Chapter 1687 Supporting the Air Force
From a moral standpoint, it's somewhat unethical for East Africa to do this, but from a practical perspective, East Africa has every right to decide how to spend these funds.
The purpose of these donors was simply to fight against the Japanese invaders.
East Africa used the money to purchase its own industrial products and supplies, and it did make use of the funds. However, the goods that were ultimately obtained through this money would obviously flow to the Far Eastern Empire and be used for the anti-Japanese cause.
Furthermore, it eliminates many unscrupulous middlemen who profit from price differences, resulting in higher efficiency.
Ernst said, "We should complete the Central Asian Highway as soon as possible. In addition, we should also remove some obstacles on the Central Asian Highway and the northwestern route of the Far Eastern Empire."
Crown Prince Frederick said, "If we do that, we may have to send troops or military forces directly into Afghanistan and the Far Eastern Empire."
"Furthermore, our previous intelligence in the Northwest indicated that Japan had also become aware of our activities in the Northwest of the Far Eastern Empire. Under such circumstances, they might deploy military aircraft to disrupt the Northwest shipping route."
This is a very real problem; there is no doubt how bad the security was in Central Asia and the northwest of the Far Eastern Empire during this era.
If East Africa wants to maintain the smooth operation of the Central Asian Highway, it must put pressure on the forces along the route.
Ernst said, "In Afghanistan, we can first observe the performance of the Afghan government. If they handle it properly, there is no need for us to intervene."
“If the Afghan government doesn’t do its job well, we’ll take it upon ourselves to educate those disobedient guys.”
Here, Ernst mainly refers to local tribes in Afghanistan; of course, calling them "bandits" would also be acceptable.
In the early 20th century, this civilized backwater was also a place of disorder, and the Afghan government itself had relatively poor management capabilities.
The Afghan royal family can be viewed as a large "tribe," with other tribes in Afghanistan submitting to it. However, in specific localities, they are essentially "local emperors."
When necessary, they can completely disobey the orders of the Afghan government, and even directly oppose the Afghan government.
Afghanistan itself has a poor economy and a harsh natural environment; the phrase "poor mountains and bad waters" is the most apt description of Afghanistan.
In such an environment, it is easy for criminals to emerge, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that some tribes are large criminal gangs that often engage in robbery and plunder.
Currently, there aren't many problems with the Central Asian Highway because it's not yet fully open, so not much cargo passes through it.
However, once this highway is fully opened, with a steady stream of East African supplies being transported to the Far Eastern Empire, their greed will likely become uncontrollable! Money can move people's hearts, and the aid from East Africa, along with the donations from the Chinese immigrants in East Africa, amounts to an astronomical sum.
Crown Prince Frederick agreed: "These local parasites, whose interests are not entirely aligned with those of the Afghan government, might do so if there is a chance to make money, even if the risks are high."
Ernst said, "In this era, in countries with chaotic order, this is the norm. Consider that East Africa is arguably the safest country in the world, yet there are still tens of thousands of cases every year."
“In Europe and America, all kinds of criminal activities, even bank robbery, kidnapping and extortion, are commonplace.”
Cities in Europe and America are extremely chaotic, or at least in certain corners of the city, various criminal activities are commonplace every day. Even countries with strong government control, such as the Soviet Union, could not avoid this problem.
If this is the case in economically developed regions, then in less developed regions, colonies, and countries at war, various criminal activities are even more open and institutionalized.
Take Afghanistan for example. To the Afghan people, their own government can be considered the "biggest criminal gang" in some ways. After all, the Afghan government can directly exploit the people at the bottom of society through various exorbitant taxes and corruption among its officials.
Even so, the situation in Afghanistan was not the "worst" in the world in 1938; in this era, it was only getting worse.
The Afghan government can at least maintain basic order, giving Afghans a breather, while some countries struggle to even survive.
Ernst said, "There will definitely be more problems in Afghanistan in the future, but we should still have some expectations for the Afghan government."
"It's no longer the late 19th century, the era of imperialism. Not to mention that it's all over, the cost of powerful nations openly bullying weaker nations like it was in the late 19th century has increased considerably."
