African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1621 Bait
As the "crossroads" of the North Atlantic, Anchorage is also a key point in Ernst's future plans to contain Europe in East Africa. The straight-line distance from Anchorage to the core of Western Europe is only 8,000 kilometers.

The distance from East Africa to air routes covering most of Europe is roughly the same. Therefore, by controlling Alaska, with Anchorage as its main territory, East Africa can monitor European airspace from both the north and south.

In this way, by using Alaska and East Africa, one can simultaneously gain strategic advantages over Asia, North America, and Europe.

Of course, Alaska's role cannot be effectively realized under current technological conditions; otherwise, East Africa would not be so lax in its defense of Alaska. Currently, Alaska's main role is reflected in two aspects: first, providing logistical support for the East African Pacific Fleet; and second, its role as an aviation hub that is being planned and constructed.

Yasuji Keishita and the Japanese government are also most concerned about these two roles of Alaska. He said, "Alaska is a place that the Imperial Navy must win over in the future, so in recent years, we have been investigating the topography and hydrology of Alaska, and the United States and other countries have done the same."

For a long time, Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, has been a key area for frequent activities and reconnaissance by North Atlantic powers.

Countries including the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan actively collected hydrological data on the waters off Alaska in various forms.

For example, scientific research activities can be conducted openly to study the local climate, geography, and ocean; intelligence can be obtained under the guise of fishing activities; or the navy can directly conduct intelligence gathering.

Of these three main methods, fishing is directly and strictly restricted by the Alaskan government because it directly involves Alaska's core interests; marine fisheries can be considered the economic backbone of Alaska.

Therefore, the conflict between Alaska and Japan is the most intense in this regard. However, this does not mean that there are no conflicts between fishermen from Alaska and Canada, or between the United States and other countries. It is just that, compared to resource-poor Japan, these two countries do not value this aspect of their interests as much.

Alaska's emphasis on fishery resources is somewhat similar to Iceland's in the past. Of course, more importantly, Alaska is backed by East Africa, which is why it is so powerful in the North Atlantic, a region where powerful nations converge.

Anji Kishita mentioned: "If it weren't for the East African base, the Empire would have already moved north and taken Alaska. Strategically, Alaska is of great importance. Economically, Alaska is also a major competitor of the Empire. Alaskan fishermen and even industries are an infringement on the Empire's interests."

"Although Alaska's industry is not very strong, it is still quite competitive in the Far East market. At the same time, due to resource shortages, the Empire has to pay high prices to import some minerals from Alaska."

“Originally, we didn’t need to give up these benefits, but unfortunately we have to consider East Africa behind Alaska.”

“East Africa itself also had some conflicts with the Empire. Back then, South Okinawa did not return to the Empire because of the obstruction from East Africa.”

The so-called southern Okinawa is what East Africa calls the Southern Ryukyu Islands. In the eyes of the Japanese, the Southern Ryukyu Islands represent the oppression that East Africa inflicted on Japan in the past, and therefore they have always regarded it as a national humiliation.

Given both old and new grievances, Japan naturally harbors no goodwill towards East African countries, particularly Western nations.

Although Fujino was a bit of a slacker in his daily life, he shared the same hatred for the enemy as Yasuji Keishita when it came to East Africa.

He said, "East Africa is a stumbling block to the empire's rise in the Pacific, and their distribution of power is, to put it mildly, disgusting."

“Each of these places is a critical juncture in the empire’s path of external expansion. This is true for Alaska, the Far Eastern Empire, southern Okinawa, northern Hawaii, and the East African colonies in the South Pacific.”

Fujino's assessment was quite sharp: the deployment of East Africa in the Pacific strategy was, in the eyes of the Japanese government, "disgusting."

If we're really talking about the threat to Japan's dominance in the Pacific, East Africa is far less significant than the United States and the Soviet Union, because those two countries are Pacific nations with their mainland located along the Pacific coast, while East Africa appears to have numerous colonies and a wide sphere of influence in the Pacific.

For Japan, East Africa is more of a "bluff" and not enough to pose a fatal threat to Japan's Pacific strategy; it is an enhanced version of "Britain" and "France".

The characteristic of these three countries is that their mainland is far from the Pacific Ocean, so as long as Japan cuts off their access to the Pacific, their influence in the Pacific will be much easier to deal with.

