African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1595 Lampung Port

Japan was most pleased that Germany became stronger, as Germany would be able to hold back the Soviet Union, as well as Britain, France, and other countries, thus giving Japan the confidence to realize its strategic expansionist ambitions in the Far East.

Even if Germany were to unify all of Europe, it would not pose any threat to Japan's interests in the present day.

Conversely, the other European powers were the biggest obstacle to Japan's expansion throughout the Far East. Taking the Far Eastern Empire as an example, the current ranking of foreign interests in the Far Eastern Empire can be categorized as follows.

Japan ranks first. After occupying Northeast China in 1931, Japan has continued to infiltrate and nibble away at other regions in recent years. Japan's interests in the Far East Empire are dominated by military and political means, accompanied by huge economic interests.

From a purely economic perspective, Britain's empire in the Far East was far more powerful. Although its influence gradually declined after World War I, Britain remains the Western power with the largest economic interests in China. Its investment in the Far East empire has long been its top priority, covering important sectors such as finance, trade, investment, and shipping.

Secondly, there were the Soviet Union and France. The Soviet Union's imperial interests in the Far East were quite different from those of other powers, being more political and strategic, with relatively low economic returns.

While France also had considerable interests in the Far East Empire, its focus was on the southwest region, resulting in relatively minor conflicts with Japan for the time being. However, setting aside the Far East Empire, the Japanese could not remain uninterested in France's interests in Indochina, particularly in Southeast Asia.

As for East Africa and the United States, these two countries are not European countries, so they are not within the scope of this discussion. Moreover, the imperial interests of these two countries in the Far East are more based on economic ties than on colonization and military conquest.

Therefore, among the conflicts of interest among the great powers in the Far East, the contradictions between Japan and Great Britain, and between the Soviet Union, were the greatest and most prominent.

However, by further expanding the scope to the entire Far East region, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some countries in Oceania, as well as the United States, East Africa, and France, these countries will be included in Japan's future target list.

The latter is also the situation that East Africa hopes to see. East Africa is afraid that Japan will not take the bait and will help East Africa complete the reconstruction of its colonial system in Southeast Asia.

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East Africa's attitudes toward the three Axis powers can be described as completely different. Relations between East Africa and Germany were relatively lukewarm, while East Africa adopted a friendly and proactive diplomatic approach toward Italy.

Regarding the issue of Japan, East Africa has even written the script for what will happen next, just waiting for Japan to bury itself in its own grave, and then East Africa will fill in the soil.

Japan has become the "enemy country" chosen by East Africa. However, in Southeast Asia, East Africa has adopted a laissez-faire and passive approach towards Japan. In recent years, it has even allowed Japan to infiltrate its East African colonies in Southeast Asia, carry out intelligence work, and even intentionally shrink its military deployment in Southeast Asia.

This trend was evident in the three territories including Lanfang Overseas Province, East Kalimantan, and Mindanao, and like other colonial powers, they actively disclosed various intelligence about the military, economy, towns, resources, and other aspects of the entire Southeast Asian region to Japan.

However, East Africa has not adopted such a passive strategic deployment across the South Pacific. In the Belitung Island and Sunda Strait areas, East Africa has been increasing its military investment.

Belitung Island has become the core of the East African Pacific Navy, and its current position is somewhat similar to that of Hawaii in the United States. Most of the Pacific Fleet's main warships are basically docked in the port on Belitung Island.

In recent years, East Africa has also engaged in new negotiations with the Dutch government regarding the Sunda Strait region. Ultimately, under pressure from East Africa, the Netherlands had no choice but to lease some land on the northern shore of the Sunda Strait to East Africa.

Lampung Port.

This is a port now shared by East Africa and the Netherlands, and it is also the most important port on the southern coast of Sumatra Island, north of the Sunda Strait.

However, in terms of the actual deployment of Lampung Port, this port mainly serves the East African Navy, while the Netherlands uses it more for economic purposes, such as the transshipment of goods and the docking of merchant ships in the East Indies colonies.

The East African Navy deployed here belongs to the East African Indian Ocean Navy Fleet, not the Pacific Fleet.

"The northern part of the Sunda Strait is now basically controlled by the Empire. Only the southern shore remains unclaimed by the Dutch. However, by controlling the northern shore, we also have absolute control over the Sunda Strait," said East African Navy Captain Hyde to his subordinates in the command room of the half-finished Lampung Port naval base.

