A Lose-Lose Situation

After the Battle of Lamu Bay, Archduke Ferdinand's heart had gone cold. More than a decade of effort had been destroyed in just a few short hours. The unpredictability of naval warfare truly was the greatest.

But this was no time for grief. There was still a mess to clean up: the ironclads half-dead on the sea, and the great many personnel who needed rescuing.

Although East Africa had suffered enormous losses in this battle, its overall results were still acceptable. It had not been wiped out, and the British Expeditionary Fleet had also been severely mauled.

East Africa ought to thank the Indian Ocean. Its lack of islands had, to a certain extent, left the British without the ability to regroup and continue their attack. The nearest British Navy base to East Africa's core waters was in the Seychelles, and that was likely where the British Expeditionary Fleet had fled. However, the Seychelles lacked the capacity to maintain the British Expeditionary Fleet, so it could only serve as a transit station.

"Reporting to Your Highness, as of now, we have rescued more than five hundred of our own sailors. In addition, we have captured more than seven hundred British soldiers, as well as two British ironclads."

At last, there was good news, making Archduke Ferdinand feel somewhat better. Two British ironclads would count as a supplement to the East African Navy. Though they had suffered varying degrees of bombardment and were lying crippled at sea, as long as they had not sunk, they could be towed back to East Africa for repairs.

Even if they could not be repaired, it would not matter. Britain, the world's foremost naval power, stood head and shoulders above the rest in shipbuilding technology. These two British warships could fill many gaps in East