African Entrepreneurship Record

On the sea, five warships of the New Hamburg Port City’s navy were coming towards Maputo with two merchant ships in a ”grand fleet”.

Although it was only a short distance, for the large force of East African Army soldiers boarding the ships, there was little reaction, with only a few individuals experiencing dizziness from the rocking at sea; this is a symptom of seasickness.

However, this situation also made the leading commander Schwar feel somewhat dissatisfied. Of course, this was from his own experience, even though he did not get seasick, he felt some tumult within, a slight discomfort that gave him a new understanding of the sea.

”It seems the Defense Army should organize a specialized unit for amphibious operations, something between the navy and the army. Not everyone can withstand the rocking on the sea, and it is essential to undergo related training, or let the army get more familiar with this unusual environment. We may face such special combat situations in the future,” said Schwar.

Actually, compared to most countries, the East African Army performed quite well because the East African immigrants all crossed oceans to reach East Africa, so they have some tolerance for the wind and waves at sea, but after arriving in East Africa, they rarely go back out to sea.

This is mainly because East Africa doesn’t rely on the sea for sustenance, although its maritime resources are very abundant. There is the Somali current in the east and the Benguela cold current in the west, both capable of forming fisheries.

However, East Africa is not a nation that relies on the sea for survival. On the contrary, for national development, it has actively expanded inland. This policy is undoubtedly correct; without inland development, East Africa would have certainly struggled in this South African War.

Without the support of the central three provinces, and the establishment of the Central Railway and telegraph network, East Africa’s supply of materials and troops would rely solely on long-distance travel by manpower and animal power, making the combat situation in East Africa no better than that of England and Portugal, which need to support troops across the sea. Even intelligence work alone would be enough to cripple East Africa.

Of course, with the focus on inland resources, coastal development has not stagnated. Coastal cities like Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam, which have larger populations, still engage in marine fishing activities.

However, another factor in the sluggish development of East Africa’s marine fisheries is the inconvenience in preservation and transportation.

The East African coastline is straight and lacks excellent harbors, leading to a lower coastal population in relation to the overall population. In contrast, Europe, with its fragmented continent, has many coastal inhabitants and countries that survive on fishing, like Greece, a typical maritime civilization, and Europe has a well-developed canal network lacking in East Africa.

East Africa’s fisheries can take cues from Austria-Hungary, which has a shorter coastline but is smaller in area, and the local people have a habit of eating freshwater fish due to residing deep in Europe’s interior.

The dietary habits of East African immigrants align with those of continental countries. East African immigrants can be divided into three main groups: one is immigrants from the Far East, which has a history of ”closing off the country,” and many seaports and fishing villages have only developed in recent years, contributing to the Far East Empire Navy’s challenges.

Then there is the Southern German community centered in Swabia, which is the core of East African culture. Many pure German people, including the Heixinggen royal family, come from Southern Germany, a region distant from the sea, hence they are a traditional farming community.

Finally, there are immigrants from Austria-Hungary, although the composition is mixed like Austria-Hungary’s national demographics, with a predominantly Slavic population.

Therefore, in terms of national composition, East Africa is genuinely a traditional agrarian civilization rather than a maritime one, with various factors contributing to the underdevelopment of its marine fisheries.

In contrast, oceanic trade has been increasing yearly, and a significant reason for this increase is the inland development, which has substantially enriched the variety of goods and commodities available for international trade in East Africa.

So, the inland development correlates positively with the strength of maritime trade.

Of course, there are exceptions, as seen in the current wartime, where East African overseas trade faces significant setbacks, but this is a temporary situation due to war.

Moreover, this isn’t entirely negative for East Africa. With overseas trade restricted, industrial production heavily reliant on imports has had to focus more on ”self-sufficiency,” even accelerating domestic manufacturing to some level.

In this regard, East Africa is already capable of developing and producing some core equipment independently, although the ”buy rather than make” environment restricts such efforts.

After trade restrictions, equipment subject to British sanctions has actually spurred creative thinking across East Africa.

This is, of course, built on the preliminary achievements of East Africa’s industrial system and universal education; you can’t make bricks without straw, and a certain industrial base and talent are the foundations of East Africa’s confidence.

Currently, technology hasn’t advanced to the point of being entirely monopolized, which is why East Africa can rapidly develop.

Much like the 21st-century technological revolution, with things like new energy, artificial intelligence, and big data, countries like the Far East Empire and the United States have further widened the global technological gap.

In Africa, for example, many countries lack mastery even of technologies from the first industrial revolution, let alone the third technological revolution. Without a proper foundation, the backlog of lessons to catch up on only grows.

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Schwar’s idea is essentially a marine corps, and as a 21st-century Ernst naturally thought so too, but East Africa hasn’t had a need to develop such military branches yet.

Firstly, other countries haven’t ventured into this field, so Ernst isn’t in a hurry. Secondly, East Africa currently prioritizes development on the African continent rather than focusing on the ocean, so there’s no such need.

Currently, East Africa is merely taking a sip of the leftovers of colonialism’s feast, with its global colonies being just the ignored scraps of other countries.

Of course, scraps aren’t necessarily unimportant. The Southern Ryukyu Islands, for example, are considered valuable to a nation like Japan lacking land resources, although Japan currently lacks the power to make a move, especially after being somewhat suppressed by East Africa, with its national power not even matching historical levels.

In short, units like marine corps will undoubtedly exist but not at this moment. Just like Ernst is eager for air forces and mechanized units, the conditions aren’t there yet.

Coming back, Schwar’s plan to launch a surprise attack on the southern defense line of Maputo involves setting out from New Hamburg Port City, with a distance of less than three hundred kilometers to the destination.

This is just a short-range maritime operation, but Schwar’s ability to identify problems shows his keen thinking.

However, the group led by Schwar numbers just over 2,000, and penetrating deep behind enemy lines risks encirclement from both sides, making it very dangerous.

The most perilous aspect is the lack of a direct harbor to dock between New Hamburg Port City and Maputo, meaning Schwar’s troops must land using naval small boats.

If discovered by the Portuguese, they could face being trapped at sea, and this depends on luck, which is a gamble on how much the Portuguese prioritize coastal patrols.