Chapter 1168 French Front
The essence of the East African Canal project lies in the application of black "labor". Of course, no East African would mention this in front of Francis IV, a foreigner.
Moreover, Franz IV himself did not realize that there was something missing in East Africa, a country developed from a colony. Yes, it was black people.
In a large African country like East Africa, almost all black people have disappeared, but Francis IV did not notice this because he was in the mountains.
At least in most parts of East Africa, blacks have become a rare race and group of people. Even the "surviving" black workers have been organized into various labor groups by the East African government and concentrated on building large-scale projects across East Africa.
At present, 80% of the black survivors have been invested in the canal project by the East African government. It is difficult to see them unless they go to the canal construction site under construction, and such canal construction sites are usually in the wilderness. It is rare to see East Africans themselves, not to mention that most foreigners mainly gather in East African cities.
…
Time flies to 1915.
The smoke on the European battlefield has not dissipated, but has intensified. On the Western Front battlefield, the Battle of the Marne that began in September last year has become increasingly bloody.
"Germany's attack has actually been contained. However, the British and French have also suffered heavy losses. If they cannot withstand Germany's strong firepower support, France will suffer a disaster." Representative of the East African Military Observation Group Rohrwald said as he stepped on the blackened soil burned by the gunfire.
Colonel Cabril of the East African Army also agreed: "At present, although Britain and France succeeded in causing Germany's quick victory plan to fail, this does not mean that the overall situation is determined. Instead, it will push the war to a more difficult stage of national power consumption. Next, the casualties between the two major groups will completely turn into cold numbers.”
Rohrwald agreed with the cold figures. He added: "Based on the previous statistical results of all parties, the number of casualties on both sides in just a few months last year may have exceeded 500,000. If the war continues to lengthen, There will be millions or even tens of millions of casualties, and a large number of civilians will be affected. The battlefield on the Western Front has become a meat grinder. "
In fact, in the Battle of the Marne alone, both sides lost more than half a million troops last year. This does not include other battlefields on the Western Front. Rohrwald was too conservative after all. Of course, most of the troops lost were wounded. If it was just The number of casualties is too terrifying.
Most of the wounded only temporarily lost their combat effectiveness. After a period of recuperation in the rear, they still had to pick up their weapons again until they died in battle.
The result of this is that East Africa has made a lot of money just by exporting medicines to the two major military groups. However, the number of effective medicines has increased and the wounded have recovered quickly, which has further intensified the intensity of the war.
For the commodity trade between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, medicines produced in East Africa have become a necessity, because only East Africa's pharmaceutical industry production capacity can satisfy the orders of the two major military groups at the same time.
The pharmaceutical industry is an important part of the national defense industry in East Africa's Third Five-Year Plan. In fact, it is a massive expansion of the pharmaceutical industry in the name of developing the national defense industry.
After all, the domestic market in East Africa at that time did not need such a large-scale pharmaceutical industry production capacity to meet its own needs. This was completely prepared for a large-scale war.
Although Ernst could not predict the exact time when the war would break out, he firmly believed that the European War was unavoidable. After all, conflicts could not be eliminated, and European countries had no fear of war, so it would never go wrong to prepare in advance.
While Rohrwald, Cabrill and others were analyzing the situation on the Western Front, they heard a huge explosion suddenly coming less than a kilometer away from the East African observation group.
"The German artillery has started again, retreat to the bunker quickly!" Cabrill shouted to everyone.
Yes, this East African military observation group is now on the side of the British and French coalition forces. After the war began, East Africa sent similar non-military organizations to many countries, and France was naturally no exception.
Although the French frontline troops did not welcome this group of neutrals from a third-party country who spoke fluent German, they still had to provide asylum to the East Africans.
A French soldier ran up to the observation group and said in German mixed with French vocabulary: "Everyone, Germany has launched a new offensive. Please retreat to the rear quickly."
"Excuse me, Bruno!" said Cabril.
Although many French people have a bad attitude towards East Africans, they do not treat the members of the East African military observation group differently because of their identity as Germans.
Therefore, the members of the East African Military Observation Group were very polite to the services and security personnel arranged by the French government. As for their dislike of the Germans, the members of the East African Military Observation Group did not take it to heart.
After all, the people fighting France on the front line are indeed Germans. Although they are not citizens of East Africa, who makes the two sides the same nation! Therefore, the East African personnel fully understand the mentality of French officers and soldiers.
The group of people retreated to a bunker in the rear in embarrassment. Because it was close to the front line, the environment here was naturally not much better, but it was still much better than the treatment of French officers and soldiers crowded in the trenches of the front line.
The dim light shook in the bunker due to the vibration caused by the shell explosion. The tables and beds were covered with dust, and various military maps and labels were posted on the walls.
This is the living environment of the East African Military Observation Group. They hurriedly fled back to the bunker from the front, and the whole bunker seemed even more chaotic.
Major General Kuinman sat at the table calmly and scolded them: "Look at what you are like now. This is not the front line. You are all panicking. Stand still!"
No one dared to stab Major General Kuinman. After all, Major General Kuinman was an old man who had experienced the South African War. Although he was less than 50 years old, he had also fought with the British and Portuguese coalition forces on the battlefield in South Africa.
"When I was your age, I had fought many battles. The army was not like this at that time. It seems that peace has been too long, which is not a good thing for the development of the army. You are the future of the National Defense Force, so you should not be afraid of war. Now that you are on the front line of the Franco-German War, you should take the initiative to learn from the two important military powers in the world."
In fact, the South African War has only been less than 30 years. There are still many veterans with rich practical experience in the East African army. This time, Major General Kuinman brought this group of young people to experience the real battlefield environment to avoid being in a hurry when they really take over the army in the future.
"The war between the two major military groups is a rare opportunity. Even if you come here to observe the war forms and combat thinking of the two world-class armies of Germany and France, it is a precious wealth for you in the future, so you must cherish this opportunity. If you want to be a parasite, then apply for me and I can let you return home early."
Naturally, no idiots talk to you. East Africa is still relatively martial. It has only been in the past 20 years since peace came. The influence of the fathers has made the social atmosphere in East Africa relatively tough.
Moreover, the East African Army has always taken Germany as an example and has a lot of experience in educating soldiers. The quality of the entire East African National Defense Force has not declined too much. Coupled with the words and deeds of the older generation, if they are placed on the current Western Front, their performance may not be worse than that of German and French officers.
After all, the Franco-Prussian War was much earlier than the South African War, which means that Germany and France have not fought a big war for decades. To exaggerate, Germany and France have not fought a big war for half a century.
As for colonial wars, they are definitely not included. After all, there are many colonies in East Africa, so East Africa has no less exposure to small-scale wars such as colonial wars, even far more than Germany.
And colonial wars are of limited help to great power wars. For example, in the war between Germany and Britain and France, Britain and France had many more opportunities overseas, but they were still beaten so badly by Germany after the war.