose to cooperate with the Far Eastern Empire to build this airline and open the first, and currently the only, route from Xi'an to Dihua in the northwest region is related to Germany's strategy.
As we all know, Germany is very dependent on the Far Eastern Empire for minerals and some special resources, but Germany is not a maritime power, and they cannot rely on the maintenance of sea routes to trade with the Far Eastern Empire.
Therefore, Germany pays more attention to the development of emerging means of transportation such as airplanes. Currently, Germany's aviation industry ranks second in the world, second only to East Africa and slightly stronger than the United States.
Of course, Germany’s past trade with the Far Eastern Empire was not limited to the sea option. The Eurasian continent is an integrated continent, and theoretically Germany could trade through Central Asia and the Far Eastern Empire.
In the Tsarist era, this was still possible, but now the Soviet Union occupies Central Asia, and even in a non-war state, the Soviet Union is extremely hostile to Germany.
Therefore, since both sea and land transportation were not feasible, Germany paid more attention to developing air routes from the Far Eastern Empire to Germany.
As for the northwestern region of the Far Eastern Empire, which is closest to Germany, as long as an air route can be opened, Germany can use the Ottoman Empire as a transit point to avoid trade with the Far Eastern Empire being completely blocked by other countries.
Eurasia Airlines was established in this context. It is actually related to Germany's Eurasian route strategy. Of course, the Jinling government also has important needs for Eurasia Airlines, so it cooperates with Germany.
As mentioned before, there are many warlord forces in the northwest of the Far East Empire, so the Nanjing government thought of using aviation to strengthen the connection between the central and local governments.
Hoffman said: "Now we can only take German planes. In the future, routes to East Africa will be established here, making it the second country in the northwest region of the Far East Empire to operate aviation business."
"This time, I came to Dihua to preside over the negotiations with the local government. The Jinling government has approved the Northwest Route plan led by East Africa. If we can get the Dihua local government on board, the first international route between East Africa and the Far East Empire can be established."
That’s right, Hoffman’s main mission on this trip was to open up the last key to the international route between East Africa and the Far East Empire, thereby building the first international route between the two countries.
Previously, there was no air route from East Africa to the Far Eastern Empire. The Far Eastern Empire's economy and population were mainly in the east, while the southwest was a plateau area with no-fly zones. The altitude of the southwestern plateau was too high, which naturally blocked the development of air routes between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire.
Because the mainland of East Africa is located in the southwest of the Far East Empire, if you want to fly in a straight line, you cannot bypass the Himalayas and the plateau area of southwestern Tibet.
The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is feasible, but the risks are still great, and East Africa lacks transit points in South Asia. Currently, there is only one airport in the Kingdom of Sikkim.
The Kingdom of Sikkim was blocked by India in the valley of the Himalayas. In other words, it was blocked by British forces. Neighboring Nepal could also be regarded as Britain's sphere of influence.
This makes it inconvenient for Sikkim to connect with the mainland of East Africa. The British did not notice the connection between East Africa and Sikkim before, but now it is no longer a secret. Therefore, the British are naturally very vigilant.
Fortunately, Sikkim is just a weak country as small as a sesame seed on the map, and it is not worth the quarrel between Britain and East Africa. Otherwise, Sikkim would have perished long ago.
In short, East Africa encountered many difficulties in its past attempts to establish an air route through Sikkim and the Far East Empire. Even without interference from external factors, the complex local terrain and climate posed huge challenges. As a result, East Africa crashed three planes.
Now, the East African government has reacted, or found a better solution, which is to build an international route between the two countries through the northwest region of the Far East Empire instead of through the southwest, which seems more appropriate.
However, the construction of the Northwest Passage requires even more cooperation from the Far Eastern Empire.
Although the southwest route is risky, it is not far from Yunnan, where the economy and transportation are relatively developed and the population is relatively dense. Therefore, as long as the plane enters the border port of Yunnan, it can open up all links of trade with the Far East Empire.
In modern times, Yunnan was a relatively developed region in the Far Eastern Empire. During the Beiyang period, it had become a province with relatively abundant finances in the Far Eastern Empire, which was mainly due to border trade. Transportation was also relatively convenient, with the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, built under the leadership of France, running from Mengzi all the way to Kunming.