If it were a country like the Soviet Union or the United States, Japan would not only have to use its naval power, but also prepare for a large-scale land war. But to be honest, Japan had absolutely no chance of winning against the United States and the Soviet Union on land.

Even in the Soviet Union, where Japan's power in the Far East was relatively weak, Japan was quite anxious. Japan was not worried about the Soviet Union's naval strength, but to confront such a European power on land was a completely different matter.

Not to mention the Soviet Union, even Tsarist Russia was a force that Japan dared not underestimate. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian army was a major headache for Japan. It was precisely because of the existence of the Russian army that Japan, as the victor in the Russo-Japanese War, did not achieve satisfactory results, such as Russia's refusal to cede territory and pay reparations.

Compared to Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union was clearly a more formidable opponent.

In addition, the Soviet Union and Japan had irreconcilable contradictions over the interests of the Far Eastern Empire, and the Soviet Union did have great influence in the Far Eastern Empire, especially in the north, including the northeast, which is now occupied by Japan.

The resistance forces in Northeast China had Soviet support behind them, though not obviously. But when the two countries clashed, they would inevitably become bargaining chips in the hands of the Soviet Union.

Then there is the United States. The United States is Japan's number one enemy, which is undeniable. The United States' interests in the Pacific are second only to those in the Atlantic. Moreover, the United States' west coast is not an insignificant region like the Soviet Far East, but rather a core territory of the United States.

If the Soviet Union had lost its Far Eastern territories, frankly speaking, it would still have been within the Soviet Union's acceptable range. However, the United States could never have remained indifferent to the loss of its West Coast, unless the enemy was so powerful that it suffocated the United States.

Even if Japan and the United States are countries of similar size, the United States cannot give up its interests in the Pacific.

Therefore, compared with the United States and the Soviet Union, East Africa seemed somewhat "harmless," but this was precisely what made East Africa so repulsive to Japan.

From Japan's perspective, East Africa should not have been invested too much in the Pacific region, establishing so many colonies, many of which were also stuck at key junctures in Japan's external expansion.

For example, the Ryukyu Islands once deterred Japan's invasion of a certain island in the southeast of the Far Eastern Empire.

Northern Hawaii and Alaska are also significant obstacles to Japan's future control of the Pacific.

Fujino said, "If we want to take Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands in the future, we will inevitably have to confront East Africa. However, these two places are the key to the Empire's control of the Pacific Ocean."

"With these two locations as strategic strongholds, we can blockade the US Navy in the waters near the US, minimizing the threat the US poses to the Empire." "Therefore, after the Empire occupies Hawaii, it would be best to eliminate both the US and East Africa as enemies at the same time. If successful, the North Pacific will be ours for the taking."

Although East Africa also had a stake in the Hawaiian Islands, the main force was ultimately the Americans who occupied Pearl Harbor. Therefore, in Fujino's view, to completely control Hawaii, it was necessary to deal with both the United States and East Africa at the same time.

Kashita Anji, however, had a different view. He said, "The Empire's future strategy in the Pacific will likely prioritize dealing with East Africa, while putting the United States second."

"This has two advantages. First, the empire will not have to deal with two world powers, East Africa and the United States, at the same time in the early stages of the war. Doing so would be too difficult and almost impossible to succeed."

"Therefore, the empire must first eliminate the weakest region, East Africa, from the Pacific Ocean, and even drive out East Africa's influence in the South China Sea."

"Secondly, the Americans would certainly be happy to take action against East Africa first. The competition between East Africa and the United States is very fierce, so if we break out into war with East Africa in the early stages, the United States will not only sit on the sidelines and watch the two fight, but may even be happy to help the Empire."

"Relax export restrictions on strategic resources such as oil to the Empire, or even lower the selling price."

"Therefore, by making good use of the contradictions between East Africa and the United States, we can maximize our interests. In the end, by taking over the many colonies in East Africa, we can break free from our dependence on the United States."

"After all, the East African colonies have abundant strategic resources such as oil, coal, and rubber, which can solve the empire's urgent needs."

"Then we can use the resources of East Africa to develop our industry and turn them into cannons to deal with the United States. At the same time, the East African colonies are also a powerful tool for us to deal with the United States. The East African colonies in Southeast Asia can be used to deal with the US troops stationed in the Philippines."

