African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1616 Naval Power
1936 2 Month 1 Day.

Rhine City.

After multiple rounds of meetings and revisions, East Africa's Eighth Five-Year Economic Development Plan has been officially released, clarifying the general direction for East Africa to impact the Third Technological Revolution.

This involves many aspects. In the energy sector, the concept of new energy sources was proposed for the first time, including nuclear energy, wind power, photovoltaic power, and batteries. In the transportation sector, aviation is a key development area, along with high-speed rail research and development. Information technology includes computers, semiconductor materials, integrated circuits, and so on.

The release of the Eighth Five-Year Plan was significantly later than in previous years, which reflects East Africa's transformation in the world economy, from a learner and follower to an independent explorer and leader.

Furthermore, this Eighth Five-Year Plan differs significantly from previous ones in that it prioritizes scientific and technological research and innovation, whereas previous East African economic plans focused more on industry.

Many of the concepts and cutting-edge technologies proposed by East Africa during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period have not yet been broken through or applied in East Africa, so there is no way to talk about the development and growth of related industries.

……

Maputo, East Africa.

As the largest city in the southern part of the empire, Maputo has made rapid progress in recent years, becoming the largest comprehensive city in southern East Africa. In 1932, it entered the ranks of the seventeen major cities in East Africa, with a population of over one million.

Meanwhile, the former largest city in the south, the port city of Neue Hamburg, was overtaken by Maputo in terms of industry due to its port conditions.

Over the past decade or so, South East Africa has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the empire, which has led to Maputo’s rapid development, making it a major sea outlet for the South African plateau, the southern coast, and the plains provinces.

The faster development of ports and logistics has accelerated the influx of people and industries into Maputo. At the same time, Maputo's development has also been affected by changes in East Africa's foreign trade routes, especially the increasing emphasis on the Sunda Strait and the Australian shipping route.

Against this backdrop of development, Maputo's shipbuilding industry also reaped great rewards. By the early 1930s, Maputo had become a new shipbuilding center in East Africa and the only shipbuilding manufacturing base in southern East Africa.

In 1935, the Maputo No. 1 Shipyard received an order from the Navy.

"This is the aircraft carrier that our shipyard is building. It is designed to have a displacement of more than 50,000 tons, making it the largest aircraft carrier currently under construction in the Empire."

In early February 1936, the Maputo shipyard manager, Shaller, and naval personnel introduced the behemoth before them.

Commodore Podolski asked, "Director Schaller, how long do you expect this aircraft carrier to take to complete?"

Schaller replied, "According to our agreement with the Navy, this aircraft carrier should be completed within four years. We started construction last June, and it is estimated that it will take three years to be fully completed."

Brigadier General Podolski was not entirely satisfied with the timeline and said, "Can we speed things up?"

Factory Director Shaler shook his head and said, "This aircraft carrier is quite special. After all, it uses the most advanced technologies in the Empire, and its size is much larger than the aircraft carriers built by the Empire before, so it is not easy to speed up the progress."

"Four years is already a tight timeframe for our shipyard. If we speed up the process, we'll either have to spend more money or relax some of our standards. However, I think you would find both of these options hard to accept."

The Navy's budget is limited, so it's clearly not something Brigadier General Podolski can decide on his own. As for the latter, lowering manufacturing standards is even less likely to be implemented.

After all, it is peacetime now, and East Africa does not need to rush into a naval arms race.

Brigadier General Podol said with some regret, "Right now, the Navy is actually facing a generational gap. Last year we decommissioned two more battleships, but the replacement aircraft carriers are still under construction."

East Africa's battleship fleet has been reduced from eleven to nine, and its aircraft carrier fleet currently consists of only six. Therefore, there is an urgent need to replenish its main combat ships. Currently, there are two aircraft carriers under construction in East Africa, including the one in the dry dock of Maputo Shipyard No. 1.

In the realm of main combat ships, namely battleships and aircraft carriers, East Africa's number of battleships is even lower than Japan's. Japan has nine battleships currently in service, and two more are undergoing modernization.

In addition, Japan has two battleships under secret construction, so Japan has a total of eleven battleships, exceeding the number of East African navies.

The British Royal Navy has as many as fifteen battleships, two of which are undergoing modernization and five new battleships are planned for construction.

