Chapter 1653 Ideological Construction of the Army
Of the three major air forces in the world, Germany was already a strong air force, and it also completely inherited the air force and aviation industry of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.
From World War I until the end of Habsburg rule, the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire continued to develop.
In 1912, the Austro-Hungarian Empire officially established an air force under the army.
During World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire produced more than 5,000 aircraft, and its Phoenix and Aviatik companies were both excellent aircraft manufacturers.
Therefore, by the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's aviation industry had been fully established and continued to progress in the 1920s after the war.
Of course, the Austro-Hungarian Air Force and its aviation industry can only be ranked in the second tier in the world, but it should be clearly understood that even in the second tier, it can still be called an air force power and an aviation manufacturing power.
Because there are only a handful of countries with independent aviation manufacturing industries, Germany inherited the main air force assets of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
However, what was even more valuable to Germany was the acquisition of talent and industry from the Austro-Hungarian aviation manufacturing sector, which expanded Germany's aircraft manufacturing capacity and the range of aircraft models it could produce.
Besides Germany, the Kingdom of Dalmatia and East Africa also inherited a portion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's original aviation manufacturing industry.
The Kingdom of Dalmatia benefited from its abundant aluminum resources, and thus was originally an important part of the Austro-Hungarian aviation industry. Even now, it remains a major supplier to the German aviation industry.
East Africa, through its ties with the Habsburg family, absorbed a small number of personnel and technologies from the Austro-Hungarian aviation manufacturing industry before its collapse.
This has had a certain positive effect on the development of East Africa's domestic aviation industry, but the effect is very limited.
In comparison, East Africa and the United States have another advantage: abundant oil resources. During peacetime, the German Air Force does not have major problems with training and missions.
However, in the later stages of the war in the previous life, due to the lack of energy, the training intensity of new pilots in the German Air Force inevitably declined, and their flight time was limited.
In summary, apart from a lack of combat experience, the East African Air Force has almost no weaknesses.
Compared to the air force, the army faces greater challenges, especially in terms of the quality of its personnel. Even with its expansion, the East African Air Force follows an elite route of selecting the best of the best.
The East African Army's recruitment was somewhat mixed, as it lowered its enlistment standards starting in 1936.
Army Major General Tavisch took this opportunity to raise the issue with Ernst.
"Your Majesty, this year's new recruits for our army have included quite a few undesirable individuals, and even criminals, which has caused us a lot of trouble."
Ernst did not refute Tavisch's complaints, but said directly: "The decision to lower the threshold for military enlistment, or even to actively recruit unemployed people or criminals, was pushed by me."
Ernst is the main culprit for the recent decline in the quality of East African army recruits.
He said, “War is not child’s play; people die. I know that introducing unemployed people and criminals can easily lead to a decline in the quality of soldiers and cause some trouble for your management and training.”
"However, I think it is necessary because war itself is cruel, especially in some wars where people have to be sacrificed."
"Or rather, in places where we are cannon fodder, we have no choice but to make sacrifices. In such a combat environment, I think it's natural to minimize losses as much as possible."
“The selection of personnel is a flawed approach. Those social outcasts and criminals have very little or no contribution to the country, or even a negative one.”
"Instead of letting them wreak havoc on society and pose a threat to our country's security and the safety of our citizens, it would be better to send them to military camps for training."
"In this regard, you must not hold back. Even if the quality of the soldiers declines, the intensity of training cannot be reduced. After all, the international situation is becoming increasingly tense, and even East Africa could be drawn into war at any time."
To put it bluntly, Ernst was systematically eliminating "destabilizing factors" in East Africa. Of course, in Ernst's view, this was necessary.
As Ernst said before, the army itself is a place to train people, at least it can temper people's will, shape their character, and they can also learn certain knowledge. For those "inferior" people who are conscripted into the army, this is an opportunity in itself.
