Chapter 1656 Jealous Japanese
July 11, 1937.
Nanyang, Belitung Island.
This large island, nestled between the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, and the South China Sea of the Far Eastern Empire, is also the headquarters of the East African Pacific Fleet.
In the harbor of Belitung Island, a massive fleet, exuding a cyberpunk-like awe, stands as the most powerful fleet in the South China Sea and the third largest naval force in the Pacific after Japan and the United States.
The total tonnage of the Pacific Fleet was approximately 140,000 tons, possibly on par with the Soviet Pacific Fleet. It is estimated that the total tonnage of the Soviet Pacific Fleet fluctuated between 120,000 and 150,000 tons.
However, neither the East African nor the Soviet Navy could be ranked in the second tier in the Pacific region, far behind the Japanese Navy and the US Pacific Fleet.
The total tonnage of the U.S. Pacific Fleet remains at at least 500,000 tons, while the Japanese Combined Fleet is the undisputed "hegemon" of the Pacific region, with a total tonnage exceeding 700,000 tons.
However, the total tonnage of all Japanese naval vessels exceeded one million tons, approximately 1.3 million tons. At the same time, the total tonnage of the US Navy was only slightly more than that of Japan. However, the US Navy is divided into two parts, namely the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
Japan's naval power is highly concentrated, which gives it an overwhelming advantage over any country in the Pacific region.
The East African Navy's total naval force in the Pacific region, including not only the Pacific Fleet but also the Alaskan Navy and the Indian Ocean Navy in the Sunda Strait, is approximately 170,000 tons.
From this perspective, the Japanese navy's power in the Pacific was greater than that of the United States, East Africa, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the Far Eastern empires combined.
"Yosh, this is the main force of the East African Pacific Fleet! It seems that the East Africans have invested a lot in Belitung Island and have transformed it into their most powerful base in the South Pacific."
Ichiro Kawasaki and Tsuga Koizumi of Japan were carefully observing the situation of the East African Pacific Fleet from a small Western-style building near the port of Belitung Island.
"Mr. Koizumi, what is your opinion on the strength of the East African Pacific Fleet?"
Koizumi Tsuyoshi had a very neat buzz cut, which made him look very energetic. His eyes were quite serious, and he rarely smiled.
"The East African fleet did not look very strong. It was poorly maintained, and the hulls were old. We could even see large patches of rust and mottled stains."
"If it weren't for their considerable number of battleships and cruisers, I think this naval force might not even be as strong as the Soviet fleet in Vladivostok."
Koizumi Tsutomu's assessment of the East African Pacific Fleet was clearly not high, but his words were by no means prejudiced; on the contrary, they were a very rational and objective statement.
Kawasaki Ichiro strongly agreed with his views.
He laughed and said, "The East African Navy's management in the Pacific is indeed too lax, but that's a good thing for us."
"Some people say that East Africa is the world's second-strongest naval power, but based on our observations, that's clearly an exaggeration."
"If the Indian Ocean and Atlantic navies of East Africa are in the same situation, then East Africa would not be the world's second strongest naval power, and probably not even comparable to the United States."
Since the end of World War I, East Africa has been widely regarded as the world's second-largest naval power.
This perception stems largely from the assessment of the powerful national strength of East Africa.
At the time the Treaty of London was signed, other countries were constrained by the treaty and found it difficult to surpass East Africa and the United States in terms of naval size, with Britain being in a class of its own.
The US Navy, regardless of its size or the quality of its warships, has long been on par with East Africa.
Therefore, when other countries speculate on the naval strength of the two countries, they inevitably incorporate other factors, such as industrial scale and overseas performance.
This makes it easy for the East African Navy to gain some advantage in public opinion.
As the world's only industrial powerhouse with a population exceeding 200 million, East Africa is clearly a region where the United States has little chance of industrializing.
Therefore, most people believe that the shipbuilding cost of the East African Navy is lower than that of the United States. Firstly, East Africa has a larger industrial scale and a more complete industrial chain, so the East African military shipbuilding industry itself has an advantage.
Take steel for example. East Africa is undoubtedly the world's largest steel producer, so steel prices in East Africa have an advantage over those in other countries.
In other areas, such as electronic equipment, power systems, and weaponry, East Africa can basically achieve self-sufficiency.
