CHAPTER 291: CHAPTER 278 BAJAMOJO SHIPYARD AND CULTURAL WAR

Bajamojo.

In the south of the East African naval base, which is on the south bank of the small Rhine River, a new construction site is emerging; the Bajamojo shipyard is under construction planning.

The plant area has been completed, and based on the Venice shipyard model combined with the geographical conditions of Bajamojo port, a shipyard of similar scale is being built in East Africa.

The Bajamojo shipyard is currently the largest project proactively introduced by East Africa, aiming to enhance East Africa’s shipbuilding capabilities.

The Venice shipyard technician, Belst, is explaining this project to Constantine.

"Why move the Venice shipyard to Bajamojo? The primary reason is to avoid occupying the operational space of Dar es Salaam port. Although Dar es Salaam’s conditions and infrastructure are superior to Bajamojo, Dar es Salaam plays a vital role in the East African economy as an open port, and East Africa’s import and export capacity is mainly concentrated in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. Currently, establishing a shipbuilding industry in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa is possible, but considering the future development of East African ports, His Royal Highness specifically instructed to locate the shipyard in a non-free port area. Among non-free ports, the conditions in Bajamojo and Mogadishu are the best; however, Mogadishu’s northern geographical position and the Somali climate cause a lack of necessary raw materials."

Currently, the shipbuilding industry still heavily depends on timber, and Mogadishu, as a green oasis city, is precisely at a disadvantage in terms of raw materials.

"Bajamojo itself has excellent conditions, with good water depth and Zanzibar island opposite to offset most of the sea wind, and like Dar es Salaam, it is situated in a continental windbreak bay area. All these conditions give Bajamojo port the potential not inferior to Venice." Belst spoke eloquently.

Belst is an Austrian, a technician from the Trieste shipyard who previously trained at the Venice shipyard. Upon the establishment of the Trieste branch by the Venice shipyard, he was appointed by the Heixinggen consortium as the director.

The East African shipbuilding industry is roughly divided into two systems: the inland shipbuilding industry, relying on lakes and rivers, with Mwanza shipyard along the Great Lake, Kigoma shipyard on Soron Lake, and Kalonga shipyard on Malawi lake as typical examples.

Another system is the emerging coastal shipbuilding industry. After consulting with Navy Commander Ferdinand, two small ship repair yards were respectively established in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. Their main business, besides providing maintenance for ships along the route, also includes the production of small wooden fishing boats.

These two small ship repair yards were actually modified from the original Zanzibar Sultanate shipyards. The technical system came from Arab sources, but the actual shipbuilding center in Zanzibar was on Zanzibar island, mainly because Zanzibar’s control of the coast was too short-lived.

East Africa also has a city with shipbuilding capabilities, namely, Mogadishu. As a port along the Indian Ocean with a long history, Mogadishu does have some shipbuilding capabilities but is completely outdated in technology.

Taking advantage of the outbreak of war between Austria-Hungary and Italy, Ernst planned to replicate Venice’s Heixinggen shipyard in East Africa. The fear triggered by the war aids in encouraging shipyard workers to proactively choose to develop in East Africa.

"Does the completion of the Bajamojo shipyard mean East Africa can independently develop its maritime shipbuilding industry?" Constantine asked.

"It depends on how you understand it. For example, the design, planning, and construction of the shipyard are completely carried out by our own people, does this count as independence? However, from a hardware perspective, the East African shipbuilding industry is far from independent." Belst replied, "For instance, steam power systems and key components will certainly need to be imported. Even when Bajamojo shipyard is completed, it can only accomplish the hull construction independently, so essentially it is still a large-scale ship assembly yard."

Belst continued: "Currently, the completion of Bajamojo shipyard remains a milestone for the East African shipbuilding industry. First solve the problem of existence, and then the missing industrial chain will gradually fill in later. Bajamojo is very large, and in the future, it will rely on Bajamojo shipyard as its center to form a related shipbuilding industry area."