In addition, Ernst instinctively believed that if the Middle East and Africa participated in the war during World War II, large-scale casualties would be unavoidable.
It would be more beneficial for East Africa to sacrifice some unemployed individuals and criminals than to have more respectable East Africans die on the battlefield.
Even if they don't participate in the war, these respectable young men can greatly benefit the development of East Africa and play a role in various industries there.
The latter would only waste East Africa's social resources and undermine social equity.
This is not an exaggeration or completely unreasonable statement. After all, the activities of so-called social idlers and criminals involve unfair competition against ordinary citizens through violence and criminal activities, and even physical harm.
Many criminals, including thieves, robbers, or gangsters, amass wealth through the plunder of ordinary people; this wealth is not something they created themselves.
The latter, in particular, is a major blow to social fairness. They would not target the bureaucrats in East Africa, but would only dare to strike hard against the vulnerable groups in society.
This vulnerable group is not just women and children, but includes all ordinary people. Ordinary people are inherently vulnerable in the face of organized criminals.
Therefore, instead of letting them squander East Africa's social resources or even undermine social justice, it would be better for them to die on the battlefield as waste, which would be a contribution to the country.
Ernst even planned to directly send unrepentant individuals to the most intense battlefields based on files and criminal records in the early stages of a future war.
In addition to these reasons, Ernst also considered the social climate, which was related to the development of East African society after the war.
In this regard, Ernst drew inspiration from the United States after the Vietnam War in his previous life.
Regardless of whether the United States' Vietnam War was "just," there is no doubt that many of the American youths who participated in the war were ambitious young people inspired by the United States; to put it bluntly, they were "honest people" in American society.
They did not evade military service; in fact, they actively participated in the war, fundamentally different from those war fanatics in their initial motivations.
For example, they might be misled and deceived by the US government into believing that they are "defenders of freedom and democracy" rather than invaders.
In fact, the United States could not possibly occupy Vietnamese territory; instead, it wanted to support its own puppet regime, just as it had done in Japan and South Korea.
Regardless, a large number of honest Americans died on the battlefield, and the inhumane actions of the US government had an almost irreversible negative impact on the social atmosphere of the United States.
For example, after the war, a large number of parasites emerged in the United States who were complacent and idle. Many of these people were greedy for pleasure and focused entirely on their own interests, disregarding the interests of the country and society.
Furthermore, they can defend themselves eloquently, portraying themselves as "anti-war" and "anti-government" advocates, and they are quite pleased with themselves for it.
One manifestation of this at the end of the Vietnam War was that some people who evaded military service were not ashamed, but rather proud of it, while evading military service is itself a manifestation of refusing to fulfill national obligations.
The Vietnam War directly led to the loss of public trust in the US government, even though the US government was indeed not human.
In conclusion, the US government and sophisticated egoists are essentially moving in opposite directions, and they are more likely to join the US government after the war.
After all, many American youths who were willing to give and sacrifice for their country had died on the battlefield in Vietnam. Those who did not die faced discrimination after the war and were abandoned by the US government, which made them completely disheartened and led them to switch sides.
In addition, the sophisticated egoists in the United States, those social outcasts who took pride in evading military service, themselves caused a social "fever" at the end of the Vietnam War, which became a kind of "popular culture" in the United States at that time.
This means greater exposure and fame, just like a celebrity. And in the American political system, greater exposure and fame equals more "votes".
This group of people will have a greater chance of entering the US government, and in another thirty or forty years, they will inevitably become the US leadership.
These people flock to the US government and, after thirty or forty years, become high-ranking officials, or even presidents.
It's not hard to understand why, in the 21st century, the United States is teeming with drug addicts, homeless people, and various extreme and abstract social groups.
Moreover, the US government not only does not oppose or try to solve these problems, but also encourages and even participates in them, because this is something that American politicians did when they were young in the early 21st century, and they do not think there is anything wrong with it.
