African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1596 Shifting the Blame South
The military and strategic significance of the Sunda Strait far outweighs its economic significance. Another consideration for East Africa to strengthen its military deployment in the area is to prevent Japan from severing the connection between East Africa and its Pacific colonies and fleet after Japan invades Southeast Asia in the future.

In the previous life, Japan had effectively completed the blockade of the western part of the South China Sea region. The Sunda Strait was occupied by the Japanese army, and the Strait of Malacca also fell into the hands of the Japanese invaders for a time.

However, Japan's main enemy at sea at the time was the United States, so even though Japan blockaded European colonists and maritime routes in Southeast Asia, it could not reverse the deterioration of its overall strategy.

East Africa cannot allow the Sunda Strait to fall into the hands of the Japanese army. It is not that East Africa is afraid that Japan can really blockade East Africa in the Indian Ocean by relying on the two straits.

Instead, this could cause East Africa to lose its initiative in the competition with the United States for future dominance in the Pacific. A step behind can lead to a step behind, so the Sunda Strait is the bottom line for East Africa's strategic deployment in the South Pacific.

Colonel Hyde said, "In the Sunda Strait, the Empire has made a two-pronged deployment. This ensures that even if the Sunda Strait falls into enemy hands due to a surprise attack, we can regain control of the Sunda Strait from both land and sea directions, with the second line of defense as the core."

The Sunda Strait has two lines of defense. The first is the Kedah-Bang South Coast Fortress and the Sanchiang Island gun turret in the middle of the Sunda Strait. With the help of the coastal artillery at these two locations and the East African Navy warships, the Sunda Strait can be easily blockaded.

Of course, these two places are not entirely foolproof. The Kedah-Pang South Coast Fortress is mainly for dealing with enemies at sea. However, Sumatra Island is vast. If the enemy chooses to land on the eastern side of the island first and then launch a long-distance attack on the Kedah-Pang South Coast Fortress, there is still a risk of losing the Sunda Strait when facing enemies from behind.

In the previous life, Japan conquered Sumatra by first occupying Palembang. The straight-line distance between Palembang and the South Bank Fortress of Kedah is about 300 kilometers, with rainforest as the middle section, making a long-distance raid on the South Bank Fortress of Kedah very difficult.

However, no one can be certain that Japan will not take such a military risk.

The security risk of Zangiefon Island lies in its small size. If it were besieged, it could be paralyzed. However, to achieve this, the East African Navy would have to be defeated head-on, which would require the Japanese Navy to invest heavily.

Even if Japan does manage to capture these two areas, the East African Navy can still rely on the second line of defense, namely Lampung Port, to reorganize the offensive, first recapture the Kedah South Coast Fortress, and then the Indian Ocean Fleet can depart from its homeland or other overseas bases to support the battlefield.

Here, Lieutenant Colonel Winster quipped, "The construction of the Lampung Port naval base is thanks to the Dutch for their development of the area. If it weren't for the Dutch inefficiency, Lampung Port wouldn't be so safe."

Lieutenant Colonel Wenster was speaking ironically. In Sumatra, the Dutch focused their development on major towns in the east, such as Palembang, which was the absolute core of the Dutch presence in Sumatra.

While Lampung Port is considered one of the better ports in Sumatra, this is because the overall development level of Sumatra is relatively low.

Lampung Port, an important port located at the southernmost tip of Sumatra, lacks existing roads connecting it to other towns in Sumatra. Currently, the only road under construction is the Nanji Highway, an East African investment project, which is 70 kilometers long and is used to supply materials to the southern coastal fortress of Kedah and provide support during wartime.

In summary, due to the Dutch's underdevelopment of Sumatra, Lampung Port's security was greatly enhanced, and its transportation was extremely dependent on maritime transport.

This made it easier for powerful maritime nations in East Africa to control the port of Lampung.

Ultimately, the lack of large, usable islands around the Sunda Strait was the main reason for the colonists' sense of security; otherwise, islands would have been far more secure.

Colonel Hyde said, "However, our concerns are obviously unnecessary. After all, no country in the world would dare to have designs on the Sunda Strait."

"Leaving aside the Empire's deployment in the Sunda Strait, whether they can even get close to this place is a big problem. For a maritime power in the Pacific, it is almost impossible to break through the Empire's Pacific Fleet's blockade, not to mention that the core of the Pacific Fleet is currently on Belitung Island."

"Whether it's the United States or Japan, their navies can't get around the Imperial Navy fleet on Belitung Island. Only by dealing with that place can they threaten the Sunda Strait again."