Secondly, there is the United States, which also has fifteen battleships, and two new ships under construction, making a total of seventeen.

These three countries have surpassed East Africa in the number of battleships.

However, if we only consider the number of aircraft carriers that East Africa is focusing on developing, it doesn't actually give these three countries much of an advantage.

There are currently six aircraft carriers in service in East Africa, a number equal to that of the United Kingdom. East Africa has two newly built aircraft carriers that are not yet completed, while the United Kingdom only has one. However, the United Kingdom has already placed orders for two new carriers. If the East African Navy does not follow suit, the United Kingdom may overtake East Africa in terms of the number of aircraft carriers.

The United States has five aircraft carriers in service, and one more under construction and undergoing sea trials, bringing the total number of US aircraft carriers to six. Additionally, the US has one more aircraft carrier under construction.

Finally, there's Japan, which also has five aircraft carriers in service, plus one under construction.

Therefore, in terms of the number of battleships, East Africa lags significantly behind the other three countries, while in terms of aircraft carriers, East Africa ranks first, but it does not have a significant numerical advantage over the other three countries.

This is also why Brigadier General Bordeaux is dissatisfied with the current strength of the Imperial Navy.

He said, "The Empire is still somewhat conservative in its investment in the navy. After the Treaty of London became worthless, other countries' naval construction plans were significantly bolder than the Empire's, and they have widened the gap with us."

"This is very disadvantageous for us. After all, the Imperial Navy is under great pressure. We are responsible for too many sea areas, covering the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the Empire's colonies are also scattered, and the pressure on overseas military bases is relatively high." "We are already struggling to compete with the United States. If we also consider countries such as Britain and Japan, the dispersion of naval forces is very dangerous."

"The size of the U.S. Navy is not much different from that of the Imperial Navy, but the U.S. Navy only needs to take care of two directions, namely the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Atlantic Ocean is the U.S. Navy's key area of ​​focus."

"In this way, our Atlantic Fleet will have a hard time competing with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, which will threaten the Empire's interests in the Atlantic."

To put it simply, Brigadier General Bordeaux said that while the East African and US navies are roughly the same size, the US navies are divided in two, while the East African navies are divided in three. Therefore, as one-third of the East African Atlantic Fleet, it would obviously have a harder time competing with the other half of the US Atlantic Fleet.

In the Atlantic, the US Navy wasn't the only competitor in East Africa; there was also the more powerful Britain and the relatively strong France.

"The Empire should increase its naval investment in the Atlantic to ensure the absolute security of the Empire's interests in the Atlantic."

Regarding Brigadier General Bordeaux's statement, the factory manager, Charler, had a different opinion, saying, "Brigadier General Bordeaux's concerns are indeed reasonable to some extent, but it is clearly an overreaction."

"After all, the Empire's naval power in the Atlantic cannot be judged solely by paper figures. Our navy in the Indian Ocean is ready to provide support to the Atlantic at any time, while it is not so easy for the US Pacific Fleet to provide support to the Atlantic Fleet."

"They need to pass through the Panama Canal first, and they also need to consider the balance in the Pacific, such as Japan. If the US Navy moves in the Pacific, it could give Japan pause for thought."

The situation of the Indian Ocean Fleet in East Africa is quite special, because the data of the Indian Ocean Fleet is rather excessive. This is not because the Indian Ocean Fleet is too powerful, but because its strength is somewhat overkill for the Indian Ocean.

Throughout the entire Indian Ocean, the East African Navy had no rivals whatsoever; even the British naval forces were not particularly prominent in the Indian Ocean.

The British naval deployment in the Indian Ocean is similar to that of East Africa in the Pacific, both carrying a sense of being ready to "abandon" at any time and serving primarily as a deterrent to non-naval powers in the region.

For example, the East African Pacific Fleet would have no chance of winning against the Japanese Navy or the US Pacific Fleet; it could only bully other countries.

Similarly, Britain is well aware that it has no chance of defeating the East African navy in the Indian Ocean, and its current naval forces in the Indian Ocean are more for deterring countries outside of East Africa.

In fact, the East African Indian Ocean Fleet doesn't even need its main combat ships to defeat the naval forces of other countries in the Indian Ocean.

At the same time, East Africa also possesses the formidable weapon of submarines, whose submarine force alone can inflict heavy damage on other forces in the Indian Ocean.

