Chapter 942 Declaration of War

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen into a vicious cycle militarily. This is not an economic problem, but a political problem. The East African Navy feels this the most deeply. In its cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it can be clearly felt. The quality of the soldiers has declined seriously, and the speed of equipment update is not as fast as that of East Africa. The East African Navy just did not expand in size, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy was completely crawling on the spot and slowly moving forward.

Under such circumstances, Germany's situation in Europe is really not optimistic. Without Italy as its second-in-command, and at the same time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is lagging behind militarily. Even if Germany wants to launch a war like in its previous life, it must first find its allies. Looking at it now There is no question whether the historical Allied Powers bloc can be established.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Looking for allies again means that you can avoid encountering scammers like Italy in the previous life who jumped back before the war.

Of course, the possibility of the outbreak of World War I is still more than 80%. After all, Germany's national power has grown faster than in previous generations. With the help of the British, East Africa will naturally avoid the United Kingdom in economic cooperation, and East Africa's huge market And most of the raw materials are cheaper than in industrial countries such as Germany.

However, East Africa also had ambiguous relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Tsarist Russia, Spain and other countries, so Ernst himself was curious about how the historical direction would change.

…

April 28, 1898.

Pontianak Port.

As East Africa's most important port in the Southeast Asia region, East Africa's investment in Pontianak Port is relatively huge, and it can be ranked high even in China.

At 8 o'clock this morning, the two main warships of Spain were resting in Pontianak Port. From Spain to Pontianak Port, it was quite difficult for the Spanish navy.

People in Lan Fang Overseas Province were not surprised at all by the warships flying the Spanish flag. After all, the Nanyang region is now a natural testing ground for warships from various countries. The world's major powers have deployed navies there, or have ocean-going ships. Navigation History.

"The ironclad Zaragoza was originally used as a training ship, but due to the rescue mission to the Philippines, it was re-improved locally. The total tonnage is around 5,000 tons. It seems to have been built in the 1860s and 1970s, in 1873. Returning to the homeland because of the internal war.”

"The ironclad Sagunto, the experience of this warship is even more legendary. It was originally designed as a wooden-hulled steamship, but the emergence of ironclads forced it to stop midway and redesign it. It finally took fourteen years to build, but just now It was completely behind the times when it left the factory, but it was larger than the Zaragoza in terms of tonnage, reaching more than 7,000 tons. "

The person in charge of the Pontianak Port of the East African Navy is not very interested in the Spanish warships arriving this time, because the two ironclad ships arriving by the Spanish Navy this time are both products of the 1960s and 1970s and have completely fallen behind.

The East African navy may be disgusted, but for the Spanish government, this is already a great support for the Asian fleet stationed in the Philippines.

Spain's Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines is a typical colonial navy with a considerable scale, but it cannot participate in the ocean hegemony and can only passively defend.

Previously, the main flagship of the Spanish Asian Fleet was the Cristina, with a total tonnage of just over 3,000 tons, less than 40% of the Zhenyuan ship of the Far Eastern Empire. Compared with the gunboats in East Africa, it was not much larger. Currently, the largest gunboat in East Africa has been upgraded. At more than 2,000 tons, the boundary with ordinary warships is actually no longer obvious, and the six main guns of the Christina are only a mere 120 millimeters in caliber, which is not as good as the East African gunboat, and the armor is also extremely weak.

The Cristina is already the top battleship of Spain's Asian fleet. For example, the second-ranked Castile is a wooden-hulled cruiser, not to mention other battleships.

Therefore, although the Zaragoza and Sagunto are not ranked high in the Spanish navy, placing them in the Philippines is already a great sign of sincerity.

You must know that the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War was Cuba. At the same time, the Spanish government also wanted to prevent the United States from attacking the Spanish mainland. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for the Spanish Navy to send two classic ships to the Philippines.

"Rear Admiral Kherson, the Sagunto had some problems with a boiler on its way to Pontianak. I wonder if you can solve it." Captain Yal of the Sagunto asked Rear Admiral Kherson very embarrassedly. asked.

In his heart, he murmured at the decline of the Spanish Navy, but Kherson said without changing his face: "Of course there is no problem. The ship repair yard in Pontianak is still very strong. If some of our merchant ships and warships in East Africa encounter problems, they will also repair them in Pontianak." Pontianak undergoes major renovations.”

According to the agreement between East Africa and Spain, East Africa will open Pontianak Port as a resting place for the Spanish navy during 1898.

Although Pontianak Port is close to the estuary, it is a river port, so it is not afraid of threats from warships from other countries. Seven 300mm coastal defense guns and several The small-caliber main gun makes the entire Pontianak Port naval distribution not afraid of any threats.

Captain Yal complained: "That's great. Alas, if the infrastructure conditions of Pontianak Port are not perfect, it may be difficult for the Sagunto to participate in subsequent wars. The ship repair yards in Manila Bay can only solve some minor problems." problem because the local navy is dominated by wooden-hulled ships.”

In fact, Yal was quite resistant to being sent to the Philippines. First of all, the Sagunto itself had great problems. The design was changed midway, and the wooden shell was replaced by an ironclad ship. It would be strange if there were no problems.

Secondly, the personnel of the Sagunto were also temporarily assembled. Fortunately, the Sagunto has been used as a training ship for many years, so even if the personnel are complex, it is still easy for most personnel to get started. After all, many recruits may have their first shipboard training on the Sagunto.

Finally, although the Sagunto is larger than the US Asiatic Fleet in terms of scale, after all, the total tonnage is as high as 7,000 tons, while the main warships of the US Asiatic Fleet are only more than 5,000 tons, but in terms of equipment and technology, it is the other way around. Although the main gun of the Sagunto far exceeds the main ship of the Spanish Asiatic Fleet, the Cristina, it only reaches a caliber of more than 200 mm, and the armor thickness meets the standard, which is three times thicker than the Cristina.

The Zaragoza ironclad ship that was sent to the Philippines this time, although it is only more than 5,000 tons, has four more 280 mm guns in its main gun, and is the only warship that can compete with the US Asiatic Fleet in terms of firepower.

So if the Zaragoza and Sagunto are based on East African standards, they should be retired or sent to serve in the colonies.

The same is true in history. The Zaragoza and Sagunto should have been retired and declared scrapped during this period, but they were pulled out by the Spanish Navy for waste utilization, which shows the dilemma of the Spanish Navy at this time.

Of course, this dilemma is facing other powers. In fact, the Spanish Navy is not weak, especially many warships of the local fleet are also the main battleships that are not backward in the world, but the Spanish local fleet is simply impossible to fully participate in the "gambling" war with the US Navy.

Relying on the Spanish colonial navy, it is naturally impossible to defeat the emerging US Navy, including the bombed Maine, which is not weak in the Spanish Navy.

After staying in Pontianak for more than ten days, the Zaragoza and Sagunto officially went to Manila Bay with a mentality of seeing death as home.

In Pontianak, East Africa provided meticulous services for the two warships, including catering and medical care, so that the Spanish local soldiers could adapt to the environment of tropical waters as soon as possible.

And the time in Pontianak was probably the last "vacation" of the two warships in the South China Sea. After arriving in Manila Bay, they not only had to face a more complex and harsh environment, but also had to endure the haze of war.

On May 27, 1898, the Spanish and American governments, whose negotiations had failed, officially declared war on each other, and the Spanish-American War officially began.