Chapter 417 Cooking Cart
What else can be improved in the army? The first thing that came to Ernst's mind was the food problem of East African soldiers. When fighting in South Africa, Ernst noticed that the East African army still used buried pots to cook, and it was quite common for troops to carry marching pots with them.
This method is certainly not bad, but it has considerable limitations. After all, relying solely on a camping pot is indeed very convenient, but compromises must be made in the quality of the dishes.
When war breaks out, the quality of food can affect morale at any time. The ancients knew that giving soldiers a good meal before a battle could help defeat the enemy. Giving soldiers a good meal before a battle can obviously calm their fear of war and boost morale.
After discussing some details with Archduke Ferdinand, Ernst began to conduct research on the catering of the East African army. He found senior army officials and the heads of the army logistics department to discuss the matter.
Ernst said bluntly: "I want to know what problems our troops have encountered in the past wars regarding the soldiers' kitchens. You can bring up some of the problems that your soldiers complain about in daily life."
"Your Highness, in terms of military food, our East African army as a whole should not have too many problems! We are definitely one of the best in terms of material supply, although we are not the world leader. Other countries don't know much about it, but at least we are better than Austria and Prussia." said the Minister of Logistics.
Ernst: "Of course I know this. After all, I am the one who set the standards. But nothing can be perfect, especially when facing emergencies. For example, in South Africa, I was also on the front line. We had sufficient supplies, but due to transportation problems, they could not be distributed to the troops in time. This shows that we have not done a better job. This problem exists, and so do other problems. So we cannot turn a blind eye to it."
The food standards of the East African Kingdom Army are benchmarked against those of Prussia, which is better than Prussia, on the same level as France, and lower than that of Britain. Of course, this is only the case in terms of food expenses. If we look at the development of various countries, East Africa is completely over the standard.
For example, in Prussia before, the monthly salary of a Prussian soldier was about forty-eight groschen (two thalers), but it should be noted that Prussian soldiers did not eat for free, but had to pay for food and accommodation, and also had to pay taxes when purchasing supplies.
Of course, the army has its own special characteristics, so Prussian soldiers enjoy tax-free privileges when buying bread, but this is limited to bread. Apart from that, the soldiers have to provide themselves with the necessary meat, vegetables, salt and tobacco. As for drinks, they can only consider water, cold milk, light beer and coffee made from substitutes. As for hot drinks such as tea and chocolate, they are completely unrealistic.
The level of the Prussian army has now improved greatly, but given the huge size of the Prussian army, this improvement is limited.
Moreover, Ernst made great contributions to this improvement. It was Ernst who brought down the price of tobacco in Germany. Now the German army can no longer do without cigarettes. With the large-scale cultivation of tobacco in East Africa, a large amount of cheap tobacco has also poured into Germany, breaking the foreign monopoly. At the same time, because the Hechingen Consortium actively developed ocean trade, many things that were rarely seen in Germany or not produced at all are becoming more and more common.
For example, after the luxury food bananas went into production in East Africa, a batch of them were immediately sent free of charge by speedboat to supply the Prussian and Austrian armies.
This has always been the tradition of the Hei Xingen Group to entertain the troops. The military is not only a good customer, but also the best propaganda tool. The soldiers from all over the world alone are worthy of the strong support of the Hei Xingen Group.
In this era, there was no television, radio, or the Internet, and population mobility was not frequent. The army and newspapers were the best platforms for civilians to learn about new things.
Take the Prussian Army as an example. The size of the Prussian Army was about 600,000. If one banana was given to each person, 600,000 people would know about the high-quality product, Somali bananas. When these 600,000 people returned to their hometowns, they would inevitably introduce the delicious bananas they had enjoyed in the army to their fellow villagers. This would be a rare topic of conversation, and Somali bananas could be widely promoted among the civilian class.
Speaking of military meals, compared with the armies of the great powers, the soldiers of the East African Army do not have high salaries, but their food, clothing, housing and transportation are all free.
At the same time, because East Africa is located in the tropical region, the East African Army is destined to have no shortage of vegetables and fruits. In fact, when the animal husbandry in East Africa develops, the same is true for meat, dairy products, and eggs. East Africa is also a major tobacco producer, so cigarettes are almost standard equipment for the East African Army, so the food of the East African Army is not too bad at all.
However, this is only in theory. It is not the case in practice. First of all, the land area of East Africa is too large, the transportation lines are extremely long, and the traffic conditions are very backward.
In addition, the areas that were initially developed in the East African Kingdom were concentrated in the east, which meant that only the troops in the Central Military Region and the Northern Military Region could meet the East African military dietary standards set by Ernst in peacetime, while the other three military regions could not enjoy this treatment. This situation could definitely not be reversed in a short period of time, so Ernst had to think more about other aspects.
Ernst: "Let's not talk about other things first. Take hot food as an example. Our army has a lot of room for improvement. When I was on the front line in South Africa, the soldiers still used big pots to cook various pastes, and they had to build temporary stoves every time, which wasted a lot of time. I know that the Prussian Army now has a special cooking car. I think this thing is very good. We should use it. It has great advantages for the army to march in the field."
In 1853, Canter Lamfort of Bavaria, Germany, put a boiler and other equipment on a four-wheeled carriage. From then on, the army had a cooking car.
However, at present, cooking cars can only be regarded as a new thing and have not been popularized. It was not until around the 20th century that countries began to specially develop cooking cars and distribute them to troops.
Felix said, "Your Highness, we have never actually seen the kitchen car you mentioned. I served in the Prussian Army for many years and always cooked in a big pot."
Ernst: "That's normal. The principle is very simple. The stove is installed on the carriage and can be pulled away at any time. But I think there is still a lot of room for improvement."
As he spoke, Ernst suddenly felt like teaching others. He simply asked someone to bring him paper and pen and started designing himself.
"First of all, this kind of military dining car should be convenient, so two wheels should be installed. Considering the road conditions in East Africa, the wheels should be larger, but not too heavy. The frame must also be light, so a wooden frame would be more suitable. Of course, for the sake of firmness and to withstand bumps, iron sheets and iron fixings should be used for reinforcement."
"Ahem... Your Highness, will it be a problem to use a wooden frame? This is something that is used for burning fire."
"Haha, you think I would make such a stupid mistake! The frame is made of wood, and it doesn't mean that the part that touches the stove is also made of wood. We can use the sealing soil as an insulating material."
As he spoke, Ernst began to design (copy) a stove. As the drawing gradually took shape, it became clear that the stove on Ernst's drawing was copied from a simple traditional stove in the Far East in his previous life, which was usually made of an iron barrel.
(picture)
"Your Highness, why is the middle designed to be round?"
According to Felix's idea, the stove must be square, because the main fuel now is firewood and loose coal, and the ashes need to be removed after burning.
Ernst: "This is a special design I made for placing something called honeycomb coal. It can greatly improve the combustion efficiency of coal and can continue to burn for half a day. When in use, open the ventilation vents below to strengthen the flame above and use it to heat food. When not in use, put a kettle on it to produce hot water continuously. You can also use other fuels..."
Ernst did not explain in detail what honeycomb coal was. After all, many of his subordinates were former soldiers who had not even studied well in elementary school. They would not understand if he explained the scientific principles to them. He would just let them try out the finished product as soon as it was completed.
(End of this chapter)
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