Schönbrunn Palace, Austria.

"Hmph, what! The commander-in-chief of the Navy is not satisfied, do you want to regret it! My silly brother. ”

Franz sneered at Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief of the East African Navy, who had just returned to Vienna.

Ferdinand, who had long since become an old fritter, immediately counterattacked: "In East Africa, the commander-in-chief of the navy, although he does not have a few ships under his command, it is much stronger than the Austrian 'bathtub' navy, and in the future, when the East African navy develops, I will order a blockade of the Gulf of Aden and prohibit Austrian ships from entering the Indian Ocean." ”

Ferdinand's joke was not answered by Franz.

Blockade of the Gulf of Aden? It seems that the geographical location of East Africa is really feasible, although East Africa has no ports on the Red Sea coast, Djibouti, and the north coast of Somalia, but its northernmost Mogadishu is not far from the Gulf of Aden, just like the North Germany region, although there are ports facing the Atlantic, but it is entirely possible for the British to use the navy to block Prussia in the Baltic Sea.

In fact, Franz did not expect that if East Africa really planned to blockade the Red Sea, it would be impossible to use the so-called East African Navy, and the East African Navy would not be as reliable as the East African Army blockading the Gulf of Aden compared to the grade of Great Britain.

According to the current military strength in East Africa, the army can directly rush to Djibouti and Somaliland at any cost, end up the British and French colonies in one fell swoop, and set up a few artillery pieces to pose a serious threat to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the newly planned military town of Dere Dawa in the northern province of East Africa is only more than 300 kilometers away from Djibouti.

The narrowest part of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 26 kilometers, and the firing range of East African artillery in the current era is as large as not such a long range, which large-caliber coastal defense guns are possible, but unfortunately they can't be moved, and the technology can't be reached now, but it's hard to say in the future.

This is also the reason why Ernst does not go to the Red Sea coast and the Gulf of Aden to occupy land, it is too conspicuous and easy to target, Britain and France, Ottomans, Egypt are not good at stubble, but East Africa also has the ability to threaten this passage.

And even if East Africa really blockades the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it is estimated that the British will be able to enjoy the world, and the British will be reluctant to dig the Suez Canal, all relying on the French to promote.

Suez is gone, at most the French are unlucky, Cape Town can return to the top, and the British Indian horse boy in the Far East is not easy to solve, and the British military in India has the ability to attack the Abyssinian Empire across the sea and win, its ability can be seen.

You must know that although Theodore II, the former emperor of the Abyssinian Empire, was arrogant, his vision was much broader than that of the stupid donkeys in the Far East, expanding the authority of the monarch, restricting the Abyssinian Church, which had huge wealth, from owning more estate, paying soldiers, building roads, buying modern firearms and cannons, and trying to abolish slavery.

Of course, at present, East Africa has no ability, and is not willing to learn what national fortune Japan gambles, it does not mean that there is no chance in the future, once East Africa becomes strong, not to mention Suez, even the whole of Egypt will come over to be a licking dog, Egypt's climate and environment, can not be a superman in the Vietnamese jungle, and the geographical environment cannot become an Afghan cemetery.

……

"How? Aren't you scared by my words! Ferdinand, who pulled the game back.

"Hmph, in the case of East Africa, it will not be able to achieve this ability in another 50 years of development, you look at the fact that the United States has been founded for so many years, and it is quite capable of bragging, so I can't wait to replace the British, and I don't just dare to shout across the Atlantic."

"Just kidding! You come really, Franz, it seems that you are still so stubborn. Archduke Ferdinand said.

Franz was speechless: "Say it! How to come back with time! ”

"It would be nice to be so serious! This time, of course, I came back to visit my mother and Karina. ”

"I guess it's on the way! I heard that the shipyard in Trieste a few days ago was surveying a few gunboats that had just been completed. ”

"It's by the way, so what? You should know that it is not easy to go back and forth at sea, and how busy I am every day! ”

Ferdinand didn't talk nonsense about this, he was really busy, the East African Navy was created, in order to let these sailors from the river and lake units form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, many things had to be done by Ferdinand and the young officers of the Austrian Navy who were "exiled" to East Africa.

"Since you're coming back to visit your mother and Karina, why are you angry with me, the eldest brother?" Franz deserves to be the topic finisher.

"You think so! It's not that Ernst kid who asked me to talk to you about cooperation. ”

"He told me about it the other day."

"Of course I know, but he only said the intention to cooperate, not the content, no! This is a list of cooperation drawn up by the Kingdom of East Africa, take a look! ”

Ferdinand didn't know where to pull out a large stack of cooperation lists, and Franz took them and looked at them carefully.

Two hours later.

"Ernst, he's really fit to be a shrewd businessman, and he's been hiding so many things for so long." Franz said with a smile.