There are only two so-called Pacific powers: Japan and the United States. Therefore, Colonel Hyde bluntly listed these two countries as hypothetical enemies.

Belitung Island is only 400 kilometers from the Sunda Strait. Moreover, Belitung Island is not just one island, but a powerful strategic defense group consisting of the Lanfang Overseas Province of East Africa, East Kalimantan, and their affiliated islands.

It was precisely because of the existence of this strategic defense group that, in the early 20th century, the Java Sea could be considered half of East Africa's "inland sea".

There are only two players in the Java Sea: East Africa and the Netherlands, and the Netherlands clearly cannot dominate the Java Sea.

The main force of the East African Pacific Fleet is concentrated in or around the Java Sea.

Although the Pacific Fleet was the weakest in the Imperial Navy, it would still rank third in the Pacific region, after the Japanese Navy and the United States Navy.

Similar to the Java Sea is the Celebes Sea, which lies between islands such as Mindanao, Borneo, and Sulawesi, and the Zanchi Islands. It is also a sea area where East Africa holds absolute dominance, although the deployment of the East African Navy there is much weaker and cannot be compared with that in the Java Sea.

In summary, East Africa plays an absolutely dominant role in the central part of Southeast Asia. The situation becomes much more complicated to the north, with the South China Sea belonging to the Far Eastern empires, as well as colonies of powerful countries such as Britain, France, and the United States, and relatively neutral countries like Siam.

Further south, East Africa also wields considerable influence, but it borders Australia. Although Australia was once a British colony, the official relationship between East Africa and Australia is relatively good.

In recent years, East Africa has made considerable mineral investments in Australia, and trade between the two countries is rapidly expanding. However, the relationship between East Africa and Australia is only superficial; both countries have their own ulterior motives in this cooperation.

While strengthening economic cooperation with East Africa, Australia also relied more heavily on the protection of its colonial master, Britain, in the security field, and cooperated with Britain in Southeast Asia to contain East Africa's continuous expansion.

Meanwhile, East Africa, with the intention of diverting the trouble to the south, developed Australia's resources. By 1935, Japan had already become Australia's main source of resource imports.

Just like the bauxite mines in northern Australia, which are developed with investment in East Africa and then exported to Japan, the same applies to coal in eastern Australia and iron ore mines in the west.

The purpose of East Africa's move is self-evident: to convince Japan that Australia is a country rich in resources.

The name "the country sitting on a mining cart," which was once a well-known geographical fact in Japan, is now familiar to everyone, even children.

...In 1935, the East African government further increased its investment in Japanese news media and cultural sectors.

Meanwhile, Japan's domestic control over the media and news became increasingly strict, turning it into a propaganda tool for militarism, used to unify national thought, incite war sentiment, and glorify acts of aggression.

However, this does not affect East Africa's infiltration of Japan at all, because East Africa's original purpose was not to oppose the actions of the Japanese government, or even to promote the development of Japanese militarism.

The Japanese government primarily targets and suppresses any anti-war, anti-military, socialist, or liberal ideologies. Therefore, as long as media outlets and news reporting in East Africa do not openly challenge the Japanese government in these areas, they will not face any warnings or difficulties.

Not to mention, East Africa already supported Japan's expansion of the war, especially by promoting various favorable news about expansion in Southeast Asia. This resonated with Japanese militarism and accelerated Japan's run-up on the path of militarism.

In July 1935, fueled by the Japanese media in East Africa, the debate over the correct course of action was once again brought to a social discussion.

This debate was initiated by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's third-largest newspaper.

The Yomiuri Shimbun is the third largest newspaper after Asahi and Mainichi. Founded in 1874, it is known for its easy-to-understand and relatable reporting style, and its relatively inexpensive price attracted a large readership from the lower and middle classes in Japan.

Compared to the previous two, its political stance is more nationalist and conservative, and it more actively supports the military's actions.

The headline of the new issue published on July 5th reads: "The Struggle Between Land and Sea: The End of the Empire's Fate!"

The conflict between the Japanese army and navy has indeed reached a critical juncture. The army, due to its achievements in occupying the northeastern part of the Far Eastern Empire, believes that it should further increase its investment in the East Asian continent and expand its gains. The navy, as always, opposes the army.

It was precisely because of the Japanese army's expansionist achievements in East Asia that East Africa intensified its efforts to engage with Japanese public opinion in 1935. After all, allowing the Japanese army to continue to reap more benefits would be extremely detrimental to East Africa's Southeast Asian strategy.