Furthermore, in recent years, East Africa has seen rapid development in mid-to-high-end industries, with a surge in talent and significant improvements in technology and design capabilities.
Even Europeans and Americans have to admit that East African industrial products have become strong competitors to them in the international market.
Even high-end German products cannot gain a slight edge without relying on historical heritage and brand image.
Secondly, East Africa, with a population of over 200 million, has a significant advantage in labor costs, which was also a crucial factor for the shipbuilding industry in the early 20th century.
Finally, in terms of overseas presence, East Africa's navy has a relatively high profile worldwide due to its numerous overseas colonies.
This will give the East African Navy more opportunities to demonstrate its strength, and for ordinary people, regardless of the technological sophistication of the East African Navy's warships, their massive hulls alone can create a great sense of awe.
This is something that ordinary merchant ships that are frequently active in the South Atlantic, the Gulf of Aden, and the Sunda Strait may feel most acutely, as these merchant ships are the most likely to encounter East African naval vessels.
In summary, due to these factors, the East African Navy has a greater international reputation than actual strength.
At least, that's what Ichiro Kawasaki thinks now, without any in-depth understanding of the East African Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet.
Based on his observations of the East African Pacific Fleet, he inevitably concluded that the East African Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet might be similar.
"Mr. Koizumi, perhaps countries like East Africa and the United States, which do not face the pressure of survival, are less motivated to develop their military, which can easily lead to mediocrity."
"They have strong economic power, but their military investment is low and they lack strict military discipline and management. The naval soldiers of the East African Pacific Fleet are a group of pampered soldiers, not real soldiers and warriors."
Koizumi Tsutomu nodded and said, "I have also observed the sailors of the East African Navy. They are poorly trained and like to frequent entertainment venues on Belitung Island."
"If the East African navy performs like this, then they are not even as good as the army's herd of deer."
When I say "army" here, I am obviously referring to the Japanese Army, given the long-standing historical animosity between the Japanese Navy and Army.
"Although the army idiots are a bunch of simple-minded bastards, they still have some merit in terms of basic military qualities."
"For example, they have strict training and strong discipline, so they can't compare to us. But after meeting the East African naval soldiers, I realized that even if you were a 'little army deer' in East Africa, you would be considered an excellent soldier."
Kawasaki Ichiro also disliked the Japanese Army, but he agreed with Koizumi's statement.
"That's easy to understand. The army's idiots, apart from being a little stupid, lacking knowledge, not good at thinking, reckless and rude, and lacking in manners... have no other shortcomings."
"As for the East African soldiers, I think they could easily defeat even the army's herd of deer."
"From my observation, the entire South Pacific and the East African navies in Alaska are quite incompetent, even inferior to the Americans and the Soviets."
"It is only because East Africa has a strong economy that it can support such a bunch of parasites."
"What a pity! How could such a bunch of parasites have managed to build up so many colonies for East Africa overseas? If only the East African colonies had fallen into the hands of the Empire!"
Koizumi Tsutomu said with a very unlucky expression, "You can only say that East Africans are just too lucky."
"Don't be fooled by the fact that East Africa has many overseas colonies. The reason their navy acquired so many overseas territories is largely due to trade and the underhanded means of bullying the weak and oppressing the few."
“Alaska was purchased by East Africa from the original Tsarist Russia. If the empire had been reformed at that time, how could it have been so cheaply given to the East Africans?”
"Then there are the East African colonies in Southeast Asia. Mindanao was bought from Spain, and at that time Spain was at war with the United States and was at a disadvantage, so East Africa was able to take advantage of the situation."
"Initially, East Africa directly seized Lanfang's land, and Lanfang at that time was not even a normal country, and its military strength was shockingly weak."
"Including eastern Kalimantan and other territories, East Africans also acquired them by bullying weaker countries and through coercion and enticement."
"The Kra Isthmus was seized by East Africa from Siam, while the Sunda Strait and other territories were forcibly bought and sold from the Dutch."
"Before the World War, East Africa directly purchased vast territories that Germany had accumulated over more than a decade..."
After Koizumi Tsuigo's summary, at first glance, it seems that most of the overseas colonies in East Africa were acquired in this way.
Indeed, there was no difficulty involved, and East Africa was also very lucky, for example, with Alaska, Mindanao, and the territorial deal with Germany before World War I.
Admittedly, the East African Navy has a record of victories, but its only truly impressive achievement through direct confrontation was its encounter with the British Royal Navy during the South African War.