In this way, the Indian Ocean Fleet in East Africa has truly become a reserve force, and its main combat fleet can support the Atlantic or Pacific fleets at any time without worrying about trouble at home.

Even in the Indian Ocean region, the East African Navy doesn't need to intervene; the East African Air Force alone can cause significant trouble for other navies.

Schaller continued, "Moreover, although the Imperial Navy has a relatively small number of main combat ships, their quality is much higher than that of other navies. Take this aircraft carrier we are currently building, for example. Once completed, it will be the most advanced in the world."

"The largest aircraft carrier currently in service in the United States has a standard displacement of only over 30,000 tons, which is much smaller than the aircraft carrier in our shipyard. At the same time, the Empire's application of many technological fields is also more advanced than that of other countries' aircraft carriers."

"Therefore, in terms of aircraft carriers alone, the Empire's strength is actually far greater than that of other countries that have developed aircraft carriers, even if the British have the same number of aircraft carriers as us, or slightly more."

"However, Britain needs to keep an eye on Europe, especially the eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Their naval deployments and activities do not overlap much with the Imperial Navy."

The main force of the British Navy operates in European waters, while the East African Navy has almost no activity in Europe for the time being, with only one East African naval base in Dalmatia.

"In the Imperial Maritime Strategy, the British Navy did not have much influence. With European countries such as Germany and the Soviet Union holding them back, the only remaining threat to us was the United States. However, as I mentioned before, if the US Navy were to enter the South Atlantic, they would not only be facing the Imperial Atlantic Fleet, but also the Atlantic Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet."

As for Japan, it was basically ignored by Director Schall. Schall found it hard to imagine Japan going to war with East Africa, after all, the size difference between Japan and East Africa was too great. In front of East Africa, Japan was like an ant.

He said, "The Japanese Navy is quite strong, but they are basically confined to the Pacific Ocean. The Imperial Pacific Fleet is indeed unable to compete with the Japanese Navy. However, to put it bluntly, the Pacific Fleet is basically a retirement home for Imperial Navy ships. Its equipment is outdated and its combat power is far inferior to that of the other two major ocean fleets."

Brigadier General Bordeaux praised, "Director Charlers, you have excellent insight and have indeed seen some strategic details. However, for our navy, the Imperial Navy does indeed have a great hidden danger."

"Take aircraft carriers for example. Imperial aircraft carriers are indeed the most advanced in terms of technology, but who can guarantee their true combat effectiveness? We don't have data to support our claims of fighting against other countries, and the navy itself also depends on luck."

"Take the Spanish Armada, for example. They were very unlucky and were defeated by the British, who were weaker than them. The Yuan Dynasty in ancient times suffered heavy losses in its eastward expedition against Japan due to the weather. There were also the wars between the navies of Tsarist Russia and Japan, as well as the naval battles between the Far Eastern Empire and Japan..."

"These cases all illustrate that the quality of naval equipment does not necessarily determine the outcome of a war, especially since the world's major naval powers do not have a significant generational gap in weaponry compared to us."

"If we are unlucky and an accident occurs, it will definitely be a significant hidden danger for the Imperial Navy. Therefore, the absolute number of the navy can play a great role in war. Even if we suffer a defeat, it will not completely change the course of the war."

"For example, if we can have more than ten aircraft carriers, then the Imperial Navy will not have to worry about sudden risks. Even if we suffer serious losses due to enemy attacks, we will have enough power to fight back."

"Right now, what we lack is the number of aircraft carriers. In fact, if possible, we also don't have enough battleships. Although battleships are considered outdated within the Empire, they are still one of the mainstays of the modern navy, especially when other countries' navies also have formidable aircraft carrier fleets. The number of battleships may be a crucial variable in war."

"Therefore, the Empire should now accelerate the construction of aircraft carriers or delay the decommissioning of battleships to make the transition of our main combat ships run more smoothly."

The East African Navy is actually accelerating the replacement of battleships with aircraft carriers. However, there are many troubles in replacing battleships with aircraft carriers because aircraft carriers rely more on system warfare and need to take various auxiliary ships with them every time they are deployed. Battleships are more like knights who can fight alone. Therefore, for each aircraft carrier that enters service, East Africa has to pair it with a corresponding combination to make it a complete aircraft carrier battle group.

(End of this chapter)