African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1530 High-Latitude Warfare Issues

Commander Cai's expression changed. Consul Cruz's intelligence revealed a great deal of information, most importantly confirming Japan's ambitions toward Shanghai. He had no doubt about the intelligence-gathering capabilities of a powerful country like East Africa.

"Why are you helping us?" Commander Cai asked in a low voice, turning to the side. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and he didn't believe that East Africa was doing this without expecting anything in return.

Consul Cruz explained quite frankly: "There are no so many whys. After all, given the current situation of the Far Eastern Empire, especially your ministry, you don't need to consider so many things."

For someone who is about to starve to death, if a piece of bread is presented to them, there is no need to consider whether the bread is poisonous; filling their stomach is the only right thing to do.

Consul Cruz was unwilling to say more, and Commander Cai didn't press further, so they ultimately accepted the "military aid."

……

Ernst, the mastermind behind this targeted military aid, was at the Juba training base in the Nile Province watching the East African 7th Army and the 6th Armored Division conduct exercises.

With the development of the times, the East African Army's organization has finally been upgraded from the division level to the corps level. Previously, the largest combat unit in East Africa was only at the division level. Apart from the temporary corps formed during wartime and the special existence of the Guards Division, there was no corps in East Africa during peacetime.

With the development of the times, the improvement of military specialization, the increase in the number of branches of service, and the need for joint operations, East Africa reorganized its original army into eleven corps, including the Guards Division, which can also be regarded as a separate corps.

Then came the First Army, the Second Army, and so on up to the Tenth Army. In addition, East Africa had nine armored divisions, making it the world's largest in terms of armored forces. Germany and France were second, each with four armored divisions.

On the banks of the Nile, the East African 7th Army is conducting various deployments against the 6th Armored Division. Today's exercise is a test of the East African infantry's ability to counter armored forces.

Ernst stood on a distant slope, holding up his binoculars, watching the two sides locked in combat on the exercise field. He was very satisfied with the results of the army's training.

However, he still asked the officers at the exercise command: "Our army has plenty of experience in complex tropical terrain, is well-prepared, and has few problems with its response plans and contingency plans."

"But do you think that if the Imperial Army were to enter mid- to high-latitude countries and regions to fight, it might encounter problems? Especially in cold climate regions like Northern Europe and Russia."

The East African generals could not give a definite answer to His Majesty's question.

Commander Monte, commander of the 7th Army, said, "Your Majesty, it is difficult for us to give an answer regarding the Imperial Army's high-latitude combat capabilities. If it is the mid-latitude temperate region, there should be no problem. As for the low-latitude region, the tropics and subtropics, the Army is confident in dealing with any scale of war."

"Although the empire is vast and spans many latitudes, the empire's homeland, including its colonies, is mainly concentrated in the tropical region. Only a small portion of its territory is located outside the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and the only territory in the high-latitude frigid zone is Alaska."

"Therefore, the empire's climate distribution characteristics determine that the imperial army and military-industrial system tend to be located in the mid-to-low latitude regions, with very little involvement in the high latitudes."

"Although Alaska has a suitable climate and latitude, it is too far from the mainland to meet the needs of the Imperial Army, and the cost is too high."

As a tropical power, East Africa can barely simulate a temperate combat environment. For example, the southern part of East Africa, south of the Limpopo River, is mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Combined with the altitude of the South African plateau, the temperature is basically similar to that of temperate regions, although the rainfall is relatively low.

Then there's the Ethiopian Highlands region in northern East Africa, with an average altitude of over 2,000 meters, which can also simulate temperate combat environments. This can also be done in parts of the East African inland plateau.

Therefore, the East African Army will not encounter major operational problems in mid-to-low latitude regions.

The situation is completely different at high latitudes. Alaska is the only high-latitude territory in East Africa. The straight-line distance between Alaska and the mainland is more than 10,000 kilometers, not to mention that transportation between the two is not smooth.

If you start from the west coast of East Africa, you need to pass through the Strait of Magellan or the Panama Canal to finally reach Alaska.

However, the Strait of Magellan has poor navigation capabilities and is naturally risky, while the Panama Canal is controlled by the United States. Obviously, the United States will not agree to allow the East African Navy to pass through the Panama Canal.

