African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 767 - 71: The Predicament of the East African Navy

New Hamburg Port City.

With the East African Defense Army retreating here, East Africa established multiple defense lines centering around the city to confront the coalition forces converging from the Natal colony and Mozambique.

"For now, with New Hamburg Port City's material reserves, we can hold out for more than two months. Meanwhile, maintaining production in New Hamburg Port City is the primary challenge our army faces, especially with insufficient steel reserves. Currently, the only thing not lacking in New Hamburg Port City is coal. Before the British blockade of New Hamburg Port City, it was one of East Africa's coal export centers, and a large quantity of coal was stored at the docks and within the city."

"But with only coal, we can maintain the operation of the city's factories and power, while the lack of iron ore and other raw materials prevents the arms factories from maintaining weapon production. Currently, our weaponry can only be sustained by a limited number of spare parts."

In simple terms, patching things up barely maintains the wear and tear in warfare, but New Hamburg Port City was not a key area for East African military industry deployment, so the production capacity is very limited.

Moreover, New Hamburg Port City faces greater military pressure than any city in East Africa, with war ongoing without respite, so even the supply of spare parts is stretched thin.

"We can currently rely on capturing some materials from the enemy, but it's just a drop in the bucket. Arms factory raw materials have even begun dismantling some equipment to obtain raw materials. This level of depletion might not sustain us for even half a month, unless we rely solely on rifles as weapons and endure an ammunition shortfall."

This is an unprecedented situation for the East African Defense Army, accustomed to waging war with ample resources.

"However, there is also good news. The General Staff has decided to open up the sea transport route, depending on the Navy's performance. So, Major General Bruce, how is your Navy planning to proceed?"

So far, the navy at New Hamburg Port City has not made any significant moves in the war. As the highest military officer of the New Hamburg Port City Fleet, Major General Bruce has adopted a "non-confrontational" strategy.

"The Navy has indeed received the message from headquarters. Next week, the Navy will take action against the coalition navy in the Mozambique Channel. By then, our New Hamburg Port City fleet will definitely collaborate. If all goes well, the maritime route between New Hamburg Port City and the east will be reopened soon," Major General Bruce said to Alydot.

Major General Bruce's words relieved some pressure on the army. Before the war, the army relied most heavily on the railway and highway systems, but now the railways and highways connecting New Hamburg Port City to the outside have been cut off by the coalition forces.

As a port city, New Hamburg Port City's maritime conditions are among the top tier in East Africa, making it key to breaking through the enemy's blockade easily.

Although the East African Navy faces significant defensive pressure, it remains the strongest in the Western Indian Ocean, needing only to divert some forces to quickly solve the problem.

Ultimately, the issue lies in East Africa's lack of a stable military base in the Indian Ocean, thus resulting in strong capability but nowhere to exert it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The islands in the Indian Ocean are primarily concentrated in the east, with few usable islands in the central region and east. Among them, the Seychelles and Socotra Island are most crucial for East Africa.

However, both islands are under British control, directly exposing the East African Navy to pressure from the north and east.

These two islands, as starting points, can directly approach the East African coast, similar to the U.S., but the United States is too far from the other continents for effective military intervention.

East Africa, on the other hand, is much closer to the traditional powers of Eurasia, and without considering the respective military capabilities, the East African maritime area lacks safety.

Of course, as a late-developing country, East Africa's current approach to maritime strategy is already quite advanced. Unfortunately, East Africa was established too late to control the nearest islands.

For example, Socotra Island controls the Red Sea and Aden Bay while also hindering East African shipping routes. The British intervened in local governance as early as the mid-18th century and brought Socotra Island into their protection in the seventies.

As for the Seychelles, it's even more straightforward—taken by the British from the French as spoils, it's one of the critical pillars of British security in the Indian Ocean.

The only strategically significant island group East Africa can leverage is the Comoros, mainly serving to restrict the Mozambique Channel and Madagascar.

But there are no significant threats heading south from East Africa, unless strong regional powers emerge in South Africa or on Madagascar.

That's essentially impossible. Madagascar, to put it bluntly, is an isolated island with little value beyond its rich mineral resources.

Only global naval powers like Britain and France have any interest in Madagascar, and South Africa, currently as Cape Town, is famous primarily for controlling the Cape of Good Hope.

However, since the opening of the Suez Canal, its strategic position in the world has been substantially weakened. Historically, Cape Town held significant importance in global shipping primarily because some large ocean-going vessels, mainly oil tankers, could not navigate the narrow Suez Canal.

But in the 19th century, when the oil industry was just starting, such giants didn't exist to support Cape Town's economic value.

Of course, the British are not going to relinquish Cape Town, as the Suez Canal is a best option but not the only option. Forces in the Red Sea, Mediterranean, and even the Indian Ocean could threaten the safety of Red Sea routes. At such times, the value of Cape Town as an alternative becomes evident.

However, the maritime transport value concerns sea routes between the continents of Eurasia; if the perspective switches to the African continent's eastern and western coasts, Cape Town's strategic positioning changes again.

Early intercontinental African connections consisted of only one sea passage, which was Cape Town, making two routes after the Suez Canal opened.

However, the African continent's shape is broader at the top and narrower at the bottom. Not to mention, the East African coast extends from south to north, visible from the geography of Somalia, where the coastline extends in a straight line northeast. Thus, even to the Austro-Hungarian port of Trieste, the actual distance is very far, almost equivalent to the west coast of India.

Taking the northern route is possible by sea, but the cost is too high, with the mileage tripled.

In the south, the significance of Cape Town to African shipping is prominent, as, for instance, the distance from New Hamburg Port City to East Africa's Orange Monde is just over two thousand kilometers.

Over two thousand kilometers may seem substantial, but the northern stretch of the same distance is merely from Mogadishu to Djibouti, and the Red Sea itself is more than two thousand kilometers, not to mention to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where it's over six thousand kilometers.

But Mogadishu is also a northern port for East Africa; if traveling from Mombasa or Dar es Salaam to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the distance is even greater.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is just one example; if venturing to more distant regions, the detour is even more exaggerated, underscoring Cape Town's importance to the African continent itself.

Of course, if East Africa constructs a cohesive east-west "land bridge" in the future, the situation might be quite different, with the only regrettable aspect being East Africa's poor water transport conditions. Otherwise, by connecting inland rivers, Cape Town's economic value could largely be replaced.