African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 583: Chapter 261 Surrender!

As the second-in-command of Japan, Takahashi Morita was currently on his ship, flying into a rage.

”That bastard Xiao Zezheng’Er, he’s a disgrace to the empire. Surrendering without a fight is simply unforgivable; it’s an insult to imperial soldiers, and he’s tarnished the spirit of Bushido. And those traitors, ungrateful wretches...”

Takahashi Morita, indeed, as Xiao Zezheng’Er said, is a man of bravery but lacks wisdom. However, such a personality is quite popular in the current Japanese social environment, especially since he has a high-ranking uncle looking after him.

In fact, East Africa and Japanese society are somewhat similar, both being countries with a strong militaristic atmosphere, where straightforward personalities are often more adept at handling things.

Of course, Japan is too extreme, far surpassing East Africa, even Prussia, possibly due to the geographical influence of being an island nation.

”Report to the commander that now, as soon as Xiao Zezheng’Er gives the order, we’ve lost a third of our men, and now our strength differs so greatly from East Africa. How should we respond?”

Upon hearing the subordinate’s inquiry, Takahashi Morita was also frustrated. He said, ”Although the East African fleet is powerful, we previously had opportunities to outsmart them. After all, we have sufficient numbers, although they are just fishing boats and merchant ships, the number of cannons is enough. If we get a chance to approach the East African fleet, we can certainly deal a heavy blow to them. It’s all Xiao Zezheng’Er’s fault for surrendering without a fight...”

”Commander, the East African Navy should not let us get close, right? I think Xiao Zezheng’Er also realized this, which is why he abandoned the confrontation and chose to retreat first.”

”Alright, stop defending that guy Xiao Zezheng’Er. He usually doesn’t like me, and now it’s obvious he’s settling a personal vendetta under public guise. No matter how you look at it, I’m the second-in-command of the fleet. He didn’t even discuss it with me before retreating troops, clearly ignoring my position.”

Indeed, Takahashi Morita is quite arrogant. Essentially, he and Xiao Zezheng’Er just have a superior-subordinate relationship. As his superior, Xiao Zezheng’Er can naturally decide everything about the fleet. Even if there really was a problem, it would be Xiao Zezheng’Er’s responsibility, not Takahashi Morita’s. All he needed to do was execute orders, and that would be enough.

However, Takahashi Morita evidently does not see it that way. He told his subordinate, ”Originally, I had planned it out earlier; our strength is very weak, this is obvious to anyone. The East African Navy undoubtedly knows this, so the enemy will let their guard down. At this point, we pretend to surrender to the East African Navy, and they will likely believe it. Then, taking advantage of the timing of surrender, we can approach the East African fleet.

As long as we get close to the East African Navy, we’ve achieved our goal. Although the East African Navy has strong ships and artillery, their ships are large and not easy to maneuver. So at close range, our small boats are actually easier to take the initiative.

If operated well, we could even swiftly penetrate the East African fleet, surrounding a few of their ships. Then at this time, if we fire or collide, East Africa won’t be able to react.

We might suffer heavy losses, but we might kill a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of our own. Furthermore, East Africa would lose advanced ironclad ships, which would be a big gain for us. At this time, the East African fleet would have no retreat. After all, this is the Pacific Ocean, not the Indian Ocean, so even if their hull is damaged, it’s difficult for them to find a place for repairs.”

Takahashi Morita still has some skills. He’s correct that if East African warships were damaged in the Far East, repairs would indeed be a big problem. If they sink, they could basically be declared scrap.

In the Far East, perhaps only Japan and the Far East Empire can repair ironclad ships, with the Far East Empire being the most likely since some of its technology comes from Germany.

The technology for East Africa’s ironclad ships mainly comes from Austria-Hungary, though there is a connection between them. However, the Far East Empire’s shipyard does not have the experience in repairing gigantic ironclad ships; this is a drawback.

Not even the Far East, and East Africa itself might not have the capacity either. Bajamojo shipyard, although capable of manufacturing ironclad ships, falls short in refurbishment; it is a cost issue. With that effort, it might be better to build new battleships!

East Africa now has six shipyards of varying sizes with Bajamojo shipyard holding the highest status, having the experience of independently designing and building ironclad ships, while East Africa excels at building gunboats.

Gunboats are practically very useful as they can be used for coastal defense or carry out riverine tasks in East Africa, while being cheap and technologically mature, making them the first choice for many poor countries, weak nations, or countries not aiming for a big navy, like Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, and the Far East Empire. Even world powers use them extensively as substitutes for ironclad ships.

Of course, the Far East Empire was deceived by the British. The marine condition of the Far East Empire is just slightly worse than the United States worldwide, with a high demand. Although gunboats are cheap, they cannot guarantee the interests of the Far East Empire.

The United States, a lone place overseas with no rivals, is different for the Far East Empire, which has southern English-French European colonial forces, northern Russian Empire, eastern Japan, and the United States. Without guns in their hands, they are considered prey by others. Later, the Beiyang fleet indeed had some deterrence, but unfortunately, Japan nearby knew the Far East government best, saw through the false front of the Beiyang fleet, and tore its cover, finally forming the Allies of powers.

Therefore, the navy is the most deterrent military branch in this era, naturally excluding countries without seas, such as Austria-Hungary and Germany.

East Africa has a long coastline and is a two-ocean nation, so developing a grand navy is essential as it is a crucial sword for East Africa’s national defense security.

Japan, as an island nation, is naturally so. However, the development of a million army and a hundred million jade break by Japan in the past was indeed crazy. If the British had this spirit, they’d have swept over Germany long ago. Of course, the British weren’t as foolish as the Japanese. As an island nation, Britain clearly understands its position, which is to vigorously develop the navy. Meanwhile, Japan’s land and naval struggle is a historical legacy problem, as the army represented Japan’s independent political faction from the start.

Takahashi Morita: ”Now Xiao Zezheng’Er has taken the main force away, and I have only twenty-three ships left. Half of them are small fishing boats, which are hardly useful, so there’s definitely no way to cause trouble for the East African Navy. This also means we might be facing complete annihilation.”

”Then, commander, what is your plan now?”

”Giving up halfway is impossible! Otherwise, Xiao Zezheng’Er will certainly laugh at me. Now, we can only take a risk and see if we can lure the East African Navy into the water.”

”...” The subordinate didn’t speak; now he felt his commander was somewhat crazy.

”Don’t look at me with that expression; there’s no turning back now! We’re not aiming to heavily damage the East African fleet, but if we catch them off guard, we can still inflict harm on those three ironclad ships.”

”Commander, then what next?”

”If we get the chance, of course, we’ll withdraw, but we can’t go toward the Miyako Strait. Instead, we’ll use the gaps between the islands in the southern Ryukyu archipelago to maneuver around and shake them off before heading back north to our homeland.”

Takahashi Morita’s words instilled a bit of confidence in his subordinates. Even if there was only a thousandth chance of survival, it was far better than dying generously. And if they died generously, they too wouldn’t betray the nurturing of the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor.

”Let’s do this first...then do this...”

”Yes, Commander!”

Then all the ships under Takahashi Morita’s command raised white flags. The white flag represents surrender, which is reflected in both Eastern and Western cultures, so the East African Navy tentatively understood what kind of strange ploy these little devils were up to?