Before them lay a map of the Sunda Strait. The red area marked the East African naval deployment area, including two pieces of land at the southern tip of Sumatra, Sangeon Island in the middle of the Sunda Strait, and Panettan Island in the west.

These four regions effectively lock the Sunda Strait into the hands of the East African Navy, although theoretically the Netherlands could also share control of the Sunda Strait with East Africa through regions such as Java.

However, it is clear that the Dutch did not have the capability to do so.

Lieutenant Colonel Wenster of the Lampung Naval Base said, "Java is the core of the Dutch East Indies and their bottom line, so it was inevitable that the Dutch would not agree to us building a base on Java."

“The fact that they allowed the empire to lease Lampung Port and the southernmost part of Kedah already shows a lot of sincerity.”

"With these two areas, our last shortcoming in the Sunda Strait has been addressed, because Sangean Island and Panettan Island are too small and lack sufficient berthing conditions."

Although Zangieh Island has an extremely advantageous location, situated in the center of the Sunda Strait, it is less than ten square kilometers in size and lacks a natural deep-water port. This makes it impossible for Zangieh Island to fully support the East African Navy's dominance over the Sunda Strait, and even the supply of materials and the construction of military facilities are quite difficult.

This is also a key reason why East Africa subsequently reached a new agreement with the Netherlands in an attempt to acquire land on both sides of the Sunda Strait.

Colonel Hyde agreed, saying, "If the East Indies were our colony, the Empire might not even allow other countries' influence in the Sunda Strait."

"Now, the Dutch have not only ceded many pieces of land, but also handed over control of the Sunda Strait to East Africa, which is the limit of what they can do."

"However, this is clearly a smart decision. If the Netherlands does not take the initiative to make concessions to the Empire, the Dutch will only end up with a mess. Not to mention the Sunda Strait, they may lose the entire East Indies as a result."

For a small country like the Netherlands, the issue of choosing sides is particularly important in foreign affairs. Its own strength is weak, and its main overseas interests happen to be very far from its homeland, not to mention that East Africa is the strongest country among the superpowers.

Not to mention, if East Africa were to conquer the East Indies, and if East Africa were to prohibit Dutch warships from passing through the Gulf of Aden and the west coast of Africa, severing the connection between the Netherlands and the East Indies colonies, the Netherlands would lose this most important colony. Therefore, on the issue of the East Indies, the Dutch simply did not have the confidence to say "no" to East Africa, as that would mean an even greater price to pay.

Lieutenant Colonel Wenster made no attempt to hide this: "It is a miracle that the Netherlands can still rule the East Indies. To be honest, we don't need to lift a finger. If we just give the local anti-Dutch forces a little something, they can drive the Dutch out themselves."

Hyde, however, said with a look of disdain, "The best outcome is that the East Indies are now in the hands of the Dutch, since the Netherlands has aligned itself with us on the general direction in the region."

"Moreover, the Indonesians in the East Indies belong to the Arab community. If possible, the best outcome for the East Indies in the future would be to divide it into many countries, thus eliminating a potential threat in the Southeast Asia region."

East Africa would never allow the East Indies to become a unified country. The East Indies alone, which was under Dutch control, covered an area of ​​over one million square kilometers and had a population of over fifty million.

According to Dutch statistics on the East Indies in 1930, the population of Java alone was as high as 43 million.

Let alone the entire East Indies colony, even if Java alone became independent, it could become a populous country in Southeast Asia today.

Lieutenant Colonel Winster also said, "The population of the East Indies colonies is indeed quite large now, especially the population of Java. In a few years, it may exceed 50 million. If we consider it as a country, it can become a truly populous country in the world, comparable to France and Italy."

"If the East Indies colonies do not disintegrate in the future, it will be a new country with an area of ​​over one million square kilometers and a population of over one hundred million. Moreover, the East Indies have fertile land, abundant resources, and the potential to develop into a major power. They have no shortage of resources needed for various industries."

"The emergence of such a country would not only threaten the empire's interests in Southeast Asia, but could even reshape the geopolitical landscape of the entire Southeast Asia region."

East Africa cannot tolerate the emergence of a regional power in Southeast Asia. This applies not only to the Dutch East Indies colonies, but also to the French Indochina colonies, the British Indian colonies, and the Malay colonies, all of which are targets for East Africa to dismantle in the future.

