The Austro-Hungarian Empire has fallen into a vicious cycle militarily, which is not a problem of its economy, but a political issue. The East African Navy feels this most deeply. In collaboration with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is obvious that the quality of their personnel is seriously declining, and their equipment upgrade speed cannot keep up with East Africa. The East African Navy simply hasn't expanded its scale, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy is sluggishly moving forward on the spot.

In this situation, Germany's position in Europe is really not optimistic. Without Italy, the turncoat, and with the Austro-Hungarian military dragging its feet, even if Germany wants to start a war as in the previous world, it must first find the right allies. From the current perspective, whether the original historical Allies can be formed is uncertain.

Of course, there are pros and cons. Seeking new allies also means that they can avoid the pitfalls, like Italy turning coat before a war in the previous timeline.

Undoubtedly, the possibility of World War I breaking out is still over eighty percent. After all, Germany's national strength is growing faster than in the previous timeline. With the help of the British, East Africa's cooperation in the economic field will naturally avoid the British, and East Africa's vast market and raw materials have primarily benefited Germany and other industrial countries.

However, East Africa also maintains ambiguous relations with countries like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Tsarist Russia, and Spain, so Ernst himself is curious about what changes will occur in the course of history.

...

April 28, 1898.

Kundian Port.

As the main port of East Africa in the South Sea Region, East Africa has invested heavily in Kundian Port, ranking highly even domestically.

This morning at eight, two main warships from Spain have stopped for rest at Kundian Port. The journey from mainland Spain to Kundian Port is quite strenuous for the Spanish mainland navy.

And the people of the Lan Fang Overseas Province are not surprised at all by the warships flying the Spanish flag. After all, the South Sea Region today is rife with chaos, and it's practically a natural testing ground for warships from various countries. The world's major powers are deploying navies in this area or have histories of oceanic voyages.

"The Salagosa Ironclad Ship was originally used as a training ship, but it was re-modified at home for the purpose of this assistance to the Philippines. Its total tonnage is around five thousand tons, and it seems to have been built in the 1860s or 1870s, returned home in 1873 due to internal war."

"The Sagunto Ironclad Ship, its history is even more legendary. It was originally designed as a wooden-hulled steamship, but the appearance of the ironclad ship forced a stop and redesign, eventually taking fourteen years to build. But it was already completely outdated upon completion, though it is larger in tonnage than the Salagosa, reaching over seven thousand tons."

The person in charge of the East African Navy at Kundian Port is not very interested in the arrival of these Spanish warships because both ironclads from the Spanish Navy are products of the 1860s and 1870s and are completely outdated.

The East African Navy may disdain them, but for the Spanish government, this is an enormous support for the Asian fleet stationed in the Philippines.

The Spanish Asian fleet in the Philippines is a typical colonial navy, with a relatively significant scale but incapable of participating in an oceanic competition and can only defend passively.

Previously, the flagship of the Spanish Asian fleet was the Christina, with a total tonnage of just over three thousand, not even reaching forty percent of the Far East Empire's Zhenyuan Ship, and not much larger compared to East Africa's gunboats. Currently, the largest gunboat in East Africa has been upgraded to over two thousand tons, making the boundary between it and ordinary warships quite indistinct. Moreover, Christina's six main guns have a caliber of only a paltry 120 millimeters, not as good as East African gunboats, and its armor is extremely weak.

And Christina is already the most advanced warship of the Spanish Asian fleet. The second-ranked Castilla is still a wooden-hulled cruiser, not to mention other warships.

So, Salagosa and Sagunto, although they don't rank in the Spanish mainland navy, they are a sign of great sincerity in the Philippines.

It's important to know that the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War is still in Cuba, and the Spanish government has to guard against a U.S. attack on mainland Spain. Thus, it's already quite difficult for the Spanish navy to dispatch two old ships to the Philippines.

"Major General Kherson, during the Sagunto's journey to Kundian, one of the boilers had some issues. I wonder if you can handle it," Captain Yar of the Sagunto inquired of Major General Kherson with some embarrassment.

Internally complaining about the decline of the Spanish Navy, Kherson remained composed and said, "Of course, that's no problem. Kundian's shipyard is quite capable. If we in East Africa encounter issues with some merchant and military ships, they undergo major repairs in Kundian."

According to the agreement between East Africa and Spain, during the period of 1898, East Africa would open Kundian Port as a resting point for the Spanish navy.

Although Kundian Port is close to the estuary, it is a river port, so it is not afraid of threats from warships of other countries, as the waterways leading to the estuary from Kundian Port are equipped with seven 300-millimeter coastal defense guns and several small-caliber primary guns. This ensures the naval distribution in Kundian Port isn't threatened by any force.

Captain Yar complained, "That's really great. Alas, if Kundian Port's infrastructure was not complete, it would be difficult for the Sagunto to participate in the ensuing war. The repair shipyard in Manila Bay can only solve minor problems since the local navy mainly uses wooden-hulled ships."

In truth, Yar was already internally resistant to being sent to the Philippines. First, because the Sagunto itself had many issues, it underwent a design change mid-way, and the hull was changed from wood to ironclad, it would be quite odd if it didn't have problems.

Secondly, the Sagunto's crew is also a temporary hodgepodge. Fortunately, the Sagunto has long been used as a training ship, so even though the crew was diverse, most personnel adapted more easily since many rookies had their first onboard training on the Sagunto.

Finally, although the Sagunto is larger in scale compared to the U.S. Asian fleet, with a total tonnage of seven thousand tons, the main warships of the U.S. Asian fleet have just over five thousand tons. In terms of equipment and technology, however, the situation is reversed. The Sagunto's main guns, though far superior to the main ship Christina of the Spanish Asian Fleet, only have a caliber of over two hundred millimeters. The armor thickness is up to standard, three times that of the Christina. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This time, the Salagosa ironclad was also dispatched to the Philippines. Although it only has a bit over five thousand tons, it has four more main guns of 280-millimeter caliber, making it the only ship capable of contending against the U.S. Asian fleet in terms of firepower.

Both Salagosa and Sagunto, if evaluated by East African standards, should either be retired or sent to serve in the colonies.

This was also the case historically. By this time, the Salagosa and Sagunto should have been retired and declared obsolete, but the Spanish Navy brought them out again for use as scrap, indicative of the Spanish Navy's predicament at that time.

Of course, this predicament is relative to other major powers. In reality, the Spanish navy wasn't weak, especially the many warships of the home fleet which could still be mainline ships on the world stage. But the Spanish home fleet could never fully participate in the 'gamble' war with the U.S. Navy.

Relying solely on the Spanish colonial navy, naturally, it was impossible to defeat the emerging U.S. Navy, even including the Maine, which exploded, which wasn't weak compared to the rest of the Spanish Navy.

After staying in Kundian Port for more than ten days, the Salagosa and Sagunto, with a mindset of facing death bravely, officially headed for Manila Bay.

In Kundian Port, East Africa provided both warships with meticulous service, including dining and medical assistance, enabling the Spanish mainland soldiers to quickly adapt to the tropical maritime environment.

In fact, their time at Kundian Port was probably the last 'holiday' for the two warships in the South Sea Region. Once at Manila Bay, they would not only face a more complex and harsh environment but also endure the shadow of war.

By the time May 27, 1898, arrived, after negotiations failed, the Spanish government and the U.S. government officially declared war on each other, and the Spanish-American War formally commenced.