Starting from the east coast, one has to pass through the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and in between, one has to pass through the South China Sea, or go around the waters of Oceania, which is quite difficult.

Building a training ground in Alaska to enhance the East African Army's high-latitude and cold-weather combat capabilities is virtually impossible, unless East Africa sends only a small number of troops to Alaska for training.

Commander Monte said, "For the Imperial Army, especially the Army, high-latitude warfare is difficult to test on home soil, and the demand for it is also relatively small."

"Our territory determines that the main adversaries of the Imperial Army are not closely related to those high-latitude countries, and they will not easily enter high-latitude regions."

"If we only consider the needs of homeland defense, then we have even less need for operations in high-latitude regions."

He's right. Under normal circumstances, it's unlikely that East Africa will have a military conflict with high-latitude countries because the two are far apart and there's a temperate region in between as a buffer.

Just as East Africa's sphere of influence in the Middle East bordered that of the Soviet Union, even if the two countries were to actually fight over the Middle East, the main battlefield would only be in the Middle East or Central Asia.

As for the idea that the East African army could sweep all the way to Moscow, that's pure fantasy. Similarly, even if the Soviet Union drove East Africa off the Asian continent and into the sea, it would be impossible for them to bypass the Indian Ocean and launch an attack on the East African mainland.

Monte continued, "When it comes to high-latitude warfare, it's clear that these are things that high-latitude military powers like the Soviet Union, Germany, and Sweden should be considering. We in East Africa occupy nearly half of the African continent, and we don't have any decent opponents around us."

Sweden's military strength is not weak. Although Sweden's presence in the international community is not high now, it was once a relatively powerful force in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Before Peter the Great, Sweden was even able to suppress Tsarist Russia and occasionally went to the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe to show off its military might. The Baltic Sea was almost indistinguishable from its inland sea.

Until the reign of Peter the Great, Russia gained access to the sea through the Great Northern War, which also depleted Sweden's national strength, causing it to completely lose its hegemony in the Baltic Sea. Sweden then became a second-rate power in Europe. Currently, Sweden's total military strength is only 20,000 to 30,000 people, but their cold-weather warfare capabilities should not be underestimated. In addition to Sweden's own good industrial capacity, its complex terrain and harsh climate are also important factors that allow Sweden to remain aloof from European conflicts.

This can be seen from the war between Finland and the Soviet Union in the previous life. After all, Finland's main backers were Germany and Sweden, and Sweden was obviously stronger than Finland.

At least in Scandinavia, Sweden is the most representative country with the most outstanding comprehensive strength. Even if it cannot resist foreign enemies when fighting on its own soil, it can still break the enemy's teeth.

Of course, in general, Sweden's strength is not enough among the world's current military powers, and the reason that Monte mentioned it is mainly to address the qualifier of high-latitude warfare.

He said, "In terms of high-latitude regional warfare, the Soviet Union was definitely the strongest among the cold-climate countries. Although northern Germany is also located at high latitudes, its overall climate characteristics tend to be temperate."

"The Nordic countries, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway are more adept at combat in this field because they live there, are familiar with the complex local terrain, and have rich experience in wilderness survival."

"However, if they leave the comfort zone of Northern Europe and fight in the mid-to-low latitudes, they will be completely outmatched and will only be able to bully some underdeveloped countries."

High-latitude, cold-climate countries are actually quite limited in number. Globally, only Canada, parts of Chile and Argentina, the former Soviet Union, and the three Nordic countries fit these two criteria.

Canada, Chile, and Argentina, on the other hand, lack relevant combat records, and their geographical locations are generally safe, making them less susceptible to war and conflict.

Therefore, Monte said, "High-latitude and cold-weather warfare mainly takes place in northern Eurasia. We in East Africa have almost no chance to deal with these countries, unless countries like Canada or the United States attack Alaska."

Japan, the Soviet Union, Canada, and the United States could all pose a threat to Alaska's security, but at least for now, these countries certainly wouldn't risk offending East Africa for the sake of Alaska.

Canada goes without saying, and the United States rarely goes to war in this era, especially one-on-one with a military superpower. Japan has great ambitions, but its strength is not enough in the face of East Africa.

