African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 208: Chapter 196: Misunderstanding Dialogue

Upon hearing this, Prince Constantine realized the purpose of Maximiliano I: he wanted to persuade Ernst to form a navy in East Africa through him.

Before coming to East Africa, Ernst never really briefed Prince Constantine about the East African coastline, and the materials he reviewed were primarily about land, population, and revenue data.

However, since Maximiliano I had mentioned this matter to Ernst and received no response, it was likely that Ernst had his plans.

Therefore, Prince Constantine did not intend to promise anything immediately. He planned to have a conversation with Maximiliano I before making any decisions.

”So this is what you’re worried about?” said Constantine. ”I’m not very familiar with East Africa, and before coming here, I indeed didn’t think about the coast defense. Having stayed in Germany for so long, I almost forgot about naval matters myself.”

Heixinggen is deeply embedded in the European hinterland, not even close to the sea. Forget about a navy, even fishing boats are a rarity there. Meanwhile, the neighboring Sigmaringen at least has the Danube River running through it, making transportation reliant on boats. But Heixinggen has no big rivers and is surrounded by small hills on a tiny plain.

Even though Constantine later served in the Prussian army, it was only in the land forces.

If not for Ernst’s development of the East African colonies, Prince Constantine probably wouldn’t have much to do with the sea in his lifetime.

”While I may not know much about the current situation in East Africa, I do have some basic knowledge of navies. Quite a few countries in Europe are involved with the sea.

But truly powerful navies are rare across the world. I may not know the details of how a navy functions, but everyone knows that a navy is becoming increasingly expensive. Just the construction cost of a single ship is astronomical for many countries.

This money could completely establish a sizable army, and the direction of East Africa’s expansion indeed demands more land forces. Those European countries engaging in overseas colonization, if they had the opportunity to expand in Europe, would also likely prefer army development.

Take France, for instance, which balances sea and land forces. However, France still leans towards building its army, not only for national defense but also because there are opportunities with some surrounding countries.

Although they are constrained by Britain and Austria, their capability to interfere with France is limited. As long as France manages its diplomatic affairs well, those major powers might not hesitate to sell out some smaller countries’ interests.

And regarding Austria, it once tried its hand at overseas endeavors and then backed out; now its focus is almost entirely on the continent. This is the same logic,” said Prince Constantine.

”That’s not entirely accurate. Although Austria hasn’t organized overseas colonial expansion activities, its naval strength is still decent. Moreover, Austria’s coastline is less advantageous than East Africa’s, with only one significant port, Trieste, able to hold its own.

As for the high cost of shipbuilding in the navy, it’s costly indeed, but it depends who you’re comparing it with! If East Africa doesn’t aim for a large navy, at least a small fleet is necessary! At worst, they could have a few small gunboats, which is doable,” retorted Maximiliano I.

Maximiliano I certainly knew that East Africa’s current state couldn’t support building a significant maritime power, and he was not an imprudent person.

Although he didn’t do well as an emperor, he did make significant contributions to the Austrian navy, and his proposal for East Africa to develop a naval force came from good intentions.

Moreover, he had a mature plan. From his observations, East Africa was now capable of building a small navy, at the very least managing to play around with some gunboats as he mentioned.

”East Africa’s coastline isn’t entirely undefended. Ernst built many forts, which I’ve seen in Mombasa, Tanga, and Dar es Salaam, and they are well done. But coastal artillery, in the end, is stationary, offering only limited defense on land.

If someone is intent on causing harm without benefiting themselves, purely targeting East Africa’s coastal cities, East Africa would have no chance of counterattacking and could only let foreign warships wander freely along the Indian Ocean coast.

Of course, that’s a worst-case scenario. If they provoke a major power, East Africa would be at their mercy.

But it’s not only national powers at sea; every merchant ship is armed. If they dared, they could turn into pirates in an instant.

Back in the day, Zanzibar Sultanate also splintered from the Middle East’s Oman Empire. Before that, Zanzibar Island wasn’t part of Oman Empire’s territory.

Ernst’s acquisition of East Africa was somewhat of a trick, intimidating the Zanzibar Sultanate at that time. If by force, the colonists couldn’t have possibly landed,”

Maximiliano I was right. The initial batch of German mercenaries that landed in the East African colonies arrived on a Dutch merchant ship.

The Zanzibar Sultanate, being careless, allowed these more than two thousand people to land, and with the Zanzibar Sultanate’s weaker presence around Dar es Salaam and the political center focus there, it was unwise to fight. Captain Arman’s amicable approach with reasonable demands allowed the mercenaries to establish the first colony inland.

In all honesty, this tactic used by the East African colony could also be used by other powers. Dar es Salaam is still a free port, where merchant ships can dock at will, posing a potential security risk.

”You make a valid point, but there are some differences between East Africa and the Zanzibar Sultanate. Zanzibar mainly resides on Zanzibar Island, whereas East Africa’s power reaches inland. Even if foreign powers land, it won’t be easy to establish a foothold in East Africa due to its strong land forces,” said Prince Constantine.

”This security issue is just one aspect. My proposal also considers East Africa’s future development needs. The navy as an armed service requires long-term accumulation. A delayed start will lead to staying behind, and though ships and equipment are secondary, there needs to be a reserve of personnel!

Setting up a small navy can at least nurture some naval talent. East Africa can’t just continually expand inland; at some point, there must be maritime development. Spending money now saves more money in the future,” said Maximiliano I.

At this point, Prince Constantine was indeed convinced and realized that a future East African navy was inevitable.

However, what was Ernst thinking? Had he really not considered the naval forces for East Africa?

Undoubtedly the answer is no. This was simply a result of information disparity. Maximiliano I hadn’t been involved in East African administration, and a lot of the East African data eventually aggregated to Ernst, with the East African government not necessarily clear on some situations.

After all, intelligence work is often compartmentalized among government departments, and the Heixinggen consortium was involved in managing East Africa, so some statistics wouldn’t ultimately pass through the East African government.

Ernst had indeed considered the development of East Africa’s naval forces. In reality, East Africa had an informal naval force.

It was precisely the River and Lake Team in East Africa, particularly in the three Great Lakes, Soron Lake, and Lake Malawi.

Though technically called a River and Lake Team, it was the base Ernst was building for the future navy. These three large lakes were giant bodies of water capable of simulating some aspects of maritime situations. But ultimately, the River and Lake Team had not yet ventured into the open sea, making it somewhat informal.

As for Maximiliano I’s suggestion to Ernst, the timing was inappropriate. It came during the northwest campaign, a massive effort by the entire colony to seize such a large tract of land, with the overthrow of eight nations simultaneously and the establishment of long supply lines as well as large-scale migration operations. Ernst had no capacity to focus on naval development.

Since Constantine had not yet taken over administrative duties in East Africa, he was naturally unaware of the River and Lake Team, leading to this misguided conversation.

Regarding the actual establishment of an East African navy, Ernst certainly had relevant ideas but had been so preoccupied with various affairs that it had been shelved until now.