Chapter 1595 Lampung Port
Among them, Japan was most surprised by the growing strength of Germany. Germany could hold back the Soviet Union, Britain, France and other countries, so that Japan would have the confidence to realize its strategic expansion ambitions in the Far East.
Even if Germany unifies the whole of Europe, it will not pose any threat to Japan's interests today.
On the contrary, other European powers were the biggest obstacle to Japan's expansion in the entire Far East. Taking the Far Eastern Empire as an example, the current ranking of foreign interests in the Far Eastern Empire can be divided as follows.
The first one is Japan. After occupying Northeast China in 1931, Japan has continued to infiltrate and encroach on other regions in recent years. Japan's interests in the Far East Empire are dominated by military and political means, and at the same time, accompanied by huge economic benefits.
Considering purely economic interests, Britain's Far Eastern empire was even larger. Although its influence has gradually declined since World War I, it remains the Western power with the largest economic interests in China. Its investment in the Far Eastern empire has long been the largest, covering key areas such as finance, trade, investment, and shipping.
Next are the Soviet Union and France. The Soviet Union's imperial interests in the Far East are completely different from those of other powers. They are more political and strategic, and the economic benefits are not high.
Although France's interests in the Far East Empire are also relatively large, France's focus is on the southwest region, and for the time being, there is less conflict with Japan. However, without discussing the Far East Empire, from the perspective of Southeast Asia, the Japanese cannot help but be tempted by France's interests in Indochina.
As for East Africa and the United States, these two countries are not European countries and are therefore not within the scope of discussion. Moreover, the two countries' imperial interests in the Far East are more based on economic ties rather than colonization and military conquest.
Therefore, among the conflicts of interests among the great powers in the Far East Empire, the contradictions between Japan, Britain and the Soviet Union were the greatest and most prominent.
However, if the scope is further expanded to the entire Far East, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, some countries in Oceania, the United States, East Africa, and France, they will also be included in Japan's future target list.
The latter is also the situation that East Africa hopes to see. East Africa is afraid that Japan will not take the bait and help East Africa complete the reconstruction of its colonial system in the South Pacific region.
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East Africa's attitude towards the three Axis powers can be said to be completely different. The relationship between Germany and East Africa is relatively flat, while towards Italy, East Africa has adopted a friendly and active diplomatic model.
As for the issue of Japan, East Africa has even written the subsequent script, waiting for Japan to bury itself in the grave, and then East Africa will fill it with soil.
Japan has become the "enemy country" chosen by East Africa. However, in the South Pacific, East Africa has adopted a laissez-faire and passive strategy towards Japan. In recent years, it has even allowed Japan to infiltrate the East African colonies in the South Pacific, carried out intelligence work, and even deliberately reduced the deployment of military forces in the South Pacific.
The three territories of Lan Fang Overseas Province, East Kalimantan, and Mindanao all showed this trend, and like other colonies of the great powers, they actively revealed various types of intelligence on the military, economy, towns, resources, etc. of the entire South Seas region to Japan.
However, East Africa has not adopted this passive strategic deployment in the South Pacific. In the direction of Belitung Island and the Sunda Strait, East Africa has been increasing its military investment.
Belitung Island has become the core of the East African Pacific Navy, and its current positioning is somewhat similar to the United States' Hawaii. Most of the Pacific Fleet's main ships are basically anchored in the port on Belitung Island.
In the Sunda Strait region, East Africa has also started new negotiations with the Dutch government in recent years. Finally, under pressure from East Africa, the Netherlands had to lease part of the land on the north bank of the Sunda Strait to East Africa.
Lampung Port.
This is a port now shared by East Africa and the Netherlands, and it is also the most important port on the coast of the southern tip of Sumatra Island on the north side of the Sunda Strait.
However, in terms of the actual deployment of Lampung Port, this port mainly serves the East African Navy, and the Netherlands uses it more for economic purposes, such as the transit of materials and the docking of merchant ships for the East Indies colonies.
The East African Navy deployed here belongs to the East African Indian Ocean Naval Fleet, not the Pacific Fleet.
"The northern part of the Sunda Strait is now basically controlled by the Empire. Only the southern bank has been held by the Dutch. However, if we control the northern bank, we will also have absolute control over the Sunda Strait." East African Navy Captain Hyde was talking to his subordinates in the command room of the semi-finished Lampung Port Naval Base.
