Chapter 1125 Breaking the restrictions on naval development
“At present, the penetration rate of our army’s armored units and motorized units is as high as 40%, but it still retains a large number of traditional infantry and cavalry, which saves a lot of expenses for our army.” Merk said.
Without defense pressure, it would be difficult for East Africa to achieve comprehensive military reform. After all, relying on traditional military forms, East Africa can suppress surrounding small countries or colonies.
East Africa's military operations in the Persian Gulf the year before last were carried out by relying on traditional armies. The Arabs in the Beibu Gulf territory even lacked rifle bullets. Therefore, unless they were dealing with a military power like Germany, East Africa had to use its own State-of-the-art military response.
"Our army is currently equipped with about 4,300 artillery pieces, covering a variety of calibers and uses. In the world, it is second only to Germany and Russia, about the same as France, and more than the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Among them, Seventy-five millimeter artillery is the main force, accounting for about 47%.”
The East African army once equipped the 75mm artillery on a large scale. This situation lasted until the end of the last century. The main reason was that the performance of this artillery was indeed excellent and it was easy to move. After entering the 20th century, with the development of the East African automobile industry, the 75mm artillery The 15mm artillery is still favored by the army. As a light field gun, the 75mm artillery is moderate in weight and is more convenient to be towed by cars.
Of course, compared to the French army's superstition of 75mm artillery, East Africa is still much worse. France's main artillery is almost all 75mm artillery, and the number of artillery larger than 75mm artillery is less than 300. There are more than 1,400 large-caliber artillery guns in East Africa.
With the implementation of the first two five-year plans, East Africa's defense industry has been qualitatively improved. The difficulty of manufacturing larger-caliber artillery has been greatly reduced, and artillery research and development has also reached a higher level. As a major metal and mineral country, East Africa is able to obtain many products that are lacking in Europe. of rare metals, which provide high-quality conditions for the research and development of East African artillery.
If we look at the penetration rate of artillery among East African troops, East Africa is even higher than that of European countries. Take Germany for example. The number of German artillery is second only to Russia, with nearly 7,000. However, the number of German troops is more than ten dozen more than that of East Africa. Ten thousand, and there are armored forces in East Africa. The tanks in East Africa are actually a mobile artillery support force, but they are not included in the East African artillery ranks.
Overall, the artillery penetration rate in East Africa is similar to that of Germany and greater than that of other countries. Although Russia has the largest number of artillery, its penetration rate and artillery quality are far behind those of Germany and East Africa, and even not as good as France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Our country's artillery quantity is in the second echelon in the world, and its quality is between Germany and France. The concept adopted by artillery also focuses on the characteristics of Germany, France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to deal with both traditional warfare and trench warfare. Combat concept.”
Among the world's artillery forces, Europe as a whole ranks first in the world, and among them Germany, France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are the most prominent. The armies of other countries generally use the artillery of these three countries as a reference standard. This is also the case for the East African Army. The main reason for the large-scale equipment of 75mm artillery and the equipment of a large number of large-caliber heavy artillery.
Because at the beginning of the construction of artillery power in East Africa, two combat modes were considered. During the South African War in East Africa, both sides had already switched to relatively primitive trench warfare. However, this does not mean that the 75mm artillery is aimed at line formations. Infantry mode artillery has no place in East Africa. After all, Egypt has the strongest military strength among the countries surrounding East Africa. To deal with a country like Egypt, using large-caliber heavy artillery feels like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.
As for other countries and colonies, there is no need to say more. Artillery is considered a rarity. For example, the Abyssinian Empire only has more than 20 artillery pieces in the whole country.
Merk continued: "Our army, especially the non-armored forces, implements the concept of firepower superiority, which enables our basic infantry to be equipped with a large number of easy-to-carry mortars and grenades, and the entire army has formed a multi-level artillery strike coverage. strength and can adapt to a variety of battlefield situations.”
"In addition to weapons, another highlight of the army's construction is informatization. It is currently actively promoting the popularization of radio equipment throughout the army, and at the same time promoting the miniaturization of radio equipment, as well as telephones, wired telegraphs, etc., which have also made great progress in recent years. A strong information network has been formed in our country to specifically serve the military. "
Sometimes wars are about intelligence, so the militaries of all countries attach great importance to information collection. East Africa, with its advantages as a world power in the power field, is also considered a top-notch presence in this regard, especially with the popularity of radio, it can be said that East Africa will be included. The world's armies have been taken to a new level. "At the naval level, the total tonnage of our country's navy has now reached 680,000 tons, which can be considered to have achieved considerable development. In the past three years, it has increased by more than 100,000 tons."
The total tonnage of the East African Navy still exceeds the minimum standard of 650,000 tons originally agreed with the United Kingdom, and now exceeds 30,000 tons.
Of course, this is also in line with the agreement between the two countries. After all, the East African navy is based on the French navy, and France has never stopped military competition in naval affairs. Now the total tonnage of the French navy is close to 900,000 tons. Therefore, according to the original agreement between East Africa and the British With the agreement reached, East Africa can naturally increase the corresponding size of its navy.
In addition, there is another unstable factor that interferes with the construction of the East African Navy, and that is the Japanese Navy. In the original agreement between East Africa and the United Kingdom, it was clearly stated that the Japanese Navy cannot exceed the East African Navy, otherwise the East African Navy has the right to change its plans on its own.
Today, the total tonnage of the Japanese navy has reached more than 600,000 tons. Therefore, the East African navy has no reason to interfere with the expansion of the East African navy, unless the UK can deal with Japan and persuade the Japanese navy not to expand.
However, Japan has long ceased to be under Wu Xiamen. If it were before the Russo-Japanese War, Japan might still obey the British because of the gap in strength. But now Japan has become one of the world's recognized powers, replacing Spain as the goalkeeper of the powers. Naturally Will not be obedient.
In fact, from a military perspective alone, Japan should be above Spain. Even in terms of economic considerations, Japan and Spain are about the same. Even because of their population advantage, they are slightly better than Spain. Therefore, Japan is the goalkeeper of the great powers. Some underestimate Japan as a country.
However, this is the view of most Western countries. As an Asian country, it is very rare for Japan to be regarded as an equal by the great powers. It will be difficult for them to further recognize Japan's international status.
Now Japan has defined itself as the talker in East Asia, so it does not obey the words of its former master, Britain. Even if Britain declines further, Japan is likely to try its best to kick Britain out of East Asia. The following offenses are as follows: After all, it is a traditional skill of Japan. In fact, Japan did this in its previous life and taught Britain a lesson in Southeast Asia.
So the British asked the Japanese government to stop its naval expansion, but the Japanese government completely adopted an attitude of obedience and disobedience.
And if Japan does not stop its naval military competition, East Africa will naturally not be far behind. Therefore, although East Africa's naval development has stagnated for a period of time due to the influence of the East-British Settlement Treaty, it is now catching up again.
This was actually the trap Ernst set from the beginning. Due to his understanding of Japan, Ernst had long known that Japan would not act in accordance with British instructions, so he included Japan's total naval tonnage in the treaty as a condition.
Even if Britain is unhappy now, there is nothing it can do. This hatred can only be passed on to the "disobedient" Japanese government, and East Africa has used Japan's ambitions to avoid the naval development restrictions of the East-British Settlement Treaty.
(End of this chapter)