"As long as the area of any region is reached, some resources can always be found, and I think the resource situation in East Africa is much inferior to that of Austria-Hungary." Archduke Ferdinand said.

"It would be nice to have such conditions, Austria is the chosen place of the Habsburgs, how can the conditions be comparable to those of a marginal place like East Africa." Franz said proudly.

Ferdinand despised his brother fiercely, but East Africa is indeed not angry, one hundred thousand land, just such a small resource, no wonder has not been targeted.

As the commander-in-chief of the navy of the Kingdom of East Africa, Ferdinand still has a good understanding of many situations in East Africa, so he naturally read this list of resources provided by the economic department of the Hexingen consortium in advance.

There are more than 2 million land in eastern East Africa, which seems to be much larger than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the resource endowment is indeed at the same level as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, among which there is also a large desert in the north.

Even so, if the resources of the eastern part of East Africa alone can reach the level of Austria-Hungary, it should also attract the attention of Austria-Hungary, why is the effect mediocre!

This is because the list was manipulated by Ernst, which contains some detailed mineral resource analysis reports for East Africa, as well as mining plans for the Kingdom of East Africa.

This list mainly discloses the distribution of coal and iron ore in southern Tanzania (the eastern shore of Lake Malawi), as well as the mineral resources in Kenya.

As for the gold mines in the Great Lakes region, they will not be open to the public, and the copper mines in the Katanga Plateau have also been hidden in East Africa, which is too huge to change the pattern of the world's copper industry, just like the oil in the Middle East in the past life would breed mold.

Copper, a scarce resource in the world, is also one of the most important, popular, versatile and widely used metals in the world.

Copper has been one of the most important metals since it was discovered and utilized by mankind, especially before the Iron Age.

There are not a few wars caused by copper mines, Ernst thought about this problem in his previous life, that is, the Shang Dynasty in the Far East, what is the reason for its love of waging wars, among which copper mines are an indispensable factor, just like mold likes oil, copper mines are the most important strategic resources in that era.

Cooperation should also be guarded against, just Kenya's resources are enough for Austria to eat a mouthful of fat, as for the two minerals of coal and iron, to be honest, Austria is not very attractive, the main mineral resources of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are among the best in Europe, completely sufficient, if the value is not high, there is more effort from the Balkans to think of a way to find a way is better than from East Africa shipping.

The idea of the East African government is also very simple, it is to develop the three provinces of South Kenya, namely the Eastern Province, South Prussia Province and West Great Lakes Province.

If you want to transport these resources to the port of Mombasa for export to Austria, why not help build a railway in East Africa!

At the same time, it can also pull orders for the railway department and companies in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the steel production capacity of East Africa cannot support such a large project, and other equipment must be imported from Austria, and the locomotives are also provided by Austria, and East Africa is repaid with mineral resources.

Now that the Suez Canal has been opened, the cost of transportation has also been reduced, and the distance from Trieste to Mombasa is not far, which is still very cost-effective, after all, no one will be afraid of too many mines, and France has lost the Lorraine iron ore mine is an example.

At present, priority is given to the development of South Kenya, as for what to do with Tanzania, in fact, there is no good way, just farm well, Tanzania was an agricultural country in the previous life, its resource situation is not as good as Kenya, this life is stronger at most, whether Tanzania can develop or depends on the development of Zambia, Zambia has developed, Tanzania is not a problem, after all, the ports are concentrated in the east, the geographical situation of the East African plateau is very good, and it is still possible to get the traffic into East Africa's own crossroads like Germany in the previous life.

The basis of cooperation is to be able to make money, and there is no need to worry about this, the East African government itself is also a buyer, and the minerals produced can be digested by themselves, and even more than half of them can be eaten, and the rest will be shipped back to Austria to support the development of Austria.

The intention of cooperation was clear, it was Austria and not Austria-Hungary, and Ernst was always looking for ways to strengthen the German national advantage in Austria, especially the Germans near the Adriatic, and Trieste, where the Italians were not in the minority, was dangerous.

Trieste is a passage connecting Germany and East Africa, and it is naturally better to control it in its own hands, so the Heshingen consortium has been committed to recruiting Italian immigrants in Trieste, and the effect can only be said to be decent, Trieste under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has a very good economic situation, the only excellent port, plus the whole of Austria-Hungary as an economic hinterland, can even radiate to Eastern Europe and South Germany.

Reducing the population of Italy was not a big success, so the population of Germany was increased, and the grain processing plant area of Trieste attracted a large number of Germans to work.

The population problem of Trieste, which cannot be solved now, does not mean that it cannot be solved in the future, and Ernst has thought about it, and Trieste, as an industrial city, should not escape the sanctions of the economic crisis.

(End of chapter)