After all, Southeast Asia is an equally important wing of East Africa's global strategy as South America, and it is where East Africa's core interests lie.

Therefore, in Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies were already considered the primary potential threat by East Africa, and the population of this region alone accounted for about half of the entire Southeast Asia.

In 1935, the total population of Southeast Asia exceeded 130 million, with Java alone accounting for over 40 million. Therefore, looking at the entire region, without external interference, Java was a strong contender for the dominant power in Southeast Asia.

As for East Africa's wariness of the Dutch East Indies, one can understand this by referring to Australia's wariness of Indonesia in the past.

Admittedly, Australia is a developed country, while Indonesia is a developing country with serious internal conflicts. But who can guarantee that Indonesia is incapable of resolving its internal problems?

Lieutenant Colonel Winster stated, "In the future, Java should be divided into at least two countries so that Java cannot form a united force and threaten the balance of Southeast Asia."

"There is also Britain's Indian colony, which is somewhat excessive in size. Myanmar should break away from its Indian colony. Otherwise, India may extend its reach into Southeast Asia, and there is no power in the region that can resist this huge country."

Currently, Myanmar is still under British India's control, which means that India has a presence in Southeast Asia. If it weren't for the Kra Isthmus, the British Malay colonies might have joined the Indian family.

Now that the Kra Isthmus is in the hands of East Africa, it is destined that the Malay colonies and India can never be connected.

Colonel Hyde said, "These are all things for the future. At least for now, the Empire cannot divide up Southeast Asia according to its own wishes."

"It's not that the empire is incapable of doing so, but it has to consider international perception and practical issues."

"Before the traditional colonial powers such as Britain and France, as well as the United States, were driven out, Southeast Asia could not be considered part of the empire's sphere of influence. Even now, although we have the strongest military strength in Southeast Asia, we cannot be said to be the dominant force in regional affairs."

The current situation in Southeast Asia is somewhat similar to that in Northwest Africa, but more complex, because Japan has become a player here, whereas in Northwest Africa, the main competitors in East Africa are only the United States, Britain, and France.

Although Japan did not have colonies in Southeast Asia, its geographical location made it easy for it to intervene in the region, which is an important variable.

East Africa hoped to expand Japan's role and allow it to disrupt the situation in Southeast Asia, ultimately completing East Africa's strategic alliance.

Moreover, Southeast Asia is clearly more important to East Africa than Northwest Africa, since it is the only route for East Africa to access the Far East market and the Pacific Ocean; there is no other choice.

From East Africa to the Pacific Ocean, only the South China Sea is valuable. To the north lies the Asian continent. To access the Far East market by land, one must pass through the Soviet-controlled Central Asia region, where transportation is extremely underdeveloped. From the western part of the Far Eastern Empire all the way to the Indian Ocean coast, there is not even a single existing road or railway. Alternatively, going around the Australian waters is also an option, but it is also very uneconomical.

Finally, there is the connection between the Americas and the Pacific Ocean. However, the only valuable sea and land passage in the Americas, the Panama Canal, is firmly controlled by the United States. Even the Strait of Magellan, with its poor navigation conditions, belongs to Chile.

Colonel Hyde said, "If the Empire wants to control the South Pacific, it must control one of the Sunda Straits or the Strait of Malacca. We now control the Sunda Strait. As long as we can ensure its security, East Africa can guarantee its military presence in the South Pacific and maintain the Empire's interests there."

"However, the Sunda Strait still has limitations. Most of the Empire's ships still prefer the Strait of Malacca. Only for trade in a few southern provinces and the Far East is the Sunda Strait more cost-effective."

In recent years, under the guidance of the East African government, the Sunda Strait has become more prosperous than before, with many East African merchant ships choosing to pass through here and eventually reach the Far East.

However, this does not change the fact that there is a backup route through the Sunda Strait.

This is similar to the Eurasian freight trains of the Far Eastern Empire in the previous life. The speed of development was indeed astonishing, but it could not surpass sea transport unless the Far Eastern Empire encountered extremely special circumstances, that is, the sea routes were completely blocked, and it could only rely on the Eurasian land bridge to conduct trade with the outside world.

The Sunda Strait, controlled by East Africa, is in a similar situation. Of course, given that it is also a maritime route, and East Africa's unique geographical location makes the situation on the Sunda Strait route much better.

(End of this chapter)