African Entrepreneurship Record

Of course, East Africa would not stop the ”fraudulent” actions of Germany and Belgium. In Ernst’s view, as long as the buffer zone between East and West Africa could increase its non-black population, it would be beneficial for East Africa’s future.

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While the Jiaozhou consulate was promoting the Sigmaringen royal family’s territories, the former ”East Africa” warships in Jiaozhou Bay were also conducting military training.

After receiving the East African warships, the Far East Beiyang fleet further expanded, with two ironclad ships deployed in Jiaozhou.

Historically, the Beiyang fleet had only two naval bases, namely Weihai and Lushun. But with Jiaozhou’s growing importance, it had been designated as the third largest base several years ago.

Especially after the addition of decommissioned East African warships, this formerly ”hollow” third largest base made up for its shortcomings. However, it still had a certain gap compared to the other two.

East Africa sold three ironclad ships and seven gunboats, a relatively large scale, naturally providing after-sales service. So, they sent a military advisory group to conduct exercises and daily maintenance training for the sailors of its three ironclad ships.

”If you think of a certain island nation in the East as a hypothetical enemy, while you may have a larger navy, the overall quality and performance gap are not large. Especially the warships we exported from East Africa are old ones from a dozen years ago, so maintenance must be more attentive.”

Cheap doesn’t mean quality, especially for the discounted East African warships. But the price was certainly one that the Far East Empire couldn’t refuse.

Moreover, the warships sold by East Africa were enough to form a combat system, their combat effectiveness had already been proven in East African naval battles. Technically, they couldn’t compare to British warships, but if operated properly, they still had the strength to fight, and if maintained well, they could last another twenty or thirty years without major problems.

Thanks to Ernst’s ”favoritism,” these warships underwent major overhauls at East African shipyards before departure, with some equipment upgraded, so there were basically no major issues.

As for some ”minor issues,” even the most advanced warships today can’t avoid them, and overcoming difficulties depends on the specific operations of the Far East Empire’s sailors.

”Lieutenant Claire, why do you always make Japan our hypothetical enemy during exercises?” Wuwei Ship’s commander Liu Fulong couldn’t help asking.

After all, in Liu Fulong’s view, Japan is just a small island nation, how could it have the courage for large-scale military conflict with the Far East Empire? Although there had been numerous maritime frictions with Japan before, he saw them as small country ”taking advantage” acts.

It’s just that the Far East Empire does not take it seriously; otherwise, it would crush Japan with overwhelming force. Japan is an historical legacy issue, existing since the Ming Dynasty, and no one would imagine that this island nation had the enormous ambition of ”swallowing an elephant.”

Claire: ”I never said it was Japan, I just said a certain island nation in the East. Looking around the Far East region, only you and the Japanese navy are sizable. But Japan is so small, yet its naval development is on par with yours. Shouldn’t that be cause for concern?”

Liu Fulong shook his head and said, ”Perhaps Japan is weak, so it can only rely on strong ships and powerful cannons for a sense of security.”

Claire disagreed: ”I don’t think so. Japan’s naval development has already severely burdened its economy. No matter how unsafe it is, it must ensure its economic issues, and throughout the world, only the former Prussia was such a militaristic country.” Their high military expenditures are unsustainable, so they can only alleviate pressure through external expansion. If I’m not mistaken, their first target will inevitably be Korea, and Korea is your vassal state. When the time comes, will you save it or not?”

Although Claire’s words had some logic, Liu Fulong still insisted on his view: ”Our navy is much stronger than Japan’s, even if they have ambitions, they can’t defeat us.”

Regarding Liu Fulong’s stubbornness, Claire said: ”You should know about the Battle of Lissa, where the Austria-Hungary Navy won with the weak against the strong. More recently, in the East African naval battle, our military strength was far inferior to the United Kingdom’s, but it ended in a draw. The gap between the Japanese Navy and the Far East Empire’s navy is even smaller, so as your old saying goes, better safe than sorry.”

”Moreover, as the primary military force of the modern era, the navy must be taken seriously no matter what, so necessary training should not be lacking.”

”There’s a saying in the East African Navy: treat your warships like family. East African Navy personnel all come from domestic talents with at least a secondary education level, and many have received higher education.”

”In such circumstances, the East African Navy could perform well in the East African naval battles, but your naval problems are even more significant, especially in personnel quality compared to East Africa.”

”As far as I know, Japan also values education, having implemented compulsory education, and while not as advanced as East Africa or Germany, its level is definitely top-notch in the Far East Empire.”

”In terms of cultural knowledge, I don’t have high hopes for you. After all, without scientific systematic education in a short time, it’s hard to cultivate talent. But there’s a saying, ’practice makes perfect,’ so naval training frequency must not decrease, and essential ship knowledge must be grasped. On this point, our military advisory group members will fully cooperate with you.”

Withholding knowledge is not an option. For the Far East Navy, the East African military advisory group almost gives everything away, since 19th-century ship technology constantly advances, what’s popular today could be outdated tomorrow, so the East African Navy itself needs continuous learning and exploration.

Of course, for the East African Navy, if East African ships perform well in the Far East Empire in the future, it would also benefit its home country’s ship sales business, a point clearly understood by the United Kingdom.

If it weren’t for the famous reputation of the Royal Navy, who would buy British warships? The Far East Empire initially wanted to buy British warships completely, but the British had too many little considerations, ultimately allowing Germany to swoop in.

Regarding Claire’s words, Liu Fulong was quite moved. He didn’t really know the real worldwide level of these East African military instructors.

But in his own view, they had genuine talent and knowledge, plus there’s a saying, ”strict teachers produce superior students.” The training and workload at the Jiaozhou military base were the highest in the Far East Empire navy.

In fact, this was also the result of competition between East African and German instructors. East Africa, being a German country, saw its nationals everywhere comparing themselves to Germany, the top power among German countries.

Especially after the South African war ended, the confidence of East Africans rose a notch further, with an even stronger competitive mindset.

Particularly in the navy, the East African Navy’s strength used to be the first among the three German nations (East Africa, Germany, Austria), but since the 1880s, the German Navy developed rapidly, especially after William II took power.

This left the East African Navy feeling a bit imbalanced. Currently, the East African Navy is no longer rapidly expanding in scale due to important reasons tied to East Africa’s economic development, whether it’s adjusting the agricultural industrial structure, developing new territories, upgrading industrial technology, or national infrastructure construction, all require money.

The proportion of funding available to the military naturally reduced, but overall, the military expenditure of the East African army still steadily grows.