However, the South African War was already in the last century, when the main force of naval warfare was still the ironclad warships.
Meanwhile, the focus of the South African war was more on land warfare than on naval warfare, and the results of the naval battles are generally considered to be that the East African war was evenly matched with the British war.
Japan is completely different in this regard. The Japanese Navy has two remarkable achievements that have attracted worldwide attention: the naval battle against the Far Eastern Empire at the end of the 19th century, and the Russo-Japanese War at the beginning of the 20th century.
In both of these wars, the Japanese Navy was a typical example of a weaker force defeating a stronger one, and achieved remarkable results.
At the end of the 19th century, the Beiyang Fleet of the Far Eastern Empire was recognized as the best in Asia and ranked ninth in the world.
The subsequent Russo-Japanese War was Japan's war of national establishment in the world, severely damaging the Russian navy and even becoming an important factor in the demise of Tsarist Russia, thus elevating Japan to the list of great powers.
Therefore, in terms of combat record, the Japanese Navy did indeed have a significant advantage over the East African Navy.
This solidified Kawasaki Ichiro's judgment, but it also made him somewhat jealous.
"East Africans were indeed very lucky. To use the words of the Far Eastern Empire, 'When the tiger is away, the monkey is king,' it is the perfect description of the history of East African colonization."
"If we had been bolder than East Africa at the beginning of this century, perhaps it wouldn't have been impossible for Mindanao, the Kra Isthmus, and southern Kalimantan to have become imperial territory!"
Clearly, Kawasaki Ichiro was being somewhat presumptuous. In the early 20th century, even if Japan wanted to replicate East Africa's path of expansion into Southeast Asia, it would likely have been far from smooth.
For example, Mindanao was able to be purchased from Spain during the Spanish-American War, partly because Spain was already struggling to maintain its Pacific colonies at the time.
But why was East Africa able to succeed? There were other factors at play, such as the good relationship between East Africa and Spain at the time, and the good relationship between the two royal families. Therefore, East Africa had channels to negotiate territorial transactions with Spain.
For the Japanese, contacting the Spanish government is much more difficult than for the Spanish.
Besides, East Africa dared to take over at the time because it was able to withstand pressure from the United States, something Japan would have found difficult to do.
The acquisition of Mindanao and other Spanish Asian colonies from East Africa was tantamount to snatching food from the jaws of a tiger by the United States.
However, at that time, East Africa had already established itself as a world power due to the South African War, and it also had close relations with countries such as Germany and Austria-Hungary, so it was not afraid of retaliation from the United States afterward.
At that time, Japan had defeated the Far Eastern Empire, but it did not receive widespread recognition from the international community. The Western perception of Japan was not officially broken until after the Russo-Japanese War.
Therefore, during the Spanish-American War, Japan still harbored a psychological fear of the West, especially of the United States, which was separated from Japan only by the Pacific Ocean.
There is absolutely no doubt that if Japan had dared to take over Spain's Asian colonies at that time, the United States would have dared to attack both Japan and Spain.
Conversely, in East Africa, the United States also has to consider the impact on the international community.
The so-called "international society" at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, narrowly speaking, can refer specifically to "Western countries." At that time, East Africa, although a colony of Africa, was also considered a member of the Western countries, or at least an peripheral member.
At that time, the United States' status in the international community was not much different from that of East Africa. After all, the United States was also a colonial country and was seen as a "nouveau riche" by Europeans.
The United States' advantage lies in its earlier history of founding and development compared to East Africa, which allowed it to integrate into Western society earlier and, through its economic rise and influence in the Americas, become a regional power recognized by the international community.
Although East Africa developed late, it has advantages that the United States does not have. For example, East Africa is a country established with German identity, so it can find two "rich" relatives in Europe: Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Secondly, the Rhine royal family was originally a prominent European noble family, so it was easy for them to gain the approval of the European noble class at that time when they established a country in Africa.
The Rhine royal family, also known as the Heisingen royal family at the time, was a traditional European noble family, and even a German prince. Therefore, it had deep connections with nobles in Germany, Austria-Hungary, and even other countries, forming a powerful network of relationships.
Therefore, during the last period of glory for European nobility, before World War I, East Africa could use the Rhine royal family as leverage to better engage with Europe.
(End of this chapter)
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