Chapter 1323 Fujairah Region
The actions of the Central Powers and the Entente on the Southern Front had an important impact on East Africa's activities in the Indian Ocean, especially in the Persian Gulf.
This has hindered East Africa's troop withdrawal from the Beibu Gulf Territory (UAE). In order to prevent disaster, East Africa not only cannot withdraw its four divisions from the Beibu Gulf Territory, but may also increase local troop strength in the future.
East Africa has more than 50,000 troops in the Beibu Gulf territory. You must know that the current local military strength in East Africa is only more than 200,000. The reason why so many troops are deployed there is, in addition to the previous purpose of suppressing and expelling the local Arabs, East Africa All operations in the Persian Gulf in recent years have basically revolved around the Beibu Gulf territory, so a strong military is essential.
The results were also very significant. Some time after East Africa occupied the Beibu Gulf territory, East Africa successively conducted negotiations with Oman, the Ottoman Empire, and the Arabian desert tribes.
This brought the Beibu Gulf Territory in East Africa to an area of 148,000 square kilometers as of 1918.
When East Africa acquired the Beibu Gulf territory, it was about 100,000 square kilometers. In the past two years, East Africa used war, threats, deception, extortion and other imperialist means to continuously move the Beibu Gulf territory to the north, west and south. expansion.
And you must know that the area of the United Arab Emirates in its previous life was only a little more than 80,000 square kilometers. It was on this basis that the Beibu Gulf territory in East Africa continued to erode the surrounding areas.
An important reason for the smooth expansion of East Africa's Beibu Gulf territory lies in East Africa's strong military strength in the Beibu Gulf territory.
Although East Africa has only more than 50,000 troops in the Beibu Gulf territory, these troops basically come from the three theaters of northwest, east and south of East Africa.
Although it is not the most elite force in East Africa, according to European standards, the equipment level and personnel configuration of the Beibu Gulf Territory in East Africa are no different from those of European front-line combat forces, especially those of military powers such as Germany and France.
In addition, the territory around the Beibu Gulf is basically a desert area that does not receive much attention. East Africa did not spend much effort to acquire these lands.
And it is precisely for this reason that according to the original plan of Ernst and the East African Ministry of National Defense, as long as one brigade of troops, about five to six thousand people, is retained in the Beibu Gulf territory, it will be enough.
After all, East Africa's military configuration in the Beibu Gulf territory is almost a dimensionality-reducing blow to the surrounding Arab countries. There is no need to maintain such a large force all the time, not to mention the East African navy's cooperation in maintaining local security.
However, after 1918, the situation completely changed. As the British increased their troops to the Persian Gulf coast, the number of British troops in the Persian Gulf quickly exceeded one million. Although most of them were Indians, this also broke the boundaries of the Persian Gulf. Military balance along the coast.
This forces East Africa to postpone the withdrawal plan of the Tonkin Gulf Territory, and in order to ensure the security of the Tonkin Gulf Territory in East Africa, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of Fujairah Port and Khorfakkan Port.
These two ports are the result of negotiations between the governments of East Africa and Oman. Of course, this does not mean that these two ports belonged to Oman before.
In fact, as early as the last century, before East Africa invaded the Beibu Gulf territory, Fujairah, the tribe that formed the United Arab Emirates in its previous life, was independent from Oman.
Fujairah is the Emirate of Fujairah in the previous life of the United Arab Emirates. From a political perspective, it is at the same level as Abu Dhabi and Dubai and was the original shareholder of the previous life of the United Arab Emirates.
The Fujairah tribe and Oman have always had territorial disputes. This is a legacy of history. When East Africa takes over the Gulf of Tonkin territory, it will naturally have to solve this problem smoothly.
Oman obviously was not as tough as it faced the Fujairah tribe in East Africa. In 1917, the border between the two countries was formally established in the treaty signed by the two countries.
The reason why the Beibu Gulf Territory can become the core of East Africa in the Persian Gulf region is inseparable from the Fujairah region.
A geographical concept should be mentioned here. Regarding the Middle East, the Persian Gulf is very famous. After all, it was the most important oil producing area in the world in the past life, and this has caused the status of the Strait of Hormuz to rise sharply.
But the Strait of Hormuz is the gateway to the Persian Gulf, but passing through the Strait of Hormuz does not mean entering directly into the Indian Ocean or the Arabian Sea, but first passing through the Gulf of Oman. Therefore, the Strait of Hormuz actually connects two gulfs, one is the Persian Gulf and the other is the Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz is like the iron rod in the middle of a barbell.
The Fujairah region is the area where the Beibu Gulf territory connects to the Gulf of Oman, which allows East Africa to connect to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman respectively through land.
At the same time, the East African navy also relies on the Fujairah region to avoid being blocked by the United Kingdom. If East Africa does not have a military base in the Gulf of Oman, then East Africa will definitely not be able to maintain the smooth flow of the "Berlin-Baghdad-Basra" trade route.
After all, Britain controls the Strait of Hormuz. If East Africa only has a military presence in the Persian Gulf, the British can easily block East Africa in the Persian Gulf.
With the Fujairah region, the situation has changed, and the Strait of Hormuz has been sandwiched by the East African Navy, and the so-called blockade cannot be realized.
The two most important ports in the Fujairah region are the Port of Fujairah and the Port of Khor Fakkan. These two ports are small in size, but they are the two most important military bases of the East African Navy in the Middle East.
Now, seeing that the Persian Gulf is about to completely riot, East Africa will naturally strengthen its military arm in the Fujairah region to ensure that East Africa's interests will not be interfered by the British.
…
Fujairah.
Located at Fujairah Naval Base is the Third Fleet of the East African Indian Ocean Fleet. The command center covering the entire Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea coast of the East African Navy's Third Fleet is set up here.
Third Fleet Commander Lomach is discussing with his subordinates the deployment of naval power in the Middle East.
Lomach held a cigarette in his mouth and said: "Nowadays, British ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz every day, transporting supplies to the British troops on the front line. There are probably more than one million British troops in the entire Persian Gulf region."
"Moreover, in the past year, the British navy has become more active in the Persian Gulf, which shows that the British navy deployed in India must be involved, and the pressure we are facing is also increasing."
"In order to ensure peace in the Middle East and the safety of the Third Fleet, please put forward any good opinions you have."
Due to the distribution of its jurisdiction, the Third East African Fleet can clearly monitor the activities of the British troops in Hormuz.
The Port of Fujairah, where the command center is located, is not far from the Strait of Hormuz. The Third Fleet has detailed data on how many British transport ships and British warships pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day.
But it is precisely because of these data that it triggered the concerns of Third Fleet Commander Lomach. In the Middle East, the British Navy revealed its strong strength.
Although the main force of the British Royal Navy is currently distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean, the total tonnage of the British Navy in the Indian Ocean can reach close to one million tons.
Of course, if compared with the entire East African Indian Ocean Fleet, Britain is definitely at a disadvantage, but now the British navy in the Indian Ocean is basically concentrated on the line from India to the Red Sea, which has put huge pressure on the East African Third Fleet in the middle.
Although the scale of East Africa's Indian Ocean Fleet far exceeds that of the British Indian Ocean Navy, East Africa's forces in the Indian Ocean are now relatively scattered, especially after the Fourth Fleet moved to Phuket and took charge of the East Indian waters.
In the past, the Fourth Fleet was mainly responsible for the northern waters of East Africa, that is, the waters from Mombasa north to the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. It could be the horns of each other and look after each other with the Third Fleet. But now that the Fourth Fleet has moved, the situation has happened. change.
(End of chapter)