Chapter 100 Offshore Defense System
In addition to the Port of Mtwara, other ports are naturally also equipped with artillery batteries. Moreover, due to geographical and historical factors, the artillery batteries in other East African ports are of much higher specifications than those in Mtwara.
Depending on the importance of each port, the number of its coastal defense guns is also different.
Among them, the Port of Dar es Salaam and the Port of Mombasa are the top priorities in East Africa. They have a long history of port construction and the best natural conditions, ranking in the first tier of East African port grades.
The forts arranged at the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa were tentatively scheduled to house eight guns each.
The Port of Tanga and the Port of Bagamoyo are also two key ports, connecting the sea area between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, and are ranked in the second tier.
There are six gun positions reserved for each of the Tanga and Bagamoyo ports.
The Port of Mtwara is not only small in scale, but also not as strategically located as the former, so it can only be ranked in the third echelon. In the future, the newly built ports in Tanzania and Kenya are expected to be at the same level as the Port of Mtwara.
But the number of artillery positions in Mtwara Port has reached four.
In addition to these ports, some islands seized from the Sultanate of Zanzibar are also the focus of defense. The most typical ones are Pemba Island and Mafia Island. These two islands are the second largest islands in East Africa after Zanzibar Island.
Among them, Pemba Island was once an important part of the territory of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Mafia Island is also suitable for human settlement.
Both islands play a protective role for the East African coast. If Zanzibar Island is added, a chain of islands is formed. However, this island chain is relatively close to the East African coast and is not easily controlled by overseas forces.
For example, if someone wants to use this chain of islands to blockade the East African coast, it is impossible. First of all, these three islands can only cover the coastal areas in northern Tanzania. Secondly, there is the vast Indian Ocean to the east, and it is not easy for hostile forces to replenish supplies and weapons to this island chain.
For example, the Ryukyu Islands in the island chain in East Asia are relatively far away from the United States, but the mainland is not close to it either. The United States can blockade and control this island chain by relying on Japan, the Philippines and other countries.
It is no exaggeration to say that this "island chain" along the coast of East Africa is so accessible that you can land on it by canoe from the coast of the East African continent.
Even so, the strategic positions of Pemba Island and Mafia Island are still very prominent, and the economic value of Pemba Island is also very potential and suitable for population settlement. In the past, Pemba Island was home to more than 200,000 people. The island has all the cities and ports, and is suitable for agricultural planting.
Mafia Island is located approximately between the ports of Tanga and Mtwara. In its former life, Mafia Island was an important tourist destination in Tanzania with a permanent population of about 20,000.
Therefore, the East African colony would not give up these two islands. In order to ensure the development of the two islands and at the same time safeguard the strategic security of the East African coast, six gun positions were reserved on Pemba Island and two on Mafia Island.
In this way, the East African coastal defense system had a rough outline, with a total of forty large-caliber coastal defense artillery.
Forty guns are not many, but the current port scale in East Africa is not large either, so the match between the two is reasonable, especially for defending against large ships, which is more than enough.
This is of course only the first step. The East African colonies currently do not have the ability to continue to improve their defense capabilities and can only wait until the future to increase the number of large-caliber artillery.
However, small-caliber artillery can be arranged gradually. After all, the price of ammunition for large-caliber artillery alone is not affordable for ordinary people.
If the enemy at sea sends small boats to explore and attack first, the cost of using large-caliber coastal defense artillery to attack will be unbearable. At this time, small-caliber artillery will be needed.
The advantage of large-caliber coastal defense guns is that the design parameters of the covered sea area are fixed and calibrated in advance, so the hit rate will be much higher, but the cost is relatively high and it is suitable for dealing with large ships.
Small-caliber artillery is relatively low-cost, mobile, and highly flexible, and has great advantages against small targets.
At present, the East African colonies are not equipped with small-caliber artillery because the Hechingen Arsenal in Trieste has not yet started production.
The research and development of large-caliber artillery is relatively difficult. Given the strength of the Heixingen Arsenal, it is still too early to develop large-caliber artillery at present.
After all, you can't learn to run before you learn to walk, so it is important to accumulate experience from the production of small-caliber artillery.
Moreover, small-caliber artillery has a wide range of applications, is easy to transport, and has low cost, making it very suitable for production at the small-scale Heixingen Arsenal.
The East African colony was the private domain of the Hechingen Arsenal, and the artillery it produced would be continuously equipped to the East African colonial army in the future.
The East African colonies are currently facing the most indigenous forces. To be honest, a rifle is enough, and there is no need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. However, Ernst just likes the feeling of having sufficient firepower.
Moreover, Portugal is also a potential enemy. Portugal's colony of Mozambique has a long history of development, and it must have some real weapons in its hands. We cannot take it lightly.
When the Trieste-Herzingen Arsenal goes into production in the future, the two systems that will be given top priority are the coastal defense system of the East African colonies and the border between East Africa and the Portuguese forces.
Speaking of the offshore defense system, its construction was designed by professionals from the Austrian Navy. In the last Battle of Lissa, the Austrian Navy was actually the defending party, so they have rich experience in this area.
Moreover, after the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire strengthened its offshore defense, and its retired naval guns, like those on the East Africa, were deployed in important strategic locations in the Adriatic Sea.
So Ernst got a bargain as he could copy a ready-made product. Except for the insufficient number of small-caliber artillery (second-hand goods left by the Sultanate of Zanzibar), other aspects were exactly the same as those of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
For example, the fort was built with thicker reinforced concrete protection, and its structure was exactly the same as that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even the coastal defense guns were from the same company.
Therefore, the offshore defense system along the coast of East Africa was equivalent to a copy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's defense system in the Adriatic Sea, which was first-class in that era.
As long as the number of small-caliber artillery is reached in the future, the entire East African coast will be an iron turtle that no one can bite, unless an attack is launched at any cost. It is not that Ernst looks down on the strength of other countries, but that only the European and American navies have the ability to break through the East African coastal defense system after it is completed.
But the navies of various countries are not fools. Who would drive an ironclad ship to East Africa to fight this iron turtle? The shipping fee is not enough to pay the compensation.
Only Portugal had the strength and motivation to attack East Africa by land and sea, so the East African colonies strengthened their military presence in the south. The south is East Africa's land defense line, and the east is the offshore defense system. It is obvious who these two systems are used to guard against.
In other directions, the East African colonies took the initiative to attack and did not require defense. For example, in the southwest, Mbeya leads to Zambia and Zimbabwe. To the west is Lake Tanganyika, which serves as a natural barrier. To the north are indigenous forces.
(End of this chapter)
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