Chapter 550 Comrades Reminisce
The city of Mbeya was the first to take action. Due to its early development, its industrial system is the most complete in the whole of East Africa.
"Director Kevindi, this is German technical expert Krimers and his team. They are responsible for developing a new bearing design this time. Take a look, this is a sample."
A small bearing part was placed on the table. It was the bearing used on bicycles and was made entirely by hand.
"This is not easy to process," Kevindi said as he played with the bicycle bearing in his hand.
"Haha, the axle used on the trolley is produced by your factory. This one is just a little smaller, so your factory can definitely produce it."
"Hey, Director Laiden, don't talk nonsense. Don't you know the situation of our factory? We were taught by experts step by step in the beginning, but they withdrew as soon as the factory was built. It took us half a year to get on the right track. Now those guys are really good at it, but they have limited education and are completely unaccustomed to the new technology. Our factory has spent a lot of effort to barely keep up with the Dar es Salaam Bearing Factory No. 1."
Speaking of Dar es Salaam Bearing Factory No. 1, Kevindi suddenly had an idea and said, "Oh, that's not right? Why don't you just go to Dar es Salaam Bearing Factory No. 1? Why do you have to come here? We have to go to Dar es Salaam Bearing Factory No. 1 to learn every year?"
"I knew you would shirk responsibility. I know you are not well educated and are afraid that you can't shoulder the responsibility. But after so many years, the Mbeya Bearing Factory No. 3 has developed the best in your leadership. Even the First and Second Factories can't compare. I absolutely believe in your ability. Besides, you are the factory director and you are in charge of management. I am not asking you to be a technician. What are you afraid of?"
"You know I'm just an administrator. I treasure those with a little knowledge under me, but I'm useless. The highest education level in the factory is elementary school. There's not even a middle school. We can only do rough work. Last year, we went to a factory in Dar es Salaam. They held a technology exhibition and said that our technology was ten years behind Germany. Ten years ago, the machines in our factory were the most advanced."
Don’t think that compulsory education has been basically universalized in East Africa now. However, it is impossible for East Africa to achieve compulsory education in one go. It took decades for the Hope Project to make such a huge investment. The number of schools built in East Africa each year is also fixed.
Moreover, the quality of education in many secondary schools is quite poor, especially in rural secondary schools. Many teachers may only read from the textbooks and teach students according to the textbooks. They don’t even know the answers to some questions. Most of the students who can learn in such an environment are smart people who can understand by reading the textbooks.
As an important industrial city, Mbeya has a good quality of education. However, the third bearing factory could not attract high school students, and basically all the students were taken up by the first factory.
However, in recent years, the performance of Factory 1 and Factory 2 is not as good as that of Factory 3 under Kevindi, so the municipal government will definitely give more support to Factory 3 next time.
So Director Laiden said: "I know the difficulties of your factory. Factory 1 and Factory 2 have changed several factory directors over the years. There is also policy support, but the city is already very dissatisfied with them. Next year, high school students will definitely be assigned to you first."
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Kevindi smiled instantly: "You should have said no earlier. I'm in need of capable people."
"I knew you wouldn't do anything until you saw the rabbit. Last year the city asked you to transfer to Factory 1 as the director. Why didn't you go? The conditions at Factory 1 are much better than those at Factory 3."
"Hey, squad leader, don't you understand me? I am nostalgic. When I retired, I couldn't bear to leave my old comrades!"
Both Kevindi and Reden had served in the East African Army, so the two were comrades-in-arms and had a friendship that went through life and death. Although the main opponents in East Africa at that time were still the tribes on the grasslands and there were not many dangers on the battlefield, the conditions in East Africa at that time were also the most difficult. There were not even decent roads, and the East African Army often slept in the open air and suffered from diseases of all sizes. They shared the same hardships and supported each other, so naturally their feelings were much better.
"Haha, the army now is different from our time. Not only are the barracks beautifully built, but the facilities are also first-class, not worse than the city government, and the accommodation is comfortable. The training intensity has increased a lot, so it's hard to say whether it's good or bad. I can't stand watching the new recruits training now. But the food in the East African army should be the best, with the most oil and water, and the physical strength can keep up."
Although the East African Army had the Hechingen Military Academy and German veterans as its skeleton, it could not change the characteristics of the old-style army of the East African Army at that time.
After all, the conditions in East Africa were really bad at the time, so Ernst could not follow the rules and turn the East African army into a disciplined "iron army" all at once.
Conditions are better now, especially in the East African Army. Ernst can be sure that the treatment there is the highest among all the armies in the world, of course, this is without taking salary into consideration.
With such excellent conditions, the troops naturally could not accommodate themselves as before, and a major reform was carried out on the East African army, especially in terms of training and discipline, which were greatly improved. The troops' faith was also strengthened, and they were loyal to the emperor and patriotic and obeyed orders and commands.
"You can't get in touch with the troops. The situation in the troops right now is really hard to describe, especially for rough guys like us. It's absolutely unbearable."
"What's going on?"
"The army is taking hygiene very seriously now."
"Well! What's so strange about this? Weren't we very hygienic back then?"
Kevindi felt that his old comrade was making a fuss out of nothing. When he first immigrated to East Africa, he realized the importance East Africa attached to hygiene. As soon as he came ashore, he had a haircut, a shower, and changed into new clothes. Later, when he was assigned to the army, he paid more attention to hygiene, because there were always people supervising in the army. He was called up early in the morning to brush his teeth, wash his face, and fold his quilts, and at night he had to go to the sink to wash clothes.
"Hahaha, our time was nothing compared to now. Now the army requires that quilts must be folded neatly, and they say they must be as solid as tofu without any curling or wrinkles. When I visited the military camp, I saw the instructor measuring with a ruler. If the quilt didn't meet the requirements, he would throw it into the toilet."
"Isn't hygiene important? The toilet is so dirty."
"The toilet has changed now. It has a cement floor, which is smooth and clean every day. You don't know that the floor is wiped clean with a rag and can be used as a mirror. There is no odor at all."
"There are also requirements for the placement of items. Nothing can be put wrong. Someone checks every day. Towels must be folded into square blocks and placed on the edge of the basin. Now the army is also equipped with toothpaste, which is specially used for cleaning the mouth. Toothbrushes and water cups must be placed in fixed positions in the basin and there must be no mistakes. There are also lockers, and clothes must be neatly arranged..."
Kevindi listened with great interest to his old comrade's description of the new changes in the army. Of course, only the industrial development of Mbeya City could provide such favorable conditions for the local garrison. In some backward areas, life was still hard.
The troops in the west should have had the hardest time, especially in the tropical rainforest climate zone, where the environment is poor, facilities are not perfect, they are far from the developed areas in East Africa, and transportation is not convenient.
(End of this chapter)
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