Chapter 689: Mental imbalance
While Brenzino was talking to his comrades, the East African Defense Force's border patrol team was also conducting their daily patrols in the "wilderness".
"Sergeant Hans, are those the Portuguese soldiers over there?" Peter asked. As a newly enlisted soldier, this was the first time he had seen Portuguese people.
"That's right. You see there are a lot of black people in their team, and the uniforms they wear are even uglier than the simplified military uniforms we wore more than ten years ago. They are all earthy gray and wrinkled. Only the uniforms of the three officers look good, but they are also quite old." Hans commented on the Portuguese patrol team across the border.
The uniforms of the Portuguese Angolan colonial army can be described as extremely ugly, and even "crude". They look a bit like the warlord armed forces of the Far Eastern Empire during the Republic of China era.
In fact, the uniforms of the Portuguese mainland army are barely acceptable. They follow the European "gorgeous" style, with a wide variety of patterns, and look quite elegant, but the colonies naturally cannot be compared with the mainland.
This is also related to Portugal’s financial difficulties. In fact, after the last blow in East Africa, Portugal’s national fortunes declined again.
"I heard that Portugal used to be a big country with a large number of colonies all over the world. Now it has become really down and out. It's obvious that it is in great financial difficulties. It really feels like the world has changed a lot." Peter said with some emotion.
Peter received compulsory education in East Africa, so he had some knowledge of history and knew the location of Portugal in Europe, but he did not know much about Portugal. After all, there were so many countries in the world, and it was impossible for East Africa to describe Portugal in detail in the textbooks.
Of course, if we talk about the history of the Age of Discovery, then Portugal is quite glorious, but Portugal’s glorious history was also three or four hundred years ago.
"Portugal has a strong financial foundation. They have declined from the British Empire to the present day, and they still have a place in the world today, all thanks to the pioneering work of their ancestors. If they lost even their overseas colonies, they would be no different from those weak and poor countries in Eastern Europe," said Hans.
Hans and his men spoke German, which the Portuguese on the other side of the border certainly could not understand, but they could probably tell that the other side had nothing good to say, because Peter and the others had a faint "smile" on their faces, which clearly revealed some hostility and contempt.
As a young man, Peter naturally felt a sense of pride after comparing himself with the Portuguese soldiers on the opposite side, mainly because the gap between the two sides was obvious at a glance.
The new military uniforms in East Africa have long gotten rid of the dilemma of "cutting corners" in order to save costs. Now they are completely developing in the direction of practicality, beauty, atmosphere, and comfort.
The difference in uniforms is obvious compared to those of the Portuguese soldiers on the opposite side. Clothing has always been one of the faces of the army. Good-looking military uniforms can obviously boost the morale of the army.
"You can tell at a glance that these Germans have greasy faces from all the food they eat. The materials of their clothes seem to be very exquisite, but they are somewhat different from the European aesthetic. It's really a waste of resources. You can tell at a glance that their military boots are made of cowhide, and the same goes for their belts. Only these 'African natives' would be able to do such a face-saving project." Brunzino said to the East African army with disdain.
In Bronzino's opinion, it was obvious that the East African soldiers were not cut out for fighting. They were dressed so well, did they think they were European aristocrats?
Moreover, because the food conditions of the East African Army are among the best in the world, the ordinary soldiers of East Africa appear to be more robust than the Portuguese, which makes Bronzino even more psychologically unbalanced.
Even the new recruits like Peter who had just joined the army did not suffer from malnutrition due to compulsory education and the living standards in East Africa. Instead, they had an elegant temperament of a soldier.
The Portuguese felt that the other side was the army, while they were more like the "country bumpkins" from Asia, Africa and Latin America. This was in sharp contrast to the glorious history of the Portuguese colonial empire, and the contrast was very strong.
In fact, when Portugal was financially prosperous in the past, the army was also well-funded. Especially hundreds of years ago, the Portuguese army, wearing expensive plate armor, left its footprints all over the world and defeated many indigenous peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Therefore, it is understandable that they are psychologically unbalanced now.
Hans's performance was not as obvious as Peter's. As a veteran, he had rich experience in East Africa and had fought against the Portuguese before.
The 411th Division to which he belonged was the main force that crossed hundreds of miles to launch a surprise attack on the Angolan colony. Therefore, he was arrogant enough towards the Portuguese army and even disdained the existence of such a defeated enemy.
In his opinion, the fighting effectiveness of the Portuguese army on the opposite side was not even as good as some difficult-to-beat indigenous tribes. This was his personal experience.
So he said to Peter and other new recruits: "If we only talk about colonies, Portugal is definitely one of the best in the world. After all, there are only a few countries with colonies covering an area of one million. However, the area and number of colonies cannot represent the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese, especially this ragtag army wearing regular Portuguese uniforms mixed with blacks."
"Sergeant, why is this? Shouldn't the regular army be more powerful?" Peter asked. In his opinion, the East African army was like this. The army was much stronger than the militia, whether in terms of professionalism, psychological quality, or weapons and equipment.
Hans likes to teach people: "The Portuguese colonies were seized by them when they were pirates. On the contrary, after the Portuguese army was regularized, it did not achieve much. After all, pirates believe in more work and more pay, and they are not afraid of death and dare to fight to the death.
This was especially obvious when our company commander led us to encounter the private armed forces of the plantations in Angola, and the regular army was basically defeated in one blow. After all, the Portuguese army treated us much worse than us.
I have seen their food before, and to be frank, it is only slightly better than the pig food in East Africa. Combined with their equipment, it is still at the level of ten years ago, and there has been no improvement in so many years. So it is obvious that the military management level is backward. "
Hans's mention of "pig food" made Peter and the others laugh. The pigs in East Africa do eat "people" better. Of course, this comparison can only be made when compared with other countries, such as Japan, North Korea and other countries.
The laughter of the East African Defense Forces was so harsh to the ears of the Portuguese like Bronzino that even though they didn't know what the Germans were saying, it still caused the Portuguese to glare at them.
Apparently, the East African Defense Force also noticed this, and Peter whistled and glared back at them provocatively.
"Captain!" Laird, deputy captain of the Portuguese patrol, gritted his teeth and gestured to Brenzino.
It was obvious that his emotions were provoked by the Germans, so he was a little impulsive.
Brenzino looked at Laird and knew what he meant, but he looked around and found that except for the Portuguese, the other black soldiers were obviously distracted and had no intention of caring about the matter.
I sighed in my heart, how can this army compare with others! Although the Germans on the other side are also a mixture of yellow and white, they are as close as one.
The black soldiers on his side were as lifeless as "dead bodies". How could he fight under such circumstances? Moreover, as the captain, he could not take the initiative to provoke them because of a momentary anger. If a military conflict occurred, he, a big shot, would not be able to bear the consequences.
It’s not the black soldier’s fault for looking like a ghost. After all, in the colonies, black people are inferior people with no dignity at all, not to mention serving as pawns for the Portuguese.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
