Due to the impact of the Russo-Japanese War, the construction of the fifth battleship initially planned by East Africa is temporarily halted. The main reason is to learn from the experiences and lessons of the Russo-Japanese naval battle in order to perfect the battleship.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the decisive battle between Japan’s Combined Fleet and Russia’s Second Pacific Squadron in the Far East. According to the current progress of the Russian navy, they might reach the Far East waters by the end of October this year at the earliest.

It is already early October 1904, and East Africa’s plan is approximately eighty percent complete. According to the calculations of the East African Planning Commission, East Africa should be able to achieve all the objectives ahead of schedule within 1905.

As the plans progress, starting from 1903, East African industrial data has once again significantly improved, with substantial increases in production of steel, cement, textiles, electricity, oil, fertilizers, medicines, and other key basic industrial products.

At the same time, a large number of new industrial towns emerged in the western region, leading to a noticeable increase in the number of towns nationwide. However, the specific rate of urbanization is not yet predictable. While East Africa’s industrial scale is rapidly expanding, the population is also increasing, and the final urbanization rate depends on comprehensive data from both.

Taking the central region as an example, many cities, including Rhein City, are accelerating their expansion. Ernst can see this directly because the expansion of industries leads to an increase in urban populations, accompanied naturally by growth in urban constructions, including various factories and residential areas.

In the past few years, Rhein City has seen an increase of 110,000 people, pushing its population beyond 290,000, swiftly moving towards the scale of a large city.

As the capital of East Africa, Rhein City doesn’t lack transportation and land resource advantages. The main factor limiting population growth is industrial distribution. Although it is the capital, the East African government hasn’t allowed Rhein City and other East African cities to seize too much of the industrial share; many light and heavy industries are deployed in surrounding cities, like New Frankfurt City, Kabwe City, etc.

Even so, the development of Rhein City is quite remarkable on a global scale. Rhein City is, after all, one of the youngest capitals in the world.

A city with nearly 300,000 permanent residents is considered not small compared to other countries worldwide. The former Capital First Town City had developed for so many years yet had only tens of thousands of people, so it is evident how many resources East Africa has invested in Rhein City.

Rhein City is merely a microcosm of East African cities. During the planning period, west town construction is the main focus, while other regions’ town scale is also further expanded, such as traditional economic and industrial powerhouse cities like Mombasa City, Dar es Salaam City, which significantly developed during the planning period.

Meanwhile, East Africa’s trade volume with other regions of the world has further increased, especially in the South American and Russian markets. During the Russo-Japanese War, East Africa’s relationship with Russia has deepened, making it easier for East African industrial products to enter the Russian market.

Especially in the first half of this year, East Africa’s trade with Russia continued to grow rapidly. This is the advantage of aligning with Russia, something Japan evidently cannot offer East Africa.

Although Japan is also an important emerging market, it is largely dominated by the United States and the United Kingdom, such as East Africa’s advantageous electrical industry. Exports of products and related equipment to Japan do not match those of the United States.

Moreover, Japan cannot provide products that make East Africa eager to increase trade volume greatly. Japan’s agricultural product varieties are limited, and resources are relatively scarce, whereas Russia is different. Many of Russia’s minerals are needed for East African industrial development. At the same time, East Africa can supply industrial products and raw materials like cotton to Russia.

There’s also much room for further development of trade between East Africa and Russia, particularly next year. With East Africa’s supportive stance in this round of war towards Russia, relations between East Africa and Russia will enter a new era in the coming years.

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"Increased industrial production naturally leads to further market demand growth. Although we can utilize our large domestic market to absorb excess national industrial production, this approach can easily cause some conflicts."

"Now the international market is showing signs of recovery, and coupled with the demand created by the Russo-Japanese War, we can gain more or less from it."

"At the same time, market competition is becoming increasingly intense. The Russo-Japanese War is a perfect example—it’s a further upgrade of competition between countries. Many nations value the expansion into the Far East Market, hoping this area becomes the next India."

"There’s no doubt that disputes over interests in the Far East are quite complex. As the coveted pie in the eyes of countries around the world, local forces’ competition is becoming increasingly fierce."

The vast majority of colonies worldwide have been divided up, so countries can only turn their attention to weaker nations or relatively independent backward regions.

The Far East Empire is precisely such a "weak nation." No matter who takes control of the Far East Market individually, there’s no doubt that with the enormous market and abundant resources of the Far East Empire, it will create a behemoth even more powerful than the Sun Never Sets Empire.

The United Kingdom, with just over 3 million square kilometers in India, is sufficient to support its global dominance, and in the eyes of the Great Powers, the Far East Empire is undoubtedly a more enticing prize than India.

This is the reason for the further intensification of Great Powers’ infiltration into the Far East Empire in the early 20th century, which has resulted in the emergence of numerous military factions within the Far East Empire carrying the capital nature of various countries.

Although Ernst has no intention of striking harshly against his homeland from his past life, he cannot allow East African interests to be squeezed out by other Great Powers.

Therefore, in this round of discussions, the East African government considered how to maintain East African interests in the Huaihai Economic Zone and the Zhuhai Economic Zone.

"We also have some long-term cooperative partners in the Far East Empire, including past Jin Merchants and Huishi, as well as some government officials. Now, the domestic situation of the Far East Empire is increasingly tense, especially under the incitement of the United States and the United Kingdom; any political crisis could lead to total defeat."

"Therefore, we should support a group of cooperative partners to respond to potential crises within the Far East Empire, ensuring our legitimate interests in the Far East."

East Africa, like Germany, does not fear fair competition in the industrial sector; it’s more concerned about opponents using politics, conspiracies, and other means to engage in unfair competition.

The most typical examples are colonial powers like England and France. It’s not that other countries can’t enter English and French colonial markets, but it comes at a higher cost.

Although East Africa is publicly a colonial power, its colonies are not affluent, have small populations, harsh environments, and are somewhat distant from the East African mainland.

It’s not about worrying about countries like England and France; it’s more about the United States and Japan. For example, the Alaska region: if it shows high value, East Africa undoubtedly can’t reach it.

It’s the same for the Far East Market. No matter how powerful East Africa is, it lacks any proximity advantage, so to ensure the safety of the Far East Market, the East African government must be prepared in advance.

Similarly, Ernst is not worried about England and France but is rather wary of the United States and Japan. Even if England and France currently hold advantages in the Far East, once a European war breaks out, England and France will likely be unable to spare extra energy for other regions.

East Africa does have such energy, but the distance between the Far East Empire and East Africa is too far, just like other overseas colonies of East Africa, in contrast, the proximity to the United States and Japan is too close. Therefore, East Africa’s primary caution should be against competition from the United States and Japan. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

This applies equally to the South American market. Currently, the South American market is mainly controlled by the United Kingdom. Historically, due to the impact of World War I, the United Kingdom struggled to balance interests, providing an opportunity for the Americans. East Africa obviously needs to prepare accordingly, otherwise, when the time comes, it might not even get a taste of the soup.