Chapter 1314: War in the Horn of Africa

A relevant agreement has been reached with the United Kingdom, which means that the work of the East African government will become busy in the next period of time.

First of all, in terms of grand strategy, because East Africa and the United Kingdom have renegotiated the Indian Ocean issue, this means that East Africa has to rebuild the military and political strategic layout of the Indian Ocean and build a new system.

As Ernst often mentioned, no matter how powerful a country is, its resources and capabilities are limited. Acquiring more colonies, regions, and military strongholds means spending more resources and manpower.

Because of East Africa's overseas expansion in recent years, the total number of troops in East Africa has now reached more than 800,000, which is a very strong evidence.

After all, when it comes to the security of East Africa, East Africa only needs 400,000 to 500,000 people, or even less troops to maintain the security of the mainland, mainly because there are no forces around East Africa that can threaten the mainland of East Africa.

The root cause of East Africa's large-scale military expansion lies in colonial expansion.

East Africa maintains a high level of military deployment in East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Islands), the Isthmus of Kra, Togoland (West Africa), the Gulf of Tonkin (Persian Gulf) and other regions.

In 1918, the number of overseas troops stationed in East Africa had reached 430,000. In many areas, the number of troops stationed was maintained at tens of thousands or even more than 100,000. Among them, the number of troops stationed in the Isthmus of Kra, the Kalimantan Islands (including the Lanfang Overseas Province and other areas), and Togoland reached nearly 200,000.

In addition, there are a large number of overseas islands that obviously also need personnel to be stationed, such as Alaska, New Guinea, the Kingdom of North Hawaii, the South Ryukyu Islands, Nauru, Palau, etc.

The number of overseas troops stationed in East Africa even exceeds the number of troops stationed in East Africa, and the main reason for this result is East Africa's overseas colonial policy.

East Africa's overseas colonial policy is a typical "high-cost colonization", and this method cannot even be called "colonization".

Because East Africa implements the "wheel flattening" policy overseas. What is the wheel flattening? That is, an extreme policy of destroying the enemy's country and race that was popular in ancient East Asia.

East Africa can be said to be the most extreme and cruel among the great powers. Only the Americans and Belgians before this century and Japan today can be compared with East Africa.

Even the bottom line of the European armies that are now busy with World War I is much higher than that of East Africa's overseas armies.

The British Indian colony has a population of more than 300 million and an area of ​​more than 3 million, but the number of British troops stationed in India does not exceed 100,000.

In contrast, in East Africa, the Kra Isthmus alone, a small area with an area of ​​only 50,000 square kilometers and a population of only a few hundred thousand, has more than 100,000 troops stationed.

The reason for maintaining such an extreme policy in East Africa's overseas colonization is also very simple, that is, Ernst is in response to the world anti-colonialism wave that broke out in the 20th century in his previous life.

Other races are ultimately untrustworthy in Ernst's eyes, and even "fake troops" are not within Ernst's consideration, and Ernst also knows that the world trend is irreversible.

This means that the colonial system will eventually collapse in the 20th century, so East Africa must be prepared.

However, in this case, the East African government will inevitably face the high cost of overseas colonization. In addition to high military expenditures, East Africa will also have to bear strong logistical pressure, as well as the post-war reconstruction of overseas colonies, the introduction of immigrants, resource development, etc., which will require a lot of energy, manpower, financial resources and material resources.

It can be said that East Africa's overseas colonies are currently not profitable. Instead, the East African government has to pay a lot of money. The benefit of this is also obvious, that is, East Africa's control over these areas will be very stable in the future.

This is also the reason why East Africa's "high-cost colonization" is not considered colonization.

Traditional colonization is like the British colonization of India. It only needs to station a small number of troops to obtain the population, taxation and production of the colony.

And East Africa's crude method of eliminating "indigenous people" will inevitably lead to fierce military conflicts and destroy the original production order.

According to East Africa's colonial method, colonizing India, let alone collecting taxes, I am afraid that the annual military expenditure will rise to the sky, and it may not be successful. After all, India has a population of nearly 300 million, and it is very difficult to physically eliminate 300 million pigs.

Under the latest changes, East Africa has to re-adjust its strategy and military in the Indian Ocean on a large scale.

The new territories ceded by Britain and France to East Africa will reshape East Africa's military presence in the Indian Ocean region. Apart from other important areas related to the national security of the eastern part of East Africa, the Socotra Islands, the Chagos Islands, and the Rodrigues Island, will involve the re-deployment of the East African Indian Ocean Fleet.

Especially for the navy and the air force, the construction of fleet berthing ports and airports is imperative. Among the above three places, East Africa will carry out large-scale military facilities construction in the Socotra Islands and Rodrigues Island, and the military facilities left by the British on the Chagos Islands will also be transformed and rebuilt.

This is a systematic large-scale project involving the East African navy and air force to fight in the Indian Ocean region.

Secondly, since East Africa wants to take the Horn of Africa into its pocket, it is obvious that it will also have to carry out large-scale military operations, which is another military expenditure.

Although the population of the Horn of Africa is small, it is vast, with a land area of ​​nearly 150,000 square kilometers. A large number of troops must be sent in to completely turn it into part of the East African mainland.

In addition, the East African government verbally "promised" to intervene in Russia's internal affairs, which is obviously a considerable expense. Even if it is just for show, some manpower and financial support will be dispatched.

So it can be predicted that East Africa will not be idle for a period of time in the future, and this is what Britain and France hope to see. After all, East Africa will not be idle if it is not idle, so it will not have the energy to intervene in the European war.

Although the cost paid by the two countries is not small, it is still very cost-effective compared to the changes in East Africa during World War I.

In this way, East Africa had almost no idle time during the entire World War I. In addition to economic work, military actions were more frequent.

Europe fought big, and East Africa fought frequently overseas. It can be said that the entire Indian Ocean has become a region second only to Europe in world wars and conflicts because of the existence of East Africa.

And its bloodiness is not inferior to the European battlefield. Although there are many countries participating in the war in Europe and many deaths, the genocidal conquest war in East Africa is more likely to cause psychological discomfort.

June 4, 1918.

The East African government officially defined "Hassan" as a target for destroying the safety of navigation in the Gulf of Aden and the security of the East African border.

At the same time, the border defense forces of the Northwest Theater of East Africa set out from the East African controlled traffic arteries at the junction of East Africa and "British Somaliland" such as Dire Dawa City, Ele Town, Dallol Town, and Buholed Village, and officially started the Horn of Africa War.

The Indian Ocean Fleet of the East African Navy also entered the Gulf of Aden from the waters between the Socotra Islands and the Horn of Africa, and handed over the British-controlled area east of the Port of Berbera.

The British side also began to withdraw its garrisons in British Somaliland to the west of Berbera and to the area between Djibouti controlled by France, successfully completing the contraction of troops in the Horn of Africa.

In response to the Horn of Africa, the East African government expects the number of troops to remain above 50,000 to avoid the lessons learned in the Beibu Gulf (Persian Gulf) territory from happening again.

At the beginning, East Africa's actions in the Beibu Gulf territory were not satisfactory, and the area of ​​the Horn of Africa is larger than that of the Beibu Gulf territory, and the terrain is more complex. The Arab forces represented by Hassan are active in the local mountainous areas.

This means that the difficulty of conquering the Horn of Africa is no less difficult than the expedition to the Beibu Gulf territory, and it is even more difficult. East Africa has prepared for a long-term war.

This time is roughly within two years, and the rebel armed forces in the Horn of Africa are basically eliminated. It took East Africa nearly a year to stabilize the Beibu Gulf territory, so this time is in line with the expectations of the General Staff.