Hearing this, Prince Constantine knew the purpose of Massimiliano I, which was to lobby Ernst to form a naval force in East Africa through himself.

Before Prince Constantine came to East Africa, Ernst really did not explain the situation of the East African coastline, and some of the information he read was also about land, population and revenue.

However, since Massimiliano I mentioned this matter to Ernst, Ernst did not respond, and it is estimated that he also had his own plans.

Therefore, Prince Konstantin did not intend to agree immediately, and talk to Massimiliano I before considering it.

"So that's what you're worried about?" Konstantin said, "I don't know much about East Africa, and I really didn't think about the defense of the coastline before I came to East Africa. ”

Heixingen is deep in the hinterland of Europe, even the edge of the sea can not be reached, not to mention the navy, that is, fishing boats, in Heixingen are rare goods, next door Sigmaringen has a Danube River passing by, cargo transportation is indispensable for ships, Heixingen has no big rivers to cross, and is sandwiched by a small mountain in a small plain.

Even though Konstantin later spent some time in the Prussian army, he only worked in the army.

If it weren't for Ernst's development of the East African colony, Prince Constantine probably wouldn't have much to do with the sea in his life.

"Although I don't know much about the situation in East Africa now, I still have some common sense about the navy, and there are so many countries in Europe that there are not a few people who are mixed with the ocean.

But I am afraid that there are only a handful of powerful navies in the world, and I don't know much about the specific situation of the navy, but everyone knows that now the navy is spending more and more money, and the cost of building a ship alone is an astronomical amount for many countries.

This money can be used to build a decent army, and the expansion direction of East Africa does need more army, and those countries in Europe that engage in overseas colonization, if they have the ability to expand in Europe, I believe they will also be inclined to army construction.

For example, France has both land and sea, but France is still more inclined to land construction, in addition to national defense needs, there is also a point that he still has opportunities for some neighboring countries.

Although there are countries such as Britain and Austria to contain them, their ability to interfere with France is actually very limited, as long as France does a good job in foreign affairs, those powerful countries may not sell the interests of some small countries.

Speaking of Austria, Austria has also tried overseas before, and then it retreated, and now almost all of its energy is devoted to the continental direction, and this is also the reason. Prince Konstantin said.

"It can't be said that although Austria has not organized overseas colonial expansion activities, its naval strength is still good, and Austria's coastline talent is not as good as that of East Africa, and Trieste, an important port, can take the lead.

There is also the problem of the cost of building ships in the navy, which is indeed very high, but look at who it compares with that way! If East Africa does not pursue a large navy, there must always be a small fleet! At worst, you can get a few small gunboats, and it's okay. Massimiliano I retorted.

Massimiliano I, of course, knew that the current state of affairs in East Africa simply could not afford to build a considerable maritime force, and he was not without measure.

Although the emperor was not qualified, he finally made great achievements for the Austrian navy, and the reason why he proposed naval construction in East Africa was actually out of good intentions.

And there is a mature plan, after his observation, East Africa is now capable of building a small navy, as he said, at worst, it can also have a few gunboats to play with.

"The coastline of East Africa is not completely undefended, Ernst has made many forts, I have seen in Mombasa, Tanga and Dar es Salaam, and they are doing a good job, but the coastal defense artillery is always a dead object, and can only be used for limited defense on land.

In case someone really likes to do things that harm others and is not beneficial to themselves, and only thinks about attacking the coastal cities of East Africa, East Africa will not even have the opportunity to take the initiative to attack, so it can only allow foreign warships to freely sail along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

Of course, this is a very bad situation, and if it really provokes the big powers, East Africa will only be unilaterally beaten.

But there is not only the power of the state on the ocean, which of those merchant ships is not armed, as long as you dare to think, it is no problem to become pirates in an instant.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar was also split from the Omani Empire in the Middle East, and Zanzibar was not part of the Omani Empire.

Ernst's acquisition of East Africa was also a clever trick, bluffing the Sultanate of Zanzibar at that time, and if it was really by force, it would be impossible for the colonial team at that time to go ashore. ”

Maximiliano I was right when he said that the first German mercenaries in the East African colonies came ashore on Dutch merchant ships.

The Sultanate of Zanzibar let more than 2,000 people go ashore without paying attention, and the Sultanate of Zanzibar is relatively weak in Dar es Salaam, and it is a political center, so it is not cost-effective to fight.

Ask yourself, this routine can be used in the East African colonies, and other forces can naturally use it, and now Dar es Salaam is still a free port, and merchant ships can dock at will, which is indeed a hidden danger.

"What you say makes sense, but there are still some differences between East Africa and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the main body of Zanzibar is on the island of Zanzibar, while the forces in East Africa are deep inland, even if there are external forces landing, it is not easy to gain a foothold in East Africa, after all, East Africa is very good on land." Prince Konstantin said.

"This security issue is only one aspect, I also took into account the future development of East Africa, I put forward this proposal, the navy needs a long time to accumulate, step by step, ship and equipment are secondary, personnel must always be reserved!

It is impossible for East Africa to expand inland all the time in the future, and to a certain extent, it will inevitably develop maritime power, and if you pay some money now, you can save more money in the future. Massimiliano I said.

Speaking of which, Prince Konstantin was actually convinced, and Prince Konstantin also knew that the future navy of East Africa was indispensable.

However, what does this kid Ernst think, he really didn't think about the naval power of East Africa!

The answer is definitely no, this is the result of poor information, Massimiliano I did not participate in the administration of East Africa, and secondly, a large amount of data in East Africa will eventually be collected in the hands of Ernst, and the East African government may not know some of the situation in East Africa.

After all, there is a lot of intelligence work between government departments, and the Heixingen consortium is also involved in the management of East Africa, and some of the statistics do not end up going through the East African government.

Ernst, of course, had thought about the development of naval forces in East Africa, and in fact there was a not-so-serious naval force in East Africa.

That is, the river and lake forces of East Africa, especially the three major lakes, the Great Lakes, Lake Solon and Lake Malawi.

Although the name is a river and lake force, but this is the team that Ernst built for the future navy, the three major lakes are all giant lakes, which can completely simulate part of the sea situation, but in the end, the river and lake troops have not really entered the sea, so it is not serious.

As for the advice given to Ernst by Massimilian I, the main reason was that he chose the wrong time, it was the Northwest Campaign, it could be said that he used the strength of the whole colony to seize such a large piece of land by force, and the country alone wiped out eight, and at the same time there were long supply lines and large-scale migration operations rolled out at the same time, and Ernst naturally did not have the energy to pay attention to naval construction.

And Konstantin has not yet taken over the political affairs of East Africa, and naturally does not know about the river and lake troops in East Africa, so there is this oolong dialogue.

Ernst had ideas about the formation of the East African Navy in the true sense of the word, but he was always busy with various affairs and put it on hold until now.

(End of chapter)