Chapter 1178 Disadvantages of Rhine City
When it comes to horse exports, East Africa is more embarrassed. In a short period from the end of the last century to the beginning of this century, East Africa once became one of the largest horse-raising countries in the world.
According to data from East Africa in 1900, the stock of horses in East Africa was as high as about 21 million. Among the world's major countries, only Russia and the United States had reached this level.
The number of Russian horses has long been the largest in the world. For example, before World War I, the stock of Russian horses may have been around 30 million, followed by the United States, which was also around 20 million.
Freer said to Thomson with a look of regret: "Ambassador Thomson, why don't you choose more cars! Although we have no shortage of horses in East Africa, due to the development of the automobile industry in recent years, East Africa's transportation industry has undergone major changes. With the changes, the number of horse breeding has dropped to a new level.”
"Currently, the stock of horses in our country is only over 10 million. This level is far behind that of Tsarist Russia and the United States, so it is better to order more of our cars. East Africa is already quite developed in the automobile manufacturing industry and can fully meet part of your country's needs."
East Africa used to be a major horse breeding country on the same level as Russia and the United States. After all, in ancient times and even in the early stages of industrialization, horses were a very important source of power.
The army needs horses, and the popularity of horse farming means that agriculture also requires a large number of horses. Finally, there is the transportation industry. Today, most countries in Europe still use horse-drawn carriages as the most important means of transportation. Whether in rural areas or cities, horse-drawn carriages are very popular.
At present, only East Africa and the United States have truly realized the large-scale popularization of automobiles. Although other countries may have automobile manufacturing industries, they cannot change the fact that they are a country of "mules and horses".
For example, the British invested more than one million horses after the war, and continued to import horses from the United States.
Every country in Europe is a big horse breeder. Even the little Belgium has nearly half a million horses, and big countries like France, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also have millions of horses.
Of course, there are not enough military horses that can actually be used on the battlefield. Currently, France mainly imports from the United States, Argentina and East Africa to fill the gap.
Thomson said with a wry smile: "If possible, we would naturally hope to popularize military vehicles on a large scale to tow artillery, but we lack maintenance personnel, experienced drivers, fuel, etc., so horses are more suitable for France at the moment."
Thomson had made his words clear, and Friel could only settle for the next best thing: "In that case, how many horses are your country planning to purchase from East Africa this time?"
Nowadays, the role of East African horses is rapidly declining, and the scale of breeding has also dropped significantly, but their size is still not to be underestimated, and they can still rank third in the world, only behind Russia and the United States.
There is no pressure to sell them to the French. Although the overall quality of East African horses is not as good as that of Europe, there are many excellent breeds after years of breeding.
After all, East Africa still retains many cavalry units, and the military horses used by these cavalry units are varieties bred by East Africa itself.
Thomson said: "We plan to purchase 10,000 horses first to test the water. If the effect is good, we will continue to consider orders in the future."
This is already quite a big deal. Due to the war, the price of horses is not low now, but this also shows that France is currently under huge pressure in the war.
Since the beginning of the war, the industrial belt in northeastern France has been basically occupied by Germany. This has caused France to lose nearly 60% of its steel production capacity, 70% of its textile industry, and large areas of grain production.
After the French Army Ministry boasted that "our soldiers always have two square meals a day," more than 200,000 letters of protest flooded in from the front lines.
Soldiers on the front line claimed that only half of the more than 300,000 supplies and equipment transported to the front line were usable, and fresh meat was never available. They could only chew greasy, hard-to-bite canned beef, and did not add enough salt. Fish, so-called cheese pasta also tastes like tree bark, all of which are heavily laced with dust.
Of course, France's enemies will only be more embarrassed, because the French army's food is already relatively good among the European belligerents.
There are gains and losses. The loss of the heavy industrial area in the northeast has made it difficult for France to compete with Germany in terms of weapons production. Neither rifles nor artillery shells can meet the front-line supply.
At present, 57% of workers in France have turned to military production, while the proportion of France's rival Germany is 58%. It seems that there is not much difference, but the fact is that Germany has a far larger population base and industrial population. in France.
However, compared to Russia, France's capabilities are definitely top-notch. After the war broke out, France's military production capacity expanded thirty times, which could support France's battle with the German army on the front line, while Russia's was only more than double that. It can be seen that Russia and other industrial countries the gap between.
This will lead to countries such as France having to sacrifice other production activities, which is also the basis for cooperation between East Africa and European countries.
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As the war enters a stalemate, people from various countries enter and leave East Africa more and more frequently, and each country will choose the optimal route, either Cabinda, Luanda, or Dar es Salaam. Among these three cities, Select a landing location.
For example, the Germans and Austria-Hungary are accustomed to choosing Dar es Salaam, while France chooses Luanda, and other countries will decide according to their own needs.
In this way, the inconvenience of moving the capital of East Africa is also reflected. Although the railway from the coast to the Rhine City is very convenient, it still takes a lot of time. East Africa has to move to Luanda or Dar es Salaam. Establish temporary diplomatic processing agencies and personnel.
Especially in the European war, which concerns the fate of European countries, a delay of one or two days or even a few hours may have a major impact on the war situation.
Of course, East Africa will definitely not change the location of the capital to accommodate other countries. After all, whether it is the east coast or the west coast, it will have an impact on some countries. For example, setting the capital on the east coast is conducive to exchanges between countries in the Indian Ocean region and the Far East, and if it is on the west coast, it is conducive to exchanges with countries along the Atlantic coast.
Although East Africa is a two-ocean country like the United States, the national conditions of the United States are very different from those of East Africa. Its economic center is in the east, especially in the northeast, so Washington's geographical location is barely enough.
Compared with this, East Africa is much more balanced. Although the east coast of East Africa is strong, the west coast is not bad either. The Rhine City, which is located in the middle, has become the best solution.
In response to this situation, Ernst said: "Now we are going to establish temporary diplomatic affairs handling agencies under the vertical management of the central government in the three cities of Cabinda, Luanda and Dar es Salaam. Some unimportant issues can be handled by this agency, such as trade disputes, maritime conflicts, etc., and the situation or situation is more tense. Submit it to the central government."
If it was in the past life, when the aviation industry was developed, there would be no need to worry about this problem. Planes could fly directly to the hinterland, but now the civil aviation industry in East Africa has just started, and other countries only have military and other aircraft, and the number is not large.
Therefore, if you want to talk to the East African Central Government face to face, you must transit by rail. At the stage when the aircraft has not achieved a breakthrough in endurance and safety, this drawback of Rhine City cannot be avoided. Fortunately, communication technology is relatively developed. Even if hierarchical agencies are established in Luanda, Dar es Salaam and Cabinda, the East African Central Government can always grasp the overall situation.
It is no wonder that maritime powers like to build their capitals in coastal areas. In this era, it does have a relatively large advantage.
Moreover, this is conducive to coordinating the country's naval forces. Edo in Japan and London in the UK have similar functions. The same was true for the first town and city of the capital of East Africa. Ernst can observe the development of the East African navy at any time. Unfortunately, the situation in East Africa is complicated. Not only is it vast, but it also embraces two oceans, which is why this kind of happy trouble is caused.