The cost Ernst is referring to here is specifically the cost of public opinion and morality, given that after decades of development, national consciousness has awakened in most parts of the world.
From a macro perspective, the moral standards of the world have also improved.
Before and at the end of the 19th century, it was perfectly natural for imperialist countries to bully those backward regions and colonies, and few people criticized it. After all, all the powers did it, and the media was in their hands.
Doing these things now will draw more criticism from the so-called "international community," especially from beneficiaries of the old order like Britain and France.
These two countries have now "landed" on the mainland, and their strength is insufficient, so they can only attack other countries that want to land on the mainland from a moral and cultural perspective.
As for the sins they committed in the past, they are naturally "wiped clean".
This is the same principle as in the past, when those European and American countries, after completing industrialization, dragged the whole world into "environmental protection," talked about "human rights," and promoted "depravity" and "hedonism."
However, if we look at it from the perspective of the 19th and 20th centuries, the great powers of that era were developing industry, and the sewage they produced could completely blacken the Seine and Thames Rivers. The emissions of exhaust gases were completely unrestrained, and all the lower classes were treated as "leeks" and "consumables," and their lives were directly exploited. Many people lived even worse than slaves.
At the same time, these countries are becoming increasingly powerful, and the Far Eastern empires of the 21st century are simply no match for them in this era.
In conclusion, times are changing, and each country is at a different stage of development. Any country that later follows the path of industrialization of the Western powers will have to go through the same process that those countries went through before.
Even if you wanted to replicate this system, the great powers wouldn't let you do it. They could "take over," but you wouldn't have the right to "develop" it.
In the early 20th century, this pluralistic international order was somewhat better, since less developed countries could choose to align themselves with one side in order to gain support and avoid suppression from other powers.
Take Japan, for example. It once received support from the British, and the Ottoman Empire was also under German control. During the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, countries could choose to side with the US and the Soviet Union respectively to secure "billions in subsidies," while of course, they also had to worry about retaliation from the other.
In a true unipolar hegemony, those countries that haven't yet achieved global dominance but still strive for progress through their own "efforts" will truly face a difficult time.
The reason why East Africa was able to develop so smoothly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with almost no setbacks was related to the background of a pluralistic international order.
At that time, East Africa could rely on the names of Germany and Austria-Hungary to thrive in the international community. In the early days, East Africa's "deception" and recruitment of immigrants to the Far Eastern empires were facilitated by the help of these two countries.
Especially in East Africa during the colonial era, when it was the Heisingen royal family and later the Rhine royal family, their bottom line was very flexible. When they didn't need to be rulers, they were the rulers of East Africa; when they did need to be rulers, they were the German princes.
Afghanistan doesn't receive the same treatment. It's hard to find anyone who can stand up for it. In the past, it was caught between Tsarist Russia and Britain, caught in a dilemma. Now, it's being ridden by three major powers, none of which would consider Afghanistan one of their own.
East Africa disliked Afghanistan, while the Soviet Union and Britain wanted Afghanistan to pledge allegiance. Of course, even if Afghanistan pledged allegiance, its security was not guaranteed, leaving it caught in the middle.
As for Ernst himself, he still hoped that the Afghan government would maintain the status quo, and he was quite wary of the "graveyard of empires".
Therefore, he said, "Until the Afghan government proves truly incompetent, it's best not to interfere too much in the country."
"In some ways, this country is like Switzerland: it's neither good to eat nor bad to throw away."
"Especially now, with no conflict between us and the Soviet Union or the Far Eastern Empire, Afghanistan has almost no value."
Afghanistan's role was simply to contain the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union was currently preoccupied with its own problems and had no capacity to expand towards the Indian Ocean.
The Soviet government had demonstrated this during the negotiations for the construction of the Central Asian Highway; they even wanted to abandon Afghanistan, but East Africa did not take over either.
Crown Prince Frederick said, "Then how should we deal with the Far Eastern Empire, especially the threat posed by the Japanese air force to the Northwest Passage?"
Ernst said, "Dealing with Japan doesn't require much effort from us. Right now, we can completely compete with Japan for airspace by helping the Far Eastern Empire build a new air force."