"I see!" Constantine exclaimed, "Then once Bajamojo shipyard is completed, at what level will its produced ships stand in the world?"

"Regrettably, Your Majesty, the technology will likely be two generations behind. In reality, Venice shipyard itself, due to Venice’s decline, is slightly outdated compared to its peers in terms of technology. Now with the emergence of ironclad ships, the tech advancement space has increased significantly, so the shipbuilding technology introduced by Bajamojo will inevitably lag behind that of mainland Europe."

Bajamojo shipyard may be claimed to replicate Venice shipyard, but in fact, it is merely about bringing Venice shipyard’s machinery over, assembling it in Bajamojo for a restart, while the original Venice shipyard will introduce new equipment and technology for industrial upgrading.

With the opening of the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean economy is inevitably rising again, and Venice, as the most glorious port city once located on the Mediterranean coast, is bound to have a renaissance. Therefore, enhancing the shipbuilding capability of Heixinggen’s Venice shipyard has become crucial.

This is also one of the reasons Ernst established Bajamojo shipyard, eliminating outdated technology and equipment from Venice shipyard into East Africa. For East Africa, that translates into advanced technology, while Venice shipyard completes its industrial upgrade, benefitting both.

Additionally, relocating most Italian workers from Venice shipyard to East Africa allows Ernst to recruit more Germans from Austria to work in Venice, which indirectly helps Austria tighten its control over Venice.

Ernst’s previous cunning plan led to the depletion of Venice’s surrounding rural population, turning them into Austrians outside Venice city limits, isolating Venice city from the predominantly Italian rural areas.

The potential for Italian rural regions to be influenced by Venice city is greatly reduced since cultural elements typically converge towards urban areas and then radiate outward.

Without exposure to the Italian cultural radiation from Venice, Austria can gradually assimilate rural farmers in the Veneto Region through education and other means, provided local rural dignitaries’ exegetical authority is broken, then ideologically educate the Italian elders. Notably, a substantial number of Italians would slowly become Austrians.

Population replenishment from rural to urban areas is an inevitable trend. Gradually, Italians in Venice city might be replaced by Austrian countryside people due to reproductive issues. Thus, from the top down, the German narrative power may gradually strengthen, while Austria-Hungary empire will devise ways to make middle-class Italians, as bastions of Italian culture, leave Venice. After all, the Kingdom of Italy must accept these genuine Italian patriots. As for those stubbornly refusing to leave, East Africa is willing to take over. Ernst is unconcerned with that, and they can be saved in Africa; if not, the Alaska snow package is arranged.

Of course, this is just a notion. Whether it can be accomplished depends on various factors, such as if Italy reclaims Venice, this process would be interrupted, but the possibility is low.

The additional aim of this approach is to prevent the spread of Italian culture within the Austria-Hungary empire. The Italian culture along the Adriatic Sea is intense, and these areas happen to be Austrian coasts. By disrupting Venice as a connection center, the Italian culture on the eastern Adriatic coast will gradually decline, and next, addressing the cultural imprints of Slavs (primarily Croatians and Slovenians) will help greatly alleviate ethnic conflicts within Austria.

Essentially, this is a cultural war. Ernst, being the strategist, feels that if accomplished, future generations of Austrians must be thankful. However, based on past experience, in a postmodern society, so-called sanctimonious individuals may certainly condemn these "evil deeds." Just like some among Saxons enjoy blessings left by ancestors through exploitation and colonization and then topple Victoria’s statue.

If truly remorseful for colonial evil deeds, Ernst believes these individuals should forsake their clothing, food, and shelter and live like impoverished Africans, as the comfort they enjoy daily is merely the legacy left by Britain’s colonial system. One should not mistakenly believe that working less than eight hours a day and living comfortably is merely a result of technological advancement! It’s but a result of national capital trying every possible means to plunder wealth from other countries; the colonial era is far from over, only replaced by more covert economic colonization.