Having settled the naming of the naval academy, the construction of Ferdinand Naval Academy was set in stone. Like Hechingen Military Academy, Ernst would also serve as its honorary principal.
Prince Constantin said, "Ernst, have you become addicted to being a principal?"
"Father, you misunderstand me. Although my personal military abilities are nothing special, ideological development on campus is precisely my specialty."
Though Ernst rarely participated in teaching, he believed he had unique strengths in ideological and political development. After all, he had received this kind of education since childhood.
"Vigorously developing the navy is currently a necessary measure for the Kingdom of East Africa. The East African Navy has become East Africa's fatal weak point, making the Kingdom of East Africa far more vulnerable to threats from the sea than from land.
By comparison, the East African Army faced much less pressure in national defense, because it had already grown into the largest force in Africa. To put it bluntly, unless a nation mobilized all its strength, no country could currently defeat East Africa in the African interior.
As for the navy, our shortcomings are glaring: too few personnel and too few warships. If another country sent a single fleet, it might sink the entire East African Navy to the bottom of the sea. Therefore, developing a navy capable of protecting East Africa's coastal waters is now our foremost objective," Ernst said bluntly.
The East African Navy's development could not be delayed. Of course, Ernst had no intention of expanding the navy to some outrageously excessive scale. As Archduke Ferdinand had said, what East Africa lacked was a system, not sturdy ships and powerful guns. No matter how many warships they bought, without a system to maintain them, they would be nothing more than a pile of scrap iron.