March 22, 1867.

The vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.

A German-flagged undersea cable laying ship is heading north from the port of Mombasa towards the Red Sea.

The sudden outbreak and end of the East Sang War led Ernst to believe that the current information communication between the East African colonies and Europe was too backward.

Even from the outbreak to the end of the Dongsang War, it was the colonies that made their own decisions, after all, it was understandable that they relied on ships to carry letters back and forth, and they did not have time to report to Europe.

The colonies were far away from Europe, so they were relatively independent and had relatively high authority, and they could decide their own countermeasures under some special circumstances.

However, the war was a wake-up call to Ernst, who was already cautious, to prevent the colonial governments of East Africa from gaining more autonomy.

Therefore, in order to strengthen the connection and control of the East African colonies, Ernst also invested heavily in laying a telegraph line from East Africa to Europe, which was used to direct the development of the East African colonies.

As early as 1858, the world's first transoceanic submarine cable, the Atlantic submarine cable from Newfoundland to Ireland, was laid by Britain and the United States.

After so many years of development, submarine cable laying has long been a technical problem, and this time ERNST has chosen to cooperate with Siemens in Germany.

In 1848, Siemens laid the first underground telegraph line from Berlin to Frankfurt, which was also the first telegraph line in the world.

Therefore, it has a lot of experience, but most of Siemens' business is on land, and it is not clear whether there is a spectrum for submarine cable laying.

However, as the only two well-known companies in Germany, Berlin Power Company has a good cooperative relationship with Siemens, and has been in contact with Siemens since its establishment.

In the field of generators, for example, the lighting system of the Berlin Electric Power Company is a product of the Siemens company.

After ERNST's Berlin Power Company proposed an intention to cooperate, Siemens engineers calculated that the technical conditions for the cooperation were ripe.

Siemens is not completely inexperienced in laying sea routes, it also has a presence around the Baltic Sea.

There are four main sections of the route that Ernst wants to lay, one is from East Africa to Egypt, passing through the Somali waters of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and going ashore in Egypt, this section of the line has the longest distance and the most difficult.

The second is the route on land in Egypt, this section of the distance is short, and Egypt is an important transportation node, the infrastructure is not bad in the same era, there is nothing to say.

The third is to cross the Mediterranean Sea, pass through the Adriatic Sea, and land from Trieste, which is all at sea, but it is less difficult.

The fourth is the European segment, which runs from Austria-Hungary all the way to Berlin.

Egypt itself had telegraph lines laid by the French to communicate with the mainland, but Ernst could not directly use them for the problem of direction.

European lines can be used to build existing mature lines, such as the telegraph line in Germany, which can be built directly in Austria and Prussia.

During the last Austro-Prussian war, Prussia built a large number of telegraph lines, and after the war, Austria also learned a lesson and followed up in large numbers.

Therefore, Ernst can borrow these mature lines to complete the transmission of information, but at some cost.

"Woo......"

As the steamship roared on the surface of the sea, the cable laying workers stood at the stern of the ship, carefully disassembling the coiled cables and slowly sinking into the water.

The cables were supplied by the Berlin Electric Power Company, while the other facilities, including engineers and workers, were mostly supplied by Siemens, which is the leading power company in the German region.

The recent invention of the electric light made Berlin Electric Power a smash hit, but if you look at the entire field of electricity, Siemens is undoubtedly full of dominance.

In particular, electric wires, generators, basic components...... Siemens has an absolute advantage.

Before the invention of the electric light, Berlin Electric Power was actually a contract factory for Siemens, producing products under patent license.

The pitch-black cable slowly submerges into the sea as the stern of the ship slides, and if you use too much force, the cable may be torn off, so experienced workers should keep an eye on it and adjust it to the speed of the boat at any time.

Due to the limitations of the times, the laying of submarine cables is relatively simple and crude, and almost all skilled workers rely on the power of "I think" to operate.

The world's first submarine cable was cut from the sea by French fishermen.

In this era, it is impossible to dig a hole in the bottom of the sea to dig a cable in the seabed, at most it will be considered a success if the cable is sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Seafarers carefully maneuver the vessel to create a good working environment for submarine cable layers, with wind and waves in the Indian Ocean being the biggest obstacle to laying work.

……

"Franck, slow down the thread a little faster, don't let the thread pull together." Duden, an engineer at Siemens, commanded the workers.

"Turn the handle a little faster so that the gear speed increases evenly." Duden said to the worker who operated the pulley.

"In the back, load all the counterweights, don't cut corners, if these lines can't sink to the bottom of the sea, there will be no wages then."

Duden ordered the workers to sink the cable into the sea, while supervising the work of the workers in strict accordance with the procedures.

This work must not be sloppy, and a mistake in one detail can lead to the loss of previous efforts.

The ship traveled all the way from the German region to the Indian Ocean. Because of the detour to the west coast of Africa, I had been resting at the port of Dar es Salaam.

This work will take at least a month or two, and all the crew's food, clothing, shelter, transportation, food, drink, and Lazar will be carried out on the ship.

And a shipload of cables is just enough to complete the laying work from East Africa to Egypt, so there are no ships to follow.

At the same time, there is also a ship of the Hexingen consortium in the Mediterranean that is responsible for this work, but their conditions are much better, the laying distance is short, the workload is small, and the supplies are easier to replenish.

Therefore, the Indian Ocean, an ocean-going submarine cable-laying ship, must strive for one-time success, and finally go to Egypt to dock and rest.

……

The laying of submarine cables from East Africa to Europe has been quite smooth, with little major accidents or mistakes.

Three months later, the entire line was laid, and the information sent from Berlin to the East African colonies, via Trieste and Egypt, was finally transmitted to the colonial government.

The time of communication between the two places was greatly reduced, and any incident that occurred in the East African colonies that day could be reported to the telegraph center in Berlin via submarine cable.

Ernst's remote command capability in the East African colonies was greatly enhanced, which facilitated the arrangement and decision of the colonies' daily work and affairs.