Archduke Ferdinand and Tirpitz chatted merrily. Birds of a feather flocked together, and as naval men, they had no shortage of common topics.
"By deploying submarines in great numbers, we can strike at the enemy's maritime transport routes. Their stealth capabilities can perfectly achieve such effects, allowing them to silently breach sealed waters..." Tirpitz described to Archduke Ferdinand the prospects he envisioned for submarines in future warfare.
"Submarines? If things are as you say, they certainly have some use. However, our submarine forces discovered many problems during training—for instance, they cannot clearly distinguish between different types of vessels, leading to misjudgments. But at the final moment of war, I fear no one will bother with international morality. Under those circumstances, submarines may well prove immensely useful," Archduke Ferdinand said.
Archduke Ferdinand's prediction was quite reasonable. The main reason Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare in his previous life had failed to achieve results was, to a large extent, the sheer number of "accidental attacks."
Still, there was no denying that German submarines had dealt the Entente Powers heavy blows during the war, achieving results that other types of warships could not.
As a rather traditional naval commander, Archduke Ferdinand did not think highly of submarines. Of course, this did not affect Ernst's emphasis on them. Thus, not only had the East African Navy established a submarine force, it had also given it vigorous support. In the future, it might even become one of the East African Navy's principal combat forces.
That was Ferdinand's view, but Ernst certainly had grounds to cry injustice. It was true that Ernst valued submarines, and it was also true that the East African Navy's submarine force would receive the greatest support over the coming years.
But this was a special measure taken under East Africa's current fiscal