“This time, the funds raised by the Chinese must be substantial. We can use this money to purchase a batch of military aircraft, transport them to the Far Eastern Empire, and assist them in conducting relevant pilot training.”
"Moreover, transporting airplanes to the Far Eastern Empire is actually easier than transporting other supplies."
This is true. Other supplies must be transported by air to the Far Eastern Empire, and the carrier of air transport is an airplane. Therefore, the aid planes can fly directly to the Far Eastern Empire and be received by the Far Eastern Empire government.
Currently, the Far Eastern Empire is under blockade, and its land routes to the outside world are practically cut off. The land routes in the southwest are either not yet completed or have too harsh a natural environment, making them almost as costly as air transport.
After all, the mountainous and rainforest areas of Southeast Asia have extremely harsh climates, with mosquito bites, rampant epidemics, and during the rainy season, there are frequent flash floods, rockfalls, and landslides, causing various road closures.
After a rain, some mountain roads may disappear completely, making travel extremely difficult.
These land routes, from construction to opening, are built at the cost of human lives, and safety cannot be guaranteed at all; they are not as good as air routes.
Although Japan might also deploy military aircraft to intercept them, Japan doesn't have many aircraft to begin with, and it's not easy for Japan to detect them in the air. Japan relies mainly on visual observation and doesn't use radar.
These situations were already evident in previous airlifts from East Africa to the Far Eastern Empire. A considerable number of planes flew from East Africa to the Far Eastern Empire, but there has been no record of them encountering Japanese military aircraft in the air to date.
Crown Prince Friedrich nodded: "I had this plan in mind as well. The air power of the Far Eastern Empire is too weak. If we don't support them, we will have to take matters into our own hands to maintain the Northwest Passage."
"Furthermore, we can cooperate with the Western Regions Province of the Far Eastern Empire on this matter. The Western Regions Province is very suitable for pilot training. It is located in the rear and is relatively stable now."
As one of the rear areas, the Western Regions Province was completely unaffected by the Far East War, unlike the Far East Empire's southwest and Guanzhong regions and surrounding areas, which were also rear areas, where the threat from the Japanese invaders was direct.
Not to mention that the Japanese air force could directly attack these two places, the Japanese army also posed a direct threat to them. For example, the Japanese troops in Shanxi Province were at risk of breaking into Shaanxi Province.
Furthermore, Jiangcheng is also in a very critical situation. If it falls, Japan may further advance into the southwestern region of the Far Eastern Empire.
In comparison, the Western Regions Province can now be considered the safest place in the Far Eastern Empire, especially now that Britain and the Soviet Union have also stabilized.
After all, the biggest external security threat to the Western Regions Province of the Far Eastern Empire was these two countries, but now the Soviet Union is too busy to take care of itself, and Britain has no energy to cause trouble outside of Europe.
Ernst said, "Then let's communicate with the Far Eastern Empire government! I think they shouldn't mind this. Although the Western Regions Province is considered a semi-separatist region, its leaders are still under the command of the Far Eastern Empire government."
"Therefore, the Far Eastern Empire government should not refuse to establish a relevant talent training base in the Western Regions Province. In addition, if the Far Eastern Empire government also wants to build pilot training bases in other places, we can also provide some support."
"At the same time, we will provide assistance to the Far Eastern Empire Air Force, especially military aircraft. The quality of these aircraft does not need to be too advanced. We can also clear out our inventory of propeller aircraft. Japan's aviation manufacturing industry is not very developed to begin with, and due to resource and talent limitations, the performance of its aircraft is far behind ours."
Currently, propeller planes are still the mainstay of aircraft in East Africa, but jet aircraft are rapidly emerging, after all, East Africa had already made breakthroughs in related technologies many years ago.
Moreover, East Africa's investment in the aviation industry has always been substantial due to Ernst's influence, so even in the era of propeller planes, East Africa's aviation manufacturing capacity was unparalleled in the world.
Under these circumstances, East Africa naturally has a lot of old aircraft accumulated in the country. Of course, although East Africa does not really value these propeller planes now, they are still very capable on a global scale.
This is especially true for a country like Japan, whose industrial level is relatively low compared to other major powers.
(End of this chapter)
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