"Ernst, according to the latest intelligence, the war between France and the Far Eastern Empire in Keelung, this time the French have lost again!" Ferdinand gloated.

The news came back from the Pacific Fleet, which was very close to the military base in the South Ryukyu Islands, so the East African Navy got first-hand information.

The war between the Far Eastern Empire and France actually began last year, but the Far Eastern Empire did not officially start war against France until August this year, and according to Ernst's predictions, the outcome of this war will still be over.

In recent years, the weapons and equipment of the Far Eastern Empire have been greatly improved, and it has gained an advantage in conflicts and wars against Tsarist Russia, Japan, and the United States, but in the final negotiation stage, it will be a foregone conclusion with concessions and compromises, so it is simply a fight that cannot be supported.

Ernst already knew the outcome of the war, so he was not interested in what would happen to the Far Eastern Empire.

"Has the war affected the trade routes between us and the Far Eastern Empire?" Ernst asked.

"Naturally, this is not true, and even if the main battlefield at sea takes place in the Taiwan Strait, it is the British who are the first to worry, and besides, we can bypass the Taiwan route from the east." Ferdinand continued: "And the Pacific Fleet is ready to escort our merchant ships. ”

At this time, the role of the Southern Ryukyu Islands was revealed, and the only countries with ambitions for the region were Japan and East Africa, which had defeated Japan, which was fledgling in naval power in the last competition.

"Although the Pacific Fleet has some strength in the Far Eastern Seas, it lacks the support of large ships, and according to the internal consultations of our Navy, it is intended to assign two ironclad ships to the Pacific Fleet." Archduke Ferdinand spoke his mind.

"Does the Southern Ryukyu Islands have the ability to take on large ironclad ships?" Ernst asked.

The South Ryukyu Islands are too remote in East Africa, so Ernst did not pay attention to the construction progress of the South Ryukyu Islands for a long time.

"We have built the home port of the Pacific Fleet on the two islands of Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island, especially Miyako Island, and all the construction work has been completed, and the related infrastructure construction on the island has also been completed, so it is urgent to strengthen the fleet in the Far East."

Ernst: "The Lanfang Overseas Province in the South Seas region should also be allocated one, and I remember that the conditions of Pontianak Port should be very good, so that it can better connect the safety between the mainland and the eastern route." ”

Ferdinand: "It's not impossible, but we have to remake our plans, and three ironclads are a bit nerve-wracking for the home fleet." ”

Although he said that, Ferdinand was not distressed at all, because of Ernst's promise, so the Navy has been building new warships to supplement it in recent years, but it is a little hard for his daughter, this year Karina is pregnant again, so next year will be a new warship, and the most important thing is that the Navy does not have to pay money.

And some ships in East Africa, to be honest, are about to be decommissioned, so it is good to pull them directly to the Far East and the South Seas, and then enter service, even if they sink, it is not too distressing.

"In recent years, the navy's funding has risen quite rapidly, and we should also retire some old ships to make room for new warships, so find a time to sell the warships that are almost old while they are still useful, and sell them at a good price!" Ernst said directly.

The speed of building warships in East Africa is still too fast, so it is better to dispose of many old ships, and the maintenance cost alone is somewhat beyond the pressure on the East African Navy.

"Probably not! Our warships are generally not more than twenty years old, plus routine maintenance, and it is normal for another thirty or forty years to serve, and now they also have good destinations, such as the South Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and even our Atlantic coast. ”

"The navy needs continuous accumulation and innovation in technology, and East Africa's finances are not as abundant as those of several other powers, so it naturally can't afford to raise such a huge fleet, and recently East Africa's military spending has been tilted towards the army, so the navy doesn't want to be cheap and sell well, compared with you, the army has hardly developed in the past ten years."

In fact, the army of the whole world has not changed much in recent years, on the contrary, the competition of the navy has become increasingly fierce, especially the United States, the Far Eastern Empire, Japan and other countries, have also begun to exert force in the navy, mainly to cope with the increasingly tense international situation in the eighties of the 19th century.

There was peace among the European powers, but this was also the most dangerous time for backward countries and regions, including East Africa.

In addition to Germany and Austria-Hungary, which were geographically limited, Britain, Tsarist Russia, France, and even the United States successively troubled the Far Eastern Empire, which was a distinctive feature of the eighties.

East Africa should not be taken lightly, because East Africa ate too much in the seventies, and now East Africa is also considered a piece of fat, but other countries are not sure what the quality of East Africa is.

As for Portugal, which has competed with East Africa, it cannot be used as a reference standard, after all, Portugal is a colony and fights in East Africa itself.

Just like the British invasion of Afghanistan, it was actually the Indian colonial army fighting Afghanistan, and even if it failed, no one would despise the British.

Because it is a colony after all, its military strength cannot be compared with the mainland, and the Portuguese colonial army sometimes can't even beat the natives of the whole world, and has been planted in the Indians, the Far East, Africa, Arabia, etc., so it is normal to be bullied by East Africa.

East Africa is now just waiting to see when Portugal and Britain will test the strength of the East African army, after all, the East African Army has not fought for some years, and the previous record cannot be used as a reference, at that time the opponents in East Africa were all native, no gold content, after all, the British are also pressing the natives in their colonies, like India, Canada, Australia are all like this.

"And who are you going to sell the warship to?"

"Ask the Far Eastern Empire if they are interested! After all, this time the French should be able to make them more aware of the importance of the navy, and there are too many enemies in the Far Eastern Empire, and the threats to deal with in the future are heavier than ours, so the demand is also great. ”

Second-hand ironclads are not so easy to sell in the first place, and it is not a loss to find customers to take over East Africa, after all, the great powers can basically produce them themselves, and small countries can't afford to raise them, and only a large country like the Far Eastern Empire needs this kind of ironclad ships.

Now the Far Eastern Empire mainly relies on a bunch of gunboats to support the scene, and the ironclad ships are completely blank, in fact, as long as the Far Eastern Empire is willing to work hard, it can also build its own ironclad ships.

After the Battle of Mawei, the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau learned from the pain and became self-reliant, and finally at the end of the eighties, the first domestically produced ironclad ship of the Far Eastern Empire - Pingyuan.

Therefore, in this era, the military industry of the Far Eastern Empire can actually catch up with the great powers, and it is not difficult for the West to imitate various weapons, for example, the level of the "Pingyuan" is not worse than that of its European counterparts.

This can also be seen from East Africa, Japan's military and shipbuilding industry, the two countries' navies started relatively late, but at the end of the nineteenth century, crises and opportunities coexisted, and the countries that seized the opportunity were able to quickly catch up with those old powers in terms of national strength with the help of the general trend of the second industrial revolution.

(End of chapter)