In front of them, a map of the Sunda Strait was spread out. The red area was the East African naval deployment area, including two pieces of land at the southern tip of Sumatra Island, Sangiang Island in the middle of the Sunda Strait, and Panaytan Island in the west.
These four areas firmly locked the Sunda Strait in the hands of the East African Navy, although in theory the Netherlands could also share dominance of the Sunda Strait with East Africa through areas such as Java Island.
However, it is obvious that the Dutch do not have the strength to do so.
Lieutenant Colonel Winster of the Lampung Naval Base said: "Java was the core of the Dutch East Indies and their bottom line. Therefore, the Dutch's refusal to allow us to build a base on Java was inevitable."
"They have shown great sincerity by allowing the Empire to lease the port of Lampung and the southernmost part of Ketapang."
"With these two areas, we have made up for the last shortcoming in the Sunda Strait, because the areas of Sangiang Island and Panaytan Island are too small and the anchorage conditions are not good enough."
Although Sangiang Island has an extremely advantageous location, being in the center of the Sunda Strait, it is less than ten square kilometers and lacks a natural deep-water port. This makes it impossible for Sangiang Island to fully support the East African Navy's dominance over the Sunda Strait. Even the supply of materials and the construction of military facilities are quite difficult.
This is also an important reason why East Africa subsequently reached a new agreement with the Netherlands to seize the land on both sides of the Sunda Strait.
Colonel Hyde agreed, saying, "If the East Indies were our colony, the Empire might not even allow the presence of other powers in the Sunda Strait."
"Now, the Dutch have not only ceded a lot of land, but also handed over the dominance of the Sunda Strait to East Africa. This is the limit of what they can do."
"However, this is clearly a wise decision. If the Netherlands had not proactively made concessions to the Empire, the Dutch would have ended up with nothing but a mess. Not only would they have lost the Sunda Strait, but they would have also lost the entire East Indies."
For a small country like the Netherlands, the issue of taking sides in diplomatic affairs is particularly important. Its own strength is weak, and the majority of its overseas interests happen to be very far away from its homeland, not to mention the strength of East Africa, which ranks first among superpowers.
Not to mention, if East Africa captured the East Indies, as long as East Africa prohibited Dutch warships from passing through the Gulf of Aden and the west coast of Africa, cutting off the connection between the Netherlands and the East Indian colonies, the Netherlands would lose its most important colony.
Therefore, on the issue of the East Indies, the Dutch had no confidence to say "no" to East Africa, as that would mean a greater cost.
Lieutenant Colonel Winster made no secret of this: "It's a miracle that the Netherlands can still rule the East Indies. To be honest, we don't need to do anything ourselves. If we give the local anti-Dutch forces some sweet treats, they will drive the Dutch out on their own."
Hyde said with a look of disdain: "It is best for the East Indies to be in the hands of the Dutch now. After all, the Dutch are already aligned with us on the general direction of the region."
"Furthermore, the Indonesians in the East Indies are Arabs. If possible, the best outcome for the East Indies in the future would be to divide them into many countries. This would eliminate a potential threat in the Southeast Asian region."
As for the East Indies and East Africa, it is impossible for them to become a unified country. The area of the East Indies in the hands of the Netherlands alone is more than one million square kilometers, and the population is as high as more than 50 million.
According to Dutch statistics on the East Indies in 1930, the population of Java alone was over 43 million.
Not to mention the entire East Indies colony, even if Java Island were independent, it would have become a populous country in the Southeast Asia region today.
Lieutenant Colonel Winster also said, "The population of the East Indies colonies is indeed quite large now, especially that of Java Island. In a few years, it may exceed 50 million. If it were considered a country, it would become a truly populous country in the world, comparable to France and Italy."
"And if the East Indies colony doesn't disintegrate in the future, it will become a new nation with an area of over one million square kilometers and a population of potentially over 100 million. Furthermore, the East Indies has fertile land and abundant resources, and its development potential is also the foundation of a major power. It has no shortage of resources needed for various industries."
"Allowing such a country to emerge would not only threaten the empire's interests in Southeast Asia, but could even reshuffle the geopolitical landscape of the entire Southeast Asia region."
East Africa cannot tolerate the emergence of a regional power in Southeast Asia. This is not only aimed at the Dutch East Indies colonies, but also the French Indochina colonies, the British Indian colonies, and the Malay colonies, which are all targets to be dismantled by East Africa in the future.
