Chapter 234 Brothers Pull
Schönbrunn Palace, Austria.
"Hehe, what's the matter? You are not satisfied with being the Navy Commander-in-Chief, so you want to regret it? My silly brother."
Franz made sarcastic remarks to Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief of the East African Navy who had just returned to Vienna.
Ferdinand, who had long been a seasoned veteran, immediately responded: "As the Navy Commander-in-Chief in East Africa, although I have only a few ships under my command, I am much stronger than the Austrian navy. When the East African navy develops in the future, I will order a blockade of the Gulf of Aden and prohibit Austrian ships from entering the Indian Ocean."
Ferdinand's joke did not elicit a response from Franz.
Block the Gulf of Aden? It seems that the geographical location of East Africa is indeed feasible. Although East Africa has no ports on the Red Sea coast, Djibouti, and the northern coast of Somalia, Mogadishu in the northernmost part of East Africa is not far from the Gulf of Aden. Just like the North German region, although there are ports facing the Atlantic Ocean, if the British really want to use the navy to block Prussia in the Baltic Sea, it is entirely possible.
In fact, Franz had not thought of one thing. If East Africa really intended to blockade the Red Sea, it would be impossible to use the so-called East African Navy. The East African Navy is of a far lower level than that of Great Britain. It is not as reliable to rely on the East African Navy to blockade the Gulf of Aden as the East African Army to blockade the Gulf of Aden.
According to the current military strength of East Africa, the army can rush directly to Djibouti and Somaliland at all costs and wipe out the British and French colonies in one fell swoop. A few artillery pieces can pose a serious threat to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The latest planned military town of Dire Dawa in the Northern Province of East Africa is only more than 300 kilometers away from Djibouti.
The narrowest part of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 26 kilometers. At present, the range of most East African artillery cannot reach such a long range. Some large-caliber coastal defense guns may be able to be used, but unfortunately they cannot be moved. The technology cannot reach this level now, but it is hard to say what will happen in the future.
This is also the reason why Ernst did not go to the Red Sea coast and the Gulf of Aden to occupy land. If he went there, he would be too conspicuous and easy to be targeted. Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Egypt are not easy to deal with, but East Africa also has the ability to threaten this channel.
Moreover, even if East Africa really blocks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the British will probably be overjoyed. Originally, the British were reluctant to dig the Suez Canal and it was all thanks to the French that they were pushed. Now that they see that France is likely to succeed, the British come out to take advantage of it, which is the same as their behavior in later generations when they joined and withdrew from the European Union.
If Suez is lost, at most the French will suffer, but Cape Town can return to the top. In addition, Britain's Indian lackeys in the Far East are also difficult to deal with. Britain's military strength in India is capable of attacking the Abyssinian Empire across the sea and winning, which shows its ability.
You have to know that although the former emperor of the Abyssinian Empire, Theodore II, was arrogant, his vision was much broader than those idiots in the Far East. He expanded the authority of the monarch, restricted the wealthy Abyssinian Church from occupying more real estate, paid soldiers, built roads, purchased modern firearms and cannons, and tried to abolish slavery. These were the achievements of Theodore II. In the end, when he saw his defeat, he had the courage to commit suicide. The fact that he did not choose to live in disgrace makes him a great ruler in this era.
Of course, East Africa currently has no ability and is unwilling to learn from Japan to gamble on its national destiny, but this does not mean that there will be no opportunities in the future. Once East Africa becomes strong, not to mention Suez, even the whole of Egypt will come to serve as a bootlicker. Egypt's climate and environment cannot make it a jungle superman in Vietnam, and its geographical environment cannot turn it into an Afghan cemetery.
…
"What do you think? Are you scared by what I said?" Ferdinand said proudly after winning the game.
"Humph, given East Africa's current situation, it won't be able to achieve this capability even after another 50 years of development. Look at how many years have passed since the founding of the United States, and how they brag a lot, even though they can't wait to replace the British. But they only dare to clamor across the Atlantic."
"It was just a joke! If you are serious, Franz, it seems you are still so stubborn." said Archduke Ferdinand.
Franz was speechless: "Tell me! How do you have time to come back!"
"It would have been better if you were so serious earlier! Of course I came back this time to visit my mother and Karina."
"It should be on the way! I heard that you were inspecting several gunboats that had just been completed at the Trieste Shipyard a few days ago!"
"It's on the way, so what? You should know that it's not easy to go back and forth on the sea, and I'm so busy every day!"
Ferdinand was not exaggerating about this, he was really busy. The East African Navy was just being established, and in order to make these sailors from river and lake forces form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, many things had to be done by Ferdinand and the young Austrian naval officers who were "exiled" to East Africa themselves.
"Since you came back to visit mother and Karina, why do you want to irritate me, your eldest brother?" Franz is worthy of being a topic terminator.
"What do you think? It was Ernst who asked me to come and discuss cooperation with you."
"He told me about this a few days ago."
"Of course I know, but he only talked about the intention of cooperation, not the content. Yes! This is the cooperation list drawn up by our East African Kingdom. Take a look!"
