Chapter 1042: Chapter 51: Defense Industry

This structural change is the inevitable result of East Africa’s development in line with its national condition. In the past, East Africa extensively grew wheat, which was actually influenced by the origins of its immigrants.

The early immigrant population in East Africa came from Europe or the northern parts of the Far East Empire (primarily the Huai-Hai Plain), and the food traditions of these two places greatly influenced the early agricultural development in East Africa.

However, as a tropical country, East Africa, although it has conditions similar to India for growing wheat, is ultimately more suitable for rice cultivation. Yet, rice cultivation is highly dependent on water sources.

The early territory of East Africa mainly included what used to be Tanzania and Kenya, where the dry conditions or poor water facilities made planting drought-resistant crops such as wheat and millet naturally reasonable.

Now, East African water infrastructure is quite complete, and as regions with abundant water like Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, or the Great Lakes Region are incorporated into East African territory, the expansion of rice cultivation scale is naturally justified.

Similarly, the planting area for high-yield crops like corn and potatoes in East Africa is increasing day by day. East Africa’s overall latitude and climate are quite similar to those of South America, so the two main South American grain crops are also widely planted in East Africa.

The potato as a crop, although Siberian potatoes are quite famous, the true land of potatoes is still South America. Both Peru and Chile are notable potato kingdoms, with thousands of varieties of potatoes, and East Africa has naturally introduced some potato varieties, no doubt the Native Americans have made significant contributions to modern agriculture.

In comparison, among African natives, apart from the Egyptians, only the Abyssinians have cultivated teff suitable for large-scale planting.

This indirectly suggests that African latitude is not a justified excuse for Africa’s agricultural development to lag behind other continents; instead, Africa as heaven’s chosen land has made the most primitive forms of hunting and gathering agriculture too deeply rooted, resulting in African natives lacking motivation to develop planting agriculture.

This also led to East Africa’s early grain crop planting industry being largely introduced from other regions, with hardly any native grain planting varieties.

Overall, the change in East African grain output structure is due to the changing domestic agricultural production situation, as well as positive feedback on international grain demand. East Africa’s current agricultural development has shifted from merely having enough to eat to eating well.

In this major context, the introduction of quality wheat and livestock products from Eastern Europe and South America to East Africa has become quite justified.

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Besides light and heavy industry and agriculture, during the First Five-Year Plan period, East Africa’s defense industry development also achieved impressive results.

During the First Five-Year Plan, East Africa’s aviation industry officially started. The East African Government invested in building three aircraft manufacturing plants from 1901 to 1904, which became one of the greatest highlights of the defense industry. Currently, the aircraft manufacturing industry is entirely focused on meeting military needs.

As for the civil aviation industry, even if an East African airline opens, it’s estimated no one would dare to travel, at least not Ernst himself. We still have to wait for technology to mature, as current aircraft don’t have sufficient passenger capacity.

Apart from East Africa, other countries in the world also have aviation industry developments led by France. As early as 1784, the Robert brothers of France constructed the first dirigible in human history. In 1851, the Frenchman Giffard solved the power issue of the dirigible, becoming the inventor of the powered dirigible. In 1884, the electric dirigible "La France" completed the first landing after returning to the takeoff point, and before dirigibles, hot air balloons were also first developed by the French.

Naturally, in past lives, it was Germany’s Count Zeppelin who took dirigibles to the peak of the aviation industry. The Zeppelin dirigible can be said to be the only practical dirigible extensively used for civil aviation before the appearance of airplanes, indicating the emergence of the civil aviation industry.

Currently, the development direction of aircraft in mainstream industrial countries worldwide remains focused on dirigibles, whereas East Africa is pioneering a shift towards airplanes. This is like unfolding different tech trees, which will reflect in the differences between the two in a few years.

The primary clients for East African airplanes, besides the military, are other government departments. The meteorological department or the Ministry of Agriculture is very interested in airplanes, but only two have been purchased for trial. The bulk is still military-oriented, so the aviation industry currently entirely belongs to the defense industry department.

The second major highlight of the defense industry is the development of automobiles and armored vehicles. The East African automobile manufacturing industry has developed to a considerable scale, ranking first in the world and far ahead of other countries.

The progress of armored vehicle research is also speeding up. It is worth mentioning that the development of East African armored troops remains relatively conservative. Although products are quite mature, they are costly, so they are only equipped on a small scale within the army, keeping East African cavalry as the mainstream of mobile troops.

However, with automobiles being widely equipped in the army, the disadvantages of cavalry are becoming more apparent. Currently, East African armored troops consist of only three units, which will inevitably replace cavalry teams in the future.

Besides these black technologies mastered by the East African Army, East Africa’s rifle, artillery, and other military industry production are also improving, mainly because the widespread use of alloys has significantly raised the quality limit of East African military products. With East Africa already having minimal gaps compared to Europe and America in the basic military industry field, and breakthroughs in East African military industry research and abundant talent advantages, the East African Army can now be described as the most advanced in the world.

The only unfavorable factor limiting the development of the East African Army is "peace." Without the impetus of war, East African military reform naturally won’t be too radical, which is the main reason why East African cavalry units can still be retained.

Compared to the army, naval development seems to be less leisurely. The navies of various countries worldwide are rapidly developing, with shipbuilding technology constantly changing, which makes East Africa, though not participating in naval armament competition, unable to stop the naval technology race.

Furthermore, East Africa’s shipbuilding industry developed relatively late, which also means there are many academic gaps to fill, including in military shipbuilding.

East African military shipbuilding industry development is relatively independent; however, truly closing the gap with the great powers will only take a few years, benefiting from the scientific and technological boom in East Africa.

The navy, in terms of submarine and battleship, is at a world-class level. However, battleship research and development in East Africa has been temporarily halted due to the Russo-Japanese War impact. More data from the navies of the two countries are needed to infer the future direction of naval technology development.

However, this pause won’t last long. According to estimates, the Russo-Japanese naval showdown should occur between May and June this year, around the time the Russian navy enters the East Asian waters.

The battleship development direction has the Russo-Japanese navies’ trial run; there is no specific reference for submarine construction. Benefiting from the early advantage, East African-made submarines are the most advanced in the world, while among other nations, France and Germany are most interested in the role of submarines.

Germany is primarily looking for alternative options by the naval higher-ups to assist battleships against the Royal Navy. Coupled with Germany’s powerful capability in technological fields, results are easily produced, while France, in contrast, feels somewhat unable to compete in the naval race.

The cost of battleships is high, and France’s opponents, the United Kingdom and Germany, have more advantages over France. As for other countries, submarine research is not prioritized or feels beyond reach.

After all, military research and development have technical and financial thresholds, basically affordable only to the world’s most potent countries.