Therefore, East Africa took the opportunity to increase investment in Japanese media figures who advocated for the southward expansion, in order to promote the navy. This is also the main reason for the publication of this issue of the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The Yomiuri Shimbun stated: "The foundation of the empire lies in the Japanese archipelago, and it should naturally become a world maritime power, following the path of Great Britain in the past..."

As an island nation, Japan is geographically well-suited to developing its navy, a view that has many supporters within Japan. This is why the Yomiuri Shimbun editors chose this point as the opening.

Then it points out: "The current expansion of the empire goes against the national conditions. It focuses on investing in the East Asian continent, and with tight military spending, it invests heavily in the army. It is like playing to its weaknesses and avoiding its strengths, abandoning the empire's maritime advantages. Although it has achieved some results, it may not be a better choice."

"And in the northeast of the Far Eastern Empire, the Empire's shortage of energy and minerals remains severe. Without oil, the Empire's machinery cannot operate, and without the benefits of rubber, the development of military and civilian industries is restricted..."

Japan occupied the northeastern part of its Far Eastern empire, but it could not solve Japan's lack of strategic materials. After all, the northeast had no oil production, and Japan was particularly lacking in many key strategic resources, especially tropical cash crops.

Besides rubber, Japan also has cotton, sugar, tobacco, and other products that it cannot produce on its own.

Therefore, the Yomiuri Shimbun pointed out: "Although the Far Eastern Empire is vast and its mineral reserves are superior to those of the empire itself when viewed from a global perspective, it is well known in the West that the Far Eastern Empire is a mineral-poor country..."

The Far Eastern Empire was clearly not a country lacking in mineral resources, but here it was described by the Yomiuri Shimbun as a mineral-poor country in the eyes of Western countries.

This is one of the results of the propaganda war waged against Japan in East Africa. In fact, the resources of the Far Eastern Empire are indeed somewhat insufficient on a global scale.

For example, many important mineral resources of the Far Eastern Empire in the previous life have not been effectively explored and developed. Take coal mines as an example: the Far Eastern Empire's coal is concentrated in the northwest and Shanxi, but it has not attracted much attention. There are also many metal mineral resources in the south.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported: "The Far Eastern Empire has a population of 400 million. Its industrial development is hampered by a lack of mineral resources, which is also a reason why its industry has not been able to flourish."

"Britain was able to be a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution thanks to the abundance of coal and iron ore in its homeland. Germany's industrial rise benefited from the coal resources of the Ruhr region and the convenient water transport of the Rhine River. Later, the iron ore from Lorraine and Alsace further enhanced its strength."

"The industrial development of other great powers is generally similar. The United States, the Soviet Union, and East Africa all have advantages, while the world's major powers, such as the Empire, France, and Italy, are resource-poor."

"The development of the Empire's industry is now severely constrained by resources, and France lags behind Germany for similar reasons."

"Therefore, the lack of resources is a major factor hindering the development of industry in the Far East Empire. Thus, the Empire's full commitment to the Far East Empire may not necessarily benefit its future development. It should first conquer the rich lands of Southeast Asia to solve the Empire's urgent need for supplies, and then plan accordingly."

The Yomiuri Shimbun's true intentions are now fully revealed: to incite Japan to militarily expand its influence in Southeast Asia and ultimately deal with the Far Eastern empire.

This approach, while potentially offending the Japanese Army, would inevitably garner support from the Navy. The Japanese Navy is currently feeling quite frustrated, as their gains from the war against the Far Eastern Empire are far less than those of the Japanese Army. For instance, in the Northeast region, almost all interests are monopolized by the Japanese Army.

Therefore, the navy urgently needed to persuade the military to shift its strategic focus to expansion in the South Pacific.

Of course, many high-ranking Japanese officials, including the Japanese Emperor, were well aware that by expanding into the South Pacific, Japan could obtain abundant resources such as oil, rubber, coal, and steel, thus freeing Japan from its dependence on other powers for resources.

However, in the South Pacific, what the Japanese Imperial Government was most worried about were the powerful countries behind those countries and colonies. After all, whether it was East Africa, the United States, or Britain and France, none of them were easy to provoke.

Even though Britain and France have already declined significantly, from Japan's perspective, they still retain some influence. Of course, more importantly, Britain and France are currently at peace, and Japan does not want to get involved.

Therefore, even with the encouragement of countries like East Africa and the United States, Japan is unlikely to take action in Southeast Asia now. As for when it will expand into Southeast Asia, it depends on when Germany takes action against Britain and France, rendering them unable to attend to their interests in the East.

(End of this chapter)