As for the Soviet Union, in fact, some people in the Soviet Union did propose that East Africa "return" Alaska to the Soviet Union. Their reasoning was that Alaska was sold to the Rhineland royal family by the Tsar without the consent of the Soviet (Russian) people, which was an act of treason, and therefore the territorial transaction of Alaska was illegal.

However, this argument did not have much of a market in the Soviet Union. Firstly, the Soviet Union itself had little historical grievance with East Africa, and the two countries had never even fought a war. Secondly, let alone Alaska, the Far East and Siberia were unfamiliar places to many Soviet people, let alone Alaska, which was separated from the Bering Strait.

The reason why some people within the Soviet Union raised this argument was entirely due to ideological and political opportunism.

After all, in the eyes of the Soviet Union, East Africa was a standard capitalist and feudal empire, similar to Britain. The only difference was that Britain had a lot of historical grievances with Tsarist Russia. Therefore, the Soviet people had an even worse attitude towards Britain, which was basically "rotten to the core".

This perception is not entirely related to ideology. After all, there are quite a few countries in the world that hate Britain to the core, including the Far Eastern Empire, Germany, France, the United States, East Africa, India, and most other countries and regions in the world. Their evaluation of Britain was not much better than that of the Soviet Union.

Only British colonies like Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand are truly part of the British family.

Ernst could not find fault with Monte's reasoning, but he did not believe that East Africa would not have such an opportunity in the future, after all, World War II was not far off.

Currently, Adolf is riding high in Germany and is highly likely to become the new German Chancellor. However, a war between Germany and the Soviet Union, France, Benito in Italy, the Spanish civil war, the internal problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and so on, makes it impossible for Europe to maintain the current peaceful situation indefinitely. Outside of Europe, Japan has already started its war against the Far Eastern Empire.

Therefore, in the new round of global changes, East Africa must prepare in advance, and even participate in war. This requires East Africa to accelerate its advance planning in the military field.

Ernst told Monte and the others, "The future Empire will be a global power, not just a regional one. Therefore, the future operational areas of the Imperial Army may not be limited to the mid- and low-latitude regions, but may also extend to high-latitude and frigid regions."

"The army should prepare itself mentally for this. Although it is difficult to simulate high-latitude and cold-climate environments on its own soil, it should not use this as an excuse to avoid targeted training."

"An important goal of our national defense forces is to build a world-class military. What does 'world-class' mean? It means comparing ourselves with other military powers."

"The world's major military powers, apart from empires, are all located in temperate and frigid regions at mid-to-high latitudes."

"If we are only satisfied with fighting in the low and mid latitudes, then the Imperial Army can learn from the United States or Britain. This would save a lot of military spending. After all, East Africa does not have much need for national defense and security on land. The colonial army can basically solve various regional crises."

Monte and the others listened to Ernst's lecture with furrowed brows, but they couldn't find any reason to refute it. As Ernst said, the Imperial Army's budget was already too high. If it were only satisfied with self-defense, it would not need its current size at all, and even the armored divisions could be cut by more than half.

Sixth Armored Division Commander Blaine said, "His Majesty is right. The Imperial Army should not be complacent. If we want to build a world-class military, we cannot limit ourselves to fighting in low and mid-latitudes. We must be able to cope with all terrains and climates. But do we really want to build Alaska into a new training ground?"

Blaine immediately thought of Alaska, after all, Alaska is currently part of East Africa, has a large area, complex terrain, and a climate that perfectly matches the characteristics of the Arctic zone. The only drawback is that it is too far from the East African mainland.

In response to this problem, Ernst had a sudden inspiration and said, "If we want to find a suitable place for the Imperial Army to train, I have a good idea."

“That’s South America. The southernmost part of South America meets our needs perfectly. It’s even within the Antarctic region. It has diverse terrain, a cold climate, and is not far from East Africa, making sea transport very convenient.”

Monte said, "However, there are still problems. For example, the area ultimately belongs to both Argentina and Chile, and they may have concerns about us training troops there for security reasons."

This is normal. After all, which country would dare to easily allow a major military power to conduct training exercises on its territory, in case the exercises are fake...

Ernst wasn't too worried about this: "We can contact both countries first. As long as one country agrees, our goal will be achieved. As for security, we can also show our sincerity."

(End of this chapter)