Chapter 100 Offshore Defense System

In addition to Mtwara Port, other ports are naturally equipped with forts, and due to geographical and historical factors, the forts in other East African ports are much higher than Mtwara.

Depending on the importance of each port, the number of coastal defense guns varies.

Among them, the Port of Dar es Salaam and the Port of Mombasa are the top priorities in East Africa. They have a long history of port construction and the best natural conditions, ranking first in the East African port hierarchy.

The number of gun emplacements arranged for the forts at Dar es Salaam Port and Mombasa Port is initially set at eight each.

Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port are also two key ports, connecting the sea area between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, ranking in the second echelon.

Tanga Port and Bagamoyo Port have six gun emplacements each.

Mtwara Port is not only small in scale, but its strategic location is not as prominent as the former, so it can only be ranked in the third echelon. In the future, new ports in Tanzania and Kenya are expected to be at the same level as Mtwara Port.

However, there are also four gun emplacements in Mtwara Port.

In addition to these ports, some islands seized from the Sultanate of Zanzibar are also the focus of defense. The most typical ones are Pemba Island and Mafia Island. These two islands are the second largest on the East African coast after Zanzibar. Two islands of Bar Island.

Pemba Island was once an important part of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Mafia Island is also suitable for human settlement.

Both islands play a protective role on the East African coast. If Zanzibar Island is added, it forms an island chain. However, this island chain is relatively close to the East African coast and is not easily controlled by overseas forces.

For example, it is impossible for someone to use this island chain to block the East African coast. First of all, these three islands can only cover the coastal area of ​​northern Tanzania. Secondly, with the vast Indian Ocean to the east, it is difficult for hostile forces to replenish and supply this island chain. arms.

For example, the Ryukyu Islands in the East Asian island chain are relatively far from the United States, but the mainland is not close to them. The United States can block and control this island chain by relying on countries such as Japan and the Philippines.

As for this "island chain" along the coast of East Africa, it is no exaggeration to say that it is possible to land by canoe from the coast of the East African continent.

Even so, the strategic position of Pemba Island and Mafia Island is still very prominent, and the economic value of Pemba Island is also very potential, suitable for population settlement. In the previous life, Pemba Island was home to more than 200,000 people. It has everything you need for cities and ports, and is suitable for agriculture.

The status of Mafia Island is approximately between Tanga Port and Mtwara Port. In its previous life, Mafia Island was an important tourist destination in Tanzania, with a permanent population of about 20,000.

Therefore, the East African colonies will not abandon these two islands. In order to ensure the development of these two islands and ensure the strategic security of the East African coast, Pemba Island has reserved six artillery positions, while Mafia Island has reserved Two gun emplacements.

In this way, the East African offshore defense system has a rough prototype, with a total of forty large-caliber coastal defense artillery pieces.

Forty doors is not too many, but the current port size in East Africa is not large either, so the match between the two is quite reasonable, especially for defense against large ships, which is more than enough.

This is of course only the first step. The current East African colonies do not have the ability to continue to improve their defense capabilities and can only wait until the future to increase the number of large-caliber artillery.

However, small-caliber artillery can be arranged one after another. After all, the price of ammunition for large-caliber artillery is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

As for enemies at sea, if they first send small ships to explore and attack, the cost of attacking with large-caliber shore defense artillery will be unbearable. At this time, small-caliber artillery is needed.

The advantage of large-caliber coastal defense artillery is that the design parameters of the sea area covered are fixed and calibrated in advance, so the hit rate will be much higher, but the cost is relatively high and it is suitable for dealing with large ships.

Small-caliber artillery is relatively low-cost, mobile, and highly flexible, and has great advantages against small targets.

At present, the East African colonies are not equipped with small-caliber artillery. This is because the Hechingen arsenal in Trieste has not yet been put into production.

The development of large-caliber artillery is relatively difficult. With the strength of the Hechingen Arsenal, it is still too early to develop large-caliber artillery at present.

After all, you can't learn to run before you learn to walk, so it is very important to start accumulating experience in the production of small-caliber artillery.

Moreover, small-caliber artillery has a wide range of application scenarios, convenient transportation, and low cost, making it very suitable for production at the small-scale Hechingen Arsenal.

The East African colonies are the private territory of the Hechingen Arsenal, and the artillery produced by it will continue to be equipped with the East African colonial armies.

The East African colonies currently face the most indigenous forces. To be honest, a rifle is enough, and a sledgehammer is not enough to kill a chicken, but Ernst just likes the feeling of sufficient firepower.

Moreover, Portugal is also a potential enemy. Portugal's Mozambique colony has a long history of development, and it must have some real players in its hands, so it cannot be taken lightly.

After the Trieste-Hechingen arsenal is put into operation in the future, the two systems that will be supplied with the highest priority are the offshore defense system of the East African colonies and the border between East Africa and the Portuguese forces.

Speaking of the offshore defense system, professionals from the Austrian Navy were invited to personally design its construction. In the last Lissa naval battle, the Austrian Navy was actually on the defensive side, so it has rich experience in this area.

Moreover, after the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire strengthened its offshore defense, and its decommissioned naval guns were also placed at important strategic locations in the Adriatic Sea like those in East Africa.

Therefore, Ernst got a bargain and could copy off-the-shelf artillery. Except for the insufficient number of small-caliber artillery (second-hand goods left by the Sultanate of Zanzibar), other aspects were exactly the same as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

For example, the fort is built with thicker reinforced concrete protection. Its structure is exactly the same as that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even the shore defense artillery is made by the same company.

Therefore, the offshore defense system along the East African coast is equivalent to copying the defense system of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Adriatic Sea, which is first-class in this era.

As long as the number of small-caliber artillery is reached in the follow-up, the entire East African coast will be an iron bastard that no one can bite. Unless it attacks regardless of the cost, it is not that Ernst looks down on the strength of other countries. It means that the European and American navies have the ability to break through the of the East African Offshore Defense System.

But the navies of various countries are not fools. Who would drive an armored ship to East Africa to fight this iron bastard? The shipping fee is not enough to compensate.

That is to say, Portugal has the strength and motivation to attack East Africa by sea and land. Therefore, the single gate of the East African colony strengthens the military presence in the south. The south is the land defense line in East Africa, and the east is the offshore defense system. It is obvious at a glance that these two systems are used. Who to guard against.

In other directions, the East African colonies took the initiative to attack and did not need defense. For example, in the southwest, Mbeya leads to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Due west is Lake Tanganyika as a natural barrier, and due north are indigenous forces.