"The Mariana Islands can be used to counter Guam, Northern Hawaii can serve as a forward position for further conquest of Hawaii, and Alaska is a strategic base for us to confront the U.S. mainland."

It must be said that the Japanese have a very discerning eye. Besides being disgusted by Japan, the United States also felt the same way about the Pacific colonies in East Africa.

Some of the colonies in East Africa were almost right next to the strategic footholds of the United States in the Pacific. For example, the Philippines corresponded to the Mindanao and Palau colonies in East Africa, and most of the other islands of the Mariana Islands north of Guam were also in East African hands. These were taken from Spain by East Africa during the Spanish-American War.

The Hawaiian Islands and East Africa are also a thorn in the side, while Alaska serves as a springboard that could threaten the security of the U.S. mainland.

In other words, East Africa itself is not located on the Pacific coast; otherwise, relying on these strategic points, East Africa would truly have become the hegemon of the Pacific region.

After discussing the matter with Fujino, Anji Keishita began to carefully summarize the information about Anchorage Airport.

According to news reports, the Anchorage government will allocate land in the southwest of the city for airport construction over the next two years. This airport will serve as Anchorage's gateway to the outside world. It will be a civilian airport, not a military one.

Yasuji Kishita was pleasantly surprised by the news, saying, "A civilian airport is great! It will make it easier for the future empire to take over this important property."

"If East Africa really builds a military airport in Anchorage, it will not only threaten the security of our empire's homeland, but the empire will also have to pay a certain price to acquire Anchorage Airport."

To capture a military airfield, one must destroy the enemy's air force and render it incapable of fighting, just as Germany in the previous life bombed various Soviet airfields indiscriminately in the early stages of the war in order to destroy the Soviet air force.

If Anchorage Airport is a military airport, Japan might have to resort to the same tactic if it wanted to seize it in the future. However, bombing Anchorage Airport is not difficult, but rebuilding and restoring its functionality will take time.

Now that it has been confirmed that Anchorage Airport is not used for military purposes, Yasuji Kishita is naturally very pleased. This also means that if Japan wants to seize Anchorage Airport in the future, as long as the navy can successfully land in Anchorage, it can take over Anchorage Airport almost without any damage.

Then, by quickly putting it into use, Anchorage Airport was converted from a civilian airport to a military one. The Japanese Air Force could then use it as a base to form an air defense line to blockade the west coast of the United States, together with islands such as Hawaii.

If necessary, it can also be used as a base to bomb the U.S. mainland and destroy important military facilities such as ports and airports in the U.S. Pacific.

Xi Xia Anji said, "We need to send this intelligence back to the mainland as soon as possible. I believe that with this intelligence, it will be easier for the Empire to occupy Alaska in the future, and it will also be more conducive to the Empire's future military deployment in its strategic arrangements with the United States."

……

As expected, the Japanese government took the intelligence provided by the Xixia Anji intelligence group very seriously, and was even delighted. In their view, Anchorage Airport was simply in Japan's grasp.

The fact that East Africa is spending so much effort and money to build Anchorage Airport is only benefiting Japan in the future. This is a major strategic mistake by the East African government!

Rhine City.

Ernst did not, as the Japanese government thought, fail to consider the role of Anchorage Airport; in fact, it was a bait he had deliberately set up.

"Anchorage Airport is a feast we prepared in advance for Japan. If war breaks out between the two countries in the future, Japan will definitely bite this bait first."

Crown Prince Frederick asked, "Father, why are we doing this?"

Ernst explained to him, "Anchorage and the whole of Alaska, to put it bluntly, East Africa has no chance of holding on if the three major powers in the North Pacific want to take it from us."

"Therefore, in our chessboard, Alaska is a 'sacrifice' piece. It is not worthwhile for us to invest too much military force and deployment there now. If Alaska is to play a role, it will probably have to wait until more than ten years later, when military technology has made a leap forward and improved."

"As for now, Alaska is just an important bargaining chip for the Empire. We can use this place to sow discord between the United States and Japan in the future, especially to let Japan use this place to strike the United States."

If Anchorage Airport falls into Japanese hands, how will Japan use it? Without a doubt, it will be used against the Americans. After all, Japan cannot use Anchorage Airport to turn against East Africa. Anchorage is not only extremely far from the East African mainland, but it is also more than 4,000 kilometers from the nearest North Hawaiian colony.

(End of this chapter)