As the "crossroads" of the North Atlantic, Anchorage was also a nail in Ernst's future plans for East Africa to contain Europe. From Anchorage to the heart of Western Europe, the straight-line distance was only eight thousand kilometers.
The distance from the East African mainland to flight routes covering most of Europe was roughly the same. Thus, by controlling Alaska, led by Anchorage, East Africa could monitor European airspace from both the north and the south.
In this way, through Alaska, East Africa could simultaneously gain a strategic advantage over Asia, North America, and Europe.
Of course, under current technological conditions, Alaska's role could not yet be effectively realized. Otherwise, East Africa would not have been so lax in Alaska's defense. At present, Alaska's main functions lay in two areas: providing logistical services for the East African Pacific Fleet and serving as a planned aviation hub.
Kuroshita Anji and the Japanese Government were most concerned with these two functions of Alaska. He said, "Alaska is a place the Imperial Navy must strive to seize in the future. That is why, over the years, we have been investigating Alaska's terrain and hydrography. Countries like the United States have been doing the same."
For a long time, Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, had been a key area for frequent activity and reconnaissance by the major powers of the North Atlantic.
The United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan were all actively collecting hydrographic data on Alaska's waters, using many different methods.
For example, they openly studied the local climate, geography, and oceans under the guise of scientific expeditions; they disguised intelligence gathering as fishing operations; or their navies collected intelligence directly.
Of these three main methods, fishing operations were directly subject to strict restrictions by the Alaskan government, because they involved Alaska's