Chapter 1340 - 349: Approval for Military Deployment

Chapter 1340: Chapter 349: Approval for Military Deployment

Only with enough overseas military bases can the East African Government allocate more ships and funds to the Third Fleet. This is a very simple logic; after all, without sufficient military bases, no matter how many battleships are allocated, there will be no place to dock and sustain them.

From this perspective, the Indian Ocean Fleet and Atlantic Fleet should envy the Pacific Fleet. The Pacific Fleet lacks ships but does not lack land for building overseas military bases.

Of course, the reality is that the Pacific Fleet, due to its distance from East African mainland, is less prominent in East African maritime strategy compared to the Indian Ocean Fleet and Atlantic Fleet, thus causing the Pacific Fleet’s awkward situation of "having islands but no ships."

Commander Lomache said: "Using Qatar as a stepping stone, we can then appeal to the central authorities to expand the size of the Third Fleet. With Qatar and Gwadar Port, we can potentially double the size of the Third Fleet."

"More importantly, acquiring deep water ports in Qatar and Gwadar gives us the ability to accommodate several battleships, overcoming the reality that the fleet’s power in the Indian Ocean is at the bottom."

Admiral Plato was also quite yearning for the scenario described by Lomache; mainly because the current situation of the Third Fleet is too bleak.

The main ships of the Third Fleet are only cruisers with no battleships, not even battlecruisers or pre-dreadnoughts. It’s telling that even the Seventh Fleet responsible for the Pacific has its own battleships; the Third Fleet is the only fleet of the East African Navy without battleships.

Judging by the numbering, the configuration of the Third Fleet is evidently not commensurate with its number. Generally, in East Africa, the lower-numbered fleets should receive more attention.

Prior to the Third Fleet are the First and Second Fleets, and it is so — the First Fleet is the core of the Indian Ocean Fleet and is the most powerful with the most diverse types of warships, responsible for the defense of East Africa’s mainland east coast.

The only active aircraft carrier formation of East Africa falls under the command of the First Fleet, and most East African submarines are also in the First Fleet.

In addition to safeguarding the eastern territorial waters of East Africa, the First Fleet also serves as the Navy’s main reserve, ready at any time to send forces to support naval operations in other regions.

The Second Fleet, on the other hand, is the core of East Africa’s Atlantic Fleet, second in power only to the First Fleet, with its home port in Alexandria Port on the West Coast of East Africa, responsible for territorial defense west of Cabinda and maritime tasks in the South Atlantic.

As for the Third Fleet, although numerically prominent, neither its area of responsibility nor its power stands out in the East African Navy, naturally leaving the Third Fleet’s soldiers feeling a sense of disparity.

That’s not even the worst; the area where the Third Fleet resides causes the living conditions of the Third Fleet to be the poorest in the East African Navy, as most of the jurisdiction is desert with scarcely seen human habitation.

Therefore, Admiral Plato said: "This is our last chance to improve the Third Fleet’s status and treatment. Otherwise, judging by the situation in the Persian Gulf here, we will never have a chance to rise."

No wonder Admiral Plato thinks this way; the current Persian Gulf differs greatly from the 21st century of the previous life, leaving impressions of "desert," "drought," "backwardness," "poverty," "disputes," "war," and other negative things.

The only meaningful aspect probably is the Persian Gulf’s strategic value. If even its basic strategic value is absent, Lomache and other Third Fleet officers might really doubt the value of the Third Fleet’s existence.

Only Ernst himself clearly understands the vital importance of the Persian Gulf region to East Africa, not merely strategic but also the future energy security of East Africa, and even the lifeline of world energy.

But at this point in time, Ernst cannot openly declare the vast amounts of oil and natural gas present in the Persian Gulf.

By naming the fleet stationed in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea regions as the Third Fleet, Ernst naturally signifies emphasis on the local area, something many high-ranking East African officials are unaware of.

...

After deciding on the plan to annex Qatar, Lomache and Plato quickly compiled a series of operational and construction plans and sent them to the mainland.

This report soon reached Ernst’s desk.

Rhein City.

After Ernst carefully reviewed the report, he said to Crown Prince Friedrich: "The Third Fleet’s idea is quite feasible; currently Qatar is a no-man’s territory, and it lies right next to our Beibu Gulf territory."

"Although it is a British protectorate, Britain probably doesn’t have the leisure to be involved in too many matters, so my thoughts align with those of the Third Fleet officers."

"Seizing Qatar at this time can greatly enhance our territorial presence in the Persian Gulf, especially in controlled maritime areas, while further strengthening the Third Fleet’s influence."

Crown Prince Friedrich also agreed, saying: "Not only that, the military strength of Qatar is weak and its population is small; we should be able to smoothly control Qatar with a small amount of force."

"Just now, the troops from Beibu Gulf territory cannot return home, why not have them organize this military action, take Qatar in one go, and concurrently organize personnel to locally plan and build Qatar."

The troops in East Africa stationed in the Beibu Gulf territory can’t easily return home, so sending them to invade Qatar is very appropriate.

Of course, in this manner, the role of the navy will be relatively small, but as long as Qatar can be taken, it is best to have the army as the main force to penetrate Qatar.

After all, the East African Navy is unfamiliar with the maritime conditions around Qatar, and meanwhile, the Third Fleet still has to undertake maritime escort duties in the Persian Gulf; at this time, there should not be large-scale actions, as it may ignite regional conflict.

This regional conflict certainly doesn’t target Persian Gulf coastal nations but rather the British; currently, the British are fighting with the Ottoman Empire along the Persian Gulf coast, and if the East African Navy moves on a large scale, it might agitate the British a fragile nervousness.

Even if East Africa clarifies that it doesn’t intend to meddle in the war between the two great camps, the British are likely not to believe us; the most important thing, of course, is that Britain cannot afford this risk.

From the British perspective, what if the East African Navy borrows the excuse of attacking Qatar to blockade the Hormuz Strait, the lifeline of British wartime telegrams?

This is akin to the U.S. deploying missile defense systems on the peninsula in the past; it’s impossible for the U.S. to give a random excuse, and me as a Great Power permitting the threat to national strategic safety.

Similarly, a series of East African promises are almost like air in the ears of the British; would they believe me if I said my navy was headed for Qatar? If international interactions truly followed rules, then Britain wouldn’t have achieved its position as World Overlord.

Thus, sending the army as the main force to penetrate Qatar is the best option for East Africa at present, and Qatar only has a population of 20,000; East Africa can easily send a brigade-level force to occupy it securely.

Unlike the Beibu Gulf territory, Qatar not only has fewer people but also no strategic depth; the Arab tribes in Beibu Gulf territory can disperse into a nearly ten thousand square kilometers desert to maneuver with East Africa, and if defeated, they can escape to neighboring countries.

Qatar doesn’t have these choices; East Africa only needs to block the land part connecting Qatar to the Arabian Peninsula, and the Qatar people cannot escape, nor can they conduct guerrilla warfare against the East African troops.

The East African Government perceives Qatar as no threat, so after simple contemplation, Ernst officially agreed to the Third Fleet’s plan.

Ernst expressed his approval for the Third Fleet’s expansion ideas, agreeing to focus on Qatar as the core in establishing East African Navy’s military presence in the Persian Gulf. After all, Ernst initially set up the Third Fleet aiming for the Persian Gulf oil and gas fields. Qatar, although small, was a bona fide oil resource power in the past; Ernst cannot resist the temptation of occupying Qatar for this reason alone.