Ernst may not want East Africa to become like this in the future. Even if decay is inevitable in East Africa, the government and society should not degenerate into the state of the United States in its previous life.
Ernst told Tavisch and others, "The army is a field of reform, and the new army of the 20th century must also have new moral standards."
"After you take these people in, you should do your best to turn them into people who are beneficial to society, instead of continuing to be a burden on society as in the past."
If possible, Ernst naturally hoped that the East African National Defence Force could be built into a global benchmark, just like the Far Eastern Empire's army in the 21st century of his previous life.
Unfortunately, despite years of attempts, the East African National Defence Force has been unable to achieve this, due to the inherent historical issues and limitations imposed by the times in East Africa itself.
The East African army carries an "original sin," after all, East Africa's rise to power was based on colonial expansion.
Just like the Chenqiao Mutiny, the stain of the Song Dynasty's illegitimate accession to the throne made it difficult for its rulers to overcome the psychological problem of "emphasizing civil affairs over military affairs".
If the East African National Defence Force wants to become the model army Ernst envisioned, it will require a long time and more of its fine traditions to transform.
Before the 1920s, East Africa had no such opportunity, as it continued to engage in aggression and expansion until the end of World War I.
How can the army of a country that wantonly invades other regions be restrained by a good moral standard?
As times have changed, Ernst now hopes that the East African Defence Force can be "restructured".
Because East Africa's territorial expansion has essentially come to an end, and the era of traditional colonialism has also reached its twilight.
He told Major General Tavisih, "The East African National Defence Force will appear in the world with a brand new look in the future. Therefore, you must improve and learn in terms of the army's ideology, training and social image, and restrain the behavior of the Imperial soldiers."
"The East African Defence Force will become an important force in maintaining world peace and protecting national security, as well as the lives and property of its people."
"As times change, outdated or even reactionary armies will inevitably become targets of public criticism, just like Germany and Japan today."
"They are the negative example of East Africa. The frivolous, loose, disorganized, and undisciplined behavior of the US military is not something our military should learn from."
"Regarding the ideological development, organizational discipline, and various rules and regulations of the defense forces, the government will conduct a new round of corrections after a period of time. Building a truly benevolent and upright force is the future goal of the East African Defense Force."
Ernst didn't have a good solution for building a modernized East African defense force before, but he brought it up again now because he found a template.
This ideologically advanced force in the world has many valuable lessons that the East African National Defence Force can learn from. Ernst has already organized personnel to secretly travel to the area to conduct research.
Of course, East Africa also used the guise of "inspection" to formally establish contact with this armed force, thereby laying a more solid foundation for East Africa's future support for the anti-Japanese war in the Far East.
The location of this Northwest armed force is crucial, as their base is right next to Guanzhong and Shanxi. To put it bluntly, if they occupy this area, the Japanese invaders will never be able to sleep soundly.
Of course, Ernst would not mention to Major General Tavisch and others that he had sent people to the Far Eastern Empire for research and study.
Therefore, this so-called "research" activity was kept extremely secret. Not only was the Nanjing government unaware of it, but even the East African government was unaware. Even the East African personnel who were sent to the Far East to participate in this operation did not know what Ernst was thinking.
Ernst's demands were not high. Once he obtained the "true scriptures" brought back by the Far Eastern Empire, he immediately organized people to organize its army building experience and various rules and regulations, and then promoted them in the East African National Defense Force.
If the East African Defence Force could even achieve seven or eight tenths of the likeness, Ernst would be quite satisfied.
Ernst said, "Alright, next I will be inspecting some classified engineering projects in Bulawayo. This inspection of the army will end here for now. Be prepared, the construction of the army is of paramount importance. Not only should weapons and equipment and tactics be updated in a timely manner, but the ideological construction and organizational discipline of the army should also keep up."
“I hope that when I come next time, the Bulawayo Defense Force will have been completely transformed.”
(End of this chapter)
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