Of course, the construction of East African Navy in the 1970s was a last resort, and Ernst also wanted to develop step by step, but knowing the world situation, he could not hesitate at all.
At that time, East African Navy's appeal was to be able to take shape in a short time and form combat effectiveness to cope with the severe national defense situation in the 1980s.
After all, Ernst knows that the 1980s was a peak period for the expansion of great powers around the world, and African continent is a key area. Therefore, in this case, East African Navy must have a certain scale and strength to safeguard the practical interests of East Africa, and it is obvious that building a stronger High Seas Fleet in a short period of time will come at a cost.
Fortunately, East African Navy has accomplished its historical mission brilliantly and withstood the pressure of British Royal Navy in South African War.
And East African Navy took shape in the 1970s and began to form combat effectiveness in the 1980s. If it is like Far East Empire, United States and Japan in the 1980s The navy has just begun to expand, so East African Navy among South African War may be difficult to compete with British Royal Navy. After all, the adaptation to ships and naval training is also a relatively long process.
Now, according to Ernst's judgment, the dangerous period in East Africa has passed, so the disarmament actions of the East African navy and army are inevitable. In addition to the need to reduce expenditures, there is also the consideration of withdrawing funds.
Especially the large number of weapons and equipment that were left behind or captured in South African War, we should sell them immediately while they can still be sold at a good price.
Of course, East African Navy has certain localization capabilities, and it is necessary to continue to import warships from Germany and Austria. Apart from political factors, what is more important is to learn from the advanced experience and technology of other countries.
In the field of experience and technology, there is no doubt that the most powerful one is the United Kingdom. The reason why East Africa did not introduce warships from the United Kingdom is more comparable to Versailles, that is, East Africa captured two British warships and sank three in South African War.
After South African War, East Africa did not return British Government. After all, six million pounds was not enough for East Africa to recover its capital. These two British warships were used to make up for the losses in South African War.
In fact, one of the three sunk warships has been successfully salvaged, which means that East African Navy has three advanced warships currently in service in the British army, including two ironclads and a cruiser.
Of these three warships, two were seriously damaged and are undergoing overhaul. As for the salvaged ironclad ship, it has been dismantled and studied by Bagamoyo Shipyard technicians.
If you count the two British warships that will be commissioned by East African Navy, plus the shipbuilding plan of East African government in the next few years, the actual loss of East African Navy is not large, and it has even completed a small-scale update.
It's just that after this update, East African Navy has changed from the dominant Austro-Hungarian Empire to the British, Austrian and German companies. East African Navy will fully compare the advantages and disadvantages of the three naval warships from the actual combat effects, and then give feedback to Bagamoyo and other shipyards.
Now there is a lack of French warships as a reference. As for Tsarist Russia and United States, it can be completely ignored. Tsarist Russia and United States are not too strong in technology and are at the same level as East Africa. Tsarist Russia has poor industrial level and low naval investment, while United States is not interested in military development. Although American Navy also experienced great development in the 1980s, but before that American Navy could be said to have been "paralyzed" in development. Since the end of Civil War, United States has basically had no investment in the military. The development of the navy in the 1980s was still due to the current international environment.
After all, Europe's external expansion activities were so frequent and intense in the 1980s that no other region or country in the world was not afraid. All countries with eyes were expanding their armaments.
As for countries and regions that are not long-sighted, they will end up like West Africa in the future. The great powers will carve up the place with a table knife, and not even the dregs will be left.
First Town.
After every war, Ernst must begin disarmament. This has almost become a rule, and in 1890, East African National Defense Army was still the same.
Ernst: "In the next ten years, the size of the navy will remain unchanged. The main task is to slowly replace the current main warships and arrange for decommissioning according to the construction time and other parameters. Maintaining the current size of the navy is enough to ensure the security of our maritime areas."
"Of course, considering that my country has recently acquired Angola and Mozambique colony, thereby acquiring more coastlines and ports, the navy's defense pressure will be greater. At this point, my opinion is to develop more small and medium-sized and multi-purpose ships to make up for the shortcomings of East African Navy in this regard."
East African Navy has always lagged behind in the development of small and medium-sized warships and multi-purpose ships, such as Torpedo Boat, supply ships, troop carriers, etc.
Therefore, the arrangements for the navy during this disarmament are actually not increasing but decreasing. The purpose of "disarmament" has not been achieved. Instead, the navy has been strengthened to a certain extent.
Of course, this is also appropriate. After all, East Africa is now a true two-ocean country, or even a three-ocean country. The navy cannot be reduced at all, even if the budget is increased, it is not an exaggeration.
However, while maintaining the overall size of the navy, East African Navy is still among the top ten in the world, so there is no need to expand too much. This is also in line with the current economic development level of East Africa.
Investing in naval construction regardless of cost like Japan is actually a serious burden on the national economy. This is also an important reason why Japan is keen on war. If we don't plunder from elsewhere, the Japan economy will collapse on its own.
On this point, East Africa and United States have similar attitudes, that is, it is enough. Of course, East Africa has always been more active than United States in military construction. After all, in Ernst's view, military development is a long-term need and cannot be stopped directly because of short-term interests.
"As for the Army, it should be abolished to pre-war levels. After solving Angola and Mozambique, the pressure on my country's land defense has been greatly reduced, and the national border has been shortened by nearly 3,000 kilometers. At the same time, Portuguese has been eliminated. There will be less than hundreds of thousands of threatening troops deployed around us, and we no longer need to deploy a large number of troops tit-for-tat at the border."
The merger of Angola and Mozambique has completely changed the defense and security situation in East Africa. Instead, the north has become the focus of land defense in East Africa in the future.
However, the threat in northern East Africa is completely insignificant compared to the South Africa region before South African War. The strongest force in the north is still British, which is its colony Egypt.
However, there is Sahara Desert between Egypt and East Africa, which is a natural geographical barrier. Although South Sudan was part of Egypt in history, South Sudan region is actually completely semi-independent and can break away from Egypt at any time.
Now East Africa only needs to deploy a small amount of troops in Gezira Plain to completely block the southward route of Egypt (Britain). As for the detour from Kordofan Plateau, which also faces the southern tropical rainforest area, it is almost impossible to achieve without a guide and sufficient supplies. If an army can do it, it will be a "military miracle" that can be recorded in history.
As for the other forces in the north, there is no need to worry. The strongest one may be Abyssinian Empire, but Abyssinian Empire is too backward and has good relations with East Africa.
As for the Boer Republic in the south, after the Boer Republic was wiped out, East Africa completely controlled the north coast of the Orange River. According to the terrain, it completely got rid of its military and topographical disadvantages. It only needed a small number of troops to defend Cape Colony's military strength. After Cape Colony passed through South African War, it is estimated that they would not have such an idea.
"So the final number of the Defense Force Army should be maintained at around 200,000. Of course, the cavalry units newly formed during the war can continue to be retained. Each military region will cancel or mix some secondary units as appropriate."
In this way, East African Army will almost cut down half of its troops, but this is within everyone's psychological expectations. After all, with the lessons learned from South African War, there are basically zero countries that dare to launch a direct war in East Africa.