After all, Southeast Asia is one of the two wings in East Africa's world strategy that is as important as South America, and it is the core interest of East Africa.
Therefore, in Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies has been regarded as the first potential threat by East Africa. The population of this region alone accounts for about half of the entire Southeast Asia.
In 1935, the entire Southeast Asian population exceeded 130 million, with Java Island alone having over 40 million. So looking at the entire region, if there were no external interference, Java Island would have been a strong contender for the dominant power in Southeast Asia.
As for East Africa's vigilance towards the Dutch East Indies, we can understand this by referring to Australia's vigilance towards Indonesia in the previous life.
It is true that Australia is a developed country and Indonesia is just a developing country with serious internal conflicts, but who can guarantee that Indonesia will not be able to solve its internal problems?
Lieutenant Colonel Winster said: "In the future, Java Island should be divided into at least two countries, so that Java Island will not be able to form a joint force and threaten the balance of power in the South Pacific region."
"There is also the British Indian colony, which is somewhat oversized. Burma should be separated from its Indian colony. Otherwise, India may extend its influence to Southeast Asia, and no force in the region can resist this huge country."
At present, Myanmar is still under the rule of British India, which means that India has a presence in Southeast Asia. If it were not for the division of the Isthmus of Kra, perhaps Britain's Malay colonies might also join the Indian family.
Now the Isthmus of Kra is in the hands of East Africa, which means that the Malay colony and India cannot be connected.
Colonel Hyde said, "These are all matters of the future. At least for now, the Empire cannot divide Nanyang according to its own wishes."
"It's not that the empire is incapable of doing so, but it has to consider international image and practical issues."
"Before we drove out traditional colonial powers like Britain and France, as well as the United States, Southeast Asia could not be considered part of the empire's sphere of influence. Even now, although we have the strongest military power in Southeast Asia, we cannot be considered the dominant force in regional affairs."
The current situation in Southeast Asia is somewhat similar to that in Northwest Africa, and even more complicated, because there is actually an additional player, Japan, while in Northwest Africa, East Africa’s main competitors are only the United States, Britain and France.
Although Japan does not have any colonies in Southeast Asia, its geographical location makes it easy for it to intervene in the region and is an important variable.
East Africa hopes to expand Japan's role, let it disrupt the situation in the South Pacific, and finally fill this wing in East Africa.
Moreover, the significance of the South China Sea to East Africa is obviously greater than that of Northwest Africa. After all, this is the only way for East Africa to reach the Far East market and the Pacific Ocean. There is no other choice.
From East Africa to the Pacific Ocean, only the South China Sea is valuable. To the north is the Asian continent. If you want to communicate with the Far East market by land, you must pass through the Central Asian region controlled by the Soviet Union. Moreover, the local transportation is very backward. From the western part of the Far East Empire to the Indian Ocean coast, there is not even a ready-made road or railway. In addition, detouring through the Australian waters is also an option, but it is also not cost-effective.
Finally, there is communication through the Americas and the Pacific Ocean, but the only valuable sea and land passage in the Americas, the Panama Canal, is firmly controlled by the United States. Even the Strait of Magellan, which has poor navigation conditions, belongs to Chile.
Colonel Hyde said, "If the Empire wants to control the South Seas, it must control one of the Sunda Straits and the Strait of Malacca. We now control the Sunda Strait. As long as we can ensure the security of this Strait, East Africa can guarantee its military presence in the South Seas and maintain the Empire's interests in the South Seas."
"However, the Sunda Strait still has limitations. Most of the empire's ships still prefer the Malacca Strait. Only trade between a few southern provinces and the Far East has a cost advantage over the Sunda Strait."
In recent years, under the guidance of East African governments, the Sunda Strait has become more prosperous than before, and many East African merchant ships will choose to pass through here and finally arrive in the Far East.
However, it still cannot change the fact that there is an alternative route in the Sunda Strait.
This is similar to the Eurasian freight train of the Far Eastern Empire in the previous life. The speed of development is indeed amazing, but it cannot surpass sea transportation, unless the Far Eastern Empire encounters an extremely special situation, that is, the sea transportation route is completely blocked and it can only rely on the Eurasian Land Bridge to trade with the outside world.
The Sunda Strait controlled by East Africa is in a similar situation. Of course, it is also sea transportation, and due to East Africa's special geographical location, the situation on the Sunda Strait route is much better.
(End of this chapter)
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