Ferdinand took out a large stack of cooperation lists from somewhere, and Franz took it and looked at it carefully.
Two hours later.
"Ernst, he is indeed a shrewd businessman. He has hidden so many things for so long." Franz said with a smile.
"In any region, as long as the area is large enough, you can always find some resources. I think the resource situation in East Africa is much worse than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire," said Archduke Ferdinand.
"It's good to have such conditions. Austria is the chosen place of the Habsburg family. How can the conditions be compared with those in marginal places like East Africa?" Franz said proudly.
Ferdinand despised his brother bitterly, but East Africa was indeed disappointing. With a land area of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and only so many resources, it was no wonder that it had never been targeted by anyone.
As the commander-in-chief of the navy of the Kingdom of East Africa, Ferdinand was relatively familiar with many situations in East Africa. Naturally, he had read the list of resources provided by the economic department of the Hexingen Consortium in advance.
The eastern part of East Africa has a territory of more than two million square kilometers, which seems much larger than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but its resource endowment is indeed at the same level as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There is also a large area of ineffective desert in the north. Fortunately, although Somalia is also a tropical desert, it has two large rivers, the Shabelle and the Juba, passing through it.
Even so, the resources in the eastern part of East Africa alone can reach the level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and should have attracted the attention of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Why is the effect so mediocre?
This is because Ernst had tampered with the list. The list contained some detailed mineral resource analysis reports in East Africa and the mining plan of the East African Kingdom.
This list mainly discloses the distribution of coal and iron ore in southern Tanzania (eastern shore of Lake Malawi) and mineral resources in Kenya.
As for the gold mines in the Great Lakes region, they will naturally not be open to the outside world. The copper mines on the Katanga Plateau have also been hidden in East Africa. That copper mine is so huge that it is enough to change the world's copper mining industry landscape, just like the Middle East oil would breed mold in the past.
Copper is a scarce resource worldwide, but it is also one of the most important, popular, widely used and largest metals in the world.
Since it was discovered and used by humans, copper has always been one of the most important metals, especially before the Iron Age, it was the most important metal.
There are also many wars caused by copper mines. Ernst had thought about this problem in his previous life, that is, why did the Shang Dynasty in the Far East love to launch wars? Copper mines were an indispensable factor, just like mold likes oil. Copper mines were the most important strategic resource in that era.
We also have to be cautious when cooperating. The resources in Kenya alone are enough to make Austria rich. As for coal and iron, to be honest, they are not very attractive to Austria. The major mineral resources of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are among the best in Europe and are completely sufficient. If the value is not high, it is better to think of ways to ship them from the Balkan Peninsula than from East Africa by sea.
The East African government's idea is very simple, which is to develop the three provinces of southern Kenya, namely the Eastern Province, South Prussia Province and Western Great Lakes Province.
If we want to transport these resources to the Port of Mombasa and export them to Austria, we must at least help build a railway in East Africa!
At the same time, it can also attract orders for the railway departments and companies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. East Africa's steel production capacity cannot support such a large project. At the same time, other equipment must be imported from Austria, and locomotives are also provided by Austria. East Africa will pay back with mineral resources.
Now that the Suez Canal is open, transportation costs have also been reduced. The distance from Trieste to Mombasa is not far, so it is still very cost-effective. After all, no one would complain about having too many mines. France, which lost the Lorraine iron ore, is an example.
At present, priority should be given to the development of southern Kenya. As for what to do with Tanzania, there is actually no good solution. Just farm well. Tanzania was an agricultural country in the previous life, and its resource conditions were not as good as Kenya. It is at most stronger in this life. Whether Tanzania can develop depends on the development of Zambia. If Zambia develops, Tanzania will not be a problem. After all, the ports are concentrated in the east, and the geographical conditions of the East African Plateau are very good. It is still possible to solve the transportation problem and turn it into East Africa’s own crossroads like Germany in the previous life.
The basis of cooperation is the ability to make money. There is no need to worry about this. The East African government itself is also a buyer. It can consume part of the produced minerals itself, or even more than half, and the rest can be shipped back to Austria to support Austria's development.
The intention of cooperation was very clear. It was Austria, not the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ernst had been trying to strengthen the German national advantages in Austria, especially the advantages of the Germans near the Adriatic Sea. Trieste, where there were quite a few Italians, was very dangerous.
Trieste is the channel connecting Germany and East Africa, so it is naturally better to be in the hands of one's own people. Therefore, the Hechingen Consortium has been committed to recruiting Italian immigrants in Trieste. The effect can only be said to be mediocre. Under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Trieste has a good economic situation. It is the only excellent port. In addition, the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire is the economic hinterland, and it can even radiate to Eastern Europe and southern Germany.
Since reducing the Italian population did not produce much results, the strategy was to increase the German population. The grain processing plant in Trieste attracted a large number of Germans to work there.
Just because Trieste’s population problem cannot be solved now does not mean it cannot be solved in the future. Ernst has thought it through. As an industrial city, Trieste cannot escape the sanctions of the economic crisis.
(End of this chapter)
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