Chapter 879 Military Attention
Regarding the promotion of radio, the military is also directly involved this time. After all, the military value of radio is too great. So in order to better strengthen the preliminary experiments of radio in the military, the scientific research groups under the military have begun to take action.
"The application of radio is inseparable from the transmission of information, and its application is reflected in the specific point of wireless telegraph. In the past, our army could only transmit messages through wired telegraphs, and the laying of lines was extremely restrictive, which greatly delayed the speed of military information transmission. Radio is extremely flexible in this regard."
"Of course, radio also has a disadvantage, that is, its signal is transmitted directly in the air, so the enemy can obtain our information by building signal receiving devices. This requires our army to work hard in the field of information security, especially compiling new code books to prevent the enemy from easily deciphering our military information."
"At the same time, this also indirectly shows that wired telegraphs are still useful, especially for some important military units and departments, which use wired telegraph transmission to ensure national information security."
The top military officials in East Africa speak very well about the application of radio, which is easy to understand. The East African military can be said to be the group in the world that is most receptive to advanced military technology.
Because the East African military system as a whole is young and well-educated, the application of advanced military technology is also an important reason why East Africa was able to defeat Britain in the South African War.
Archduke Ferdinand said: "Our navy must popularize radio on board ships on a large scale. After all, warships cannot be connected by wires. In the past, communication between naval vessels basically relied on traditional methods. Now the emergence of radio represents a major change in our navy."
"Not only that, our overseas military bases also have a great demand for this technology. After all, the investment cost of promoting wired transmission is high, and radio transmission can allow us to directly connect the Kingdom of North Hawaii and the Lan Fang Overseas Province with the East African mainland."
The emergence of wired telegraph and submarine cables allowed Britain to extend its reach to all parts of the world. Relying on wired telegraph, Britain established the world's largest telegraph network. For example, communications between the East African and Far Eastern empires had to first travel through Europe and then circulate through India.
Wired telegraph in East Africa has also developed rapidly in the past thirty years, and has basically formed an effective network covering the entire country. Of course, places like Mozambique and Angola are definitely less densely distributed.
But East Africa's wired telegraph network is only a regional network, while Britain's is a "global network", which can only be achieved by a country like Britain that holds the world hegemony.
As early as 1880, the United Kingdom had laid an astonishing 1.56 million kilometers of submarine cables. Today, the scale will only be larger, basically connecting all major British overseas colonies, including Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, etc.
Relying on the submarine cable network, the British government can realize its plan of eavesdropping on the world. The British have a well-organized secret agency for eavesdropping on submarine cables. They set up eavesdropping agencies and install eavesdropping devices at the connection points where the cables must pass, and quickly summarize and study important information.
The earliest example of this in the previous life occurred during the Boer War. After Britain's defeat, the gloating German Emperor Wilhelm II heard the news and sent a telegram to Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, warmly congratulating the Boers on their victory and saying that Transvaal "independently defeated the invaders" and "defended national independence."
Before this telegram was transmitted to Transvaal through the British-controlled submarine cable, it was intercepted by the British. Since then, Britain has paid more attention to the threat from Germany, changed its previous compromising stance, and instead took confrontational measures around the world. Germany also responded tit for tat. The contradiction between Britain and Germany gradually intensified, and eventually they gradually fell into a "shipbuilding race" and the establishment of an alliance with each other as imaginary enemies, which eventually led to the outbreak of World War I.
There is a certain possibility for this statement, but it is definitely not the fundamental reason. After all, William II himself is a "big mouth" and often makes "shocking remarks" in the international community.
However, this also indirectly proves the authenticity of the intelligence that the UK obtained from relevant countries with the help of the global telegraph network.
At least Ernst himself believed that this was a traditional craft of the Anglo-Saxons. Later, the British "filial sons" said that the United States also had "Prism" to monitor governments of various countries, and that it was made public as relevant righteous people fled. Therefore, the precautions against Britain were not "overstating the matter."
Put yourself in Ernst's shoes. If he had this "network" in his hands, he would definitely do the same for the national interests and security of East Africa.
Of course, the wired telegraph network from East Africa to Europe was still secure, connecting directly to the Austro-Hungarian network using a separate line without having to go through Cape Town.
However, it is feasible to connect the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the British Mediterranean and the Far East Empire. However, this is also a complicated project. The East African government can completely ensure information security through "disguise".
Of course, in the end, they will inevitably have to embark on the path of building an "independent" network. In fact, after realizing Britain's behavior, the United States, France and Germany all began to build independent submarine cable systems in the 20th century.
In the 20th century, there were more disputes over wired telegraphs. During wars, a special type of ship called a "cable cutter" appeared. This ship would ruthlessly cut off other countries' submarine cables during wartime. The powerful British Royal Navy could ensure that these "electric pirates" could operate smoothly.
So even though wired telegraph is more secure and reliable, it is not foolproof, especially since the route from East Africa to Europe and the Far East Empire must pass through the British sphere of influence. If the submarine cable is cut, it will be the end of the world.
Therefore, in the East African telegraph industry, Ernst's plan was to "walk on two legs", to achieve the mutual complementation of wired telegraph and wireless telegraph, to be independent of wired telegraph transmission outside the UK, and at the same time to be combined with wireless telegraph systems, so as to achieve information security for East African countries.
In addition to the military, the demand for wireless telegraphy in other sectors cannot be ignored, such as the postal system, academic exchanges, commercial information transmission, communication between central and local governments, etc.
This means that in the next few years, East Africa's traditional methods of information transmission, which originally relied on wired telegraphs, railways, and post station systems, will be greatly affected.
East Africa's information industry will undergo tremendous changes with the birth of wireless telegraphy, which is nothing short of an information revolution.
Of course, this also means that East Africa needs to prepare for the popularization and promotion of radio. For example, the problem of easy interception mentioned by the military before requires various departments and scientific research institutions of the East African government to compile new communication rules and add new equipment.
This involves the production of radio equipment, which is also a complex issue. For example, the military's requirements are definitely relatively high. After all, the threshold for electrical equipment to meet military standards is very high. The military cannot afford to keep "delicate" electronic equipment. It must meet field combat needs and be able to work normally under various extreme climatic conditions. It must also be waterproof and shock-resistant.
Especially in the navy, the required standards will only be more stringent. Ships operating on the sea will certainly encounter various extreme weather conditions. After all, the East African Navy cannot always operate in the tropical waters around East Africa. Occasionally, they have to conduct training in high-latitude waters, and the sea is extremely bumpy. In this case, higher requirements are placed on the stable performance of electronic products.
(End of this chapter)
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