Chapter 219 The Importance of Connections
Bagamoyo Port.
Two majestic-looking sailing warships are completing the handover.
"Your Excellency, this is a warship we have drawn from our active fleet to support your cause."
Captain Blair of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was in charge of the delivery. He introduced the warship in front of him to Archduke Ferdinand (Maximilian I) with a smile on his face.
"Well, when it comes to understanding them, I'm probably more familiar with them than you are." Ferdinand, Commander-in-Chief of the East African Navy, interrupted Blair without any hesitation.
"When I took office, they were serving in the Austrian Navy. Now they are in East Africa, which is a good place for them to continue to make use of their remaining energy."
As he spoke, Ferdinand boarded one of the boats, accompanied by Blair.
"It hasn't changed much in all these years, but is this paint newly applied?"
"Yes. Before leaving the port, the two ships were carefully inspected and their overall performance was still intact, but there were some minor problems that had accumulated over the years. They were then taken to the Trieste Shipyard for maintenance and some modern facilities were installed."
"Franz is fine. When you go back to report, give this letter to him." Ferdinand took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Blair.
"Yes, Your Excellency, I will definitely deliver the letter."
The content of the letter was naturally some words of thanks. This time Ferdinand sincerely felt that it was really good to have a good brother.
After being beaten by the Mexicans, Archduke Ferdinand had gone from one extreme to another.
Back then in Mexico, Ferdinand never sought any help from the Austrian royal family. Now Ferdinand says, it’s great!
With the help of Franz, the East African Navy instantly took shape with two warships retired from the Austro-Hungarian Navy and two antique warships from the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
"Blair, what do you think the future of the East African Navy will be like?" Ferdinand asked.
"Your Excellency, I have to say that this is not a good thing. Hmm... it has great potential. At least the sea conditions are much better than those in Austria."
Blair did not have much hope for the East African Navy. After all, East Africa was so poor that it had no means to build a navy. When Blair saw the two antique warships from the last century in East Africa, he felt a little sorry for Ferdinand, the so-called commander-in-chief of the East African Navy. However, the geographical conditions of East Africa were indeed several times better than the "bathtub" at the doorstep of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The conditions at Bagamoyo Port are quite good, but because it is very close to Dar es Salaam, it is often neglected by East African governments.
For example, immigration and commercial exports are diverted to the ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga on both sides, and are even less than the port of Mtwara in the south.
Because the water level of Bagamoyo Port is shallow while Dar es Salaam is a deep-water port, it is difficult for Bagamoyo to compete with Dar es Salaam. Tanga Port and Mtwara Port are important ports in the region and have no competitors, so they are also more important than Bagamoyo. However, Bagamoyo also has its advantages.
It is an estuary port, that is, on the right bank of the mouth of the Little Rhine (Rufu River) in East Africa.
However, the shipping value of the rivers along the coast of East Africa is not very high. The few larger rivers are only a few hundred kilometers long, and due to the influence of the terrain, only a hundred or so kilometers are suitable for shipping.
But the Little Rhine is strategically important to East Africa. Going upstream from the river mouth, you can reach the first town, the political center of East Africa.
Therefore, the East African Naval Base was located here. It can not only take advantage of the port conditions of Bagamoyo, but also clamp the outlet of the Little Rhine River, and provide support to the ports on both sides of East Africa. On the other side of Bagamoyo is a natural geographical barrier, Zanzibar Island, which can withstand some winds and waves from the Indian Ocean. At the same time, if the economy cannot develop, it is better not to develop it, and it can be used as a base for the navy.
I have to say that East Africa made the right choice by choosing Maximilian I as the commander-in-chief of the East African Navy.
After taking office, he could not get resources from the East African government, so he had to turn his attention to Austria. "I, Ferdinand, Franz, send money!"
This is also the reason why Franz said that Ferdinand and Ernst had learned bad things, but the Austrian Navy itself could not get funds, so how could it provide support to Ferdinand?
Oh, it is not correct to call it the Austrian Navy now. It should be called the Austro-Hungarian Navy. When the Austrian Empire was renamed the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867, the navy was also renamed.
In response to the Emperor's inquiry, the Austro-Hungarian Navy expressed its willingness to provide Ferdinand with two brigantine warships free of charge, and to send a group of young talents as consultants to help Archduke Ferdinand build up the East African naval force.
A brig is a sailing ship with two masts and a square sail. In the sailing age, brigs were widely used as warships and commercial ships because of their high speed and strong maneuverability.
Nineteenth-century pine schooners were designed to last 20 years, and many lasted even longer.
The two ships given by the Austro-Hungarian Navy to East Africa were built around 1840. The Austro-Hungarian Navy had long wanted to retire these two old ships, but didn't know where to dump them. It just so happened that East Africa took over. Since the emperor wanted to take care of his brother, our navy would give these two warships to East Africa, so that we can be more confident when asking for military funds next time.
As for the young talents, they were naturally the young officers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy who had no experience or were marginalized. For them, being sent to East Africa was no different from exile.
In short, the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the East African government have the same attitude. We can give them ships and talents for free without talking about money.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was squeezed in the narrow Adriatic Bay. Such a geographical location made the Austro-Hungarian Empire not very interested in the navy, but neighboring Italy helped the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In order to deal with the unified Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy had a relatively better time in recent years. Since 1861, the Austrian Navy has entered the era of ironclad ships, and now it is the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
"You are right, but potential is just potential after all. Without the support of a strong country, even the best conditions will be wasted," said Ferdinand.
"Your Excellency, don't worry. I personally am optimistic about East Africa. With the help of Austria, East Africa may not catch up with Europe in the future, but it should still be able to develop well in Africa." Blair said cautiously.
In this era, Europeans have been deepening the impression that Europe is the center of the world, and the only overseas country that can be compared with Europe is the United States, which should be considered half. So Blair added the word Africa before the good development. The reason why he said that the development in Africa is not bad is because there is also a semi-modernized country in Africa - Egypt.
The Egyptian navy's strength during Ali's era was considerable even in Europe. At its peak, it had 32 warships. Although Egypt has declined now, it is no longer the number one military power in Africa that East Africa can challenge.
Just talking about the army, the number of troops in East Africa before the reform was very close to that of Egypt, but after the reform, the number of troops was basically cut in half, and the scale alone cannot be compared with Egypt.
Moreover, Egypt has the ability to produce its own equipment. Although it is now mainly imported due to British and French colonization, its military-industrial system still exists.
Blair escorted the warship through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and finally arrived in East Africa.
He had seen some cities in Egypt, and in East Africa he had only been to Mombasa once to replenish supplies, and then he went to Bagamoyo. Mombasa was relatively prosperous, but Bagamoyo was too desolate.
So Blair concluded that there is a clear gap between East Africa and Egypt, so it would be difficult to become number one in Africa.
Blair has never heard of any civilized country in Africa besides Egypt. The Ottoman Empire does not count, after all, its main part is in the Middle East and Europe.
In fact, this is not Bagamoyo’s fault. After all, immigration and exports are all in the free port of Dar es Salaam next door, so it seems to be unpopular.
Historically, Bagamoyo was glorious for a while when Germany colonized here, but later the Germans found that conditions in Dar es Salaam were better, so they turned to concentrate on developing Dar es Salaam. Bagamoyo was mentioned again in the 21st century when a certain big country was engaged in the Belt and Road Initiative. It seemed a bit like it was desperate. The credit of African countries is not high, and the conditions of Bagamoyo Port can only be considered average. But there is no other choice. After all, the excellent ports along the Indian Ocean coast are controlled by Western or pro-Western forces.
(End of this chapter)
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