Chapter 1019 Choosing a route

Although East Africa cannot fully support Russia, it can provide some help to Russia, which is a timely help for the current Russian government.

Next, Maxim and East Africa discussed the process of providing services to the Russian Navy. It can be basically determined that East Africa will only provide Russia with some ports in the mainland and Lanfang Overseas Province.

"On the west coast, there are a total of six ports capable of providing services for Russian warships, including Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela, Alexandria, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay."

"East Africa can provide Russia with one of its ports as a temporary port of call for the Russian Navy. Among these ports, Luanda and Cabinda have the best conditions, especially in terms of material supply, which can basically meet all the needs of the Russian Navy. Among them, Luanda has the most favorable climate conditions. Cabinda's tropical rainforest climate may be difficult for Russians to adapt to."

"Similarly, the ports in the southern part of the west coast are too dry, but the basic infrastructure is relatively complete. It is that the material supply in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is relatively tight. The two places are completely surrounded by deserts, lacking fruit and vegetable supply, and other materials are also relatively tight."

During the First Five-Year Plan, the west coast of East Africa accelerated its development, especially these six port cities, which have been implemented in the field of infrastructure, and have railways and inland connections, so they all have the basic conditions to provide services for the Russian Navy.

Looking at the East Africans swaying on the map, Maxim felt endless envy. Russia has always been a country that yearns for the ocean. Since Peter the Great, the core idea of ​​Russia's territorial expansion is to obtain excellent seaports, but things have not gone as planned. Even today, Russia's territory has reached an astonishing 20 million square kilometers, but it is still controlled by others in terms of the ocean.

Let's look at East Africa again. To be honest, this sea and land layout in East Africa is what Russia wants to a certain extent. Of course, Maxim secretly thought that Africa could not be compared with Europe, the center of world civilization, so Russia's future is still to expand towards Western Europe to solve the current dilemma.

"In general, we suggest that you choose Luanda as your port of call. It was originally the center of the Portuguese colonial period. After it fell into our hands, it has developed rapidly. The infrastructure is very complete, and it is the commercial and trade center of the west coast of Africa. Most of the world's goods can be seen in Luanda. In Luanda, even some Russians do business here."

On the west coast of Africa, except for East Africa, there are almost no well-developed countries or colonies. That is, Morocco in the northernmost part and Cape Town in the southernmost part are barely economically acceptable, but they are also much worse than the west coast of East Africa.

So, it is completely reasonable to say that the cities on the west coast of East Africa are the commercial and trade centers of the west coast of Africa, which has also led to Luanda attracting more and more businessmen from Africa, Europe, and North and South America to come and do business.

In the past, only some agricultural products could be exported here. After all, Angola's agricultural conditions are still good. As the "bread basket" of the Portuguese, it has a long history of development and is one of the few colonies on the west coast of Africa with a relatively high degree of agricultural development.

Under the governance of East Africa, local industry has gradually developed since the 1990s. Entering the new century, it has become a key development area during the First Five-Year Plan of East Africa. The current development of the west coast is beyond people's imagination.

The development of industry and agriculture has also made the commercial trade in Luanda prosperous, providing a richer variety of products. At the same time, transportation construction has made it increasingly connected with the inland of East Africa, and is rapidly narrowing the economic gap with the central and eastern regions, becoming the third economic pole of East Africa.

"Then choose Luanda!" Under the introduction of the East African government, Maxim also determined the port on the west coast of East Africa where the Russian Navy temporarily stayed.

"Don't worry, Ambassador Maxim, your navy may have its own plans and arrangements. After all, the specific place of residence must be considered comprehensively. Next, we will briefly introduce the situation of the port city on the east coast, and you will give feedback to the country to decide the final result."

Maxim readily accepted the suggestions of the East African government, mainly because he didn't know much about the geography and urban development of East Africa, so the introduction must be made by the East African government personnel.

Although East Africa is developing rapidly, except for Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, East African cities are not well-known. In fact, this is the case for most countries, even for many economically developed countries. Many people may only know their capitals or the most economically developed cities.

"There are far more ports to choose from on the east coast than on the west coast, and most of them have a long history of development and no obvious shortcomings. Basically, they can provide relatively complete services for the Russian Navy. Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are needless to say. In addition to these two ports, the most developed are Beira and New Hamburg. Other ports marked on the map are not bad either."

In Maxim's view, there is really nothing to choose from on the east coast of East Africa. It mainly depends on how the Russian Navy plans the sailing route.

So he said to Ernst: "Your Highness, I will send these messages to the country as soon as possible. I believe that our government will soon come up with an idea. Then I will come back to give you feedback on our opinions."

In addition to the east and west coasts, there is another city that has been identified but is no longer under discussion, that is, Pontianak, the capital of Lanfang Overseas Province.

For Russia, the location of Pontianak is currently the most suitable except for the Strait of Malacca. After leaving East Africa, the Russian Navy cannot rest from the east coast of East Africa to the Strait of Malacca. Therefore, the importance of Pontianak to the Russian Navy is no less than some ports in East Africa.

In the past, there was no port like Pontianak in the Nanyang region to provide convenience for the Russian Navy. The Strait of Malacca and other ports controlled by the British could not provide services to the Russians at all. The Dutch colonies would not be open to Russia under British pressure. As for France, it did not provide convenience to Russia for various reasons. So if nothing unexpected happened, Pontianak would definitely be a temporary foothold for the Russian Navy.

As for whether this would give Russia an advantage in the next war, Ernst was not worried at all. There was still a long distance from Pontianak to Northeast Asia. After reaching Northeast Asia, the Russian Navy would completely become a rootless duckweed. At that time, Lushun was besieged or occupied by Japan, and the route to Vladivostok was definitely under Japanese control. Therefore, even if the Russian Second Pacific Fleet successfully arrived in Northeast Asia, the situation would not improve.

As for East Africa, the "as soon as possible" mentioned by Maxim is a bit long. The wait is until March this year, because Russia not only has to consider the East African factor, but also the attitudes of other countries along the route, especially Germany and France. Otherwise, the Russian Navy may even find it difficult to go out of the Baltic Sea.

There are two main channels in the Baltic Sea. One is the natural strait controlled by the two Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden. At this time, Norway has not yet become independent from Sweden, and Finland is also under the control of Russia, so there are only two countries in Northern Europe.

The second is the Kiel Canal in Germany. The Kiel Canal was officially built and put into use as early as 1895. It has become the most important artificial waterway from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Now many merchant ships in the Baltic Sea will choose to go to the Atlantic Ocean from the Kiel Canal route in Germany. If Germany allows, this is also the most suitable route for the Russian Navy to go to the Far East.