At the same time, Yunnan also had a Eurasia Airlines route, which actually formed part of the later Hump Route, thus delivering supplies directly to its rear.
The situation in the northwest region is completely different. Although it also belongs to the Far Eastern Empire, it is very difficult to connect with the eastern part of the Far Eastern Empire. Transporting goods to the border will not be of much use. Only communicating with Shaanxi is of practical significance.
Therefore, the East African side plans to cooperate with the Far East Imperial Government to establish a transit airport in Dihua or Shule, and then connect with Shaanxi. With the capacity of East African transport aircraft, there is no need to stop in the Hexi Corridor.
As for the starting point of the Northwest Passage, East Africa also has multiple options. The first is the Gwadar Port colony in East Africa, then the territories along the Persian Gulf coast of East Africa, and finally the northern region of Persia that East Africa can influence. Airports can be built in any of these areas.
Starting from these areas, it is only two thousand kilometers to reach the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire, and it can bypass the southwestern plateau and mountains of the Far Eastern Empire. Although it also has to pass through the Pamir Plateau, the altitude of the Pamir Plateau is much lower than that of the southwestern plateau and will not hinder the passage of aircraft.
Hoffman said, "The northwest route currently being constructed by the Empire takes off from Gwadar, stops in Dihua, and finally reaches Xi'an. The entire journey is approximately 5,000 kilometers, and it is much safer than the southwest route in the past."
"Furthermore, Gwadar Port is located on the coast of the Indian Ocean, facing the mainland of the Empire. The transportation of goods and personnel is not difficult. Large quantities of materials can be sent to Gwadar Port by ship first, and then transported to the Far East Empire. It only passes through Afghanistan in between, and will not pose a threat to the shipping route."
"You can also take off directly from the mainland airport, stop in Gwadar, and then fly to the northwest of the Far East Empire without transiting by sea."
"In this way, planes from East Africa can fly directly to the Far East Empire. The feasibility of this route is far higher than the southwest route."
"The only country we should be wary of is the Soviet Union. I heard that the Soviet Union has been infiltrating the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire quite a bit in recent years. Fortunately, the Far Eastern Empire and the Soviet Union have a bad relationship, and our planes don't need to pass through the Soviet-controlled Central Asian region."
The Soviet Union had a great influence on the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire and had carried out all-round infiltration into the border areas. For example, the Shule County mentioned earlier was easily affected by its interference.
The Soviet Union played a huge role in Germany's failure to establish a Europe-Asia route. The flight distance of German aircraft was limited, and more transit airports needed to be built in the middle. However, due to the obstruction of the Soviet Union, Germany could not do this. Their influence in the northwest border of the Far East Empire and Afghanistan and other places was too weak.
This is also an important reason why Dihua is the terminus of Eurasia Airlines' business in the northwest. Dihua is already a relatively inland place in the Western Regions, some distance away from the border, and it is difficult for the Soviet Union's influence to spread here.
However, the route west of Dihua could not be built, so the purpose of Germany's Eurasian route naturally only remained on paper.
East Africa is different from Germany in this respect. It also has a profound influence in Central Asia and East Africa. For example, Afghanistan will definitely side with the Soviet Union when facing Germany and the Soviet Union. If it is East Africa and the Soviet Union, Afghanistan will have to consider it carefully.
In Central Asia and East Africa, the Soviet Union and Britain were the three main players, so it was difficult for the Soviet Union and Britain to keep East Africa out.
Of course, the Soviet Union's influence in Central Asia undoubtedly ranks first, followed by Britain, and finally East Africa. After all, the Soviet Union itself has a large amount of territory in Central Asia, and Britain has the support of the Indian colonies and has also cultivated a large number of forces in Afghanistan.
East Africa also has supporting forces in Central Asia, mainly some tribal forces in Afghanistan and other places. Afghanistan's attitude towards the Soviet Union and Britain is not good, and there are many historical grievances. After all, both countries (Tsarist Russia is the predecessor of the Soviet Union) have invaded here in history.
Therefore, cooperation between East Africans and Afghans is naturally more convenient, or local forces hope to introduce East Africa to balance the Soviet Union and Britain, two countries with a criminal record.
(End of this chapter)
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