Chapter 458: The Pearl of the Pacific
Archduke Ferdinand was warmly welcomed in East Asia. This is actually not difficult to understand. Archduke Ferdinand's most important identity is still the Archduke of Austria and the younger brother of Emperor Franz. Even without the bonus of the East African Fleet, this identity would still receive courtesy from East Asian countries.
The East African Navy also successfully completed the purpose of this visit and showed its face in East Asia, which made East Asians know that there is a country called East Africa in the world. After all, there are only a few countries in this era that can send ironclad ships to East Asia.
After completing this mission, the East African Navy can return, but Archduke Ferdinand believes that they should visit Alaska and then, after replenishing supplies in East Asia, head to the royal territory of Alaska.
…
Alaska Crown Territory.
As the isolated territory of the Hechingen royal family, with a total population of more than 90,000, of which the army alone is as high as 30,000, it is a region truly controlled by the army. And this state may last for a long time until the East African Navy is truly capable of cross-ocean law enforcement.
The population of the Alaska Crown Territory is mainly distributed in the southern temperate maritime climate zone, which is actually very different from Western Europe in terms of climate type.
The temperature in southern Alaska is lower than that in Western Europe, and the precipitation is extremely high, with annual precipitation exceeding 1,500 mm. The reason for this is that Alaska is mainly mountainous, while Western Europe has vast plains with elevated terrain, making it easier for water vapor to condense and form rainfall.
“A few years ago, I transited through here on my way to East Africa. It’s so emotional to revisit this place now!”
Archduke Ferdinand would never forget the day when he was put into a sack and carried on horseback. The bumpy ride caused Ferdinand to faint. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself on a ship to Alaska. So Alaska was the turning point in Archduke Ferdinand's fate.
In Alaska in August, the temperature is around 10 degrees Celsius, which is generally cool, and the coastal areas are full of vitality.
Alaska's agriculture is mainly based on potatoes and wheat, so you can see a large number of developed farmlands near Alaska's settlements. The development of these farmlands is not as easy as in East Africa, because the main residents of the Alaskan royal territory are immigrants, and there is no cheap labor like the East African "workers" available.
There are some Eskimos in the Alaska royal territory, but their number is almost negligible. Moreover, the Eskimos live in an icy and snowy environment and have almost no interaction with the residents of the royal territory.
In this way, the development of the royal territory can only be completed by immigrants themselves, and the efficiency is not as good as East Africa, but it also brings some popularity to the sparsely populated royal territory of Alaska.
At the same time, Alaska's fishery resources are relatively rich, so Alaska's fishing industry is also very developed. This is different from the situation in East Africa. The ships in East Africa are almost all Ernst's private fleet, while Alaska's fishing boats are all built by Alaskan immigrants themselves.
Because fishery resources are one of the important sources of livelihood for residents of the Alaska royal territory, civilian boats are very common in Alaska, and almost every household has a small fishing boat.
The civilian shipbuilding industry in the Alaska Royal Territory is more developed than that in East Africa. Of course, this development is only in terms of activity. In fact, the fishing boats in the Alaska Royal Territory are not technologically advanced. They are only good for fishing at sea, but have no other capabilities.
The coastal areas of the Alaska royal territory have been well developed, but Alaska is not keen on developing the interior. In addition to not developing it itself, it also wants to prevent outsiders from entering Alaska. From the establishment of the royal territory to this year's Alaska Royal Guard, it has driven away more than 20 groups of foreign expeditions that wanted to enter Alaska.
Some people want to take over Alaska, but most of them are civilian groups, so the Hechingen royal family's biggest investment in Alaska is the military, which results in the number of Alaska's troops accounting for 30% of the total population.
This is also a helpless move. As the weakest force in the region, they can only continuously focus their technology on the military. However, the defense pressure of the Alaskan Royal Territory is mainly on the sea, so the Alaskan Royal Territory has a small fleet, mainly composed of small gunboats, to expel illegal fishing boats from Canada and the United States and prevent them from landing in Alaska.
Of course, the Alaskan royal territory is relatively restrained. As long as it is not in the offshore area of the Alaskan royal territory, it generally turns a blind eye and has no objection to fishing on the "high seas".
After all, if we really don't allow these foreign fishing boats to catch seafood in the Gulf of Alaska, then these foreign fishing boats themselves are not easy to mess with. They have their own interest groups behind them. However, that's all.
Every step in the Alaska royal territory must be taken with caution, but there is no need to worry too much. The United States and Canada are not too interested in Alaska. In addition to Alaska's good armed forces, the decision-making was correct. A piece of land was left for the Russians in the southernmost part. In this way, if other North American countries want to invade the Alaska royal territory from land, they must first pass through the Russian territory.
The only way to enter Alaska without passing through Russian territory is from the inland, but the terrain of inland Alaska is rugged, and with the perennial snow, passing through such a harsh climate environment is no more difficult than Germany's winter attack on Siberia.
Therefore, it is an impossible task to organize an army of a certain size to attack the royal territory of Alaska through the inland, and the threat mainly lies at sea.
However, as the East African fleet circled the Gulf of Alaska, ordinary people really cannot underestimate the strength of the Alaskan royal territory.
In September, Archduke Ferdinand inspected the situation in various parts of the royal territory of Alaska.
"The Alaska Royal Territory needs more advanced communication equipment. If possible, it would be best to lay a telegraph line directly to the Jiaozhou area."
"The Alaska Royal Territory is too large. Even though the population is mainly distributed in the south, the territory in the south is too large for 90,000 people. The distance between each settlement is too large, so it is best to connect these settlements by telegraph to facilitate the unified management of the Alaska Royal Territory Military District."
"Connecting to the telegraph lines in the Far East will increase East Africa's control over the Alaskan Crown. Relying on mail ships to deliver messages is too slow."
This was the suggestion given by Archduke Ferdinand after his inspection. In fact, if conditions allowed, Ferdinand would have wanted to set up a squadron for the navy in the royal territory of Alaska.
The Alaska Royal Guard has its own separate naval system. This is because the Alaska Royal Territory does not belong to the Kingdom of East Africa, but only to the Hechingen Royal Family. In theory, it is on the same level as East Africa. This is not surprising. Constantine is still the monarch of the Hechingen Kingdom! If he wants, Constantine can return to Prussia and continue to be his own prince, but there is no need for that now.
“At the same time, the navy of the Alaska Crown Territory should be merged with our kingdom’s navy so that they can also receive more systematic naval training and can effectively work together to ensure East Africa’s global interests.”
No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Archduke Ferdinand was very interested in the navy of the royal territory of Alaska. Although this small navy, which mainly uses small gunboats as its main combat vessels, is not very useful now, its future may be uncertain. Because Alaska has many excellent ports and controls the Bering Strait, Archduke Ferdinand believed that the strategic value here would be of great use in the future.
Moreover, the royal territory of Alaska is very likely to be the largest territory of East Africa in the eastern Pacific Ocean in the future, so it is not an exaggeration to call it the "Pearl" of East Africa in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
(End of this chapter)
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