Chapter 821 Disarmament
Of course, the naval construction in East Africa in the 1970s was a last resort. Ernst also wanted to develop step by step, but knowing the world situation, he could not hesitate at all.
At that time, the East African navy's demand was to be able to take shape in a short time and develop combat effectiveness to cope with the severe national defense situation in the 1980s.
After all, Ernst knew that the 1980s was a peak period for the expansion of great powers around the world, and the African continent was a key area. Therefore, in this case, the East African navy must have a certain size and strength in order to safeguard East Africa's practical interests. Obviously, building a stronger navy in a short period of time will come at a cost.
However, fortunately, the East African Navy successfully completed its historical mission and withstood the pressure of the British Royal Navy during the South African War.
The East African Navy was formed in the 1970s and began to form combat capabilities in the 1980s. If it was like the Far Eastern Empire, the United States and Japan only began to expand their navies in the 1980s, then it would be difficult for the East African Navy to compete with the British Royal Navy in the South African War. After all, it was The ship's adaptation and naval training are also a relatively long process.
Now, according to Ernst's judgment, the dangerous period in East Africa has passed, so the disarmament of the East African navy and army is inevitable. In addition to the need to reduce expenditures, there is also the consideration of withdrawing funds.
Especially the large amounts of weapons and equipment that were left behind or captured during the South African War, we must sell them immediately while they can still be sold at a good price.
Of course, the East African navy has certain localization capabilities and will continue to import warships from Germany and Austria. Apart from political factors, the more important thing is to learn from the advanced experience and technology of other countries.
In the field of experience and technology, there is no doubt that the most powerful one is the United Kingdom. The reason why East Africa did not introduce warships from the United Kingdom is comparable to Versailles, that is, East Africa captured two British warships and sank three in the South African War.
After the South African War, East Africa did not return it to the British government. After all, six million pounds was not enough for East Africa to repay its capital. These two British warships were used to make up for the losses in the South African War.
Now there is a lack of French warships as a reference. As for Tsarist Russia and the United States, it can be completely ignored. Neither Tsarist Russia nor the United States is too strong in technology and is at the same level as East Africa. Tsarist Russia has a poor industrial level and low naval investment, while the United States is not. It is because it does not pay attention to military development. Although the U.S. Navy also developed greatly in the 1980s, before that, the U.S. Navy could be said to have developed in a "paralyzed" manner. Since the end of the Civil War, the United States has basically not invested much in the military. The development of the navy in the 1980s was still due to the current international environment.
Of these three warships, two were seriously damaged and are undergoing overhaul. As for the salvaged ironclad ship, it has been dismantled and studied by technicians at the Bagamoyo Shipyard.
In fact, one of the three sunk warships has been successfully salvaged. This means that the East African Navy has three advanced British warships currently in service, including two ironclads and a cruiser.
After all, Europe's external expansion activities were too frequent and intense in the 1980s. No other region or country in the world was not afraid. All countries with eyes were expanding their armaments.
As for countries and regions that are not short-sighted, their future fate will be the same as that of West Africa. The great powers will carve up the place with a table knife, leaving not even the dregs left.
It’s just that after this update, the East African Navy has changed from being dominated by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to becoming one of Britain, Austria, and Germany. The East African Navy will fully compare the advantages and disadvantages of the three navies’ warships from the actual combat effects, and then provide feedback to Bagamo. Make an appointment to wait for the shipyard.
If you count the two British warships that are about to serve in the East African Navy, and the East African government's shipbuilding plan in the next few years, the East African Navy has actually not suffered much losses, and has even completed a small-scale update.
The first town.
At the end of every war, Ernst began to disarmament. This almost became a rule, and in 1890, this was still the case for the East African Defense Forces. Ernst: "In the next ten years, the size of the navy will remain unchanged. The main task is to slowly replace the current main warships and arrange for decommissioning according to the construction time and other parameters. Maintaining the current size of the navy is enough to ensure the security of our maritime areas. "
"Of course, considering that our country has recently acquired Angola and Mozambique colonies, thereby acquiring more coastlines and ports, the navy's defense pressure is actually greater. At this point, my opinion is to develop more small and medium-sized and multi-purpose ships , to make up for the shortcomings of the East African Navy in this regard.”
The East African navy has always lagged behind in the development of small and medium-sized warships and multi-purpose ships, such as torpedo boats, supply ships, troop carriers, etc.
So this time the disarmament arrangement for the navy actually decreased rather than increased. It did not achieve the purpose of "disarmament", but instead achieved a certain degree of strengthening of the navy.
Of course, this is also appropriate. After all, East Africa is now a real two-ocean country, or even a three-ocean country. The navy cannot be reduced at all, even if the budget is increased.
However, while maintaining the overall size of the navy, the East African navy is still among the top ten in the world, so it does not need to expand too much. This is also in line with the current economic development level of East Africa.
Investing in naval construction regardless of cost like Japan does is actually a serious burden on the national economy. This is also an important reason why Japan is keen on war. If it does not plunder from elsewhere, the Japanese economy will collapse on its own.
East Africa and the United States have similar attitudes on this point, that is, it is enough. Of course, East Africa has always been more active than the United States in military construction. After all, in Ernst's view, military development is a long-term need and cannot be stopped directly because of short-term interests. .
"As for the army, it should be abolished to the pre-war level. After solving Angola and Mozambique, the pressure on our country's land defense has been greatly reduced, and the national border has been shortened by nearly 3,000 kilometers. At the same time, the Portuguese have been eliminated, and there are hundreds of thousands less people around us. There is no need to deploy large numbers of troops on the border in a tit-for-tat manner.”
The merger of Angola and Mozambique has completely changed the defense and security situation in East Africa. Instead, the north has become the focus of land defense in East Africa in the future.
However, the threat in northern East Africa is completely insignificant compared to the South African region before the South African War. The strongest force in the north is still the British, that is, their colony Egypt.
However, Egypt and East Africa are separated by the Sahara Desert, which is a natural geographical barrier. Although South Sudan was part of Egypt in history, the South Sudan region is actually completely semi-independent and can break away from Egypt at any time.
Now East Africa only needs to deploy a small amount of troops in the Jezira Plain to completely block Egypt (Britain)'s southward route. As for the detour from the Kordofan Plateau, it also faces the southern tropical rainforest area. Without a guide and sufficient It is almost impossible to achieve without material supplies. If an army can do it, it will be a "military miracle" worthy of being recorded in history.
As for the other forces in the north, there is no need to worry. The strongest one may be the Abyssinian Empire, but the Abyssinian Empire is too backward and has good relations with East Africa.
As for the elimination of the Boer Republic in the south, East Africa completely controlled the north bank of the Orange River and completely got rid of its military and topographical disadvantages according to the terrain. Only a small number of troops were needed to defend the military strength of the Cape Town Colony, which passed by After the South African War, I probably wouldn’t have had such an idea.
“Therefore, the final number of the National Defense Forces Army should be maintained at around 200,000. Of course, the cavalry units newly formed during the war can continue to be retained, and each military region will cancel or mix some secondary units as appropriate.”
In this way, the East African Army will have to cut down almost half of its troops, but this is within everyone's psychological expectations. After all, with the lessons learned from the South African War, there are basically zero countries that dare to launch a direct war in East Africa.
(End of this chapter)