For the time being, take Ferdinand's words seriously, but Franz can't easily agree to let Austria-Hungary protect East Africa, even if East Africa sends his younger brother over.

"Population is not equal to national strength, although the land of East Africa is not small, but these cannot change the status of East Africa as a small country." Franz said.

There is no problem with saying this, the current world does not say that people and land can be regarded as big and powerful, if so, then the Far East and India should be at the forefront.

Franz's territory in East Africa is still stuck in the last time, even if East Africa has expanded unrestricted in recent years, at most more than 3 million square kilometers.

This is the stereotype, in Franz's view, there are other players in Africa, such as Portugal, Britain, France and other forces, they will no longer just look at East Africa to eat meat, and the natives are no longer of great use, East Africa wants to digest these natives, I am afraid it will take time, the United States will not complete the massacre of Indians in ten years, in fact, the Americans are still persecuting the remaining Indians in the west.

"It's true that East Africa as a whole is not a great power, and its geographical location is not too important, but the strategic position of our East Africa is very important to Austria-Hungary!" Ferdinand said, "The naval power of the Austro-Crarian Empire is in the Mediterranean, and it can even be said that it can only radiate the eastern Mediterranean region, and now the Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean, and the control of the Suez Canal is in the hands of Britain and France, which is also the development dilemma of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but we look at it from the map, East Africa is in the south of the Suez Canal, and Austria-Hungary is in the north of the Suez Canal. ”

What does that mean? That is, the Suez Canal is sandwiched between the navies of the two countries, which is equivalent to indirect control of the Suez Canal, but does the East African Navy have this strength?

The answer is yes, at least on paper, others do not know the strength of the East African Navy, the Austro-Hungarian Navy must understand that most of the orders for ships in East Africa are completed by Austria, in fact, in the comparison of the strength of the two countries, the East African naval power is already the closest indicator to the Austrian Navy.

At present, there are three main ironclad ships in service in East Africa, which are far less than the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but there are still three under construction, and one has already begun to be designed, and this time the East African Navy will order a top-class ironclad ship with a displacement of 7,500 tons, and the number of ironclad ships in service in East Africa will reach six by this time next year, and by 1880 East Africa will be able to have an Indian Ocean Fleet comparable in scale to the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

At present, the number of ironclad ships in the Austrian Navy is ten, two of which were taken from the Italian Navy, thanks to the East African order, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy began to build two new ironclad ships last year, so this data will be increased to twelve next year, and by 1880, the number of ironclad ships in Austria-Hungary may probably remain at about fifteen.

By 1880, the number of ironclad ships in East Africa will not exceed the Austro-Hungarian Navy, even at Ferdinand's proposal, a new ironclad ship was added to East Africa, plus the Friedrich ironclad ship, the number of ironclad ships in East Africa has only reached nine, and in recent years, I don't know whether Austria-Hungary still has a new demand for ships, of course, the old ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are the majority, of which seven ironclad ships were in service before the Battle of Lisa.

However, the strength of the East African Navy on paper is not bad, and the core is not worse than that of Austria-Hungary, lacking a supporting naval training system, and there is an extreme shortage of experienced sailors and senior naval officers.

Although the Austrian Navy supported this aspect, the naval officers sent by the Austrian Navy to East Africa were all unpopular newcomers with no experience in commanding naval warfare.

Therefore, as an emerging force, the specific combat effectiveness of the East African Navy is not known, and there has been a lot of investment in equipment in recent years, and the talent cannot keep up, but only relying on equipment data can indeed be compared with the Beiyang Naval Division.

"Well, the strength of the East African Navy has grown well over the years, even I am a little envious and jealous, if we cooperate with the navy, we do have the strength to match the imperial navy."

Thinking of the development of the East African Navy, Franz also had to admit that the Heixingen royal family was really rich and willing to spend their blood, and I am afraid that only the British Royal Navy could overwhelm the East African Navy.

In fact, the Austro-Plevian Navy also thought about selling old ships to East Africa and building new ships by itself at the beginning, but East Africa was a buyer's market, and Austria-Hungary could not get stuck in the neck of East Africa, and Ernst did not want to take over those "antiques".

In order to deal with the great powers, Ernst built the East African Navy in a short period of time with money, and the quality of the navy was not high, and no matter how much equipment was dish, the situation of the East African Navy would be embarrassing.

