Chapter 100 Offshore Defense System
In addition to Mtwara Port, other ports are naturally equipped with forts, and affected by geographical and historical factors, the forts in other East African ports are much higher than Mtwara.
According to the importance of each port, the number of coastal defense guns is also different.
Among them, Dar es Salaam Port and Mombasa Port are the top priorities in East Africa, with a long history of port establishment and optimal natural conditions, ranking first in the East African port ranks.
Dar es Salaam Port and Mombasa Port arranged for the emplacement to install gun positions, respectively initially set at eight.
Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port are also two key strategic ports, connecting the sea area between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, ranking second echelon.
Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port have six artillery positions reserved for each.
Mtwara Port is not only small in scale, but its strategic location is not as prominent as the former ones, so it can only be ranked in the third echelon. In the future, the new ports in Tanzania and Kenya are estimated to be at the same level as the Mtwara Port.
But the number of artillery positions in the port of Mtwara has also reached four.
In addition to these ports, some islands snatched from the Sultanate of Zanzibar are also the focus of defense. The most typical ones are Pemba Island and Mafia Island. Two islands of Baal Island.
Among them, Pemba Island was once an important part of the land of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Mafia Island is also suitable for human settlement.
Both the two islands have played a role in defending the coast of East Africa. If Zanzibar is added, a series of island chains will be formed. However, this island chain is relatively close to the coast of East Africa and is not easy to be controlled by overseas forces.
For example, it is impossible for someone to use this chain of islands to block the coast of East Africa. First of all, these three islands can only cover the coastal area of northern Tanzania, and secondly, there is a vast Indian Ocean to the east. It is not easy for hostile forces to replenish the island chain. arms.
Like the Ryukyu Islands in the East Asian island chain, although they are relatively far away from the United States, the mainland is not close to them, and the United States can blockade and control this island chain relying on countries such as Japan and the Philippines.
As for the "island chain" off the coast of East Africa, it is no exaggeration to say that starting from the coast of the East African mainland, it is possible to land with a canoe.
Even so, the strategic position of Pemba Island and Mafia Island is still very prominent, and the economic value of Pemba Island is also very potential, suitable for population settlement. In the previous life, Pemba Island had more than 200,000 people. There are cities and ports, and they are suitable for farming.
The location of Mafia Island is roughly between Tanga Port and Mtwara Port. Mafia Island was an important tourist attraction in Tanzania in its previous life, with a permanent population of about 20,000.
Therefore, these two islands, the East African colony will not give up. In order to ensure the development of these two islands and at the same time ensure the strategic security of the East African coast, Pemba Island has reserved six artillery positions, while Mafia Island has reserved six artillery positions. Two gun positions.
In this way, the East African offshore defense system has a rough prototype, with a total of forty large-caliber coastal fire prevention guns.
Forty doors are not too many, but the current port size in East Africa is not too large, so the match between the two is reasonable, especially for the defense of large ships, more than enough.
This is of course only the first step. The current East African colonies have no ability to continue to improve their defense capabilities. They can only wait until the future to increase the number of large-caliber artillery.
As for the enemies at sea, if they send small boats to explore and attack first, the cost of attacking with large-caliber coastal fire prevention artillery 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-scale ships.
Small-caliber artillery is relatively low-cost, mobile, and highly flexible, and has a good advantage against small targets.
At present, the East African colonies are not equipped with small-caliber artillery. This is because the Hechingen Arsenal in Trieste has not yet been put into production.
The research and development of large-caliber artillery is relatively difficult. With the strength of the Hexingen Arsenal, it is still too early to develop large-caliber artillery.
After all, you can’t learn to run before you learn to walk, so it is very important to accumulate experience from the production of small-caliber artillery.
Moreover, small-caliber artillery has a wide range of application scenarios, convenient transportation, and low cost. It is very suitable for the small-scale Hechingen Arsenal to produce.
The East African colony is the private land of the Hechingen Arsenal, and the artillery it produces will continue to equip the East African colonial army in the future.
The East African colonies are currently facing the most indigenous forces. To be honest, rifles are enough, and killing chickens is not easy, but Ernst just likes the feeling of sufficient firepower.
And Portugal is also a potential enemy. Portugal's Mozambique colony has a long history of development, and there must be some real guys in its hands, so it cannot be taken lightly.
After Trieste's Hechingen arsenal is put into operation in the future, the two systems that will be given priority are the offshore defense system of the East African colonies and the border between East Africa and the Portuguese forces.
It is said that the offshore defense system will be constructed by inviting professionals from the Austrian Navy to design it personally. In the last naval battle of Lissa, the Austrian Navy was actually the defensive side, so it has rich experience in this area.
And after the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire strengthened its offshore defenses, and its decommissioned naval guns were also placed in important strategic positions in the Adriatic Sea just like East Africa.
So Ernst also picked up a bargain and could copy off-the-shelf ones. Except for the insufficient number of small-caliber artillery (second-hand goods left by the Sultanate of Zanzibar), other aspects are exactly the same as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
For example, the fort is built with thicker reinforced concrete protection, its structure is exactly the same as that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even the coastal defense guns are from the same company.
So the offshore defense system along the coast of East Africa is tantamount to copying the defense system of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Adriatic Sea, which is top-notch in this era.
As long as the number of small-caliber artillery reaches in the follow-up, the entire East African coast will be an iron king that no one can bite. East African Offshore Defense System.
But the navies of various countries are not fools. Whoever would drive an iron-clad ship to East Africa to fight this iron king will not be able to pay for the shipping fee.
In other words, Portugal has the strength and motivation to attack East Africa by sea and land. Therefore, the East African colony has strengthened the military presence in the south. The south is the land defense line of East Africa, and the east is the offshore defense system. These two systems can be seen at a glance. Guard against whom.
In other directions, the East African colonies are actively attacking and do not need defense. For example, in the southwest direction, Mbeya leads to Zambia and Zimbabwe. The west is Lake Tanganyika as a natural barrier, and the north is full of indigenous forces.
(end of this chapter)