African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 99 Coastal Defense Artillery

"What you said has some truth, but I am still more optimistic about giving priority to the development of industry, especially the current population in East Africa is small, and the difficulty of industrialization is low. As for the food problem, high-value industrial products can be exchanged for low-value ones. Agricultural products." said Maximilian I.

"If you look at the actual situation in some European countries, what His Majesty said is still reasonable. After all, not every country is suitable for developing agriculture, but the natural conditions and land area in East Africa determine that developing agriculture is his advantage, and Don't panic if you have food in your hands."

The person in charge went on to say: "Prince Ernst often emphasized that agriculture is the easiest industry to be independent. After all, no one can live without food. To develop industry, various conditions must be met. The threshold is very high, especially in the first-developing countries. Strong advantages, they constantly update technology, and the threshold for industrialization of those backward countries continues to increase.”

"For example, in East Africa, at present, we lack the basic conditions for industrialization. Most of our residents come from rural areas, and their understanding of industry is basically poor; our food production is not enough to support large-scale industrialization, and we cannot provide sufficient raw materials; The traffic conditions in China are even worse, not even comparable to most backward countries, and the length and density of dirt roads are not comparable to those countries and regions with a little history. The most important thing for industrial development is to import machinery and equipment from Europe, but Hei Xing The root consortium still needs to make a profit, and East Africa is temporarily unable to introduce industrialized facilities from Europe on a large scale."

  Maximilian I listened silently to the words of the person in charge of the sisal factory, and fell into deep thought. He remembered his own life experience.

  I have always believed in liberalism. When Milan was in power (at the age of 25, I became the governor of Lombardy and Venice).

   This is also one of the reasons why I chose to go to Mexico later, to prove that I am not utopian, and that my policies can promote the development of the country.

  Unfortunately, the reality is a slap in the face. The Mexicans don't buy their own account at all, and even want to execute themselves in the end. Everyone has been offended by themselves.

  In retrospect, Mexico is indeed not suitable for the development of a monarch. Mexicans are deeply influenced by republican ideas. At the same time, because the former royal family’s consumption has overdrawn the trust of Mexicans, it was a wrong decision to go to Mexico from the very beginning.

  Of course, Maximilian I was also deceived. When the French forged a Mexican poll, they fooled Maximilian I, who was dazzled, to Mexico as a scapegoat.

  Mexicans opposed their own rule and belonged to the rulers who chose themselves, while Ernst’s East African colony was just the opposite, belonging to the people Ernst chose to rule.

  So the East African colonies can implement orders and prohibitions, and Ernst can give full play to his talents, Maximilian I thought so.

  …

   September 11, 1867.

  Port of Mtwara.

   "One two three, hi! One two three..."

  Dockworkers with hundreds of people at the wharf are carrying the artillery unloaded from the ship. These are big guys pulled from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The lack of moving tools in the East African colonies can only be done by manpower.

  Recently, all the cement imported from East Africa has been used to build port defenses.

Affected by the Paraguay War, Ernst suddenly felt that the position of the East African colonies in Africa was somewhat similar to that of Paraguay in South America. They were both located in the east-central part of their respective continents. coastal.

  And this is also the advantage and disadvantage of the East African colonies over Paraguay. The advantage lies in the greater development potential of East Africa, which has many ports, and the disadvantage lies in the greater maritime threats facing East Africa.

  East African colonies currently have no navy, which means that the door to the Indian Ocean is open, and they have to deal with enemies in the Indian Ocean.

  There are only two ways, one is to form your own naval force, and the second is to build fortifications along the coast, especially important facilities such as forts that have the power to fight back.

   Navy! It's a money-burning thing, and it's useless if it's small. At most, it can bully some fishing boats, and armed merchant ships are not easy targets.

  And the navy is a purely technical arm, without accumulated experience and a lot of training, it is difficult to play its role.

   Given the current economic situation in the East African colonies, don’t be imaginative. It’s more practical to build some forts honestly.

   Now there is a good window period for purchasing large-caliber artillery on some decommissioned ships from Europe. The last naval battle of Lissa, the ironclad battle between Austria and Italy, accelerated the speed of upgrading naval ships of various countries.

  Many old warships are facing decommissioning, and the large-caliber artillery on the warships facing decommissioning will naturally also be decommissioned.

  In order to make the best use of everything, some countries may dismantle it and continue to serve it, such as serving as coastal defense guns, and some countries will find buyers to take over.

And Ernst found a batch of large-caliber artillery retired from warships from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. deterrence.

  As the southernmost seaport in East Africa, Mtwara naturally enjoys convenience in advance. Ships from Europe to East Africa arrive at the port of Mtwara first.

  The port of Mtwara, which had received the news a long time ago, built the basic outline of the basic turret in advance. The design drawing was designed by professionals from the Navy Department of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is definitely the most advanced in this era.

  Now, just wait for the artillery to be in place and do the final calibration.

  After exhausting all their efforts, the workers finally transported the artillery to the designated location, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy consultant on board personally directed the ammunition filling and selected targets.

  After all the preparation procedures were completed, the artillery was aimed at the target prepared on the sea, the wooden floating object marked with red paint.

"put!"

   "coax..."

  With a roar, along with the thick smoke from the muzzle, the coastal anti-corrosion gun precisely fell to the designated area and exploded.

  In an instant, a huge wave was blown up on the surface of the sea, and together with the floating target, it was torn apart and flew into the air.

  Operators and observers near the launch point on the shore felt a roar in their ears, and felt an obvious air wave at the moment the ammunition flew out.

  In this way, the power of this batch of artillery is definitely enough, and it is no problem to deal with some large armed ships of the current era.

  However, the disadvantages are not without. The ammunition still needs to be imported from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the price is not cheap, so it should be used sparingly, and the professional quality of the gunner should be improved on weekdays to make up for the disadvantages caused by the insufficient amount of ammunition.

  (end of this chapter)