Moreover, Ernst mainly wanted to cope with the purchase of warships for twenty or thirty years, and drag the time into the twentieth century, which only new ships could satisfy.

East Africa could place orders with Austria-Hungary, but also with Great Britain, France, Italy, and even Germany and Tsarist Russia.

In fact, Ernst's own shipyard can also pile up ironclads with a little more effort, and after so many years of large investment and the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company to feed the food, the four major shipyards have accumulated a wealth of experience in building large ships, among which the local Bagamoyo shipyard has begun to test the waters, trying to build the first domestically produced ironclad ship in East Africa, although the displacement is only 2,500 tons.

"However, our desire for the sea is not strong, the position of Austria-Hungary is naturally not conducive to the struggle for maritime supremacy, because you are my brother, and I am not afraid of your jokes, that is, the competition for continental hegemony, in fact, the empire has also given up, because we lost Germany, so there is no longer this opportunity, now the empire is like a big ship adrift on the sea, but as the helmsman of this big ship, I don't know where to go, I can only try my best to appease the sailors and let the ship move on!"

It was the first time Ferdinand heard Franz's pessimistic mood, and he said: "Franz, in fact, you have done a good job, in fact, the problem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has long been buried by the predecessors of the empire, and they can't imagine the impact of this strong national sentiment on the empire today, it can only be said that the times have abandoned the empire, and when you master the country, it is difficult to turn again." ”

Hearing Ferdinand's comfort, Franz was very happy, and this younger brother, who had caused him a headache and worry, was now beginning to understand himself!

However, Ferdinand's painting style changed and said: "However, it is precisely because of this that the empire should join forces with East Africa, especially Austria, we have compromised Hungary too much over the years, and other nations have seen the successful experience of Hungary, if they follow suit, then the fate of the future empire will only be torn apart, and when the empire does not exist, it means that the Habsburgs are also in danger." ”

"Can we solve this dilemma by forming an alliance with East Africa?"

"Of course not!" Archduke Ferdinand affirmed, "But we have the ability to absorb some of the destabilizing elements of the Empire. ”

After taking a sip of tea, Ferdinand continued: "In fact, East Africa has been pursuing a plan to avoid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the focus is to weaken the risk of independence in some important areas around Austria through the East African migration strategy. ”

Ferdinand's words really aroused Franz's interest, East Africa interfered in the internal affairs of Austria-Hungary? It feels like there's a smell of fantasy.

"There was no paper on paper, but the effect was already evident, that is, to improve the populations of Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech regions, from the beginning of the economic crisis of 1873 we had a planned migration from these regions, concentrated on the Slavs of the three regions, mainly unemployed workers and peasants, to introduce them into East Africa, and to weaken the nationalist sentiment and the foundations of the three regions."

"Actually, there is also the previous Italian-Austrian war, do you remember who the culprit was?"

"Ernst!"

"It is him, and his fundamental purpose is to strengthen the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially to stabilize the hearts and minds of the Empire."

"But the empire took the risk in this matter, and Ernst also made a lot of money in the war."

"But the final choice is yours, isn't it? You are moved, and you win the bet, Italy did not have time to digest its own national strength, just as France was entangled by Prussia, Austria-Hungary took back the lost territory, and the glory of the empire seemed to be back! ”

The Italian-Austrian war was a boost to the self-confidence of the people of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, proving that the ancient empire was not old.

Ferdinand continued: "Including this economic crisis, the role played by the Heixingen consortium in stabilizing the empire's economy, I don't need to say more, the steel order alone ensured that the empire's economy did not collapse completely. ”

Franz was told by Archduke Ferdinand that he seemed to have been taken care of by Ernst.

"Why Austria-Hungary? Germany is clearly stronger! Franz asked his last question.

This made Archduke Ferdinand a little embarrassed: "Ahem, you have already said that Germany is very strong now, but this is not the object of cooperation that East Africa likes, because the basis of cooperation is mutual need, and more importantly, the strength is equal, it is obvious that the German government is a little too strong, and such a country East Africa must not be at ease with Austria-Hungary when cooperating." The subtext was that Austria-Hungary was no threat to East Africa.

Franz's face darkened after hearing this: "Let's leave as soon as we finish our tea!" ”

"The Alliance!"

"Wait for my news."

(End of chapter)